DIY Transmission Fluid Change?

oh so they thought the service was necessary, just that you shouldn't do it? got it.

 

It was late evening and the parts guy went and got the service man (both very young). He called the service man to reinforce that the prius PSD doesn't ever go out. I was the one that asked 'how much?' and then 'no way!'

 

There's no dipstick because its a manual transmission not because its a "sealed system". Ever see a dipstick in a manual trans? Why give everyone such a hard time because they enjoy taking good care of there car? 30,000 miles is a long time...for me that's about 3 1/2 years of of 95+ F degree stop & go. If I can throw $40 every 4 years at my trans to make it last longer and prevent a possible $3000 repair bill that makes alot of sense to me. And when I go to sell it I can show the prospective buyer on toyota.com hyper vigilant maintenance that puts more money back in my pocket. You may think I'm nuts and I don't care but I and others on here also run Redline high performance trans fluid. That may seem like witchcraft to you.

Hey check this out. The WS trans fluid in the middle has 5,000 miles from new on it. The trans fluid on the right has 25,000 miles on it after a change at the 5K. . The trans fluid on the left is virgin Redline D6 same stuff that's in the 25,000 bottle. Notice anything?
Black fluid is chain/bearing metal wear in solution. That's just metal rubbing against metal.

 

You are wasting your time. If a persons world view is that the transmission was just dropped on the Earth from outer space and no one except the mothership knows anything about it and their maintenance criteria is that there is no reason to do maintenance until after a significant number of transmissions have failed at that mileage, then Toyota's lifetime transmission fluid life makes sense.

For those of us who realize that the transmission is box full of very conventional bearings and gears (and a chain in the GenII) that is lubricated by a supply of unfiltered transmission oil, Toyota's lifetime recommendation on the transmission fluid is just plain goofy for person who wants to keep their car along time, or just cares about taking care of machinery.

 

I ran into the same attitude at my local dealership. The Toyota dealership people in the parts department and service departments are amazingly well indoctrinated into only thinking the Toyota corporate way and no other. They don't generally seem to have any curiosity.

 

In my local Auburn California Toyota parts department the WS fluid is on a shelf right out where lowly customers can pick up their own bottles and the counterman doesn't bat an eye when you requests the drain plug washers.

 

Can you please re-post these pictures? Links are dead.

 

I just replaced it and it also took all 4 quarts. I took the drivers side wheel off and the small access cover and it was easy to get too. I just hope this is the fill plug though based on the one picture posted by wayne DIY Transmission Fluid Change? | PriusChat .. I put my pinky down the hole and could not feel any oil. I am almost scared i put it in the wrong place. Also the fill plug did not have a washer. I'm going to post some pics since i could not find any and the ones posted had dead links.

 

Here are some pictures i took. In the end it turned out ok.

I went by the picture posted by wayne for the fill bolt and that works also. It was actually easier with the tire off and the small plastic cover removed. Easy to fill with no spilling oil and also remove. I ended up putting all 4 quarts in because i was expecting oil to go over. This bolt has no washer!


Here are the drain and fill bolts, and you can see they both have washers. Fill is far left on top and the drain side lower.


I found this thread kind of late and changed the oil at 38,500 miles. I was also told buy my parts guy that this was a sealed transmission and i do not have to change the oil for a very, very, very long time. I told him i am shipping the car to europe and i just need to have the gaskets and oil on hand when the time comes... I payed around $35 for the oil and gasket.

 

Why are you showing two fill bolts? I have obviously missed something.

 

You have, read the thread.

 

I read the whole thread, again, and:

Your pics are not labeled well.

Top picture is the ATF fill bolt, correct?

No pic of the AFT drain bolt, correct?

Bottom pic shows fill bolt and drain bolt. Fill bolt does not look anything like the top picture. Are these the inverter coolant fill and drain bolts? OR, are these the ATF fill and drain bolts, and if so, what is the fill bolt in the top pic?

Too bad the older pics on the thread have been removed.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

The lower of Daftek's 2 pictures posted above (posting #149) shows both the fill and drain bolts for the transaxle fluid. Both have washers that you should replace (though not do-or-die). I too am puzzled by the first pic, appears to be 'round the other side of the transaxle. Never dealt with that.

The torque spec for both bolts is 29 pound. The car should be level when you refill. With that scenario I was able to get around 3.5 liters in before it started coming back out. Actually there was at most only 200 cc left in bottle #4 when (my wife) stopped pouring, but easily a cup of that was overflow.

 

The first picture with no washer can also be used to fill the transmission. This bolt is behind the driver side wheel where there is a small plastic panel. I went to this bolt based on the picture posted by wayne.

I'm not sure why this is so confusing for some but i think i explained clearly what is what, what i did, why i did, and the end result. cheers.

 

Thanks for the further clarification.

So the ATF has two fill holes, correct? Top pic fill hole on drivers side, and the bottom pic fill hole that needs to be used to check the level is on the passengers side and accessible from the oil change drop down panel, correct?

Anybody have a copy of the ATF change procedures from Toyota?

 

Could be that outside bolt is to make level check more convenient? It's a new one for me, and I'm still skeptical: I would hope it's not for transaxle coolant. And assuming it is at the transaxle fluid chamber, that it's at the same level as the usual fill bolt. Anyway, Here's the section from the manual for transaxle fluid change:

 

Thank you!

 

I did not know about the fill bolt at the bottom side of the transaxle just above and back of the drain bolt as i posted in the second picture. I went by waynes pictures in the first part of this thread that shows a bolt on the driver side wheel well. I first removed the bolt on the drivers side wheel access panel in the first picture and then the bottom drain bolt from the second picture. The oil came gushing out fast and then i put in all 4 quarts from the top of the drivers side wheel access door. I put the bolt back then drained a bit of clean red oil from the bottom drain bolt again and torqued to 29fp. I believe the inverter coolant drain bolt is flat on the bottom of the transaxle? Not sure.

The only thing i can say is that it was easy to fill from this side, i don't know and i DON'T want to suggest to anyone to do the same thing i did. I hope everything will be ok and i did not screw anything up, so far so good, car drives nice and seems smoother. Unfortunately i could not find a DIY with pictures as most of the ones on this thread had dead link,s so i went by the two pictures posted by wayne in the first part of this thread. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Thank you DAFTEK! I appreciate your diligence.

 

I would pull the bottom fill plug and hope a couple ounces comes out. We know it won't hold all 4 quarts.