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Changed oil and flushed ATF fluid - May have broke car; making weird noises, car shuddering

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by SRQ, Apr 4, 2014.

  1. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    I did some maintenance today:

    1. Changed oil
    2. Flushed ATF fluid
    3. Cleaned throttle body
    4. Cleaned MAF sensor

    I did all of these one right after the other and when I rolled out to test drive, the car shuddered and now the engine is making weird noises. I don't want to turn the car on again or drive it. I'm thinking the issue may be that the transmission isn't sealed properly (I may have put the screw in sideways) but obviously something is clearly wrong here.

    Could it also have something to do with the pool of throttle body cleaner that may have been in the throttle body and not dried yet?
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    What exactly did "flush ATF fluid" entail? And what specific replacement fluid was used?

    Could be a pool of carb cleaner, too...
     
  3. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    I drained the old Toyota ATF fluid and filled it with the new ATF fluid from Toyota.

    The pool of carb cleaner would do this? I'd imagine all the crap that it would dislodge would all need to be burned off, and this is just the burn off stage that's freaking me out and causing the car to shudder as it's burning carb cleaner/carb crap/gasoline all at once.
     
  4. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    It was suggested that you use strips of old T shirt saturated with carb cleaner to clean out the throttle body. This would help in avoiding a pool of cleaner and dislodged cr@p.

    It's probably the cleaner burning off, and possibly detonating/knocking (not a good thing) causing the problem.

    SCH-I535
     
  5. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    I'm going to try to get as much out as I can with an old T-shirt. Thanks for the advice. I used quite a bit of cleaner; is this making more sense now? I just checked my oil levels and the security of the filter and bolt; everything is tight and at the proper level.

    How long would it take for all the cleaner to burn off?
     
  6. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    Looks like there's a small amount of oil at the bottom of the throttle body... is it okay to start the car after I get as much of it out as I can?
     
  7. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    Looks like there's a small amount of throttle body cleaner at the bottom of the throttle body... is it okay to start the car after I get as much of it out as I can?
     
  8. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    Cleaned out all the throttle body cleaner, engine started up just fine and the transmission shifted smooth as butter. Feel silly, but I learned something today. Thanks for the help guys, I'm glad I didn't find a new way to screw up an oil/transmission fluid change LOL.
     
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  9. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Glad everything is good now. (y)

    How dirty was the throttle body, how many miles since the last cleaning? How many miles on the transaxle fluid?
     
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Have you got one of the bottles kicking around to check: the Prius Transaxle is not a typical automatic transmission, and is spec'd to use:

    Toyota ATF-WS fluid

    Just doing a little google search, there is also:

    Toyota ATF Type T-IV

    Which I'd assume is for Toyota's vehicles with traditional automatics.
     
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Type T-IV is for Gen 1 Prius. Thicker viscosity.
     
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  12. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    If you don't use something to soak up the carb cleaner it will fill the intake manifold with cleaner. Will run really rough till its burned off. You probably didn't clean the most important part the pvc inlet hole. Pull the pvc hose off the backside of the TB and flush out the inlet orifice. There's alot of crap in that orifice.
    Btw, don't forget the air cleaner throttle bore clamp under the air cleaner assy. You have to look under the air filter assy after fitting it on the tb. If you don't bolt that clamp tight you will get un maff'ed air flow to the tb.

    Lastly its a good idea to spray lube on the throttle body butterfly spring. I also spray a tiny bit where the butterfly axle goes through the tb.

    There's always a little pool of oil at the bottom of the throttle body on a G2. It's because of the Atkinson type of motor.
     
  13. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Get the most important part next. Replace the Inverter Coolant fluid. Too bad you already had the car up on ramps that's the hard part installing the ramps and getting the car elevated. Quite easy to change this fluid. Just dump it and fill it back up and simple bleed. Really good bang for the buck ($20) and you will notice immediate mpg improvement.

    I do mine every 30K miles. I do the trans fluid and the trans fluid coolant. ICE coolant is good for 100K.

    Whats the mileage on your car?
     
  14. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    Just got back from a 700 mile trip all around Florida, and the car performs great. Zero issues and averaged 45 MPG with an average speed of 70-80 MPG on the highways, and halfhearted hypermiling on the streets.

    Honestly the throttle body wasn't that dirty at all. My vehicle is about 107k miles so I figured I'd clean it at the same time I did the MAF sensor. The car is driven in south/central Florida very lightly. The transaxle fluid had about 30k miles on it. Last time I changed it, it was the first time that it had ever been replaced, and came out black. This time it came out a dark red. And yes, I used Toyota ATF-WS fluid.

    I was going to replace the inverter coolant fluid, but I ran out of time (I go to college 3 hours away and had to leave for a 4 hour trip for my Air Force Reserve duty that weekend) and my triage of maintenance left the inverter coolant, tire rotation, and through cleaning postponed until next month.

    I already have the gallon of coolant (If I remember correctly that should be more than enough) so all I need to do is change it out.

    The MPG improvement has already been apparent; I'm getting 45 MPG without trying to save gas; the amount of time I've had to spend on the road over the past few days made me not care about mileage and I was going an average of 70-80 MPH on the highway. I usually get 40 MPG on these trips, pretty excited to see what I'll get now that I'm back home.

    Answer me this: how does the inverter coolant increase MPG? I'm replacing it simply because I read that changing the fluid helps prevent corrosion in the inverter. With increased MPG that's going to make this more of an important maintenance item. I change it every 30k miles.
     
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  15. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    very good.

    The Inverter which is the heart and soul of the car will run much cooler and that translates into increased efficiency.
    Try it and see for yourself.

    And I'm not a stickler for Toyota ATF. I fact I run Redline D6 in my trans since new and has been returning excellent wear UOA's. I presently have 70K miles on the D6 and it runs great.
     
  16. defrankond

    defrankond Member

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    does the car have to be jacked up to change the inverter coolant? also i thought there was a video on here showing the steps but i cannot find it. i need to do mine.
     
  17. A617

    A617 Member

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    You have to drop the under panel so you can get to the inverter drain plug so lifting the car is recommended.
     
  18. defrankond

    defrankond Member

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    I do not have that on my car so the drain plug was easily accessible with car on ground. I got it done but will watch coolant levels the next few days to see if it needs more. Pump is much quieter now
     
  19. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    I know that feeling