Transmission oil change: 3 qts of ATF WS and $84...

Regardless of the amount of fluid charged to you on your invoice, the important question is whether your transaxle fluid is full or not. Writing letters and PriusChat posts will not answer that question.

What will answer that question is to raise up the car, remove the fill plug, and insert a finger to see if the fluid level can be felt or not.

 

When you open the drain plug, the old fluid comes out in a very short time, really just a couple of minutes. The Toyota ATF-WS is very thin and easily drains. This is not like engine oil which is much more viscous.

I am inclined to think that the issue is merely an invoicing error but you won't know for sure until the fluid level is checked. Good luck.

 

why don't you ask them to put it up on the lift and let you take a look?

 

As suggested a few days ago, since it was the dealer that did the fluid change and wrote the apparently wrong quantity of fluid used, why not bring the car back and demand the fluid level to be double checked?

 

and you changed it early anyway, so, i wouldn't obsess about 15% possibly being old fluid. but i would request that you be able to see for yourself that it's full.

 

Toyota should break down and put a dipstick on it. Or is there some technical reason they can't? People opening the drain/fill plugs report an equalizing of air pressures, for example: does it have to be sealed? Also, with a dipstick, you can refill through the dipstick tube.

 

The spec is that the transaxle oil level should be from 0 - 5 mm from the bottom of the fill plug hole.

The reason that there is no dipstick is probably because there's no need to check the oil level other than at 30K mile intervals and it is expected that the service tech will do that, not the owner.

 

5 mm. My pinky goes in the hole just far enough to bend my most distal joint a little.

 

sounds like you've got a decent dealer there. all the best!

 

I recently did the task, and it took close to the 3.8. All you need to have is the 24mm socket wrench, some strength, something to lay on, and a new washer if so inclined. I reused the washer. It is possible to get to the bolt from the front without raising the car. See the 10mm hex bolt, and follow directly above with hand and find the 24mm hex fill plug. I saw it through a small square hole in the undercover as well. It would take less time than a dealer visit I bet.

I have noticed increased smoothness/quietness after the change, can't quantify it, just feels like it.

IMO, the oil is just in a pan, and if the level is off +-5mm it won't matter. The question I have is when the car is moving what is the oil doing, splashing all over the place, I assume? So, what does it matter about the oil +-5mm at rest?

 

You are right that the transaxle oil will be splashing around as the car is cornering, braking, accelerating, etc., not to mention the transaxle parts spinning at high RPM.

Presumably the engineer who designed the transaxle case placed the fill hole so that the fluid level would be just right - not too much which would cause excessive friction and not too little so that the transaxle oil pump would go dry during maneuvers.

BTW the tolerance is not +/- 5 mm. Since the acceptable range is 0 - 5 mm from the bottom of the fill hole, the tolerance is +/- 2.5 mm.

The source of the 0 - 5 mm spec comes from the very same Toyota repair manual page that I provided earlier in this string.

 

It's true that dipsticks are overkill on transmissions I guess. Transmissions don't consume oil; they might leak, that's all. I think honda uses similar, check at the fill hole method for all their manual transmissions. And rear differentials are like that, though more or less by necessity, being underslung on the body.

To the OP, I'd suggest to not wear a glove, might make it hard to feel when you hit "wet".

(Just picked up a set of hex bit sockets, including a 10mm, have a funnel with a few feet of tubing I impulse shopped at Princess Auto a few years back, never used, will very likely jump the gun on transmission fluid change, to more like 2 year or 32000 km. Toyota's fluid is much cheaper than Honda Civic Hybrid CVT fluid)

 

Agree, I think this is the best...

 

Just in case the OP still wonders if there is any change from 2005 to later year models, here is a page from the repair manuals for my 2009 Prius, which seems identical to the 2005 spec posted by Patrick earlier:


Better yet, quote the line that says "Recheck the transaxle oil level after driving ..." to the dealer to show that your request is well within reason. Good luck!

 

i think your work is done here.