1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Questions from New Owner

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Prius_Owner_2B, Apr 21, 2011.

  1. Prius_Owner_2B

    Prius_Owner_2B New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2011
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I'm looking for my first Prius, a second generation.
    I work on my cars for the most part, and have had good luck with Bentley manuals. What do-it-yourself repair manual is best for Gen 2 Prius?

    I understand that tires wear out quickly. What strategies should I use when buying new tires, e.g. get 70k warranty vs. 50k warranty?

    I read about pulse and glide, but don't understand how to do it. Please help. Also, would that lessen my transmission's lifespan? How about the battery?

    Can I use synthetic transmission fluid in the tranny?

    Thanks!
     
    #1 Prius_Owner_2B, Apr 21, 2011
  2. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2005
    12,544
    2,123
    1
    Location:
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    #2 cwerdna, Apr 21, 2011
  3. Prius_Owner_2B

    Prius_Owner_2B New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2011
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Thanks. I test drove a Gen ii Prius. I tried the pulse and glide, and watched the display. As soon as I took my foot off the accelerator, the green arrows appeared and persisted with mpg at 99.9. Sometimes at the beginning of the glide, I did not press the accelerator, and the green arrows persisted. Why do they recommend tapping the accelerator pedal at the beginning of the glide? It seems unnecessary to me. I watched several Youtube videos, and they made the same recommendation.

    As to transmission/tranny fluid, I read elsewhere that it gets dark and the magnet fills with metal by 53k, so I intend to change it every 20-30k, as I do in all my other vehicles (and have never had a tranny die on me). Someone else in this forum made the insightful comment that Prius' planetary gears have nothing special to protect them from the gunk accumulating during extended tranny fluid changes. I'd rather do frequent changes than risk damaging the transmission. My mechanic to-be says that Prius taxi trannies go out at about 200k. I also saw a craigslist ad for a Gen 1 Prius whose tranny died at 218k.

    Does anyone know what's in the WS, i.e. is it 75W-90? If so, I would be tempted to use Mobil Delvac Synthetic Gear Oil 75W-90, which is commercial-grade, extended drain that someone else on this forum used in his 2007 Toyota Landcruiser (albeit he didn't say he used it in his Prius)
     
    #3 Prius_Owner_2B, Apr 23, 2011
  4. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2005
    12,544
    2,123
    1
    Location:
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    I have the higher res LCD so the colors are different. IIRC, for me, arrows going into the battery are blue.

    Regardless, you want to dead band (no arrows at all) to minimize losses by putting as little as possible into the battery via regen (when you coast w/no foot on either pedal) or by drawing as little as possible out of the battery to maintain speed, incurring a double conversion.

    If you have a ScanGaugeII - Trip Computers + Digital Gauges + Scan Tool and watch the bta XGauge value, if you coast at a moderate speed, you'll see ~19 amps going into the HV battery. If stopped w/AC and headlights off, IIRC, draw is ~1.3 to 1.8 amps. When dead banding, it's above 1.8, but still better than when you have arrows coming out of the battery.

    From one PDF at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ngauge-best-threads-mileage-improvement.html:
    I'm confused by what you mean by "tapping the accelerator pedal at the beginning of the glide"? You should pulse up to a certain target speed, then glide by dead banding.

    http://www.vfaq.net/FAQ-fuel.html mentions the late Dave Hermance (too bad I never got to meet him :() and pulse driving.

    BTW, regarding your tire question. I didn't at all care about tire warranty when I bought mine. I think that's true for most people here.

    I looked for a combination of fuel economy (or less of a hit), handling (partly based on comments here) and whether they could deal w/light snow. At the time I replaced 2 tires, I was in CA where it didn't snow but feared I might have to move back to WA (where it sometimes snows) for work. So, I ruled out summer tires.
     
    #4 cwerdna, Apr 23, 2011
  5. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2010
    3,326
    1,512
    38
    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    What Bentley doesn't cover, you can find most answers here on PC. Bentley is way better than any Haynes or Chiltons manual. Bentley also has common procedures not in the factory service manual.

    Buy new tires and rotate them every 5,000 miles. See http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...resistant-replacement-tires-current-list.html for ideas.

    Battery longevity seems most affected by extreme temperatures -- very hot or very cold. Transaxle longevity seems most affected by lack of fluid change.

    Use only synthetic fluid in the transaxle, specifically Toyota ATF WS or Redline D6. Change it as soon as you get the car, unless the prior owner has a receipt for making the change within the past 60,000 miles.
     
    #5 seilerts, Apr 23, 2011
  6. Prius_Owner_2B

    Prius_Owner_2B New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2011
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Replacement Battery Warranty

    Thanks to both of you for your replies.
    I was curious about what happens when the Gen 2 battery dies. I called the Toyota dealer, and they offer a new battery but only a 1 year warranty on it. They couldn't explain why the original battery has a 10 year warranty, yet a replacement only has 1 year.
     
    #6 Prius_Owner_2B, Apr 24, 2011
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    18,200
    6,479
    0
    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Re: Replacement Battery Warranty

    Toyota ATF WS is extremely thin and has very low viscosity. If you spill some on a concrete driveway you can easily wash it away. This is nothing like gear oil.

    Perhaps I can explain. Prius is rated as AT-PZEV compliant. This is a State of California Air Resources Board rating. To qualify for this rating, the vehicle's hybrid system components must be covered under an extended warranty.

    Once that warranty has expired, the manufacturer has no further obligation to extend that. However, Toyota offers a one-year warranty applicable to all spare parts. Hence that warranty also applies to the traction battery.

    Suppose you were to buy a non-hybrid Toyota with a 5 year, 60K mile power train warranty. Some time after the warranty has expired, imagine your car needs a new transmission and you ask your Toyota dealer to install a new unit. The new transmission would only be covered under the one year parts warranty, not a five year warranty.

    Regarding a repair manual, if you plan to do any serious work then you will want to have access to the Toyota repair manual, electrical wiring diagram, etc. You can buy these volumes as a paper copy for ~$400 - $500 or you can access the subscription website, techinfo.toyota.com
     
    #7 Patrick Wong, Apr 24, 2011
  8. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2010
    3,326
    1,512
    38
    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Re: Replacement Battery Warranty

    Buying a new battery from a dealer is truly the last resort. The vast majority of battery failures are one module out of 28. Repair is anything from do it yourself module replacement for maybe $50, to installing a junkyard salvage battery for about $500, to buying a reconditioned battery from one of several sources for $1500 or less.
     
    #8 seilerts, Apr 24, 2011
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)