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ATF fluid changes ARE Required.

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Bill Norton, Dec 15, 2012.

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  1. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    What happens if something breaks your concentration while you are doing that Jedi mind trick:D Squash you like a bug it will.
     
    #121 xs650, Jan 10, 2013
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  2. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    #122 KK6PD, Jan 10, 2013
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  3. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    I called my local dealer, first they quoted me $300.00.
    When then found out I only have 36K, they refused to do the ATF change!

    Gotta make some more phone calls!
     
    #123 KK6PD, Jan 10, 2013
  4. sfv41901

    sfv41901 Masta S

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    Really?

    U would think they'd be all love the job
     
    #124 sfv41901, Jan 11, 2013
  5. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    What I
    What I find amazing about dealers is that they state that Toyota does not recommend the transaxle fluid change in the maintenance schedule. Yet there is nothing in the maintenance schedule about fuel flushes, brake system flushes, transmission flushes and other add-ons and they freely push these !!
     
    #125 jdcollins5, Jan 11, 2013
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  6. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    $300 seems a bit high. I do my own every 30K miles, the local dealer charges me $7.20 a quart for ATF-WS (it lists for $8.00) and takes 3 1/2 quarts. The drain and fill plug washers are about $1 each.

    If you don't do it yourself any good independent mechanic should be able to do the job in about a half hour or so, be sure to take the Toyota ATF-WS fluid because he won't have it.

    I changed mine the first time at 20K miles and sent a sample to Blackstone Labs. The indication was that a change had been a good idea. The results from that sample are in one of the older threads, we decided at that time that after the first change 30K miles would be a good interval.
     
    #126 tumbleweed, Jan 11, 2013
  7. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Hey Tom long time no see!?

    Do you have the part number for the washers or are they the same as the engine oil plug?
     
    #127 spiderman, Jan 11, 2013
  8. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Washers on the transmission is way different and bigger
     
    #128 tankyuong, Jan 11, 2013
  9. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Spidey,

    The washers on the transaxle are different. The part numbers are 90430-18008 and were $1.89 each the last time I bought them.
     
    #129 jdcollins5, Jan 11, 2013
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  10. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    If you know the size, you should also be able to get them at a good car parts store. They are just soft aluminum washers.
     
    #130 xs650, Jan 11, 2013
  11. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Good to be back! long vacation. Also built a new garage with a lift and a new cement driveway. Prius is still running great, finally got rid of all the rattles.

    The washers for the transaxle are aluminum, part number 90430-A0003, they are listed as a gasket rather than a washer.

    EDIT: Part number 90430-18008 mentioned above by jd is also a good number, I think the A0003 number is the newer one. Just got two of them last week from Toyota Parts - Genuine OEM Toyota Auto Parts and Accessories
     
    #131 tumbleweed, Jan 11, 2013
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  12. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Welcome back Tom !
     
    #132 jdcollins5, Jan 11, 2013
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  13. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Yes, welcome back. Wow a long vacation and a lift... what more could a man ask for. :) Thanks for the info.
     
    #133 spiderman, Jan 11, 2013
  14. Bill Norton

    Bill Norton Senior Member

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    They're solid aluminum washers on the plugs.
    Why replace them?
    Torque them down and you'll never know the difference.

    It would be interesting to see an ATF oil analysis from a Prius and a Toyota model with a conventional Automatic transmission, both running Toyota's ATF WS, both with similar miles, ~30 - 60k miles.

    The Gen3 transaxle has that extra set of planetary gears. Lots of little gears.. to break-in and possibly make lots of little metal particles. No filter. No magnetic drain plug. Life is hard for the fluid in a Prius transaxle, me thinks.

    Oh, here's a great Tech-nerd article on Gen3. Explains a lot and has ideas for engine oil and transaxle oil temp sensing. So much data to gather !

    http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/merit_review_2011/veh_sys_sim/vss031_rask_2011_o.pdf
     
    #134 Bill Norton, Jan 13, 2013
  15. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    They are very soft aluminum, once you torque them one to many times they will leak.:cry: Probably not worth trying to reuse. There are washers that are meant to be reused. They are called Dowty washers or Dowty seals. Basically a metal washer with a built in elastomer seal. They cost more but I have seen them used on Ford and GM products. The Dowty type drain plug on my GMC pickup lasted at least a dozen oil changes before the elastomer
    started looking worn.
    The Gen III has an extra set of planetary gears but doesn't have a chain so actually has fewer wearing parts. Chains are a real bundle of joyful wearing parts. My impression from reading oil analysis reports on Gen II and III is that the IIIs are chewing up the oil faster. Has anyone done a comparison?

    Thanks for the Tech-Nerd article link.
     
    #135 xs650, Jan 13, 2013
  16. Bill Norton

    Bill Norton Senior Member

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    xs650,

    I don't know how to do the cool 'quote paste' this site allows. Soon I will figure it out.

    But, com'on, look at those washers under magnification. You can't tell how many times those washers have been torqued down. I know I'm being a cheapass over buying ~$5 worth of washers, but,,, reduce, reuse, recycle, you know? And, one less trip to the dealer parts department.

    And so, I shall take on the research of reusing these washers and using a high quality synthetic ATF! 'Til the cows come home...

    But, I do spend an extra $15 at each ATF change for an oil analysis,
    for the "Benefit to the Knowledge Base here on Priuschat".
    I deserve points for that, no?
     
    #136 Bill Norton, Jan 13, 2013
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  17. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    I have used aluminum washers to the point that they leaked. They looked fairly bad when they were to the point that they no longer worked.


    If you are looking at the washers and know the difference between a bad one and a good one, then you are in a small minority and that's good on you.

    There are different ways to do the quote paste. The easiest one for me to remember is:

    1. Copy the part of the original post I want to quote
    2. Move cursor to where i want to insert the quote.
    3. Click on the quote marks in the bar at the top of the edit area.
    4. Paste the copied text between the quote marks.

    Cheers
     
    #137 xs650, Jan 13, 2013
  18. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Stupid iPad doesn't show the editing tools for posting so you have to use raw UBB code. This page shows you how. It's very similar to HTML and easy to remember.

    UBB Code Explained
     
    #138 F8L, Jan 13, 2013
  19. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Use it til it leaks, which would probably when your car has 100k miles
     
    #139 tankyuong, Jan 13, 2013
  20. Bill Norton

    Bill Norton Senior Member

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    Thanks for the tutoring on using the site !

    Sorry I brought it up, but look, these washers are about ~1/8" thick solid aluminum.
    They have been torqued down 3 times in their lives.
    They look spotless.
    They are on a car with 115k miles and going for a record!
    I will take them to the limit.

    There is a difference between 'metal crush' washers and these perfectly cylindrical, solid washers.

    But, to make yourself feel safer buy brand new washers at every engine and transaxle oil change.
    And I'll keep my C.A. comments to myself, sorry.
     
    #140 Bill Norton, Jan 13, 2013
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