PIP transmission oil change @ 10K miles

Thanks for the #'s. We only have a Ford dealership out here.......

 

Man this discussion has gotten quite comical. It's almost like those "blinker fluid" discussions. I'm poking fun so hopefully no offense it taken to my comment but you have to admit it's quite comical.

 

I went to the Toyota dealer yesterday for my free 20,000 mile oil change, and he quoted me $300 to change the transaxle fluid. I asked him why, and he told me that the procedure they follow is very complex. It involves driving the car and measuring the tranny temp to a precise point, and then using a special machine to flush out the fluid and replace a very specific level. He said that without this procedure, about half the fluid remains inside the torque converter.

He had me going up to the torque converter part. Prius doesn't have a torque converter.

I wrote to the Ultimate Authority, the Luscious Garage. They confirmed that the dealer is FoS, and tranny fluid replacement is a straight drain and fill operation, as described here. Luscious quoted $103, which is pretty darn good, considering that about half the cost is the oil.

So if your Toyota dealer quotes you $300 for this, laugh at them.

 

Rebound, do you feel comfortable identifying this dealer? So others can avoid it.

 

I would feel better telling everyone in the Bay Area to take their Prius to Luscious Garage. If you look at their Facebook page, it's obvious that these people really know what they're doing.

 

I would love to take my car to Luscious, but they are out of the way for me. I need something closer to work/home, and can work on weekends if need be.

We typically take our Toyotas to City Toyota since we have a friend who works there as a mechanic.

 

'Twasn't City Toyota. Why not ask them to quote the price of a tranny oil change, and let us know what they say?

 

Well, not to defend the dealer, since I too feel they are usually FoS.. but he MAY have been quoting you a trannie flush versus a drain-and-fill. At least that was what I was quoted on a different car.. two different options.. The flush involves a machine that does exactly that, flushes the trannie so it gets most of the old fluid out (by replacing with new fluid). The drain and fill is what most of us would be doing in the driveway.

In my case (Infiniti and Honda dealers), the price difference was mostly in the extra fluid required for the flush and then the subsequent refill, IIRC

 

The only reason for the flush though is that a torque converter-equipped transmission drains only a portion of its fluid.
Without a torque converter, a simple drain and fill essentially does it all on the Prius.
The $300 quoted probably also involved replacing a filter. On many transmissions (not sure about Toyotas) this involves removing the oil pan.
No filter in the Prius transaxle.

 

To use a transmission flush machine, like the one you linked to, you disconnect the transmission cooler lines (inlet and outlet) and attach them to the machine. The machine then pumps the clean transmission fluid in and and the dirty comes out. Then you pump the clean fluid through the transmission cooler and hook the cooler back up to the transmission.


Problem is, the Prius doesn't have a transmission cooler. So the mechanic who charges you to flush the fluid cannot flush the fluid, because are no attachment points for the transmission flush machine. If you look at most Prius maintenance websites, you'll see that brake fluid, radiator coolant and inverter coolant are pretty complicated to change, but the transmission fluid is just drain and fill.

 

That's a very interesting experience. Thank you for this!!

 

The areas with the notches are reinforced points, I would not place the stands elsewhere.

When I did my ATF last weekend, I found the job to be much easier if I lifted the Prius up fairly high - to "7 notches" on a craftsman jack stand. Most floor jacks are not able to lift the car high enough for this, so use the factory lift point to get the car up to 5 notches, then place your jack under the area where the lower control arm bolts to the subframe in order to continue the lifting process.

 

^ Another trick is to get the car up on lowish safety stands, then put a few sheets of plywood on the floor and roll the floor jack up onto them, to raise a bit higher. I have a heavier duty floor jack (3 ton, 6 ton, I forget: it can raise (unloaded) to about 21").

Basically: I can just raise the car high enough at the front to slip 6 ton jackstands under, they have a shortest height around 15.5" I think, going from memory. Makes it nice and roomy for engine oil change.

Regarding the front jack stands loc's, I just do not like those kosher jacking points: they have no flange on the edge, it's like settling the weight on a knife edge. In the back it's not so bad, much lighter, but in the front I settle on those main underbody rails, the jackstands stay much more stable when you settle the car at those points. At the rocker panel points they start doing a little dance. Don' like

 

I hate using the pinch welds for jack points, they get bent over time and if a customer doesn't understand thats where you are suposed to jack the car up they think you are obviously doing something wrong and damaging the car. Like the Critic said, I also always use the rear lower control arm bolts on pretty much any car I raise up. Hell 99% of the time thats the largest bolt on the entire car. It's a sturdy jack point thats for sure. In the rear I have a place just in and forward of the rear tires the holds a jack firmly. Hard to explain that spot though. but yeah my main point is i just never use the pinch welds. Well I take that back, the race shop I used to work at our lifts had shoes with channels cut in them that would perfectly slide around the pinch welds provided they were not bent up. But thats a lift not jack stands.

 

I changed the fluid this weekend. It isn't a procedure I'll do again. It's necessary to jack the car quite high and level. The car's rear jack point is not centered, so it's difficult to raise the car both high and level. OTOH, in a shop they just jack up the car and it's easy as pie.

My access wasn't that good and the car wasn't perfectly level, so after changing the fluid I took it into Luscious Garage to have them check the fluid level and bolt torque. He said I got it right, but I don't like doing repairs unless I'm sure it's right.

I love going to Luscious, because the mechanics are very friendly and they let you walk under the lift and talk to them as they work on your car.

I asked him how much a traction battery will cost. He said he didn't know, but I shouldn't need to worry about it until the car has 300,000 miles. That will be interesting to see.

 

Reading between the lines: it seems like you were under a car partially held up only by a hydraulic jack. Do those who care about you a favour: get a pair of safety stands for the rear. Will get the car level side-to-side as well.

 

I love those those jack stand adapters you made, very creative. I don't like those jackstands though. Twentyfive years ago I had that same combo on my Camaro. The Jack failed and the stands just tipped over, how I managed to launch myself out from under the car still amazes me to this day. Buy the largest footprint, four point stand you can buy and use it at it's lowest position. I also agree that changing the trans fluid early on is great insurance on your investment. All mechanical items have a break in period, whether it's the engine or trans, or differential. Fine particulates are captured in the fluid as the process begins, the filter doesn't always capture all these particulates which can cause excessive wear, including the bearings. Sending the fluid out is a great way to diagnose any potential problems, or as a base line for your components. Based on the comments I'm reading here, most people here are unlikely to change their fluids, let alone send them out.

 

No, I used jackstands.

 

Then you should be good for level

One extra I do, besides jackstands, is to put a section of tree stump under the car, in the vicinity I'm going to be. If the unmentionable happens, it's a little thicker than me, lol.

 

If you fill the trans until the fluid begins to run out, the level is full.

I understand that the FSM states 3.5 qt is correct, but my experience has shown that it takes closer to 4 qts on average. I too, panicked a bit when I poured in 3.75 or so and the oil had not begun to run out...but after opening the fifth bottle and pumping a bit more in, the oil certainly began to come out with great velocity.