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Weird incident this morning

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by PriusGuy32, Mar 24, 2014.

  1. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    "I thought I was fine using generic ATF from the gas station on the corner:"

    I had no idea that it was possible to buy ATF that listed no claims as to whether it was supposed to be Dexron, Mercon, or whatever - not to mention the Toyota formulations of T-IV and WS. That stuff must be nasty.
     
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  2. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

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    :LOL:
    Hahaha!! True story!

    Another true story, I bought a 2004 Sebring Touring brand new in Feb 2004. Less than 10 months later, I traded it in. The transmission would bang into gear, and it took the dealer 4 times until they just said ... screw it, and rebuilt it. I was so irritated, I traded it and took a huge hit, carried over a bunch of negative equity. To this day, I dont regret that bad financial decision because even with 4,000 miles on the odometer, that car was nothing but a bag of problems!
     
  3. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

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    Yeah, that City Star place was just shut down by the Attorney General in my state...lol They were responsible for a bunch of seized motors and blown transmissions because the fluids they were selling at gas stations/dollar stores apparently werent really even close to lubricating oil quality :eek:

    MDARD - State Dept. of Agriculture and Rural Development Issues Consumer Advisory for all Motor Oil and Transmission Fluid Sold by City Petroleum and Star Petroleum

    AG Bill Schuette issues charges against four Wayne County men for selling mislabeled motor oil | MLive.com
     
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  4. MTL_hihy

    MTL_hihy Active Member

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    I used to work as an ASE mechanic (rebuilding engines, transmissions, etc) most working on imports (esp Toyota, Honda, Nissan) , but we did work on domestics too if our regular customers had them. I've put in countless transmissions in Dodge and Chrysler vehicles with crazy low mileage on them. I remember one guy insisting on using boneyard trannys to repair his Caravan......I installed 4 of them before he agreed with us that it was a bad idea and let us install a rebuilt one. I'm sure quality has improved since then though. ;)
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    In the distant past, I owned a 2002 Ford Taurus which needed the transaxle to be rebuilt twice while under warranty. I got rid of the car after the second time, not wanting to be stuck with the bill post-warranty.
     
  6. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

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    By the way, heres an interesting read on that City Star ATF fluid I joked about using... in Michigan, the AG issued a stop-sale and I think the owners were jailed. Anyways...

    Petroleum Quality Institute of America

    CONSUMER ALERT: The results of the tests conducted on this sample show a product that does not meet any definition of Automatic Transmission Fluid. The very low viscosity, lack of additives, and high silicon level indicate this product may cause damage to automatic transmissions.

    And now their 5w-30 "motor oil"....

    Petroleum Quality Institute of America

    CONSUMER ALERT:The label on this product states it is an "SAE 5W30" motor oil. Test results show this product is not a SAE 5W-30, and does not meet any recognized specifications for a motor oil. The viscosity for this oil is 74% below where it should be for a SAE 5W-30.


    Further, this product is labeled as meeting API SA which is an obsolete specification. The API cautions this specification "Contains no additives. Not suitable for use in gasoline-powered automotive engines built after 1930. Use in more modern engines may cause unsatisfactory performance or equipment harm.


    :eek:
     
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