Change transaxle fluid, engine coolant, inverter coolant & brake fluid at 30k?

I'm a relative novice with car repair, but I did the transaxle fluid change at 83K on my 2008 Prius. I bought it used but I understand from the maintenance records that it was the original fluid. The fluid was not black, but neither was it real close to the color of fresh fluid. The magnetic drain plug had some residue but nothing that looked abnormal either. I'm glad I did it just for peace of mind. Not only is it not impossible to do at home - it's really pretty simple - about as easy as changing the oil.

Here's my recipe FWIW. I wrote it for my own personal reference when I do it again. Some of the references like "red funnel" and "black tubing" probably aren't as helpful as they could be, but you get the idea. Ramps, torque wrench, floor jack and jack stands are some items that may not be readily available to the newbie, but you should be able to borrow them at least. Or buy them. Here's how I look at tool acquisition. I'm saving money by not taking it to the shop, so I can afford to buy a few tools to get the job done - tools that I will certainly use again in the future.

The car needs to be level for proper draining and filling of fluid. It may be possible to do it without jacking the car up at all, but it wouldn't be nearly as easy. Be sure to torque the drain and fill plugs to the proper spec of 29 ft-lbs. Took as long to type out the instructions as to do the work. Anal retentive much? Yeah, probably. Sorry no pics...didn't think to do it at the time. Besides there are probably other posts that have pics.

ATF Change (Every 60K miles)

Needed:
4 qts. ATF WS fluid (Toyota) - $38 dealer
2 drain/fill plug washers (aluminum) - $4 dealer
15/16 socket (for fill plug)
½” socket wrench
10mm hex (not Torx) drive (for drain plug)
3/8” Torque wrench - $22
Red funnel
4 ft black tubing
Drain pan
Floor jack
Jack stands (2)
Ramps - $45
Hand towel
Spill towel
Cardboard

1) Drive front of car onto ramps and set parking brake, put in P and turn off car and remove key
2) Jack rear of car using jack post near center rear of car
3) Place jackstands under each rear rocker panel (in front of rear wheels) and let jack down onto stands leaving jack as insurance
4) Place cardboard and spill towel under engine with drain pan (ensure drain pan drain is closed and top is removed)
5) Insert funnel into tubing and thread tubing from top of engine to vicinity of fill plug
6) Loosen fill plug first using ½” drive and 15/16 socket
7) Loosen drain plug using 10mm hex with 3/8” torque wrench (for leverage)
8) Place drain pan under drain plug and remove drain plug and allow fluid to fully drain
9) Clean drain plug. Check drain plug washer and replace if necessary
10) Replace drain plug and torque to 29 ft-lbs
11) Remove fill plug and insert tubing into fill port
12) Fill transaxle with 4 qts of ATF WS fluid
13) Check fill plug washer and replace if necessary
14) Replace fill plug and torque to 29 ft-lbs
15) Clean area of tools, etc.
16) Discard old ATF, clean spills and clean funnel, tubing and drain pan
17) Remove jackstands and jack
18) Back car off of ramps

 

Many owners, myself included, rarely buy a new car and drive it from 0 - 150k miles. It's usually sold off before that time. So why would you spend the money ($150 at dealers) on changing a lifetime fluid if you won't have the car after 150k miles?

Many used car buyers on here buy cars with over 100k miles without having any records of having the transaxle fluids changed. They normally change it when they buy it, after 100k miles. Did that stop them from buying a nicely maintained car just because the lifetime fluid hasn't been changed? NO! That doesn't seem to be a concern at all. So why is it such a big deal now to press 30k changes or your car will die prematurely?

All the failures that happen on the transaxles, there is no clear indicator pointing to the cause. Changing the fluid often "may" have reduced the frequency of failures but that hasn't been proven as some cars have over 300k miles with the original lifetime transaxle fluid. I believe it has to do with how the car is driven that causes the failures, not so much the fluid itself. But to be on the safe side...........I still change it every 60k

 

That's why I have NEVER bought a used car with more than 20k on it. My friend did ONCE, and asked me to fix it. It was too cost prohibitive.

Unfortunately, a lot of people don't even do the minimum amount of maintenance.

More is better, and it is NOT a waste of time and money.

 

Here's a video on how to change your transmission fluid.

I would hold off on the brake fluids and coolant's.

 

SOME people maybe but I certainly don't........and neither do the engineers at Toyota.

Are you going to believe the recommendations of completely unknown people on a public forum over the people who built your car ????

I changed my oil early the first time.
After that, by the book.......if even that often for some items.

Don't let the "car enthusiasts" cloud your judgment here.

 

Or you could follow ER's advice and go by the book. In which case, why would any of us be on PriusChat?

 

Thanks for that ridiculous assessment.
A LOT of things are discussed on there besides "fluid change intervals".
Some seem to be here just to make "cute" remarks.

 

Seriously, ER...I've read a lot of your posts and you seem to enjoy playing the contrarian to what might otherwise be described as sound, reasonable advice. How about lightening up and allowing others to exchange ideas without your incessant trolling?

 

There are may who just like to argue for the sake of arguing with no purpose or end.

They want their way; that's all.

If you are discussing an issue with them, and you start tio agree with their point of view, they'll switch sides just to continue arguing.

I, in particular, do NOT care about these persons, who want personal ATTENTION without a valid point to make.

 

Since everyone else has expressed their opinions...here's mine.

Oil/filter first @ 500 miles then every 5,000 miles
Transmission first @ 10,000 miles then every 3 years or 30,000 miles
Brake flush every 3 years or 30,000 miles
Coolant every 3 years or 30,000 miles
Intake and cabin filters once a year or sooner if required.

Do whatever you want with your car, but that's how I roll.

 

Like I said, "Do whatever you want with your car, but that's how I roll."

 

Our Prius is a 2012 with high milage daily driven at 2500-3000 miles a month. Its currently at almost 70k miles, haven't done anything but oil change every 10k miles, transmission drain and refill at 30k miles, and changed out 2 engine air filters and 1 cabin air filter so far. It's driving fine without any problems.

To each their own on however you want to follow your maintenance, this is just my vehicle stats so that people don't get too stuck on one maintenance interval. Like frodoz737 said "Do whatever you want with your car, but that's how I roll"

 

I understand all your change intervals but one, why are you suggesting changing the coolant at 30,000 miles? Does coolant break down at 30,000 miles?

 

Thanks, Frodoz...just curious why the 500 mi. oil change? Is it simply an early health check?

 

Concur.
There are a lot of folks who swear by 30,000 mile periodicity for the transaxle, but there are many more people who go 100,000 miles without loosening the T/A drain.
Since there are not a lot of Priuses stacked up in dealer parking lots waiting for new transaxles, I'm going to take a wild guess that Toyota is right about the service intervals for their cars.
Besides......if you've been lurking on this forum for more than 10-minutes you might have read more than a few stories about maintenance gone bad at the dealership.

Your car
Your call.

There is one caveat.
If my Prius were MY Prius instead of a work car, I would DIY my transaxle fluid change sometime between 60K and 75K, probably leaning more towards 75K. Be sure and use the OEM fluid for peace of mind if nothing else.
There's no combustion that takes place in the Transaxle, and it's pretty much a sealed unit so no dirt can really get in there except from the factory-----and you have an OEM warranty to cover you for that.
I've been in the Prius community for only 5 years, but I still haven't seen many (legitimate) transaxle related failures and conversations with our fleet managers and OEM wrenches lead me to believe that they simply do not fail very often without some outside help (towing, collisions, attempted maintenance by underqualified persons, etc....)