My first ever Prius and first ever Toyota. First maintenance task: Spark plugs

Thanks for the coolant info, @edthefox5. I was all set to change it in my wife's '07 with 118k miles. It still looked nice and pink, but it was due. I happened to mention it to our mutual friend, Todd, and he said that if it still looks nice & pink, don't bother. Now you're making me have second thoughts. Or is it third thoughts, now? Now I need to run my own test. LOL! But will need to let the bank account catch its breath for a bit.

 

You think it's nice and pink. If you need convincing Take some out of the reservoir and put it in a glass in the sun and look through it and you'll see how loaded it is with aluminum. It's like anything other fluid or oil in a new car. Change it all around 10,000 miles and your good for the life of the car. It's that initial break in wear that does the most harm. Inverter coolant is cheap and easy to replace only hardship is getting to the dump bolt which is why I do the trans and the inverter fluid and the ac microbial cleaning when the car is up high in the air.

 

My personal preference: change coolant at the Toyota spec'd intervals, either miles (kms) or months, whichever comes first.

There are two separate circuits, engine and inverter, with separate radiators.

In Canada the first change interval for both is 160K km (roughly 100K miles) or 120 months, for both circuits.

In the United States the first change interval is 100K miles or 120 months for engine circuit, and 150K miles or 180 months for the inverter circuit.

I believe for all of the above intervals, subsequent changes are 80K kms (50K miles) or 60 months.

 

2 separate coolant loops. In separate cells inside one radiator.

Engine coolant standard system through top cell of rad.

Inverter coolant which is circulated through the inverter electronics heat sink then through a substantial circuit in the transmission then through the bottom cell in the rad. The Inverter coolant dump bolt is in
bottom of the trans right next to the Trans ATF dump bolt.
In the G3 they went to a separate cell for both rad & Inverter coolant. Much better cooling.
They need it becasue the mg's are much smaller and higher torque than the g2's.

Both loops in G2 use Toyota LLC Coolant. Red stuff.

ATF in G2 and G3 is not circulated for cooling into the bottom of the rad like most cars.

There is no detergents in trans fluid.

 

Look in your in your Owner's Manual regarding the coolant (you can download a pdf version from Tech Info if it's missing), and you'll see they spec a specific Toyota Coolant, and say or equivalent, as long as it's ... , and from here on they go into a lot of technical jargon, overhead my head, so I just go with the Toyota spec.

Look in the Warranty and Maintenance Booklet (same story if it's missing), the coolant change intervals are spelled out there.

I posted third gen intervals above, in post #24 (forgot where I was, lol), it might be sim though.

 

I used these pictures. Hope it helps. It wasn't perfectly clear, but not too hard to cipher out.
Toyota Prius: How to Change the Transmission/Transaxle Fluid - PriusDIY.com

 

Again transmission fluid does not have detergent in it. I know of no trans fluid that has detergent in it. Most modern trans fluid touts long life never change. Last thing you need there is detergent. I run Redline D6 pure esther base stock. No nothing in it.
Never seen new trans fluid turn black in a 1000 miles. Thats one f'ed up trans.

New crush washer is nice but the washer on the G2 trans is solid aluminum and really shows no crush. I have changed my trans fluid 3 times so far on the same washer.

 

What car turned brand new trans fluid black in few thousand miles? Never seen that. Thats a pretty worn out trans.

Bro start using the search feature with basic questions. You need alot of reading. If you need to dig into the car real deep you can rent a one or 3 day subscription to the factory service manual on toyotatechinfo.com.

Buy a sub last time I looked its like $10 a day and get your printer ready and have at it.

 

I put a level on the pinch weld running under the doors. Side to side I just assume is level: I'm on a garage slab.

Method: raise front with floor jack and settle onto jack stands. Then raise rear, going a little too far (checking with aforesead level), settle onto more jack stands.

 

Not true AT ALL. In point of fact, due to it's comparatively high detergent levels, ATF has L..O..N..G been used to free sticking hydraulic lifters in old engines. Even machinists use it for cleaning, it lubes well too!

Due to modern synthetics and material science, I do not believe the levels of detergent are nearly as high today as back in the '70s for example (Type F and Dexron come to mind ).

ATF also does a wonderful job of removing varnish deposits from the guts of the engine in the "new" car you just bought

I have ZERO data on the Toyota WS fluids, but given they are used in most Toyota products, see no reason they would be detergent free, as no other ATF is.

 

I think you might have already done most of the ones covered in this link but it's a good reference to bookmark: PriusDIY.com: Toyota Prius DIY Picture Tutorials

and good listing of hybrid trouble codes: Hybrid Vehicle ECU Diagnostic Trouble Codes

 

Given that the "transmission" in a Prius is not a transmission at all, in the traditional sense, it has no sliding gears, no clutches, no valves or control parts.... your findings are normal. The only thing the fluid does is provide lubrication and some cooling to the MG bearings and final gears.

I would not worry too much about it, at most even with the nose high, you are off maybe a cup (8oz). Total is ~4 qts, or 128oz, and you are shy of that by *maybe* 4oz.

 

Congrats on the great trip report. Don't forget that you'll need several tanks to get a real feel for your mileage because the rubber bladder in the tank makes full ups very inconsistent. Either way, though, those look like nice numbers. Also, you don't want to try to ram in extra fuel beyond the first click because it'll eventually damage the system. There are lots of threads here about that bladder.

 

You can save ~$20 by shopping around, or do a DIY thing with a wet-dry vacuum and a PCV ball valve

Either way, vacuum filling is THE best way. More and more OEMs are requiring it as a SOP.