Fluid Changes Cost

I saw one utube video where the mechanic says the invertor fluid has to be added in stages, to minimize air bubbles. he added fluid, turned on the ingnition to 'stir' the fluid, stopped the car, then added more fluid, stirred it again, over and over until he saw no more air bubbles. Seems this could take some time to do it this way.

 

I had the whole circuit drained, refilled and bled in 27 minutes this morning .

Not too time consuming or difficult .

 

Maybe the. video was second gen?

 

The second gen engine loop is VERY fiddly.

Glad they fixed this for the Gen3 .

 

I've not done the engine, but did replace coolant in Gen 2 and Gen 3 inverter loops. Both of those were very easy. Just let it run while it bleeds back into the reservoir and keep adding fluid as required.

 

you are correct. I went back in my youtube history, and it was a 2nd gen

 

How do you keep the ICE running? Turn on the heater full blast?

 

The inverter pump runs all the time the car is "READY." Has nothing to do with the ICE.

But, if you need to run the ICE for other reasons, there are threads here on how to put it in maintenance mode.

 

just want to chime in about the price, I had my transaxle done today for $105 out the door. About $40 for fluid, $2 for washer, $5 disposal fee and about $45 in labor at a Toyota Dealer in WA area.

As for driving experience I can't tell any difference in driving before and after, car has 250k miles.

 

I was going to say that I don't see much difference between transaxle fluid change and oil change, the charges should be pretty close. But then the flipside: maybe oil changes are loss-leaders, get you in the door and upsell?

I've DIY'd now several times now, and up here too, the cost is about $45 before sales taxes, for 4 liters of fluid and two (overpriced) washers.

PSA: I found in one publication by Toyota, an admonition to always use fluid from a freshly opened bottle. Best to just recycle that extra half-quart.

 

I think this is most likely. They do their free multipoint inspection and hope to find something to fix. The jobs take roughly the same time when you have a hoist. In fact, the transaxle is probably quicker than the oil and filter.