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I will go down in Prius Trani History

Discussion in 'Prius v Technical Discussion' started by Tim Jones, Oct 31, 2019.

  1. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    Trani fluid experiments. Sunday drained fluid. Reinstalled one quart WS fluid and three quarts Walmart 10 / 30
    synthetic motor oil.
    Car running fine and gas mileage up...... currently 279 miles.... electric motor working better.
    I have been fighting a whine in the trani since I got it, with super black fluid on first fuild change (197,000) put in Toyota WS and it was louder. Been using Valvoline WS and its a bit quieter. Miles now 237,000.
    Getting 44 mpg with 10 w 30 and less noise.
    And I do have a replacement trani but wanted to play around with fluids.... Can't see any reason for trani fluid in the gearbox.... and I'm sure this has nothing to do with electrical conductivity as the fluid I drained look like glitter first time....and no shorts....yes the WS is like water........less resistance....but I have never got a consistent 44 mpg at 70 mph.
     
    #1 Tim Jones, Oct 31, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2019
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    interesting experiment, please keep us posted. we may all learn something here (y)
     
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  3. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    900 miles on trani fluid now.....still the same. mpg back to 42.
     
  4. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Keep in mind that the transmission doesn’t normally expose the fluid to voltage.

    Now, if something manages to break down the insulation on those electrical parts, all bets are off. I think that was the point of WS. Slippery enough to splash-lubricate the power split device, dense enough to provide thermal transfer, and didn’t eat the insulation on the windings.
     
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  5. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    I'm going to put the thicker redline in the new trani.....
     
  6. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    now have 3000 miles on trani.......
     
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  7. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    To paraphrase what Yogi Berra might have said about this experiment, "It'll work until it doesn't."
     
  8. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    I really need to install my new trani....... WS seems very thin for Hot Texas Summers..... but I would want it up North in the Winter time for sure.
     
  9. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Leave the 'new transmission' out of the equation, and keep on with the present experiment (y)
     
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  10. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I run Redline.

    What's thicker Redline?
     
  11. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    I haven't purchased Redline yet.....do they have a four and a six...guess I could go to the website.....
     
  12. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    D4 is thicker than D6. I have run D6 in my bought new G2 for 11 years. Works great. D6 is the closest to viscosity to WS.
    D4 is the older TV-4 fluid thats a thicker viscosity than WS.
     
  13. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    Thanks!
    My trani (247,000) is shot....loud whine at 55 to 65 mph.... I bought the car with higher miles and it had a bit of a noise... drained fluid at 197,000 and it looked like glitter in the sunlight.....very black... put in Toyota WS and it was louder...drove 500 miles changed and just as black.. then put in Valvoline Synthetic WS rated.....was a bit quieter.... changed again still black.... purchased trani (not installed yet) 60,000 miles.... bought car from neighbor....lots of highway miles but never a trani fluid change..... trani sounds about the same with Val WS Syn and 3 quarts Walmart 10w 30. I think people are wrong when they say u must use Toyota WS because of electrical conductivity......not true or trani would blow up because of metal parts.... ya maybe if wires exposed..... I'm tired just rambling now..... only reason I want to put in newer trani is for long trip I want to take.... plus now brake pump running every 15 seconds...have purchased parts from junkyard.
    Parts replaced
    Water Pump
    Inverter Repair
    New Traction Battery (newpriusbatteries.com)
    R&R EGR and Cooler (almost totally plugged) 206,000
    Trani...soon...
    and now the brake pump.... this is why I posted do not purchase higher miles Prius gen 3 unless you can do all of the work yourself and prepared to spend thousands.... I just do all of this to try and help.... especially for people on here gathering info for possible purchase...
    The car is ok but nowhere as reliable as my older (over 302,000 Camry and 430,000 previa miles) (both still in use) ECE Toyotas And I had a 85 Chevy Astro with over 400,000 miles.....starter water pump. Yes the car gets great gas miles....but I do not recommend the purchase for long term use.
    I bought the car 18 months ago in almost perfect shape for $5000. 2013 Prius v 2.
     
    #13 Tim Jones, Nov 15, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2019
  14. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Find this interesting, as this ATF oxidation level hasn't been reported before. Being 3k+ miles from the last change, and over 50k on the last three (3) ATF changes, have you thought about changing it again or at least stick a finger in the hole for a visual inspection?
     
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  15. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    Only thing I'm changing next is the trani..........
     
  16. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Agreed that the transmission is spun, but was curious if another ATF dump would still come out looking as black after 3k miles.

    Before you recycle that Tx, please dribble a bit of ATF out for the fallen homies and post a pic if possible.
     
  17. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Sounds mechanical if it were electrical the dash would be lit up with warnings of high voltage ground fault. That and the glittering metal in the oil.

    And your right there is no electrical conductivity in the trans you could run 3in1 oil in that trans it wouldn't care. It may not run great bearing wise but it would not care electrically.

    Did you ever run the vin?

    Go to toyota.com/owners and join the owners forum. It will ask you for the car's vin so have your insurance card handy. Once joined you will see all the times the car saw a authorized Toyota dealer service center and what was determined. Lots of times the car is condemned for whatever usually a bad hybrid battery and traded in for new on the spot once the owner was looking down the barrel at a hug $$$ repair. They may have seen that trans heard the whine condemned it for news trans and it was traded in on the spot and off to auction it goes.

    Its a handy place to log the maintenance you do to the car also. Everything ever done to my car is logged. Only drawback for me is once you input info the dealer see's that and will robo call you for an oil change etc lol. I bought my G2 new. Still own it.
     
    #17 edthefox5, Nov 16, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2019
  18. Gliderguy

    Gliderguy Junior Member

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    Hmmm. A little worried about my trans on a 2012 with 175,000 miles. Modulating whine loudest at 60 to 65 mph, pretty much quiet at 55 and 70. Louder after been driving a while, I suppose as the fluid warms up to operating temp the viscosity goes down. At first I thought it was a left front wheel bearing, but those I have heard going out are not so speed specific, and usually going around a curve one way shuts it up and curving the other way makes it louder. Changed ATF when I got the car about 15,000 miles ago, almost but not quite black. went to valvoline. Did a flush. filled it once, ran it for the day (about 50 miles) then drained and re-filled again. Draining the first Valvoline was still kinda dingy, but not black, wrote that off as the original fluid I did not get the first time.
    The whine has not really changed in maximum volume over the last 15,000 miles or so, still averaging 47 mpg with 80% highway driving at 65-70 mph.
    Did your whine start getting louder or start feeling it through the floorboard before you started playing with alternate fluids?
     
  19. Tim Jones

    Tim Jones Senior Member

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    Whine not as loud as it was.....but I have the same symptoms..... not really feeling anything but it totally goes away when I put it in Neutral and coast or put a load on the trani like on the interstate going over a overpass. Only does the whine when trani not loaded......but it's annoying. Feel free to ask me any other questions....

    I have 10,000 now on the fluid mix......
     
    #19 Tim Jones, Dec 9, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2019
  20. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    The issue is in the differential section I would surmise it’s not in the generation part of the trans or the car would show some dtcs.

    Run that trans Till it fails.

    Btw going around curves or turning steering making the noise different is classic wheel bearing noise not trans.

    Which side is bad? If you turn right and the noise increases it’s the drivers side bearing and vice versa.

    Determine which side is bad by measuring the heat on both sides. Use laser infra thermometer and measure rotor heat as close to hub as possible after long drive. Sometimes bad side is much hotter.
     
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