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Transmission Replacement for 07 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by jarhtmd, Jun 21, 2009.

  1. jarhtmd

    jarhtmd Junior Member

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    My son has been told (by Atlanta, GA dealer) that the transmission in his 2007 Prius (112,000 about 26 months old) needs replacing for about $5,000. Is that a reasonable price? Can a "regular" transmission shop fix a Prius or should he rely on notoriously expensive dealers? Dealer mentioned "talking to the manager" about discounting the price after my son mentioned getting other estimates.

    Dealer mentioned T-SB0306-08 (Oct 3,2008), but I can't find any info it.

    We've both been happy with our Priuses until this. I haven't heard of this being a common problem.
     
    #1 jarhtmd, Jun 21, 2009
  2. brick

    brick Active Member

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    Wow. This is news to me. The bit about "the transaxle assembly has been improved to address this condition" is particularly interesting.
     
    #2 brick, Jun 21, 2009
  3. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    so there is a X set off transaxle assembly that have a fault..
     
    #3 Flying White Dutchman, Jun 21, 2009
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    $5K is a very reasonable price for getting a new transaxle installed at a Toyota dealer. You might check with your independent transmission shop to see whether it is willing to install a used transaxle from a salvage vehicle; that might save you considerable $$$.

    DTC P3009 means a high voltage leak. MG2 or MG1 has a voltage leak to ground. This can be verified by removing the inverter cables to the transaxle and using a megger to verify that less-than-infinite resistance exists from the terminals to ground.
     
    #4 Patrick Wong, Jun 21, 2009
  5. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    First, Contact Toyota, they have given breaks to owners before in cases like these before.

    Second, has the transmission fluid ever been drained and refilled in your son's Prius? When you have it repaired, please save a few ounces of the used ATF in a clean poly bottle so that it can be sent to a lab for testing. Some technically minded Prius owners have developed laboratory data suggesting that 2004+ Prius ATF (Type WS) be replaced every 60,000 miles to extend the life of the transmission.

    JeffD
     
    #5 jdenenberg, Jun 22, 2009
  6. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Did the owner ever replace the transmission fluid with something other than the correct Toyota fluid? Other fluids are not known to be compatible with the high-voltage windings over the long term.

    One thing more annoying than replacing a transmission is replacing it twice. I'd use a dealer for this.

    JeffD, I though those data indicated a need for earlier fluid replacement based on the presence of mechanical wear products? whereas this is apparently a presumably unrelated electrical problem.
     
    #6 richard schumacher, Jun 22, 2009
  7. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    Richard,

    The metallic load that builds up in the ATF over time is a suspect here as the MG windings are exposed to the ATF. Some possibilities are:

    1. A decrease in ATF electrical insulation properties.
    2. A source of winding insulation wear.
    3. Possible chemical interactions over time.
    That's why I have put in new ATF twice (60k and 120k miles) so far in my 2004 Prius. The used ATF was quite loaded with metallic particles at 60k (perhaps a little earlier first ATF exchange is justified), but was much better at 120k (The gear teeth are smoother after break-in so fewer wear particles).

    JeffD
     
    #7 jdenenberg, Jun 23, 2009
  8. GasSaver1

    GasSaver1 Member

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    what were the symptoms leading up to this problem? lights on the dash? strange noises? complete power failure?
     
    #8 GasSaver1, Jul 13, 2009
  9. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    Thanks for digging up the info. :) Glad that I got a 09 but only time will tell if the "improvement" really works or not. ;)
     
    #9 2009Prius, Jul 13, 2009
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