Toyota Aqua 2016 Problems & Solutions

This should have zero impact on engine longevity. However you may notice a slight increase in fuel efficiency with the 5W-30. In the USA they tell us to use 0W-20 in these engines, and that gives us even better fuel efficiency.

That's right, lots of these have run an entire natural car's lifetime on the original trans lube without a problem. This is because the Prius transaxle is fundamentally different from most other auto transmissions: there are no friction parts. No clutches, no bands or drums. The fluid is never pressurized to transmit power, nor is it used as hydraulic media for a valve body or anything.

So there's no source of particulate contamination, less heat stress and a fundamentally easier job to do. That's why the fluid can last so long.

It's literally just a few permanently-meshed gears splashing around next to a couple big electric motors inside a metal box. Not much different than a simple differential gear as you'd have in the rear axle of a truck, and those go a long time without oil changes.

The presence of those electric motors is the special bit- the oil helps keep them cool, and the type of oil is important- you don't want one that could dissolve the coatings on the motor windings, for example. For this reason I suggest using only Toyota WS fluid if you do choose to refresh yours.

All the EGR stuff is underhood, sort of wrapped around the top of the engine.

You were probably looking at either the catalytic converter or the exhaust heat recovery system. Those include thin steel heat shields which tend to get rattly as they age and naturally deteriorate from heat, stone chips & weather. They can be tightened, replaced or removed, depending on your circumstances and preference.

 

There is a moving part inside there, a valve that opens and closes to change flow. I don't know if it is repairable or if you need to replace the entire unit.

I wish you luck!

 

Wish I could tell you. I haven't heard of one of these going bad in a c/Aqua yet.

There's always the factory service manual...

 

This diagram shows the two big assemblies of the braking system of the U.S. 3rd generation liftback Prius.

Not an Aqua/Prius c, but I understand the Aqua has the same two assemblies in the same roles and positions. Not identical parts- they are tuned for vehicle weight, wheel size and (probably) other factors too.

The upper unit is what does the actual braking work, whether driven by your foot or power assist.

The lower unit accumulates pressure for future power assist and releases it to the upper unit as commanded. One of those cylindrical cans is an electric pump that stores pressure in the cylinder next to it. That's the motor you hear when you open the door in the morning.

It is not clear to me whether the leak you are experiencing is within the accumulator, or if it is delivering its pressure appropriately to the upper (booster) assembly and then finding a leak within that unit.

Sorry I'm not much more help on this, I wish you luck!

 

These components have been failing in US 3rd generation cars. It may be worth some time reading those threads. It is worth pointing out that there are at least two common issues surrounding this system, with different consequences and repair actions. Assumptions can be expensive.

 

Replace the brake booster assembly, that is where the leak issue is. On my Prius C i replaced the brake pump assembly with a new one, but left the original brake booster, and the leak was still happening. The reason why Toyota recommends replacing both is that, if the car has been running with that issue for a while, the pump is already damaged because of the constant on / off cycle to keep up the pressure.

 

Edit: Never mind.. was referring to older models.