50,000 ATF miles on a Prius

[zerosoma]

Last service record indicates my Prius had its ATF fully changed roughly 48,000 miles ago.

Anyone know what a good interval on the 2005 Prius might be? I'm not too excited about doing it myself, so I'll take it to the dealership for $85.

Thanks!

 

[dwcopple]

drain and fill fella. A caveman can do it...

 

[mongo161]

I thought that all the fluids are good for a Life Time?????

 

[InhalingBullets]

The general consensus based on oil analysis has been to change it every 60k.

 

[[email protected]]

According to what Ive read on Priuschat, its pretty easy to do and the Prius enthusiast recommendation interval is 50-60k miles. I believe Toyota recommends 100k miles.

 

[randomhero439]

Drain and fill every 30k or 3 years

 

[meep]

keep in mind, the prius transmission is dirt-simple. there are no clutches, belts or chains. it's just a planetary gear set.

While I certainly support aggressive maintenance, this may be one of the few transmissions that actually could go 100k on the ATF without stressing it.

 

[Art_Vandelay]

Originally Posted By: meep
keep in mind, the prius transmission is dirt-simple. there are no clutches, belts or chains. it's just a planetary gear set.

While I certainly support aggressive maintenance, this may be one of the few transmissions that actually could go 100k on the ATF without stressing it.


Is the expected lifespan greater than a regular automatic?

 

[zerosoma]

You know what, I should have not said "ATF". This vehicle has a manual transmission. I forgot that. It looks like a pain to do, with funnels and tubes and yada yada.

I figure if I buy the OEM fluid (which is the only thing I'll use in the Toyota), it's generally $12/qt, which is about $60 for 5 quarts (Transmission holds 4.5 quarts), and plus these guys drop the pan and clean it out completely.

I'd rather not risk doing something stupid so I'll just opt to pay the fellas to do it once every 2-3 years.

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: meep
keep in mind, the prius transmission is dirt-simple. there are no clutches, belts or chains. it's just a planetary gear set.

While I certainly support aggressive maintenance, this may be one of the few transmissions that actually could go 100k on the ATF without stressing it.


I think when I checked, (it was a long time ago) the transmission fluid had only been changed once and that was at 106k. So perhaps that's not too much of a stretch to go that long without changing. The vehicle runs like a champ.

 

[NateDN10]

Originally Posted By: zerosoma
You know what, I should have not said "ATF". This vehicle has a manual transmission. I forgot that. It looks like a pain to do, with funnels and tubes and yada yada.

I figure if I buy the OEM fluid (which is the only thing I'll use in the Toyota), it's generally $12/qt, which is about $60 for 5 quarts (Transmission holds 4.5 quarts), and plus these guys drop the pan and clean it out completely.

I'd rather not risk doing something stupid so I'll just opt to pay the fellas to do it once every 2-3 years.

I was not aware they ever made a Prius with a manual transmission.

 

[InhalingBullets]

Wait a second...The gen 2 Prius ('04-'09) did not have a manual transmission available and there is no transmission pan to drop.

 

[heynow]

Originally Posted By: zerosoma
You know what, I should have not said "ATF". This vehicle has a manual transmission.

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: Christopher Hussey
Originally Posted By: zerosoma
You know what, I should have not said "ATF". This vehicle has a manual transmission.

I am confused too. I was looking for the dipstick one day and when there was none to be found a google search, with discussion results, led me to believe that this Prius has a manual transmission.

So I guess I'm not really sure now.

 

[InhalingBullets]

It has an automatic transaxle that is a bunch of planetary gears. There is no dipstick, no pan and no filter.

Sorry I have to know, its in your signature but you have never driven it?

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: InhalingBullets
It has an automatic transaxle that is a bunch of planetary gears. There is no dipstick, no pan and no filter.

Sorry I have to know, its in your signature but you have never driven it?


No, I haven't.

 

[InhalingBullets]

Zerosoma- Did you end up taking it to the Dealer? If you haven't done it yet, it is really as simple as changing the engine oil. All you need is a new washer and 4 qts of Toyota ATF WS. The ATF WS is the only fluid approved for the Prius.

 

[Raybo]

I own a Gen II 07 Prius and have replaced the transmission fluid twice in my driveway and did a Wearcheck UOA. I used Redline D6 for both changes.This trans loves Redline.

Gen II uses a chain to final drive. Gen III eliminated the chain. Like alot of transmissions it is a manual gearbox consisting of a sun planetary gear system that uses low viscosity atf trans fluid.The Gen II cvt holds 4 quarts.

Much testing and UOA's over at Priuschat has determined 30,000 mile and its time.
This cvt comes form Toy filled with WS Fluid. Redline makes a pure synthetic direct replacement for WS.
Just recently Redline now recommends D4 as a WS replacement.

I can tell you the trans is spooky quiet on D6. And has an excellent UOA after 30K on D6.

Its pretty easy to replace the fluid. Get the front up and take the fill plug off first.
Then take the dump plug out and dump the fluid.Since the fill plug is up on the side of the cvt unless you own a handpump most folks thread a long fill tube from above and stick it in the fill hole. Dump the fluid in form up top till it dribbles out. Its full!

Lots of detailed descriptions over at priuschat.com