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Old 04-23-2011, 06:58 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Transmission fluid change tch

ok, nice and sunny day. had CVT WS TF changed today.

about only one word of caution:
open fill plug first. otherwise, fluid gushes out of drain plug in very uneven manner, spilling all over the place, if you do not allow air in through fill plug hole..

also, when you pop those plugs open, transmission sucks a lot of air in, and it's quite scary sound.

1. tools needed: 10mm hex head wrench. you can use socket wrench socket with it, or what i used - L shaped one; drain pan; either oil pump or long tubing with funnel that will fit in; 12mm crush washer x 2; rags and all that good stuff for cleaning. pretty basic.

2. jack car securily; level position is preferred:


for barrel chested folks - there is very little clearance down there; my hydraulic jack basically ran out of height and i still could barely fit under. there was no way to turn or even to put 2 arms underneath, to hold something

3. here's suggested set - aluminum splash pan, good drain pan, oil pump, and gloves



4. here's WS (world standard) Toyota fluid; $7.42 each, total of four needed. i, also, came up with a funnel with long tubing slid over funnel and taped in place securily



5. for jobs like this, i normally use "willie the creeper" dolly, but there was no way to use it, so old rag worked fine:



6. drain anf fill plugs are located on the driver side of powertrain, right next to catalytic converter:



those are the ones with hex holes in them, lower being drain and upper/left being fill plugs.

7. takes a lot of torque to break them loose; i used box end wrench over the long hex wrench end to create leverage; cheat pipe suitable length will work; plugs pop with loud noise - don't worry, you did not break anything; once popped, after another half turn, they can be removed with fingers:



8. i can not tell if fluid came out bad; it looked slightly darker than fresh one, but did no smell very bad or had much impurities in it:



9. secure drain plug back in place; you may want to put new 12mm crush washer on it; i have very good experience with reusing original washers maybe once, so that's what i did. copper washers are the best, they do not crack like aluminum or plastic ones.

10. now it's time to refill; i ran tubing from the top down and deep into the transmission; it went in good couple inches easy; i secured funnel to the bonnet lifter and RE-CHECKED IF IT DID NOT SLIDE OUT OF TRANSMISSION!!!



11. i poured fluid in very slowly; reason being, it's thick and can easily block tubing, air gushes out, splashes all over; also, size of my tubing almost completely plugged the fill hole, so i wanted to allow air out to avoid emboli. took only about 3 minutes for 4 cans.

12. allow extra time for most of the fluid to drain down the tubing. all 4 qrts fit in, there was only minor drippage. clean everything, reinstall fill plug, torque.

13 while you there, might be a good idea to change oil. so i did.
here's oil drain plug and filter location:





also, i had cat covered with rag while filling, so that fluid does not get into it's mesh:



overall time about an hour. messiness level, with my Silverado transmission pan removal being the messiest job i have ever done, having me all covered in ATF, and graded 10 out of ten, i'd give this one maybe 3. quite simple, just a lot of dancing around with prep work.

yes, it did start and drive thereafter. so far, i can not tell any difference. but i did not drive her much anyway.
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Old 04-23-2011, 07:25 PM   #2 (permalink)
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I did this this when I first bought the car (used). I was surprised when I heard the suction sound too? It is one of the easiest trans. fluid changes I have ever done. It is more like changing the oil in a diff. than a trans.

I was surprised how dirty the fluid was. It was brown but smelled ok. My reason for changing was reading up on it over at the Prius forum. It seems the the first batch of fluid carries a heavy metallic load and the changes after the first change show much better results in lab tests.

The bottom line is that it is so easy to change. There is no reason not to do it. I even hear the dealer charges a reasonable rate to change it for you.

I'm glad someone posted pics of the procedure. This will make some people happy. I looked high and low and could not find much info. on it. I wound up pumping the fluid into the trans. from below with a "outboard lower unit oil pump". I like the "funnel from above" method better!


Edit: The next time you drop the pan on the Chevy, go to your local auto parts store and pick up a "drain plug kit" for the pan. It makes the job much easier and a heck of a lot cleaner.
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Old 04-24-2011, 09:38 AM   #3 (permalink)
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THAT TINY ENGINE TOOK A GALLON OF OIL IN! and it is still not all the way up to the upper mark on the dipstick. closing on my Silverado V8 5.3L oil refill. i'll be darned!

no, there is no leaks underneath, i always keep cardboard under her. pristine. i just checked on oil level overnight. after 4.5 qrts yesterday it was only half-way between the marks on dipstick. i added the rest of the gallon, and it creeped to maybe another half qrt shy of upper level. 信じ難い!!
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Old 04-30-2011, 12:48 PM   #4 (permalink)
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In a few moments, I will be performing this service. Many thanks to Urkoz for the highly detailed process!
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Old 04-30-2011, 01:40 PM   #5 (permalink)
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whoo-hoo! welcome to the club! oil change same time?
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Old 04-30-2011, 02:23 PM   #6 (permalink)
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"A Picture" is worth a thousand words (literally)...
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Old 04-30-2011, 03:22 PM   #7 (permalink)
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All finished! I wish I had remembered the tip about holding the plug against the hole while draining. It gushed out and made a huge mess. I saved about 2 quarts in a sterile container to have it analyzed by Blackstone labs (For minerals content, impurities, etc). A bunch of guys at prius chat did this and it's only 25 bucks. I'll post the results once I get them

NOTES:
* I have about 56,000 miles on the car, highway miles mainly, temperate New England climate.
* Fluid came out like Urkoz described, dark red but no crud or bad smell.
* Urkoz's instructions were flawless. Everything went as he said it would.
* Engine was cool, but not cold. I got a mild hissing noise as I loosened the top bolt.
* I used a hand pump to get the fluid in from below. I do NOT recommend this unless you have to. It was very tiring and made a pretty decent mess. :/



@urkoz: No oil change today. I got that handled last week. This car only sees 0w20 mobil one.
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Old 04-30-2011, 07:01 PM   #8 (permalink)
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yeah, that fluid can squirt all over everywhere, can't it...

good job. Master Andy!

mine sees Amsoil only. so do other cars. buy it in gallons now, $7 plus a qrt. i tried mobil 1, it is nowhere close in longevity to royal purple or Amsoil.
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Old 05-01-2011, 01:38 PM   #9 (permalink)
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Hmm... I've heard a lot of nice things about Amsoil. My ideal choice would be to get a higher capacity oil filter with some premium oil in there. I would then feel comfortable with the 10000 mile intervals. For now, I just do 5000.
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Old 05-01-2011, 05:10 PM   #10 (permalink)
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have no fear, ukrkoz is here. i have at least 5 years of using Amsoil on several of our cars behind the belt. unless you have combustion chamber gasses blow-by, and then you will not be using any good oil anyway, it is at least 12-15000 miles between changes. Amsoil is warranted for 25 000 normal driving. so, i am even overdoing.

go to here:

https://encrypted.google.com/search?...&aqi=&aql=&oq=

and download free copy of Motor Oil Bible. do some reading. be well.
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Old 05-01-2011, 05:13 PM   #11 (permalink)
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now, a week later, i can safely say - my TCH does drive better. it is smoother. no improvement on mpg yet, but we still have frost on the grass in the morning.
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Old 05-01-2011, 05:17 PM   #12 (permalink)
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hey, andy, they do sell dual oil filter kits that can be retrofitted into any car. it's a screw on cap that you install instead of your regular filter, combined with a T that allows to run oil through 2 filters installed somewhere else on the car, usually, firewall.

btw, while we chatting. remember what you said about 4 mph designed error in speedometers? source, please? i don't believe this.
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Old 05-02-2011, 10:41 AM   #13 (permalink)
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For my first work commute on the new transaxle fluid, my report is as follows:
* No noticeable difference in MPG.
* No noticeable difference in ICE start/stop smoothness.
* The "whine" from the MGs seem to be noticeably quieter than before. I am very aware of the "placebo effect" and was very hesitant to come to this conclusion, but it does seem right. I will give it a few more days in case other factors may be at work. My guess is that the significantly increased viscosity of the fluid compared to old (according to fluid analysis by priuschat folks) allows the fluid to stay on the MGs longer, muffling some of the noise. When I get my own fluid analysis results back, I will know more.


PS: I just responded the the speedo discussion in the original thread.

Last edited by andym1978; 05-02-2011 at 10:49 AM. Reason: Added "speedo" discussion note.
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Old 05-02-2011, 11:06 AM   #14 (permalink)
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give it about a week. mine does drive smoother.

MGs are cooled by that fluid? For real? what is inverter coolant for then?
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Old 05-03-2011, 01:53 PM   #15 (permalink)
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I believe the inverter coolant ONLY travels through the inverter "brick". I couldn't trace the coolant hoses to the MGs, but I may have missed something.

From what I've read on Prius forums, the trans fluid is splashed all over the coils and such to remove heat.
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