Prius 2Gen Atf Oil Change

[Dinushka]

I have a 2008 prius I need to change me ATF fluid my local dealer said once u do the oil change the car should be calibrated once the oil is changed is that true ? And is it a must

[Devon Aygo]

Looking a the oil change procedure there is no recalibration involved, the only requirement is that you use ATF WS which is a bit of a specialist oil, DO NOT USE STANDARD ATF III or I-V.

[Dinushka]

Sure thanks a lot for the advice I'll be able to do the oil change at home it self .

[Grumpy Cabbie]

There are full instructions including photos on the Priuschat forum.

Toyota say its 'sealed for life' but they don't elaborate on what life is? Life of the car or life of the transmission or 100,000 miles.

If you're a light use driver it's probably not important but if the car is high mileage (100,000+) then it might be worth considering. But as Devon Aygo said. Is is VERY important you use the correct fluid. It's about £50. The Prius transmission has electric motors inside so is nothing like a traditional automatic.

[LeeroyJones87]

Hi,

Big WARNING here! Do not attempt to change prius/ hybrid aft fluid.

As it says, it is sealed for life and that's what they mean. It very dangerous to attempt to do anything such as this on a PRIUS/HYBRID.

As a tech, i have seen a 240K prius mk1 for regular service and it has never had a replacement gearbox oil change.

Please note as a warning to everyone with a hybrid/prius, don't try this!

Hope this helps

[Devon Aygo]

Hi,

Big WARNING here! Do not attempt to change prius/ hybrid aft fluid.

As it says, it is sealed for life and that's what they mean. It very dangerous to attempt to do anything such as this on a PRIUS/HYBRID.

As a tech, i have seen a 240K prius mk1 for regular service and it has never had a replacement gearbox oil change.

Please note as a warning to everyone with a hybrid/prius, don't try this!

Hope this helps

Think you need to qualify your statement that this is dangerous, the technical instructions published on Techdoc 1 and GT3 includes nothing unusual/dangerous in replacing the transmission oil.

[LeeroyJones87]

Hi again,

Anybody who is not a qualified technician shouldn't be touching any of the hybrid system, including the CVT box. Its not like a AT box as it works and is designed totally differently.

As i said before there is no need to change the CVT fluid in any hybrid Toyota vehicle.

And again in the 8 years of working on Toyotas Hybrids, i have never HAD to change the CVT oil on this type of car.

It is best left as is in my opinion.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

You say it is best left, but you also say you've never changed it either. How do you know it's best left? It might be like black tar or water in there, or be totally pristine. But who knows.

There are reports on the US Prius forum of the transmission oil being totally useless and worn out at near 100,000 miles. Now that won't be a problem for someone doing average miles and the car will probably be scrapped long before any issues in the transmission occur.

But what if you want to do 200k miles in your car? The oil is useless at 100k or so. Do you just leave it in and pay £5,000 for a new transmission at 130k miles? Or do you drop the oil at 100k miles and change it every 50k for £50 a time?

If Toyota offer a 150k mile warranty on the transmission, then I'd never change the transmission oil. They don't.

[kithmo]

I'm on the fence with this as to whether it should be done.

On one hand the Prius ATF fluid doesn't get the hammer that a normal auto transmission gets with brake bands etc that can contaminate the fluid, its lubricating qualities would far outlast a conventional auto in terms of mileage and the box is sealed so no external contaminants can enter except via opening the drain and fill plugs.

On the other hand it's a very easy DIY job to change it and proving care is taken to not contaminate the box when filling, it can give peace of mind for £50.

I personally won't be changing mine, as I only do 6k miles a year so it will take me 17 years to reach 100k and I can't see me keeping any car for 17 years, plus the fact that I'm a lazy sod and can't be bothered.

[johalareewi]

When I asked Snows about the transmission oil they said that it is sealed for life but also said part of the service on the gen3 prius was to check the transmission oil. I did ask how they did that if the system was sealed, and what were they checking for, and what would they do if the check failed, but they didn't know. There was nothing in their gen3 information other than to check the oil (this was back when they were using the gen2 checklist to service a gen3).

[LeeroyJones87]

Hi all,

To Grumpy Cabbie, in my personal experience I have seen many prius (or priuses, lol) that have done well over 140,000 miles and they drive like brand new, especially the drive of the hybrid drive train. I have also seen prius with more mileage and age and these too drive like new. So in my opinion, I wouldn't touch the cvt fluid.

To johalareewi, I think someone at snows has made a mistake. All 3 generations of prius have never had gearbox oil change schedules as they have all been sealed for life boxes.

In fact the oil that the cvt runs in should get thicker with time, slightly, as this will counteract the transmission getting 'looser' with time.

Hope this helps