I've just rolled over 23,000 miles on 07 prius and not looking forward to 1st visit for scheduled maintenance. I have been changing oil myself. My concerns are what to expect as most of my experience with dealer repairs are expensive and they tend to 'cause problems' more so than fixing or preventing them. Sad to say its like 'rolling the dice'. Like to hear from others about this. Thanks ....

 

I'd bought my 03 Prius with 49,000 miles. With over 109,000 miles, I'm into an older car maintenance cycle. But I would like to make one suggestion: have the transaxle oil changed early.

The transaxle oil, Type WS, appears to last 60,000 miles but we have found from some very early changes, that initial wear material and some case sealant leaching loads the initial transaxle oil. Current thinking is the initial transaxle oil should be changed between 5-10,000 miles and then follow a 60,000 mile change interval. The initial wear material and case leached silicon does no good and should be dumped early.

If you want confirmation, I would recommend provide a clean, dry water bottle to get a sample. You don't have to send the sample off for testing but if you don't capture the sample, testing won't be an option. Transaxle oil testing costs about $20 but it isn't for everyone.

Bob Wilson

 

Hi Bob; I live in Western Mohave County Arizona, where the temps are hotter, 110-115 in the hot part of summer, the area is prone to lots of dust, the air is considerably drier.
I am thinking this may be a good suggestion for me as well. Your thoughts?

Thanks For Always Looking Out For Us, Robert

Sorry, But I Forgot to mention my Prius is a 2008 Touring Model with only 12,000 miles so far.

 

Yes and in your case but we have several points of view:

• Si from sealant - we know this to be the case. This makes estimation of possible dirt/grit contamination difficult to quantify. This was confirmed by a static test, oil on sealant for 6+ months and one early, 5k mile test.
• Si from dirt/grit - I have noticed a pattern of higher levels of Si and Al levels from dusty areas like Texas and Utah. This suggests but does not confirm a problem because we don't have a quantitative way to remove the sealant levels from the test results.

My recommendation is get the oil changed and keep a sample. You don't have to send the sample for $20 testing but without capture, that option is lost. Then go for a suitably long interval, up to 60k miles, before the next chage and sample.

I have verified that taking a small sample from the filler port gives similar numbers to a bottom sample. When I say similar, it looks like some of the 'additive' elements are off. This makes sense if they tend to concentrate in the sludge at the bottom.

Bob Wilson