Hi all, My Gen 3 Prius is has done some high mileage - 600k km. I requested an ATF change at my local mechanic recently, I assumed they knew what they were doing but they had put in Valvoline Maxlife ATF in there and only found out once it has been done. It drives fine in fact probably better than what it was, but my question is should I change this back to Toyota ATF? For future ATF change would it be safe to drain and fill with Toyota or keep using valvoline now that it is in the system?
You're probably ok, but your mechanic charges people lots of money to cover the cost of mistakes like this and they should do it over again with the right fluid. Just find proof in the documentation that the trans fluid used is not for use in transmissions that contain electric motors and show it to 'em. Most everyone on here will recommend using Toyota fluid...
I believe the fluid that you put in is not suitable for locations where electricity is I guess so you kind of need to get that fluid out of their pronto because apparently it is not good for things electrical windings whatever what you're inside the transmission because of motor generators apparently they say this transmission fluid that doesn't meet these standards can eat up electronics apparently from what I understand it may take a long time so if you're not going to be in the car very long you might not care but generally speaking yeah I don't think I would want to leave regular non-approved transmission fluid for electronic transmissions in the vehicle personally My vehicle stay with me to $600,000 so I wouldn't be doing that other people may not give a crap
Well if you didn't tell your mechanic to ONLY use Toyota ATF WS; they did do the job and it looks like it's compatible. US_Val_MLMultiVehicle_ATF_EN.pdf - Docusign CLM IMHO; I would only use Toyota ATF WS; because multivehicle fluids needs to make compromises to accommodate and cover all those other vehicles - so your not getting something specifically made for that transmission. I wouldn't be too concerned with lubricity, since this is mostly planetary gear driven, but the electrical insulation breakdown within would be questionable. I would switch back to Toyota ATF WS; because we know that formulation works..... Hope this helps....
Thanks all for your reply, I didn’t think twice to question the mechanic as he has serviced a good number of Priuses and hybrids. But I will probably change it myself in a few months time as I don’t have the capacity to do this myself atm. Hopefully no damage
I didn't look it up so if it has the stuff on the API label that's specific to running with electricity or whatever the deal is with that API number then you should be good I have two cars heading to 400,000 right now and have had the Castrol brand in for $100,000 miles at least something like that and my gold car that's my service vehicle has had the same Castrol fluid in it now for over 150 and still running strong as the day is long It is just started a little head gasket seepage that'll be dealt with next week other than that runs great I don't know what happened to the head gasket it's never overheated nothing's ever been overextended oh well The first one NZ I have seen personally with head gasket seepage.
Valvoline Maxlife ATF is supposed to be WS (world standard??) compliant and it's fully synthetic AFAIK. Would I use it? No Would I hire somebody to replace it? No - because you're doubling the risk of somebody pooching the job for minimal gain. It's a risk assessment thing - but I'm just some internet rando and I have no skin in this. Finding out whether or not Valvoline Maxlife is OK for vehicles with stator windings would NOW be YOUR job, but I did just see where the mothership uses ATF WS on the Googles and I also saw in two places where the cheaper Valvoline stuff is WS compliant. Toyota considers their [sic] 'transmission fluid' to be a 'lifetime' fluid, meaning it lasts for the life of the unit or until the power-split device (that's what they call their "transmissions") does a pretty good imitation of a Nissan CVT.
Hi ETC, I’ll be changing it in a few months time anyway. Valvoline was not my first choice, I do find it a bit sad learning more and more that if you want it done right, better do it yourself in todays standard.
And lifetime for Toyota 2009 moving forward is about $100,000 miles 150 you better be looking at getting odd the car or have quite expenses to keep it up whatever makes you happy The stuff that I've taken out at 70 and 120,000 mi and cars that I buy is very ugly I generally run some cleaner through it while I have it up try to get any of the nastiness out and then I put back in whatever it is cast stroller Valvoline or what have you It says the Toyota standard right on it and then it covers the Prius standard and that's that lifetime fluid yeah sure for someone else's lifetime I'm heading to 600,000 and everything I drive so I'm quadrupled their lifetime standard so there's always that
Yup tombukt2, agreed there’s no such thing as lifetime fluid. Will be doing my own ATF changes from now on, just hope draining and refill again doesn’t hurt anything considering the mileage of my car.
Toyota says in owners manuals, to only use Toyota ATF WS, and that anything else may damage the transaxle. I would ask him to do a triple drain and fill with the correct fluid. You might ask to see his receipt, for 12 quarts of ATF WS, and a couple of the fill/drain bolt washers. for the first two, just using 3 quarts per would suffice, with a drive long way ‘round the block before the next. If he refuses it’s not worth chasing, get someone else on it, or DIY, and move on. Leave a “review”. how much did he charge for this? Attached is pdf excerpt Owners Manual, the page with the ATF WS spec, plus pdf excerpt from Repair Manual, for the transaxle fluid change.
Seeing DIY is likely where you’re going: just two drain and fills would flush quite well; each drain is roughly 90%. Again, 3 quarts would do for the first refill, and filling till it comes back out (with car level) for the final fill, it’ll take about 3.5. I should check that 90%, basically “drained” is about 3.5, and divide that by full system capacity, from owners manual.
Hi Mendel, Many thanks for your helpful reply, I had other work done to it but just for the ATF with labour converted to USD its about $110 USD for the change (i'm in Australia). I'll take your advice on double drain and refill as i'll be doing DIY from now on to not have these things happen again
There’s a link in my signature with transaxle fluid change tips. (On a phone turn it landscape to see signatures)
I would not wait. You have two high voltage motors covered with that oil. If it causes insulation damage you are stranded, towing the car and replacing a very expensive transaxle. It will run great until the damage is done. The correct Valvoline oil is Valvoline Full Synthetic Hybrid Automatic Transmission Fluid. "Developed for the needs of a hybrid transmission, Valvoline Hybrid Vehicle Full Synthetic ATF has Copper Care Technology™ that helps prevent corrosion, protect electrical systems, and withstands the higher thermal loads while still preventing wear."
