Prius Forum .net

The dealer tells me that my 2004 Prius with 148K km has a failed transaxle bearing. This may or may not caused or be contributed to by the dealer’s failure to change the Transaxle fluid at 96K km. I’m wondering how rare an occurrence this is. Do any of you have any details of a Gen 2 transaxle failure...for this or any other reason..??

Hi and welcome to the site. I have not heard of a transaxle bearing failure before although I'm not a great expert, I've only had my Prius just about 2 years now.

Did you buy the car new? What maintenance and repair work was done up to this point? It's really hard to say what caused it, as I said I haven't heard of other cases so this is not a widespread problem. Did you ask them to change the transaxle fluid @ 96K?

Good luck and keep us posted!

My impression is that it’s a rare occurrence in Gen 2 cars. As such, I’m told, it’s possible that Toyota may pick up part or all of the tab even though it’s post warranty. It’s been dealer maintained since new but the fluid change was never done. The symptoms are a loud howl on acceleration and a deep growl on deceleration in addition to the assortment of warning lights on the dashboard. The diagnostic machine returns failure codes indicating a failed heat sensor in MG1 but of course there’s no failure code for the bad bearing. Because the sensor is unavailable as a separate part, the only cure is to replace the whole transaxle at a cost of $5500. The dealer has said only that because the failure is an electrical component, the unchanged fluid has nothing to do with it. He has this far ignored the bad bearing which is the real reason the car’s out of service. This has gone on since Feb 5 and I’m preparing an appeal to Toyota Customer Service or to a Zone Manager. I’d sure appreciate the advice of anyone who’s already gone through this routine with Toyota. I'm hoping to drive this car until they get their plug-in version on the market in Canada.

My Prius only has 32,000 km so I haven't had any out-of-warranty experiences although I have heard of other's issues. I think the biggest thing working against you here is the age and mileage of your car. The mileage is "up there", 148,000 km and the car is 6 years old, long beyond the standard warranty period. If you had an extended warranty that may help but I suspect that given the age/mileage they will not do much (if any) goodwill. I have heard of cases of Toyota covering like 1/2 the bill, but that's in cases where a person is just beyond the warranty period.

You are on the right track though, if you're not happy with the dealer's response then escalate. Keep it up until you talk to someone higher up the food chain

Good luck and keep us posted.

I too am waiting for a plug-in hybrid Prius (PHEV) version before I buy another one. The 2010 is nice but there's not enough "new" stuff to make it worthwhile to spend the cash on the newer vehicle. Too bad the Lexus "version" of the Prius only gets 50 mpg (Imp) as I was thinking of upgrading to it. What would you rather take? 71mpg with a current Prius or 50 mpg with a "better" Lexus? Easy decision...

My transaxle is failing at 102K miles. The sound is quite accurately described by earlier posts. I was told $5500 to replace, and there was NO OFFER to cover any portion of the bill. The comments about the lack of a transaxle fluid change as part of the maintenance plan are interesting. If routine maintenance does not include changing the transaxle fluid, I (as a Mechanical Engineer) would have to say that's an error. It's really common sense, circulating the same lubricating fluid through mechanically wearing parts indefinitely will speed their failure. I've only had toyota maintenance, and on schedule. I never really worried about second guessing the mainenance plan from Toyota. I guess I need to take a second look and ask some more questions.

My 2004 Prius ran 91K miles without a transaxle fluid or coolant change. Neither the dealer, who failed to perform the service, nor Toyota Customer Service were helpful. This was in British Columbia, Feb, 2010.
The failure codes were P0A2B/248 and P0A2B/250 – failed heat sensor in M1 - but it produced all the sound effects of a failed bearing. Neither the dealer nor Toyota Customer Service offered any help.
I’ve since replaced the transaxle with a low-mileage used one and am back on the road.
I had a fluid analysis and am surprised by some of the numbers. Makes me think the transaxle should be flushed and changed after a short break-in period – maybe 6K or 8K. Silicon level suggests residue from casting. Results are:
Na 4
K 1
Si 236
Al 210
Fe 383
Cr 4
Pb 2
Cu 37
Sn 6
Ni 15
Ag <0
Ti 0.44
V 1
Zn 20
Ca 131
Mg 5
Ba 23
B 51
Mo 0
P 304.6
LUBE TESTS
OXI 57
V100 4.9
V40 24.8
W N
ISO 23/15
I'd be interested in seeing the results of other fluid alalyses from failed transaxles.
Meanwhile, I've got the old one if anyone wants it bad enough to pay the freight on it.