[bwilson4web]

If this will be a 'project' car, not one critical for transportation, it could be a lot of fun. But if you already have a project car or it needs to be reliable transportation, I'd take a deep breath.

Before tacking the project, get Volume 2 and possibly Volume 1 of the NHW11 (2001-2003) maintenance manual. To replace the transaxle will require removing the engine and transaxle assembly ... pretty hefty weight. Then you'll need a place to work on it and find either a replacement tranny or try to rebuild it yourself. Art's Automtive has a write-up on rebuilding a tranny and it is not for the faint of heart. Still, it can be done.

Before cracking the tranny, I'd want to know the 'codes' and have instrumentation to read out the codes. If you can find a Graham miniscanner, you'll have enough. But ordinary scanners are lame about reading the other control computers. The ones that do tend to cost nearly as much as the car.

I would probably start by confirming the diagnosis but that is a little involved. I would suggest visiting the Yahoo Group, "Prius Technical Stuff." That is where my cohorts hang and they are mostly quiet unless someone brings a good problem. Replacing a 2003 tranny qualifies as a 'good problem.' If you visit the site, wander through the photos and files. Also search the message history.

Bob Wilson