Engine Water Pump Failure

What's the "easy way" to bleed the cooling system?

 

Did the tech use an airlift?

I've seen prices paid for the job posted here for anywhere between $320 and $700. Don't forget that it takes 2 gallons of Superexpensive Long Life Coolant as well. It ought to be $400 or less, though.

There is some comfort: There was a part number change for 2009, which implies an updated/improved design. 2 fas 4 u, who drives the 2009 car with 360,000 miles and counting, has the original engine water pump, as far as I know. If you did plugs and PCV for your friend (having done trans fluid and IC pump recall and 12V and ???), then the car should be good for at least another 60,000 miles on just oil and filter changes and tires. CARB covers the hybrid battery to 150K, so no worries there.

EDIT: I don't know if you have cleaned the MAF and throttle plate, but those are the only other maintenance items that I can think of for a car of that age/mileage.

 

I bought the engine pump for about $40 from rockauto. Invoice below



I plan to put in a new thermostat and pump when it is time to exchange coolant.

 

That's actually perfect. It takes about an hour to do all four jobs, while each on its own is about 20-30 minutes. Evaluate the situation once you have the air intake removed and the wiring harness loose as to whether or not you can get the PCV out without taking apart the cowl.

 

Thanks Critic! Now I am itching to go try the spill-free funnel and vacuum line technique!

 

I also bought that funnel based on an earlier PriusChat recommendation. My 2004 is due for another engine coolant change in 30K miles so we'll see how much difference the funnel makes then.

 

I'm being a bit dense this morning. How does the funnel work ? Or maybe a better question -- where is the vacuum coming from ?

Addendum:
This explanation is courtesy of an Amazon review:

Correct me if I wrong, this will work fine if a bubble is not stuck in the plumbing.

 

1. One benefit of the funnel is that it allows you to store fluid within the funnel at a higher level than the radiator cap opening, thus providing some fluid pressure.

2. By connecting a hose from the bleeder vent (which needs an Allen wrench, 6 mm IIRC, to open the valve) on top of the radiator to the funnel, that will help to get rid of air within the radiator without wasting coolant.

3. Neither the funnel nor the hose will fill the coolant heat recovery tank, so for that purpose you need to use either the Toyota diagnostic laptop to run the CHRS pump or use my workaround which involves shorting the CHRS relay switched terminals to manually run the pump.

4. My guess is that The Critic's service tech did not drain and refill the CHRS canister as part of the repair. If you only have to worry about the engine, the heater core and the radiator, then the drain and refill is like any other car.

 

Patrick,

Where does the hose from the bleeder vent attach to the funnel? I did not see a connection point on the funnel in the link that The Critic posted.

Thanks,

Dwight

 

If I understand it correctly then the hose is to be positioned such that the coolant shooting out of the bleeder vent can be collected back into the funnel via the hose, as opposed to spraying all over the places. It probably should not be submerged below the surface of the coolant stored in the funnel.

 

If you just open the engine block and radiator drains, then you'll probably drain only around 1/3 of the coolant.

The coolant in that canister amounts to ~1/3 of the total coolant in the engine coolant system. Based upon my experience, another 1/3 probably won't drain out anyway because it remains in the plumbing leading to the cabin heater loop. Typically I can get 6 US quarts of used coolant out after opening all three drains, while the rated capacity is around 9 US quarts.

Considering that the first scheduled change is at 100K miles (with subsequent changes at 50K mile intervals) then all drains should be opened to get rid of as much old fluid as possible.

As a practical matter, I have found that if I open the CHRS canister drain first, most of the fluid will exit via that route. Then when the radiator and engine block drains are opened, only a tiny amount of additional coolant will come out.

 

Doesn't submerging add some back pressure to make the air less easy to come out? I am confused as usual.

 

Yes. Pressure at the bleed valve will be developed to the extent that the fluid level in the funnel is above the bleed valve.

I don't think it is necessary for the hose to be submerged. The only reason for the hose is to avoid spilling coolant on the driveway. You could just open the valve without the hose and let SLLC spill out. However at $20+ per gallon this might be wasteful and also poisonous to local fauna that might be around.