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2010-2015 Toyota Prius Engine and Inverter Coolant drain and refill video inside

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by NutzAboutBolts, Feb 9, 2016.

  1. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    Here you go guys, pretty simple and straight forward.

    Engine coolant drain and refill


    Inverter coolant drain and refill
     
  2. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Wow! Thanks guys! That is far easier than I thought! Great videos, and excellent narration.
     
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  3. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    Thanks! Yeah it's pretty easy.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Thanks very much! Seeing it being done is way easier to follow than a text instruction.

    You didn't bother with the engine block coolant drain bolt. A few have, and said nothing much came out. Any thoughts?
     
  5. Suprius

    Suprius Junior Member

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    Since I plan on doing both the inverter and engine at the same time. Do you recommend doing the inverter first and then engine? I figured that would probably be the best way since you won't have to heat up the engine first and wait for the coolant to cool to do the inverter after.
     
  6. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    Yeah, I never bother doing the engine block drain because it's in a hard to reach area, and also the outcome of the drain and refill would be the same. I know the civic and accord has them, but it was such a pain in the nice person to get to them and hard to break them loose, we never bother doing it. Our car still runs fine, its not like it's an important part that you must do in order for this procedure to work. It's optional.

    We did the inverter coolant first because it took less than 8-10 minutes to do it. It's real simple, the engine coolant takes around 15 minutes total to do, so whichever you want to do first is your choice. I would pick the easiest one first haha. Also to note, the inverter cooling system is a separate system from the engine cooling system, so whichever you want to do first is optional, the inverter coolant won't be hot if the engine coolant is hot.
     
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  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I've drained engine block bolts on Honda's, one just recently, and it was like hitting the jackpot, lol: a ton of coolant came out, and due to components in the way it was quite messy, a bit of mopping up required. But a few people have reported once the Prius radiator is drained, little addititional comes out of the block.
     
  8. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    lol, nice work, we tried to reach our civic and accord, we didn't have room for a breaker bar.

    As for the Prius... not too sure with that one lol.
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    For the Civic engine block drain bolt I had to take the cowl off. I happened to see a nice 1/2" ratcheting breaker bar with the head able to swivel, maybe 10 degrees either way, and also got a 1/2" socket, 24 mm. The drain bolt was actually replaced with block heater element, but same size. I found when getting at the bolt, if it hadn't been a swivel head it wouldn't have worked. Likely ratcheting was needed too, due to tight quarters. It was just luck I picked that up, Jet brand.
     
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  10. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Is the fluid the same for both engine coolant and inverted coolant?
     
  11. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    no, it's a separate system, so draining one won't drain the other. They both use super long life coolant 50/50.
     
  12. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Thank you. Yes, I understood that they are separate cooling systems. I just wanted to be sure that it's the same Toyota 50/50 coolant for both. Thank you very much.
     
  13. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    no problem :)
     
  14. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    I have just one more question: Is it necessary to jack up the car to do these? And how do you raise the car? I have a pair of ramps and a jack + jack stands.

    I'm thinking I can just drive it up the ramps and be good. Since I need to get inside the car during the process, I'm not sure about jacking the rear to level it. Does it need to be level to drain properly?

    Maybe I'll drain the inverter with the vehicle on the ramps, fill it, then drive it off the ramps to complete. Then, with the car back on the ground, I can drain the radiator, then drive up the ramps to put the plastic apron back on.
     
  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I'd just raise the front, for both, should be ok.
     
  16. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    If you watch our transmission drain and refill video for the Prius, we showed you how to Jack the car up on the front and rear. As for using the ramps, you can use it and drain and refill the inverter and engine cooling system, it doesn't need to be level to do this job. The only time you need to level the car is when doing the transmission drain and refill, so using the ramp will work on this. Also, you do need to jack up the car because you need to remove the plastic under cover to reveal the cockpeck for the radiator and the inverter bolt.
     
  17. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Done! I completed both of these yesterday. It was very easy. The hardest part was removing the big plastic apron beneath the car, and that's not very hard at all.

    When I changed the inverter coolant, I cycled the coolant pump by attaching and removing the vehicle charger.

    The directions in the videos were very clear, accurate, and thorough. Great job!
     
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  18. JBarleycorn

    JBarleycorn Junior Member

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    The video makes the inverter & engine coolant change look fairly straightforward, but is there an even easier way? Can't I just draw off the fluid that's in the reservoir and replace it once a year or so? That would have the same effect, if there is a pump circulating the fluids. It does look like there's a pump circulating the inverter fluid.

    Does anybody do it this way?
     
  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    When I did an EGR cleaning, concerned about coolant spillage, I drained a couple of liters at the radiator drain spigot. This drew the level in the engine coolant reservoir down pretty much to the bottom. I would think 2.5~3 liter drain would bring it close to the bottom. I suppose you could do that, then just pour fresh into the reservoir.

    It's fairly easy to access the radiator drain spigot, can be done without raising the car or removing any panels.

    I'd be inclined to do it in one pop, still.
     
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  20. JBarleycorn

    JBarleycorn Junior Member

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    That's what I'm talking about ... No need to burp the system if you just draw a little out the bottom and then refill the reservoir.

    I might try this next time I change the oil, just to see how it goes.
     
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