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stuck 2 wire connector to coolant storage/drain for drain/refill

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by thomassster, Feb 13, 2016.

  1. thomassster

    thomassster Member

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    i have a 2007 prius and this is my first time trying to do a coolant drain/refill. I'm at the point where I have access to the coolant drain. I'm trying to remove that 2-wire connector that is next to the drain, but I can't seem to remove it. What is the trick to removing it?
     
  2. Dion Kraft

    Dion Kraft Member

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    USUALLY you have to squeeze a small tab on it to release but can you upload and post a close PIC of it?
     
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  3. thomassster

    thomassster Member

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    Just did what you said. I pushed the tabs and it loosened. Thank you very much.
     
  4. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    Often those plugs are the harder part of working on modern cars. Last valve job I did I had to figure out how to unplug about ten connectors, all different, and it took about ten minutes, often a paperclip or tiny screwdriver, and a third hand for each. The actual wrench work took less time than that.
     
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  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Why on you trying to remove the water temp sensor?
     
  6. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    He pulled the plug for the CHRS pump motor, next to the coolant drain. The instructions I followed in my Bentley book had me do that, too.
     
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I do not know why that would be necessary. What does Bentley say about the procedure to drain and fill the CHRS canister?
     
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  8. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    I don't know why, either, but it looked official so I followed the step. Much of Bentley's detailed instruction, what little there is, seems to exactly follow Toyota's procedures. I assumed it had something to do with keeping the OBD system happier during the procedure. Maybe it returns the three way valve to a certain position.

    I'm not sure I understand the question, and right now the book is loaned out anyway. Is there a need to drain and fill only the canister, without draining and filling the whole system?
     
  9. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The Toyota service procedure includes a step to connect the CHRS pump connector. However it does not include a prior step to disconnect that connector. It also uses Techstream to run the CHRS pump motor.

    As a practical matter, I see no reason to disconnect the pump connector as long as the car is IG-OFF when you are draining the engine coolant.
     
  10. thomassster

    thomassster Member

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    I saw the instructions on the YouTube video from JasonReed. He stated to remove that connector. I didn't question whether it was needed but I figured it didn't hurt to do it. I see now that removing that connector probably wasn't needed.
     
  11. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    Well that's odd. Maybe the Bentley crew, in their wisdom, saw fit to add an apparently missing step. Perhaps it's a compounding of errors. Maybe the Toyota procedure has an extraneous step, an editing mistake, and nothing needs to be done with that connector after all.
     
  12. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Well...the main issue is for a first time FULL coolant drain its a real pia to get the air out. I did it and won't do it again. Its tough because of the CHRS.
    In my very humble opinion your much much better off just dumping the rad once a month for a few months. That really helps.

    Much safer than exposing your cars engine to an overheat from a poorly performed change. Seen so many posts that even the dealer messes it up. I wouldn't try it without at least a Scangauge to monitor engine temp.

    If the op continues on a full dump don't forget the engine dump bolt. Its under the exhaust mani.

    Btw, the engine coolant lasts a long long time. Your much better off putting that energy into changing the Inverterr fluid. Its quite easy and a breeze to get the air out and you get an instant bump in mpg's. The Inverter is the heart and soul of this car. Happy Inverter Happy life.
    I do mine every 30K miles when I do my trans fluid and evap coil cleaning.
     
  13. thomassster

    thomassster Member

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    my car is at 150k miles, but it did got change one time around 75k miles. The difficult decision is deciding how long is long for a coolant change. I did look at my coolant and for 75k miles, it didn't look that bad.

    When I did the change, I used the lisle spill free funnel which probably helped out a lot since I just kept on pouring and made sure the funnel always had coolant. After couple runs with car on and off and no more bubbles, I thought I was good.

    The bleeder valve really sucked though since I had a 3/8 OD 1/4 ID tube and I opened up the bleeder couple times. Some coolant went in the tube and some just spilled right out. Even with a tie wrap, it wasn't tight enough to keep it sealed.