My first ever Prius and first ever Toyota. First maintenance task: Spark plugs

Yeah, you'll need several fill-ups to get a better handle on mpg's as the bladder doesn't allow for consistent fills. So, it's highly doubtful you got 52 mpg doing 75mph, fully loaded with A/C. The consumption display figure is usually 3-5% high so your 49mpg displayed is probably a more real world 45-47ish; still not bad at all considering the circumstances.

 

The kits usually consist of some tubing, a valve or pinch clamp or two, some kind of stopper to fit the filler neck (you'd want to make sure you can fit both the engine radiator and the inverter reservoir necks), and the little venturi vacuum generator that makes it all go (with an air supply from your compressor).

If you have most of that stuff in your junk drawer, you can get a vacuum generator from, for example, Vaccon (their Mini J series does the trick nicely, and can be handy for other times you might want to pull a vacuum for some reason). You cannot get a deep enough vacuum that way for A/C work, but a JS can pull down to -28", which is good enough for a lot of other messing around. You can also get one in pink to support breast cancer research. A rubber stopper that fits your filler necks, you can probably find at the hardware store, and drill a hole through.

You might not save money that way, but you'll be able to know the specs of the vacuum generator you're getting, and you can choose from the catalog one that's well matched to your compressor capacity. Buying a prefab 'refill kit', you don't have any choice in the vacuum generator that's included, and it probably won't even have specs shown.

If you're selecting one, say, from Vaccon, you get your choice of vacuum depth (JS, pulling down to -28", is the deepest in that line), then whether you want to feed it 80 psi or 60 psi (with your compressor, you could choose either), and then choose its SCFM air consumption to not exceed what your compressor's capable of at that pressure. The different SCFM capacities only affect how long it will take to pull your coolant loop down to the spec'd vacuum depth.

Vacuum refilling isn't as tidy and foolproof as you might think, though. Even if you can pull -28" (which is darned good for a venturi generator), that's not a "full" vacuum by any means (atmospheric pressure is 29-and-change), so still there is some air in there when you're done. Make sure your source of coolant is higher than the engine and the fill tube you're using is already full of the coolant. If your source bottle is down low and you think the juice will be sucked upward, it will, but only until the vacuum inside drops to equal the height difference down to your bottle, and you'll have a partial fill.

You get basically one shot. If you give it your first shot and discover you didn't get a complete fill, put aside any thought of just opening the vacuum valve and trying again. The hoses will collapse inward, allowing your partial coolant fill to reach the vacuum generator and be sprayed exuberantly out the exhaust end. Your friends will immortalize this on youtube. It won't hurt anything but your pride, as long as you mop it off any painted surfaces quickly enough. If the first shot doesn't go right, you have to drain again and start over.

In my Gen 3, I discovered Toyota really got the fill-and-bleed-by-hand procedure perfected (especially with the little bleed valve they added behind the EGR cooler) that it just goes very smoothly and is less trouble than even digging the vacuum tool out of the drawer. I've never owned a Gen 2 so I don't know how that compares. So, yeah, the vacuum method is cool, but the old-fashioned way may not be as much headache as you think.

-Chap

 

Ehhh,

A couple PVC bits, a conical stopper (or barb-fitting to the radiator overflow) combined with a jug of mixed coolant under the car with a hose to the radiator drain and you can easily fill for cheap money.

Bottom filling is the preferred method, but yes you do need to keep pulling that vacuum to complete the job.

DO NOT use a vacuum PUMP meant for AC work, unless you plan to NEVER use it for AC work again. Not only can that much moisture damage the pump, but no antifreeze formulation is good for the pump guts.

 

There's enough verbiage here on PC about the Gen 2 fuel bladder to fill several full encyclopedias. Rather than add to it, I'll just paste a link to the search I did. https://priuschat.com/search/39193464/?q=bladder&o=relevance

Most of it is rants about the way it makes it so impossible to tell if you've actually filled the tank or not. In my humble opinion, it's not that big of a deal, but it is to some people. I do think it's probably the worst of the quirks Toyota engineered into the Gen 2 Prius ... or maybe any other car, too, for that matter. I always went to the first click and rounded up to the next dime. Then did it again when the gauge got down to one or two pips.

 

If nothing else, DO NOT OVERFILL, as in "burp" the tank or add more fuel after the nozzle clicks off the FIRST time.

 

I admit to using "fill fit" aftermarket coolant, I have neither the time not inclination to drive 2 hours round trip to the nearest dealer.

Fluids are *mostly* universal, meaning if they have the needed additives and/or classifications, OEM is absolutely NOT required. that said, there are cases (Honda motorcycle cooling and VW transmissions) where about the only place you CAN get the right stuff is the OEM dealer. Some of that is due to marketing (license fees) and other times it just does matter, the aftermarket simply is not good enough. This was true with Allison Tran-Syn two decades or so back.