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Stop Leak Will Come Back To Bite You

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by cnc97, Dec 1, 2019.

  1. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    I had been noticing the ICE running more then it should, even though coolant temp and battery level said it shouldn’t. I figured maybe the t-stat was stuck open, and the temp sensor was lying to the computer. When I pulled the t-stat I found a clump of the Blue Devil “Pour and Go” that I used when I noticed the head gasket leak shortly after I got the car. It was clumped on the t-stat in such a way that it could not open, but it also couldn’t shut all the way either. After cleaning all the junk off the t-stat, and pulling all the hoses and verifying the lack of stop leak, I reassembled the car. It now seems to be back to how it was right after I put the motor back in. Fingers crossed that I don’t have anymore stop leak left in the system.
     

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  2. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    Stop leak is “heavy” and tends to settle in the lowest point of the system. You may want to consider replacing the engine radiator as well.


    iPhone ? Pro
     
  3. Spenny

    Spenny Member

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    Yeah, I never use that kind of product. If it could be fixed that easily, why take it to the mechanic? Don’t take that as negative, I’ve learned the same lesson when I was younger. Now I just replace everything because I’m planning on keeping my Prius for a long time.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    They should outlaw that stuff, people use it with expectations it's going to do something good, and I'm sure the packaging reassures them, reinforces that belief*. it's comparable to sawdust in transmissions you used to hear about. Is that still a thing?

    A lot of the snake-oil product are at least harmless, or mostly so. Stop-Leak and similar are damaging.

    * A lawyer could have fun cutting that to shreds...
     
  5. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I always just figured, "If it will plug a leak, what else will it plug?" :D
     
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  6. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    I wonder if I sent the debris to Blue Devil if they’d give me my money back??? LoL
     
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  7. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    Ya...this stuff fits right in there with long-life motor oil. It's just a cheap cheat to get it sold. There are no magic solutions around proper maintenance and repair.
     
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  8. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    So I emailed the makers of Blue Devil. Their response......


    We recommend flushing the cooling system using a 50/50 mixture of white distilled vinegar and water.

    Feel free to contact us with any questions.

    Thank you,

    Zach Friedley
    Technical Support Manager
    [​IMG]
    o: 888.863.0426
    f: 843.352.2929
    e: [email protected]
     
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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Try putting some of those blobs in such a mixture, see how they react.

    You don't want to let the vinegar linger in aluminum either, should flush it out promptly.
     
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  10. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    Since I had some white vinegar and water, I used 1/2 cup of each and took one of the small blobs. It took less then a minute for the following pictures from start to finish.


    Given my fear of possibly messing up the water pump, and not being able to replace it “right now”, I will flush the system when I have a new water pump on hand so I can change it after I flush the system. I have changed the gauges that I can monitor on my OBD device to monitor coolant temperature so I can see if things get out of normal.
     

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  11. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    White vinegar is some pretty useful stuff! And it's inexpensive!
     
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  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    @Allison Meggison will be very interested in this.

    Drain the coolant, fill with with the 50/50 vinegar/water mix, run for say 20 minutes, drain, fill with straight water, run a few minutes, drain.

    Now a minor dilema: there will be residual straight water, enough that if you fill with the (US) Super Long Life coolant, which is diluted 50/50 to begin with, you're going to be a bit thin. Is there still a 100% Toyota coolant, I think there was.

    Another option: the Canadian Toyota Super Long Life is 55% coolant.
     
    #12 Mendel Leisk, Dec 2, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2019
  13. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    There are several companies that offer 100% SLLC, Toyota branded is 31-36 USD for a gallon on Amazon. When I do it, once with the vinegar/water, twice with water only, change water pump, fill with 70/30 SLLC/water. The residual water left should put me about 60%.
     
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  14. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Doubt it. No one uses the search feature, we post the same topic already covered and we wait for someone to reply to their thread when tagged. No one has time to even read here, we're all like that tv show "The View." Everyone talks over each other and spits out their opinions without any actual facts behind it, me being one of them :cool:
     
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  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    She'll get an alert, the way I typed her name. And this on her mind; she's having issues with that stuff.
     
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  16. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    @cnc97 When draining the coolant system: I recall someone saying they got a more complete drain by disconnecting one of the hoses at the Exhaust Coolant Heating system.
     
  17. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    The exhaust heat recovery holds about a gallon if I remember right.
     
  18. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    That sounds like a lot, maybe not that much. Ah, according to attachment, about 0.8 liter. A significant amount though.

    Don't neglect the engine block drain either. That said, most everyone here who's opened it reported a piddling amount? But worth a try. If you have the engine under panel off, you can "just" catch a glimpse of it, and then reach it mostly by feel. IIRC there's a bolt, and a spigot directly next to it. Kind of brass looking. It's back side, fairly high up, towards right end of the engine block.
     
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  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The coolant volume spec in above attachment is probably refill capacity, presuming radiator and engine block drained? They use the term "standard" capacity, whatever that means:

    upload_2019-12-3_10-16-49.png

    The total volume would be nice to know, in particular when you're doing a water flush. Too bad they don't list it, or clarify what they mean by that volume. Assuming it's not total volume, I looked around and found this:

    upload_2019-12-3_10-13-41.png

    on this page:

    Toyota Prius >> Service specifications - Specifications

    There's a lot of misinformation on the above page, motor oil weight for example. And the pic is a Prius v. But who knows, maybe they got the total coolant volume right?
     
  20. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Standard usually implies a drain and refill.
    A completely empty/dry system is not standard. You will never get ALL the coolant out.
    Unless you drain it, and blow heated air through it at high volume for a while to completely dry it out.
    After flushing with straight water... And pull all drains, water pump, hoses, radiator, heater core....etc....