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Inverter fluid

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Blue13bullit, Mar 11, 2019.

  1. Blue13bullit

    Blue13bullit New Member

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    I’m a newbie as I just joined this morning. I preformed the EGR cleaning and cooler cleanout this weekend as well as new plugs and cleaned the intake and throttle body. I also added the oil separator that I read about in another thread on here last week. I lost some fluid during this maintenance. Now it feels as if the car revs really high and doesn’t build up much speed above 70mph. Does anyone have any suggestions. It never had any problems with speed until my weekend maintenance. I performed the maintenance because of chugging at low speeds. Thanks?
     
    #1 Blue13bullit, Mar 11, 2019
  2. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Probably got air in your cooling system
     
    #2 tankyuong, Mar 11, 2019
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  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    The inverter cooling loop uses the same Toyota Antifreeze as the engine cooling loop. The Parts counter at your dealer should have it. Gen 1 uses different antifreeze than Gen 2 to 4.
     
    #3 JimboPalmer, Mar 11, 2019
  4. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Welcome.
    @tankyuong probably nailed it. It sounds like you didn't get all the air bled out of the inverter coolant system and it's overheating. As @JimboPalmer said, make sure you use the right stuff in there. It's Toyota SLLC. Not expensive and good to replace every 100k miles or so.
     
    #4 jerrymildred, Mar 11, 2019
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I'm confused by the title. If you did EGR cooler cleaner, and/or disconnected throttle body cooler lines, if any coolant was lost, or air introduced, it would be in the engine coolant circuit, not the inverter circuit.

    I would suggest to run the car in maintenance mode, while keeping any eye on the engine coolant reservoir level. Use Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (pre-mixed). This should help to get air out of the system. @NutzAboutBolts has a video on engine coolant change, which would be helpful. It's video #11 here:

    Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat

    Note also, for next time:

    1. To remove the throttle body, say to clean intake manifold, there is no need to disconnect it's coolant lines. You can just lift the throttle body out of the way, say tie it to the inverter housing.

    2. If doing EGR cooler cleaning, you do need to disconnect coolant lines. But if before doing so you drain about 2 quarts at the radiator drain, the coolant line will drop below the EGR circuit. When everything is back together pour that drained coolant back into the reservoir. Use clean drain container.

    And attached is some Repair Manual info:
     

    Attached Files:

    #5 Mendel Leisk, Mar 11, 2019
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  6. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Good point, Mendel. It sure sounds like a hot inverter, but you're right. There was no mention of anything done to that system.
     
    #6 jerrymildred, Mar 11, 2019
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  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Or inverter coolant pump failing?
     

    Attached Files:

    #7 Mendel Leisk, Mar 11, 2019
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  8. Blue13bullit

    Blue13bullit New Member

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    Let me add something to this. After driving it to work for two days now I have noticed that the my MPG has dropped about 7mpg from where it was before I performed the intake and egr cleanout. I am still noticing what feels like a slip and grab u set acceleration at more than half throttle.I checked the inverted fluid and it is almost to the full mark. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it is a cold startup or after I have driven my 100 mile round trip to work it still does it. I did have what I would call severe chugging while coasting on the highway before this weekends maintenance which is what prompted me to get on here and look around. Now I do not encounter the chugging but I now have the slipping feeling. I know my explanation of the issue probably isn’t the best but I’ll be glad to add any information you guys feel is helpful. Thanks again
     
    #8 Blue13bullit, Mar 12, 2019
  9. Solar Blue

    Solar Blue Member

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    Did the OP ever fix the issue?
    If so, please elaborate.
     
    #9 Solar Blue, Apr 29, 2021
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    OP’s last visit to this site was over 2 years back, so not likely to read this. You can click on avatar for info like this.
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Apr 29, 2021
  11. Solar Blue

    Solar Blue Member

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    Thanks
     
    #11 Solar Blue, Apr 29, 2021
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