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Changed 2009 water pump today.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Galane, Jun 11, 2020.

  1. Galane

    Galane Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2020
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    Location:
    Idaho
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    No problems aside from figuring out how to hold the pulley to get those three bolts popped loose. Cure for that turned out to be a 1/4" ratchet extension long enough to jam against the under side/slope of the frame rail and the front of the pump and engine. Put that through holes in the pulley. I first tried loosening the bolts with the belt on. Nope. The little engine turns wayyyy too easily for that to work.

    Popped the pump loose by holding a long flathead screwdriver against part of the pump that sticks out for that purpose (or is part of how it's held during manufacturing, still works for removing it) and gave it a whack with the head of a 3/8" ratchet. Caught most of the coolant in a clean drain pan. The gasket stayed on the old pump. Yay!
    The job would be much easier if the air intake duct was removable!

    Reassembly was the reverse of removal.

    I had no problems getting it refilled with fresh Zerex red coolant for Prius, Lexus, Scion. Stuck a tight fitting funnel in the radiator, kept filling and burping it until it'd burp no more. Then I opened the bleed valve and poured more in until some ran out the bleed valve. Closed the bleed valve, topped up the funnel and turned the car on. When the engine quit I added more to the funnel then went back and held the brake and gas to run the engine. A couple of times of that and it quit taking more coolant so I put the windows down and the heat all the way up and ran it with the radiator cap off until I got heat out the vents. Topped up the radiator one last time, put the cap on, filled the overflow and went for a drive of several miles.

    No warning lights at any time doing this. I went back to check after it'd cooled off and it'd pulled in some coolant from the overflow, still full up under the radiator cap. Before I started the job, the level was down low enough I couldn't see any coolant down in the neck, and it'd been driven a few hundred miles without overheating. It's going off on another 150+ mile trip tomorrow so when it's back and cooled off I'll check the level again. I checked the inverter coolant for flow and that's good so no worries there.

    Why can't these outfits just put the radiator cap at the highest point and design the system so there are no possible air traps? That's how cooling systems used to be designed, in such a logical manner. Open the petcock on the bottom of the radiator and nearly all the coolant drains out. Take off the cap and when it's up to the bottom of the neck, it's 100% full. There was one model of Japanese car that made thermostat changes super simple. It was under the radiator cap, with a handle to pull it out. Refill was easy. Off with the cap, out with the thermostat, fill it up, put the thermostat and cap back. No air traps, no burping or bleeding needed.
     
    ydpplqbd and davecook89t like this.