Need a siphon or pump to bleed inverter

I'm not sure I understand what it is you're trying to do. To bleed the inverter pump you just need to open the bleed valve until all the air is out.

 

If coolant isn't pumping out at a steady rate from the hose you put on the bleed valve going back into the reservoir then you have a failed pump... That bleed valve for the inverter pump is by far the easiest air removal from a coolant system I've ever used, so if it's not working for you than something is broken or not done right.

 

How certain are you there is no blockage in your inverter coolant loop?

 

With the cap off the inverter reservoir you could pump air through the zerk fitting that you're trying to bleed from and if there's any crap in the line it'll push it all up into the jug so if you think there's a clog in the system it would behoove you to undo the jug or the outputs on the left side of the inverter when standing in front of it that way when you blow the crap out it'll just blow out and hit the back side of your engine or squirt down on the outside of the transmission not squirt back up into the jug and then you're having to clean the jug.

 

This is OP’s fourth thread on subject.

 

Well if it's a clog which I can't imagine even what it would be on the dirtiest cars of this genre I have ever seen the most abused wouldn't even have a clog in the inverter passageway but be that as it may. Not necessarily just like if you're sewage line clogs coming out of your house going to the main line just flushing the system again doesn't relieve the clog so you have to put something through there air a bladder that water flows through that blows up and creates pressure and tries to force the clog through the pipe etc. So usually when I have hoses like this undone on little waterways like this I'll give him a shot of air and make sure it seems to come through right smartly and right on out just because I guess I have there here you know.

 

When I completely drain a Gen2 inverter cooling system, it takes over 5 minutes of running the pump with a hose going from the open bleeder screw to the reservoir before all the air is bled out.


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Bingo!!

Super easy to bleed. Run a hose from the bleeder valve back to the inverter coolant tank. Let it run for at least five minutes until no more bubbles. Pumping air into it will only make it worse.

You'd know if the system was clogged because there wouldn't be any movement in the coolant tank.

Pumping coolant out of it with an external pump is useless since there's already a pump in the system that will pump the coolant out the top and into the tank to recover it.

 

Maybe you haven't opened it far enough? Otherwise, the pump is dead. Some people have got a bad pump working again by unplugging and replugging it. Sometimes with car powered off, sometimes with car powered on...

The reason I like to only spend $30 on cheapest inverter pump is if they go bad its a minor loss and I don't get mad at anyone. But if I spent a $100+ on Toyota OEM garbage that went bad right away I'd be super mad and I'd make sure that whoever's most responsible for selling a broken pump has a really bad day that I'd remind them about for many Mondays to come unless they made it right!

 

OEM pumps have a 12-month warranty, so you wouldn't have a problem getting them replaced.

Having said that, I've yet to hear of an OEM that was DOA.

Take the outlet hose off the pump and connect your garden hose to it then turn the hose on (gently at first) and see if you get flow at the other end would be one way.

You need to be sure that the new pump is (or is not) working before doing other things. You haven't actually confirmed that this is the case. You can use a mechanic's stethoscope (or an improvised alternative) to check the pump for sure.

 

Yeah. You need to make sure the pump is working. And be sure the valve is open enough.

 

As others have already said, this should be very straightforward to bleed (unlike the engine side coolant system). Sometimes it helps to view the process in a video before starting.

Here is a kid that does a pretty credible job of showing an easy bleed technique. How To Bleed INVERTER Coolant System Toyota Prius Hybrid Gen 2 2004-2009 | Cooling Fluid Trapped Air - YouTube If you don't get flow like you see in the video you really need to verify the pump is working. Just make sure the car has accessory mode turned on and not full ready mode since you don't need the engine running for this. Then put your hand on the inverter pump and should be able to feel the vibration of the pump working quite easily and likely hear the pump working since the engine isn't running. If the pump doesn't work, you can check fuses or remove the pump for further testing.

 

Whether it's the pump or something else, something is wrong. It just isn't this hard.

There was another thread where I had to encourage the person to just start taking the hoses off and testing flow through them and between them. There turned out to be a bolt stuck in one of them.

 

Its just a spill and fill system. Open the dump bolt underneath (not the trans fluid dump bolt right next to it lol) and let it all dump out and fill it back up.

If that is not happening and the pump is ok I would be concerned the inverter aluminum cooling channel system may be clogged. Seen a few on this site. If so the pump may be loud and get hot.

There's an incredible amount of small coolant cooling channels in a huge heat sink under and integrated into the inverter. If just one of those channels gets clogged your pretty screwed. This is usually caused by lack of maintenance of that fluid or using the wrong replacement coolant like Dexcool instead of Toyota LLC.

Dexcool will damage this system. Repair requires replacing the Inverter assy as it is all one piece. Big job.

I refer you to the excellent Dr Weber Prius Hi Voltage Teardown tutorial on youtube where they address the inverter coolant channels. Found at 9:30 in this video:

 

The guy's Dr. Kelly.

He teaches at Weber State University.

 

drone13 was mistaken, the inverter pump does not run in ACC mode. You need to put it in IG-ON mode for the pump to run if it is going to. Try that then report back.

Prius power cycle modes:

	Mode	Action​
1	ACC	With the car in OFF; and the foot OFF the brake; press the start button once.
2	IG-ON	If the car is in OFF; with the foot OFF the brake; press the start button twice. If the car is in ACC mode; with the foot still OFF the brake; press the start button once more.
3	READY	With foot ON the brake; press the START button once; this can be done when the car is in any other mode.
4	OFF	If the car is in READY; press the START button once; it does not matter whether the foot is on or off the brake. If the car is in ACC mode; with the foot OFF the brake; press the start button twice. If the car is in IG-ON mode; with the foot OFF the brake; press the start button once.