2008 Prius dies during water pump replacement at Big-O

Lots of discussion on the water pump leak, it is more like a very minor seepage and not usualy serious, before you allow anybody to work on your Prius, do a history search. FIRST. Chances are, the water pump was OK.

 

What a bunch of retards at big O tires. They couldn't even figure out how to jump start a 12v battery. They were probably trying to start it without pushing the brake pedal.
The computers will continue to talk to a scanner as long as the 12v battery is charged.

 

Please, would someone discuss "burping"?

 

"Burping", with regards to the Prius engine coolant system, means getting air out of the system. This is not a trivial issue with the 2G engine due to the coolant heat recovery system.

 

I am guessing you may want to bleed the system but also investigate if air is somewhere entering your coolant system? From memory ther are 2-3 bleeder valves. One for inverter coolant and 2 for engine coolant system. If I remember correctly just running the engine with the radiator cap and overflow cap OFF will also remove some trapped air. Pat can update better than I.

Bleeding coolant / inverter systems can be found in search.

 

If it has run for a few days just check the level in both reservoirs and add as needed

 

It is not that simple, some air will be expelled, but to do it right the engine block and inverter and canister ( if it has one ) all have to be bled, otherwise cavitation can occur. It may seem all right in the Winter, but in Summer the car can overheat severely. The whole process is pretty easy actually.

 

You may be right. Have you actually heard of someone that had the delayed cavitation on the forum or in person or are you guessing it could happen?

 

Yes, on Gen 2s it was verified as happening by Toyota. The inverter pumps were being replaced free of charge. I had replaced mine before the recall and ended up being reimbursed By Toyota. At the time I also did my engine coolant system as well. Air bled both systems. On the Gen 3s, I have not heard of a problem.

 

I know the system is supposed to be air bled during service. Failing to do so can cause an air pocket and pump to cavitation. In this case the engine or inverter over heats on the first long drive. I'm just wondering if an air pocket would hide out and cavitate later as posted above. I'm not trying to split hairs, I'm just curious because I skipped the air bleed on a friends gen 2 Prius engine coolant change. I always thought that if the car is fully warmed up and does not over heat all air has come up. I check that it is fully warmed up by seeing the radiator fan come on. After the complete warm up I check the coolant level once more, add as needed and call it good.

 

. The inverter bleed was easy, the engine bleed is not and requires several engine runs, coolant adds with radiator cap and overflow cap off. But finally I got it. The system will tell you when your off track, In my case I got a couple of spurts of condensation from the right side , so Backed off on the speed and added more coolant. I always considered the Coolant fan running as a sign of overheating, low coolant, hard use, etc. and time to analyse.