Do I really need a Inverter Coolant change?

congrats and welcome to priuschat! use your maintenance manual to determine what you need, don't listen to the dealer. on the other hand, many here recommend the tranny service, even though toyota calls it 'lifetime'. gotta give the dealer credit there, they usually don't want to do it even when you ask. all the best!

 

In a regular vehicle, I've always changed coolant every two years.

In my Prius, I expect to change coolant every three years.

Coolant is a lot cheaper than replacing a heater core or an inverter.

 

For the life of me, I cannot understand people who spend 20k+ USD on a car and then quibble over oil and coolant maintenance. If money is in short supply then DIY !

 

You can't go wrong doing a maintenance item earlier, as Mike points out. But you can go wrong by greatly delaying it, or not doing it at all.

The 2006 Prius maintenance guide lists Engine and Inverter coolant to be changed at 100K miles, then every 50K miles/5 years. LINK
Your Toyota maintenance search showed no Inverter coolant being changed, thus the Dealer's recommendation for a change;11K miles OVERDUE.
The water pump was changed at 71K miles. Its inferred that the Dealer drained the coolant on the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) side, before replacing the water pump, then refilled with new SLLC. The ICE coolant will need to be replaced at 121K miles.

Info copy/pasted from Art's Automotive: LINK

1) Toyota SLLC is just regular ethylene glycol silicate-free premixed coolant with pink dye, and ethylene glycol coolant has had a 2-3 year service interval for as long as I can remember.
2) The components it protects (the HV transaxle & inverter) will set you back about $7000, just for the parts!
3) The idea is to replace the coolant before it goes bad to provide continuous protection.
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FYI
Toyota feels their SLLC (Super Long Life Coolant, Pink color) is good for 50,000 miles/5 years, after the initial drain/fill maintenance at 100,000 miles/10 years. LLC (Long Life Coolant, Red color), is good for 30,000 miles/2 years. Prius should only be using SLLC.

 

Please do not presume that the inverter coolant is automatically changed when the inverter pump recall is done. ASK to be sure.

The dealership that performed the recall on my car said that the Tech would clip the hose (to prevent full drainage), change out the pump and top off whatever amount was lost. Estim. amount was about 1 qt. So the system would still have 75% "old" fluid in it.

 

Exactly,

Most dealers are going to do as little as possible to boost their bottom line. They don't own your car. They are there to make money.

 

That's a strange answer from the dealer. The recall notice says they must change the coolant, but we all know they probably don't. But just strange they admitted to not doing it.

 

A "liar by omission" would say he did change the coolant, but would rationalize it by saying, but NOT ALL of it.

 

Any opinion on clamping coolant lines? Can they take it?

 

Sure; they are rubber hoses.

 

I don't see why fresh coolant should be wasted, so I accept that sometimes it is reasonable to clamp and only replace that fraction lost. If the mechanic charges only for what he uses in coolant I think they are being ethical.

 

I asked several times to be sure. Why pay for a coolant change if the fluid will be replaced during the inverter pump swap?

The Rep. was surprised by my presumption. He was not shy in stating that the procedure was to clamp the hose and thus minimizing the coolant that would leak out.

As Rude person's said, more $$$$ saved by the dealer.

If you have the text of the recall that plainly requires the full coolant change as well, I may pursue a reimbursement.

 

Here is the Technical service bulletin on the repair. They are given 2 gallons of SLLC to do this job. Good luck having that service guy remember his admission of "clamping the hose". He'll most likely tell you they changed the coolant as it states on the technical bulletin.

http://lusciousgarage.com/images/uploads/T-CP-A0N-A510-D.pdf

I just asked one of the Toyota techs on this forum......he also doesn't change the coolant, just clamp the hose. So this is enough proof for me, they don't change it.....(but he can't speak for the other techs). I'm assuming this is standard practice.

 

Nearly 50 years of owning and working on cars, I have come to the conclusion that...

Unless you are incapable or just don't care, when you want it done RIGHT, you have to do it yourself.

 

How much is your time worth ? DIY takes all of 15 - 30 minutes

 

They clamp the hoses using 2 duckbill pliers that are made to clamp rubber hoses.

From the mechanics point of view its quite time consuming to change the ICE coolant. Its a flat out pain and many a dealer from posts we see can't get it right. Probably because of time constraints and a bitching customer. Many many posts here about ICE coolant change and now I hear gurgling under the dash. The CHRS really makes it tough to get the airlock out of it and a lift does not help much.

That and they'd have your car all day. Which you would bitch about.

Having done a full ICE coolant change its now never again. I just dump the rad only every time I change the oil. No airlock and it really helps.
This car is very easy on ICE coolant and very hard on Inverter coolant.

You should do the Inverter coolant every 30,000 miles as it protects the Invert and trans. Its easy, quick, and cheap.

Inverter coolant is extremely easy to change.

 

HAHA

Good to be you Mike!!!

Every time I try a DYI I break something taking the piece out or "forcing" it back in!

 

Been there, done that.
You need an experienced person to look over your shoulder one time. I bet it would be easy to find a volunteer in So Cal if you can make the drive.

DIY'ers are always looking for conversion opportunities

 

Clarification:
My time was apparently worth $150, plus tax, which was what I paid for the inverter coolant service when I was at the dealership for the inverter pump recall.
Thought I get that taken care of while the car was getting serviced anyway.

Now, IF the coolant change was supposed to be part of the recall, I should not have been basically double-charged.