Inverter coolant pump.. pump running but not flowing.

Most people think that's the only option and there's no way around it...

 

The pump I am using is the pump on a Gen 2 that's the 14.4 volt pump in between the actuator master cylinder whatever that is where that's activated by your foot and the part to the left the accumulator and pump whatever I found this pump when I was changing my brake part it's right there in between those two parts sitting up there or rather this is on an '07 I'm sorry it's sitting right between the accumulator and the actuator of the brake part so it's right up against the firewall almost if you look carefully you'll see it it's a black pump it's marked 14.4 volts The car I took it out of I cut the plug with it so I had to splice the wires when I took the old inverter pump and its mount away and put this in place and so far it's been great not miss the beat. Now there's a 12 volt version of this exact same pump right next to your stainless steel accumulator tank I guess that's for coolant I do believe. There's a 12 volt version of this pump sitting right next to that coolant jug I tried this pump it burned up in 2 days. The 14-4 version between the two brake parts is still in the car running perfectly as the inverter pump.

 

Yeah replace the anode rod and sacrificial most people don't even know it's there and the new ones aren't squat but you can still get the old ones at like Ferguson if you look

 

https://www.plumbingforums.com/threads/notes-on-cleaning-sediment-from-a-gas-water-heater.21882/#post-170740

The blobs from water heater rods do not appear to be as gummy and thick as the junk shown in that inverter picture. I had no problem squishing water heater blobs between my fingers, it wasn't even as tough as a similar sized drop of Jello. The water heater blobs are also translucent, almost transparent, whereas the mess in that inverter looks like it might be many tiny aluminum particles emulsified in a thick grease. The inverter crud also looks a bit like thermal paste, the kind which is placed between a semiconductor chip and its heat sink. Some of those use aluminum oxide as filler:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_paste

 

The inverter is assembled with thermal paste ... but it goes on the dry side of the aluminum, not the wet side!

 

Hose it out, draining into a large container or kiddy pool. If chunks of crud come out then keep going until they no longer do, and for a while beyond that.

Immediately precede to the next step. (If you let it dry minerals will stick to the innards and those will be very hard to remove once crystallized. Want to fill the inverter with vinegar and let it soak? Didn't think so.)

Rinse with a couple of gallons of distilled water to remove minerals from hose water. ( Warming it first to 120F or so is better, and will dissolve any remaining minerals more completely, but will not be hot enough to burn you or damage the car.)

Drain.

Add the specified Toyota coolant (and no other).

Get the air out of the system.

 

When I was flushing my water heater, I used a little electric submersible utility pump, in a mortar-mixing tub part-filled with water.

I ran a large hose from the WH drain valve into the tub, and a hose on the pump discharge that I adapted down to a stiff stick of PEX that I could stick down into the WH through the anode hole at the top, and move the aim all around the bottom of the tank to stir up the goop. So the same water just kept flowing out into the tub, with the sediment settling out, and the water getting reused.

You could possibly do something like that here, with a pump and a bunch of distilled water you just keep pumping through. Then you would never have let mineral-laden tap water in there.

Sometimes for flushing it can be handy to reverse the flow direction. It's normally into the inverter through the elbow at the front and out through the reservoir, so the other direction might help dislodge something.

 

YEP Dex Cool. Not good.

Just use garden hose to flush. Compare volume of input to volume of output
of the water with pump bypassed And see if your getting anywhere clog wise.
Don’t waste any coolant $$ at this point see how clogged the coolant channels are,

If the flush looks pretty good dump out the garden hose water and fill it backup with Toyota LLC.

use a new factory pump, system must be bled using the bleed petcock after installing the LLC.

If properly bled should have good movement of fluid in the reservoir tank.
I changed the inverter coolant 3 times over 14 years with mine and it had very aggressive movement in the tank.

I used a bottle of Redline Water Wetter in that system too really good anti corrosion and surfactant. IR thermometer tests showed it ran Cooler.

 

Also be aware the aluminum heat sink cooling channels in the bottom of the inverter are where the coolant draws heat from the inverter then is circulated through the bottom section of the rad for coolant cooling.

G2 Rad has 2 separate tanks one for ice the other is inverter. Bad design they fixed that in G3 and beyond which have separate tanks so no ice heat soak.

 

You can also just fit the prestone or the coolant flush adapters they fit in heater hoses which is basically what the inverter hoses are on the inverter put one of those in and you just unscrew the cap put the garden hose on it turn it on let it come blowing out the side where the reservoir usually would be bolted to or out of the little 90 on the front just ahead of the inverter I think and you'll blow out the whole loop put the cap on fill it up and go

 

I installed our heater in 2001, my first time sweating cooper and I didn't have a lot of time to finish before I had to hit the road on a week long trip. A few years after installing somewhere between 5 and 10 years, I shut off the heat and drained the tank. There was a lot of sediment and the drain fixture clogged a few times while draining. After the water was drained ( and I cleaned up the mess I made while unclogging the fixture, I went to change the anode. Damned thing was / is probably epoxied in. Someone on here suggested I use an impact wrench to break the anode loose, I asked how long a tank typically lasts after using an impact wrench on the anode, I didn't get a response. hint ( tanks glass lining ). Anyways, I refilled the tank and have tried a few times to get that anode loose since but have failed every time so far. I still have the replacement anode and I keep telling myself I need to flush the tank again. I'll get around to it one of these day, I hope... 20 + years and counting. I've been pricing new replacements for a couple of years now too. So far fingers crossed !

 

Long time. The force is all on the nut on the top of the anode rod, there is some vibration going into the tank, but I have never seen a report of it breaking the lining. Just be sure to do it when there is still a lot of water in the WH tank, an empty one may rotate under the force. Our WH is around 30 years old and I first used an impact wrench on it, not sure exactly, 24 years ago? The first time it is removed it is really difficult, they really screw those things in hard at the factory. The replacement rod's threads are wrapped in teflon tape and pipe dope, and it comes out much easier. One other point about the "popping" sound which is usually ascribed to sediment build up - removing all the sediment will not always stop that sound, but a prolonged vinegar soak will.

https://www.americanwaterheater.com/media/22707/vinegarflush.pdf

(Let a little out the drain from time to time and test with pH paper - there can be enough calcium carbonate stuck in a "clean" WH tank to completely neutralize the vinegar. Once that happens it might as well be water.)

 

Even with an impact wrench, I find it helps to draw a line on the top of the anode rod head first, to avoid discouragement. It can take a long time just clattering away with the impact wrench before you first notice the line's moved at all. Once it's moved even a little, you know you're on the home stretch.

 

Thank God I'm in the county with the water softener so anods are not a thing they make them water tanks stink so it's removed when you installed a new water heater.

 

Soft water corrodes water heaters even faster as it is more acidic. For soft water use a magnesium anode, which isn't what they usually come with from the factory. If there are sulfur compounds in the water that can also cause issues, not sure what to do in that case. Bacteria growing in the tank can cause sulfur smells, that can usually be cured by cranking the temperature up high enough for a couple of hours to kill them all, then set it back down. I'm guessing that probably needs to be done periodically.

 

I don't know since the water softener all the smell and the problems went away It's a fairly new water heater that seems to work quite well I drain and try to get the sediment out yearly that's very easy to access.

 

Water softener for the win and 20 or more years on a water heater.

 

I think @pasadena_commut is referencing mostly ele water heaters, I could be wrong, but that's what it sounds like to me.
Personally, I try to stay as far away from resistive heat as I can. I remember paying my winter ele bill when my apt was heated that way. It wan not one of the high points in my memories.