Engine coolant change DIY video posted

that's well done, thank you!

 

There's a coolant dump bolt on the back of the engine too. Right behind the exhaust mani. Total capacity is 9 quarts.

 

Nicely done though. Thanks

 

In my experience, only a tiny amount of coolant will come out of the engine block drain if you first drain at the coolant heat recovery system canister while leaving the radiator cap on to suck fluid out of the overflow container. The remaining 3 quarts of coolant is trapped, probably because of the presence of the heater core electric pump and associated plumbing.

It works well just to open the drain at the CHRS canister, and that is certainly easier to get to than the engine block drain.

 

Great job, jreed! Watching your video gave me the knowledge and courage to tackle engine coolant replacement job myself. Thank you very much.

 

On previous cars it was always said to set cabin temp to high, to get more coolant out. Does that still apply, or is it possible, with digital temp setting??

 

It won't help when draining the coolant since the car is off. However when working on getting air out of the coolant, you need to set the heater temp to MAX HEAT and turn the fan on the highest speed, when revving up the engine to circulate the coolant and get the air out.

 

Is there a video for inverter coolant change, like jreed did for engine coolant?

 

Inverter coolant: Inverter coolant change: DIY video posted | PriusChat

 

So, I just got it completed, I think. I had trouble disconneting the electrical connector next to the thingamajjie that you loosen the let the fluid out. It took a looooong time for the coolant to drain out; I had the radiator cap opened and the bleeder valve loosened 4 turns. Anyway, how do you know you got air completely out? What are the symptoms if you still have air in the engine coolant system? I test drove the car and seemed fine, I took the radiator cap off and it was dark, so I filled it some more until it was full to the neck, maybe a few tea spoonfulls.

According to the video above by jreed, he said at one point that refilling takes a long time and it's the most difficult part of the job. I didn't nearly have a difficult time refilling; it did take a long time but I was able to fill the first gallon without turning on the pump. The next half gallon took some pains to get it going.

How do you know if there's still air?
How do you get the air out, after you think you filled it up?
How do you refill the coolant if you notice it's not up to the neck?

 

It's my wife's car, so I won't be able to check the radiator cap until the weekend. One thing I noticed after I had refilled the coolant and test drove, there was about a 1/2" on the bottom of the overflow tank.

 

I was able to take a look at my wife's car last night. Coolant was almost to the neck of the radiator cap, but the overflow tank was totally empty. I dropped a couple teaspoonful of coolant to the neck, and refilled the overflow to the middle level. Since the weekend when I first changed the coolant, wife drove the car about 150 miles and she didn't notice anything unusual. I think I have completed the job at this point. I will keep checking the coolant every weekend for the next few weeks.

Thanks, jreed!

PS: I am planning on changing the inverter coolant as well as the transaxle oil tomorrow. Big thanks to your videos!!!

 

Just changed transaxle oil, boy the plugs (24mm socket and 10 mm hex key) were tough to crack open. After the plugs were unscrewed, the rest was easy-peasy. I filled almost 3.9 Qt of the Toyota ATF WS, cost me $38 for the 4 Qt at the dealer. Old transaxle oil came out very very dark, almost black with a red tinge, the drain plug had fine bits of steel stuck to the magnet, I didn't see any large slivers of steel at all. Test drove it and it ran smoother. Next project is changing the inverter fluid, I just hope the drain plug there is not as tough to unscrew.

 

3rd gen doesn't have magnetic plug any mo.