2010-2015 Toyota Prius Engine and Inverter Coolant drain and refill video inside

Wow! Thanks guys! That is far easier than I thought! Great videos, and excellent narration.

 

Thanks very much! Seeing it being done is way easier to follow than a text instruction.

You didn't bother with the engine block coolant drain bolt. A few have, and said nothing much came out. Any thoughts?

 

Since I plan on doing both the inverter and engine at the same time. Do you recommend doing the inverter first and then engine? I figured that would probably be the best way since you won't have to heat up the engine first and wait for the coolant to cool to do the inverter after.

 

I've drained engine block bolts on Honda's, one just recently, and it was like hitting the jackpot, lol: a ton of coolant came out, and due to components in the way it was quite messy, a bit of mopping up required. But a few people have reported once the Prius radiator is drained, little addititional comes out of the block.

 

For the Civic engine block drain bolt I had to take the cowl off. I happened to see a nice 1/2" ratcheting breaker bar with the head able to swivel, maybe 10 degrees either way, and also got a 1/2" socket, 24 mm. The drain bolt was actually replaced with block heater element, but same size. I found when getting at the bolt, if it hadn't been a swivel head it wouldn't have worked. Likely ratcheting was needed too, due to tight quarters. It was just luck I picked that up, Jet brand.

 

Is the fluid the same for both engine coolant and inverted coolant?

 

Thank you. Yes, I understood that they are separate cooling systems. I just wanted to be sure that it's the same Toyota 50/50 coolant for both. Thank you very much.

 

I have just one more question: Is it necessary to jack up the car to do these? And how do you raise the car? I have a pair of ramps and a jack + jack stands.

I'm thinking I can just drive it up the ramps and be good. Since I need to get inside the car during the process, I'm not sure about jacking the rear to level it. Does it need to be level to drain properly?

Maybe I'll drain the inverter with the vehicle on the ramps, fill it, then drive it off the ramps to complete. Then, with the car back on the ground, I can drain the radiator, then drive up the ramps to put the plastic apron back on.

 

I'd just raise the front, for both, should be ok.

 

Done! I completed both of these yesterday. It was very easy. The hardest part was removing the big plastic apron beneath the car, and that's not very hard at all.

When I changed the inverter coolant, I cycled the coolant pump by attaching and removing the vehicle charger.

The directions in the videos were very clear, accurate, and thorough. Great job!

 

The video makes the inverter & engine coolant change look fairly straightforward, but is there an even easier way? Can't I just draw off the fluid that's in the reservoir and replace it once a year or so? That would have the same effect, if there is a pump circulating the fluids. It does look like there's a pump circulating the inverter fluid.

Does anybody do it this way?

 

When I did an EGR cleaning, concerned about coolant spillage, I drained a couple of liters at the radiator drain spigot. This drew the level in the engine coolant reservoir down pretty much to the bottom. I would think 2.5~3 liter drain would bring it close to the bottom. I suppose you could do that, then just pour fresh into the reservoir.

It's fairly easy to access the radiator drain spigot, can be done without raising the car or removing any panels.

I'd be inclined to do it in one pop, still.

 

That's what I'm talking about ... No need to burp the system if you just draw a little out the bottom and then refill the reservoir.

I might try this next time I change the oil, just to see how it goes.