Classic Prius Coolant Replacement

Hi everyone. My 2002 has 152K on it and I'm planning on replacing the coolant in the engine and inverter. Got a jug of 100% TLLC over at Carquest, which was cheaper than the dealer. From reading on here the procedure seems a little more involved than on other cars I've done in the past. Was wondering if the pages from the factory repair manual detailing the procedure for the classic prius are posted on here anywhere?

I have been searching for it, but haven't seen anything yet, as there are a lot of posts about coolant. Is it very different than doing it on a 2nd gen?

Does the manual recommend just a drain and refill or doing a flush?

One thing about doing a flush I was always wondering about is when trying to flush out your cooling system with a hose, on a lot of system ~50% of capacity can't be drained and is stuck in there. Which is ok if you want tap water in your system, then you just take your total capacity from the manual cut in half and pour that much 100% coolant in and fill the rest with water. Though, if you want to keep you system tap water free and use distilled water as is recommended, then I suppose your only choice is to flush it out with 50/50 TLLC, which could get expensive.

 

Yes, Toyota Long Life Coolant. They were asking $22.99, but I got a 10% discount, some how. Know anywhere to get it cheaper?

Do you happen to have the instructions for the classic inverter coolant replacement please?

 

Does the engine coolant side have a bleed valve(s)?

 

Where do you get your washers from?

When I called Toyota, the parts guys could find the washer I was telling him about. So, he said to bring it in and he could match it. Though once I take it off I won't be able to get there very easily. He said they sell for $2.

 

Thanks. Just bought it at the dealer, glad I got the right one. Though they charged me 2.27 + tax, what the hell, more than MSRP, what's up with that?

 

When I asked the service guy about inverter coolant replacement, he said they charge $199 and pump coolant through it, but this is unnecessary right?

 

Is it worth it to rent a pressure tester to test the system for leaks and the radiator cap, as long as I'm fooling around with the cooling system?

 

Is that "intelligent tester" mentioned in the repair manual as in "(k) Connect the intelligent tester to the DLC3" acquirable by mere mortal or is it only obtainable by Toyota techs?

 

$1,345 for a cable that goes to my laptop. Seems kinda pricey. Oh, I see, mostly is the cost of the software.

Can I just buy the cable by itself and then try to download the software somewhere?

 

It won't hurt anything if the engine or inverter coolant is over the full mark, will it?

I believe the only bad thing that can happen is the excess coolant might come out the overflow tube, but that's about it, right?

 

I did notice that in my 2002 Prius Scheduled Maintenance Guide it says to replace the engine and inverter coolant every 30k miles and they say to use the TLLC but if I were to use TSLLC instead would I then only need to change it every 50k or would I still have to stick to the original schedule?

I also noticed in the explanation of maintenance items section, both for engine coolant and inverter coolant it says "drain and flush the cooling system and refill with an ethylene-glycol type coolant. A qualified technical should perform these operations". So it looks like Toyota thinks the flushing is necessary even though it may not be in real life. 

And since when do you need a "qualified technician" to change your coolant?

 

Thank you very much for all your help. You're  a life saver.  

Just so I know I doing the inverter bleed procedure correct cause I've been at it for quite a few hours now and I still hear not a loud sound for the water pump but like an intermittent squirting sound. Sounds like it still has air in it. 

I'm a little confused on the bleed  procedure. I have my 2 hoses going from the bleed valves to the reservoir.   The Toyota  repair manual seems to say open bleed valve, let air out, close valve, turn key to on for 20 then repeat, but they say to have the valve closed while the pump is on.  Where as I've seen people say to turn key on, open valve, close valve, key off, repeat. The manual I was looking At was for a 2006 so it might not be valid for a 2002, but which is the correct procedure, please?

 

Does the repair manual for the classic Prius say the same thing as the 2G except for having two bleed valves?

Are you supposed to open both at the same time or one at a time?