Classic Prius Coolant Replacement

Well, still at it. I drive it around my property which include a steep hill and bumps and weird angles and that seems to help because right after I do that lots of air comes out the first couple bleeding trials but then no air come out for like 3 trials and I take it for another spin and presto more air comes out. Will this ever end? The only problem is I have to wait till it cools off before I open it cause your not supposed to open it hot, but what would happen it I did? How cool does it have to be before you can open it? Like waiting till the low coolant temperature light comes back on cool?

 

Wow, you weren't kidding, this is definitely a PITA. I still keep getting air out every time I drive to the bottom of my hill and back up. I'm not hurting the inverter am I by keep driving up and down?

Seems like the only way I get get the air out.

I've been working on this since yesterday afternoon, have you ever hear of it taking this long?

Maybe there is something wrong with my system or I'm doing it wrong?

 

Yes, I did listen to the sound before hand and the turbulence seems to be completely restored. The sound of the water pump though I'm not so sure on now, I remember it being more of a constant hum, right?

Now it's not loud like when you first change it, but I can hear a non constant squirting sound which I believe is air in there. Also the fact that every time I drive to the bottom of the hill and back more air comes out and it seems to be quite of a bit of air too has me thinking there still air in there. As long as air keeps coming out, I'm not done, right?

 

Will the inverter throw a error light to let you know it's overheating before it destroys itself?

There's no way that I'm getting new air in the system somehow, is there?

As long as air keeps coming out, I have to keep bleeding, right?

 

I suppose that's a possibility, I always seems to have problems bleeding anything, brakes, etc. Though why would it only happen right after driving it.

I certainly hope so. Though I'm still a little concerned that air keep coming out when I bleed it right after driving and the sound the pump is making.

I made a video to show you what's happening with the air coming out right after driving it. It's kinda hard to hear the squirting sound the pump is making so I made a separate recording of that where you can hear the sound it's making.

I made this recording with the mic close to the driver side of the inverter where I believe the water pump, right?

[ame="http://www.zshare.net/download/92304475bd956591/"]Sound of Inverter Water Pump.m4a - 2.23MB[/ame]

In the recording you can hear 3 distinct sounds, the gurgling in the reservoir tank, a faint constant hum, and an irregular squirting sound, which is the one that's got me worried it might be air. Is that the sound of air in the system or is that the normal sound?

Really wish I would have made a before recording to compare it to.

 

Wow, that's great.

So, it's safe to drive?

If there is any air left in the system, will it purge itself eventually?

So, you didn't hear any bubbles in there?

So what do you think is up with the air coming out after driving it?

 

Yes, you may be right, as it usually happens when I open the bleeder quite a bit. How much are you suppose to open bleeders?

Also after drive and fluid warms up, is probably somewhat expanded and when I open the valve the excess pressure might be coming out

 

I always have the hardest time with bleeding things, how do you tell the real air bubbles from ones coming from the valve?

 

Yeah, they definitely need to design a better bleeder valve. There still using the same crappy design from forever ago.

 

I took a look at the 2002 repair manual, trying to download the whole thing right now, and it's says basically the same thing as the '04 and '06 manual, you just open and close both of them together.

Would it cause a problem if I accidentally turned the key on with the bleeders valves open?

In my delirium of the endless bleeding, 1 time I turned on the key with the bleeders open and it started sucking fluid out of the reservoir through 1 bleeder hose and coming out of the other bleeder hose.

Also another thing I think I didn't do, was initially after draining the coolant, the first thing you're supposed to do is add coolant to the reservoir till the fluid level in your bleeder hoses reaches the full mark on the reservoir, which means you have to overfill the reservoir to get it to that level. That's not a problem, is it?

 

Awesome, well it would seem that I am done and I just wanted to send the biggest thanks and gratitude your way for all your help, Patrick. You must have great karma, you are definitely a life saver.

 

One interesting thing I observed is after driving it, whether just down the hill or across town, afterwards the coolant level is significantly higher then before I left. However, when I bleed it right after driving and all that air comes out, the coolant level in the reservoir drops back down to where it was before driving. Which is interesting because if the air was coming from the bleeder valve itself than you wouldn't expect the fluid in the reservoir to drop. Given the manual doesn't say anything about bleeding after driving, so maybe it's possible that air gets into the system from driving, is that normal?