the regular coolant at 100k? That's what my dealer is recommending. My car is 112k. It costs $257. I hate unexpected costs. Grrrr.
http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/docu...MS0012/pdf/06omsour/2006/schedmai/61w1smt.pdf Page 20 of the PDF, I have no idea if that is a sane price.
And then you will have to change both coolant loops again in another 50k miles (and again ,,, ). JeffD
Not unexpected but overdue. The Inverter coolant condition is extremely important as not only does it cool the Inverter it also cools the transmission. I changed mine at 48,000 and it looked very contaminated. You cannot see it in the reservoir but if you put some in a clear glass and compare to same mileage engine coolant you will be shocked. Contaminated Inverter coolant is hard on the pump too. Same coolant as engine btw. I surmise its because the Inverter coolant see's nothing but aluminum in its travels and aluminum is the most corrosive metal there is short of zinc. Contaminated coolant will exacerbate any metal corrosion also. Inverter coolant is pumped through alot of tiny aluminum heatsink channels so you want to keep that fluid clean so not to clog those heatsinks. Engine coolant looked pristene at 48,000 but I changed it anyway. Engine coolant was a pain to get air out of system but Inverter was easy. Many You Tubes on it. Money well well spent but not at the dealer. An independant can do that and probably the trans fluid too for that price. I hope your trans fluid has been replaced.
Side note: On my mom's 07 NAH, Nissan calls for replacement of both the engine and HEV system coolant at 60K miles or 48 months. Well, my mom's past 48 months but nowhere near 60K miles. I guess Nissan doesn't use long life coolant. I figured it'd be a lot of $ since there are two coolant loops. Nissan Sunnyvale got both loops changed, changed her oil and changed her cabin air filter (looks like a pain on the Altima) for <$200 total, IIRC (I'll have to check w/her). On the NAH, I've seen the inverter w/detached plastic cover at an auto show before. It has a Toyota part # and bar code on it. The NAH's HV battery has exact same specs as the Camry Hybrid of that time in terms of voltage, # of cells and IIRC, weight. I'd guess the PSD comes from Toyota or its suppliers too as Nissan and Jatco don't make anything like a PSD.
Yup. The Nissan Altima Hybrid (up to this last model year) uses the same exact T110 HSD transaxle as the previous-generation Camry Hybrid. If I owned an NAH I would stick a Hybrid Synergy Drive badge on it.
You want to keep the pH of the coolant as clised to a neutral 7 as possible is the reason that coolant needs to be change. A high pH number means that the coolant becomes "caustic." As I recall from Chemistry class some 40 or more years, ago, aluminum reacts with caustic solutions to create a compound called "aluminate," when it corrodes in a base solution. Zinc, however, corrodes very little, since it is more corrosive in an acidic solution.
Wasn't the coolant replaced when the water pump was replaced under warranty? I'm assuming they only replace the ICE coolant so OP may have 112K miles on the inverter coolant and less on the ICE coolant.
