MFD replaced TWICE!

[ribbs]

Our 2004 Prius (package 9) has had to have the MFD replaced twice now - anybody else had this experience?

I'm looking for a pattern. I installed Jon's XM mod last year (works great); about a month later my wife left the lights on inside the car, killing the accessory/starter battery. Jumped the car per the manual, all was okay. A few weeks later the MFD goes haywire - it comes on, but the soft buttons are inactive and most functions are dead, including audio and map. Drive it to the dealer, they say the MFD is bad and replace it at Toyota's cost. Looking at the expense of that unit and the fact that I had only a few thousand miles left on the original warranty, I purchase the Toyota Platinum warranty thru this exalted site - boy am I glad I did!

Zip forward to the present (almost). A few months ago I sign up to be a beta tester for the new Dension iPod integration unit thru this site. I install it - works great. Weekend before last our daughter killed the battery again by leaving the car in accessory mode in order to charge her cell phone for a few hours. Once again the car is jumped, then all is good. This past weekend our son decides to illuminate our driveway with the Prius' headlights so he and his buds can play night basketball while blasting the stereo. Kills the battery again, jumps it back to life. But then the MFD is fried once again! Take it in yesterday to the dealer - they are replacing it again, this time under the extended warranty (whew).

Any thoughts, other than to ban my wife, daughter, and son from the car? Is it possible the added units (XM and iPod) are adding some kind of strain? I have installed the same XM unit in our 2005 Prius (we have three!) with no MFD issues whatsoever, so I doubt that could be a cause. My thought is the battery jumping is the culprit.

What do the faceless Priuschat masses have to say?

[mikepaul]

Did they use the revised part the first time? If you could toggle between Energy and Consumption by pushing Info, you had it.

Otherwise, I may start putting a charger on my battery every night to avoid whatever is vexing you...

[ribbs]

I believe I have always been able to toggle using info, with the original screen as well.

[Godiva]

Whatever the problem, I think killing the battery three times can't be good. While I don't condone banning outright, I would certainly lay the law down that killing the battery is not acceptable.

And hide the fobs.

[mikepaul]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ribbs @ Jul 25 2006, 04:20 PM) [snapback]292154[/snapback]</div>

I believe I have always been able to toggle using info, with the original screen as well.
[/b]

Well, then maybe yours fails differently than the old display did.

When you push the hard Audio button, does it claim Audio is off while the radio is playing? If not, then your failure is/has been different, which makes me feel less confident about my recently-acquired one...

[Charles Suitt]

The Prius is, in many ways, a SMART car.... but not FOOL PROOF.

Sounds like some absolute rules need to be enforced... perhaps like possession of the fobs.

[ribbs]

Just got the car back from Thousand Oaks Toyota today. They said they replaced the MFD with a new one yesterday and the new one failed as well. Smelling a rat, they called the manufacturer of the MFD, Fujitsu I believe it was, who sent a tech over to the shop. He determined that the failure was caused by the DICE iPod interface! When that unit was disconnected all returned to normal. They were good enough to cover all the work under warranty. We contacted the DICE people immediately and asked them to talk to both the Toyota tech and the Fujitsu tech and to please replace the interface immediately.

Heads up, DICE buyers!!!

[Vagabond]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ribbs @ Jul 29 2006, 12:48 AM) [snapback]294234[/snapback]</div>

Just got the car back from Thousand Oaks Toyota today. They said they replaced the MFD with a new one yesterday and the new one failed as well. Smelling a rat, they called the manufacturer of the MFD, Fujitsu I believe it was, who sent a tech over to the shop. He determined that the failure was caused by the DICE iPod interface! When that unit was disconnected all returned to normal. They were good enough to cover all the work under warranty. We contacted the DICE people immediately and asked them to talk to both the Toyota tech and the Fujitsu tech and to please replace the interface immediately.

Heads up, DICE buyers!!!
[/b]

I really really really doubt that. I've had a iPod unit in my car for 4 months now with ZERO ill effects to the functionality of the car. Hell, it's just silly considering how it works.

[richard schumacher]

Maybe his was installed incorrectly.

[ribbs]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Jul 29 2006, 10:22 AM) [snapback]294316[/snapback]</div>

Maybe his was installed incorrectly.
[/b]

Don't mean to sound cocky, but it was most definitely installed correctly. We have installed two XM kits with no problems and this iPod interface initially worked just fine. I own and operate a recording studio and know my way around wiring and computer and audio hardware. I actually wish that incorrect installation was the problem - that is much easier to correct. The Fujitsu tech ran a diagnostic on the screen that wasn't working - it showed a failure in the LAN (local area network). When he disconnected the DICE unit and rebooted the display, he ran the same test again. No failure. Fairly damning. Perhaps because my unit was a beta test the wiring wasn't quite right - I don't know.