Navigation Unit "Unable to read data"

[Razorhog]

I have a 2006 Prius with 58,000 miles. The DVD navigation system has stopped working - the screen says "Unable to read data. Check if map DVD is correct." It has worked great in the past. The DVD is authentic and in mint condition.
I take it to the dealership, and the technician determines that the Navigation ECU needs to be replaced, and they say it will cost $5,168.28.
They were surprised at the cost, and told me to call Toyota customer service to see if they could help. All customer service has done is call my dealership and try to talk to the technician and/or service manager about the problem. This ends up being a game of phone tag, and the technician insists the problem is the ECU.
I do not believe the Navigation ECU is the problem; I believe it is the DVD reader under the passenger seat. I can put the dvd in and I hear the reader trying to access the data, but it makes the sounds of a failing DVD drive like in a computer. (I am a computer tech and know that sound well)
I plan on taking the car to another dealer for a second opinion as soon as I can.

Does anyone have any advice? This is my second prius, (wife loves them) and I drive a 2006 Tacoma. We like Toyota, but I feel like I'm being slapped in the face.

[Patrick Wong]

The navigation ECU is the device located under the driver's seat. The device under the passenger seat is the JBL amplifier (for North American models).

Since you are a computer tech, if you can figure out how to remove and replace the DVD player within the ECU, no problem. Otherwise you'll have to replace the entire ECU that includes the DVD player.

Alternatively you might be able to obtain a used navigation ECU unit from a salvage yard.

[kohnen]

Originally Posted by Razorhog

I have a 2006 Prius with 58,000 miles. The DVD navigation system has stopped working - the screen says "Unable to read data. Check if map DVD is correct." It has worked great in the past. The DVD is authentic and in mint condition.
I take it to the dealership, and the technician determines that the Navigation ECU needs to be replaced, and they say it will cost $5,168.28.
They were surprised at the cost, and told me to call Toyota customer service to see if they could help. All customer service has done is call my dealership and try to talk to the technician and/or service manager about the problem. This ends up being a game of phone tag, and the technician insists the problem is the ECU.
I do not believe the Navigation ECU is the problem; I believe it is the DVD reader under the passenger seat. I can put the dvd in and I hear the reader trying to access the data, but it makes the sounds of a failing DVD drive like in a computer. (I am a computer tech and know that sound well)
I plan on taking the car to another dealer for a second opinion as soon as I can.

Does anyone have any advice? This is my second prius, (wife loves them) and I drive a 2006 Tacoma. We like Toyota, but I feel like I'm being slapped in the face.

I bet it is the DVD drive itself. And, I'd be surprised if the DVD drive is anything other than a full height 5.25" DVD drive with an IDE interface.

Before you shell out over 5 clams on that unit, I'd open it up carefully (you're a computer tech, so this shouldn't be hard at all) remove the drive, and put in a replacement drive. Just set the jumper for master, slave or cable to match the older drive.

If it's an SATA drive, you can buy one of those two.

I'm betting $50 in parts and an hour or two and you'll be up and running again.

Let us know how it goes!

[miscrms]

How much of that is parts, and how much labor? That does sound a bit outrageous. See if you can get the part number from them and shop around, there are a number of online Toyota parts dealers that generally have better prices. If its still high, maybe try Steve at
http://autobeyours.com
for a used one. You should be able to get the pertinent factory manual pages for $10 per day from
https://techinfo.toyota.com/
and replace it yourself if the dealers labor estimate is still high.

You could be right, it may just be the drive, but it would be very unusual for that to be a separate part. Car dealers generally just replace sub-assemblies these days, they don't take things apart and fix them. If you care to dissect yours, you might be able to swap out the drive and get it working again. If you go that route, you can find a little but of info here:
Embedded.com - Inside the Toyota Prius: Part 6 - Navigation unit bridges automotive, CE

Good luck!
Rob

[KK6PD]

Before you go out and spend some bucks for a new drive, pull the existing unit out and take a look at the pick up lens. Its more than likely filthy! I have seen this problem many times in CD & DVD drives. A "Q" tip, some canned air, and you may get your drive to read again. It is an optical device, and one of the dirtiest places you could stick one would be a car!!! They are not airtight and/or dust proof! If indeed the drive is shot, just buy a new drive.

Good Luck de Pat KK6PD

[Razorhog]

I've dug up some posts from similar problems, and I believe the dvd reader inside the unit is proprietary. I doubt I would be able to replace it with a standard drive, but it is worth a shot. The part # they gave me was 86841-47040. I'm not sure how much of that cost is labor, but it is not much - the service adviser told me it was a 1.5 hour job - that's only $127.50. The Toyota customer rep said that is what the units cost from the manufacturer.

[miscrms]

FYI, heres one on ebay starting at $375. Don't know anything about the seller, personally I'd contact Steve first.

eBay Motors: 06 07 Prius GPS Navigation Control Player 8684147040 OE (item 200301378160 end time Jan-27-09 18:09:08 PST)

[Razorhog]

Great replies, thank you all very much. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. Will keep you updated.

[Razorhog]

Just got a call from my dealership. They, along with Toyota have come to the conclusion that they cannot get a remanufactured unit, and the price is the same. The Toyota rep is supposed to contact them tomorrow.

[mlibanio]

Have you tried to reset it through the Display. I got that once. I bought a CD cleaner, cleaned out the unit 2-3 times. Then I removed the top off, blew it out with compressed air. Put the top part of DVD unit back on. Then I did a master reset by going into the diagnostic menu. Press the Navigation menu, then in that main menu, press the Top Left side of screen, then Bottom Left, Top Left, Bottom left then bottom right. This will cause your screen to go blank and completely reset your nav systema and clear out any errors. It worked with my generation 3 unit too!