Unusual Experiene - Any Answers?

[Tomel51]

One day last week I was driving along, nothing unusual, when the radio suddenly went off. When I hit the Audio Button on the MFD, the screen said "Audio Off". I then hit the Climate button and it said the "Check the A/C Connection" (the A/C, unlike the radio, was still operating). I pulled in to a nearby parking lot and turned off the car. After about 10 seconds I turned the car back on and everything was back to normal. Radio and A/C working and no messages on the MFD. This problem has not recurred during the past week.

Any thoughts as to what happened? Should I take the car in to Toyota and have them check it out? The vehicle is a new '09 with only about 6,000 miles.

Thanks for any input or thoughts.

[bluemonday]

Originally Posted by Tomel51

One day last week I was driving along, nothing unusual, when the radio suddenly went off. When I hit the Audio Button on the MFD, the screen said "Audio Off". I then hit the Climate button and it said the "Check the A/C Connection" (the A/C, unlike the radio, was still operating). I pulled in to a nearby parking lot and turned off the car. After about 10 seconds I turned the car back on and everything was back to normal. Radio and A/C working and no messages on the MFD. This problem has not recurred during the past week.

Any thoughts as to what happened? Should I take the car in to Toyota and have them check it out? The vehicle is a new '09 with only about 6,000 miles.

Thanks for any input or thoughts.

Ruh roh, I remember reading something about this recently and it wasn't a good sign. I think it signals a MFD problem that has plagued some people. But this is just my memory about a problem I don't have, so I'd suggest a search.

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by Tomel51

...Any thoughts as to what happened? Should I take the car in to Toyota and have them check it out? The vehicle is a new '09 with only about 6,000 miles...

It sounds like your MFD has an intermittent connection within. I suggest that you take a good digital photo of the screen when the problem happens so that you have evidence that your car has a problem.

Otherwise, if you take your car to your dealer, the MFD likely will work just fine when the tech looks at it, s/he will note NTF (no trouble found) and you will have just wasted your time (not to mention the service writer's and the tech's) without any action being taken.

[Tomel51]

I've been able to do some more research and found out about TSB EL002-05 which seems to describe the problem I encountered. However, that Technical Service Bulletin deals with the '04 Prius and I cannot find any reference to later Pri's having the same problem. In fact, the TSB says "A revised multi-display has been developed to resolve these conditions." Is anyone aware of someone with a later model Pri that had this problem?

Good idea about taking a pic of the display if the problem recurs. You're absolutely right about proving that the problem has occurred so that the Toyota tech will take some action other than looking at the display and saying everything's fine.

[richard schumacher]

You're not alone. A few of these have cropped up recently. Who will be the first to tear one apart for diagnosis, as hobbit brilliantly did with the original design?

[jayman]

I agree an intermittent or corroded connection is probably at fault. Usually, if you carefully pull the connector and reseat it, the problem will go away

[a priori]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

It sounds like your MFD has an intermittent connection within. I suggest that you take a good digital photo of the screen when the problem happens so that you have evidence that your car has a problem.

Otherwise, if you take your car to your dealer, the MFD likely will work just fine when the tech looks at it, s/he will note NTF (no trouble found) and you will have just wasted your time (not to mention the service writer's and the tech's) without any action being taken.

Originally Posted by Tomel51

Good idea about taking a pic of the display if the problem recurs. You're absolutely right about proving that the problem has occurred so that the Toyota tech will take some action other than looking at the display and saying everything's fine.

Patrick's idea of taking a photo is great!

I caution you on just waiting before reporting the issue, though. You need to establish it happened during your warranty period. For someone with a 2009, this may not be an issue. All the same, I would write a letter, at a minimum, to your dealer. Explain the situation and advise you will be waiting to take a photo of the screen the next time it happens. When you take the photo, try to make it wide enough to encompass the ODO, or take a few so that you can see close up (if necessary) and the full dash (for the odometer reading).