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My Prius will not turn off!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by bjb1195, Dec 15, 2008.

  1. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    After the new combination meter was installed, what was the odometer reading? If zero or close to zero, then the dealer installed a new part.

    The combination meter is special-ordered. The dealer tech is supposed to specify the odometer reading from your previous combination meter to be stored into the new part. Only the factory can program the odometer reading into the new unit.
     
  2. tkddad

    tkddad New Member

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    Thanks. The meter was at zero. So I guess they forgot to tell
    the factory to preset it to the previous reading.
     
  3. amr1230

    amr1230 New Member

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    Re: My Prius will not turn off either - combination meter to be replaced

    I have a 2009 and I encountered the same issue with my car this morning with the dashboard not illuminating and then the car not wanting to shut off. Is this an inherent problem with the 2009's?
     
  4. Motobob

    Motobob Seaside Pearl...

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    Same thing happened to me 2 days ago on my 2008 Prius Pack 6, with 6000 miles on it. I had symptom 1 and 5.

    Symptom 1: When you start the car, you get no dashboard lights - no speedometer, odometer, fuel tank reading, parking brake light - nothing in the dashboard that would normally appear in the area directly behind the steering wheel. Even the "ready" light and the little light bulb icon to the right of the ready light are not illuminated.

    Symptom 5: After driving the car for about 15-20 minutes, the dashboard lights came back on by themselves, just like someone had flipped a switch. When I arrived home a few minutes later, I was able to turn the car off normally.

    Bob
     
  5. YoDaddyAlex

    YoDaddyAlex Member

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    how can the dealer just tell someone they can't do anything about a problem unless they can see it? every car now has error codes it spits out that the dealer can look at to find any problem.
     
  6. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    We've seen many recent posts from owners of relatively new 2G complaining about this issue. It sounds like there is an intermittent connection within the combination meter (similar to the MFD failure for owners of 2004 - 2005 2G.)

    If you need to power down while the combination meter is not working, try holding the POWER button down for several seconds, until the car shuts down.

    Since the issue is intermittent it may be hard to demonstrate to your dealer's service writer or the tech, so I suggest that owners with the problem should take a nice sharp photo that shows the MFD is working while the combination meter is dark. That should be sufficient evidence to get the combination meter replaced.

    The combination meter failure apparently does not generate any DTC.
     
  7. Motobob

    Motobob Seaside Pearl...

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    I talked to my dealer today and decided to wait and see if there is a reoccurrence. I documented with him what happened and this information in the thread. If it does happen again, I will ask forthe complete diagnosis and new part. bob
     
  8. chickscleo

    chickscleo Junior Member

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    FINALLY!!!! We have a 2005 Prius. We have had this problem for about 2 years. Our Dealers (2) Have no idea what the problem is. They contacted Toyota to find out what the problem could be. Toyota said they had no idea, and that it could cost anywhere from $850-$4500..........HOLY S*$T, I THINK NOT!!!....Please update as to what you enede up doing to fix the problem. Thank you!!!
     
  9. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Luscious Garage | Blog | LG TV - Prius Dead Dashboard

    I've seen a number of posts about this problem in the past few months.
     
    1 person likes this.
  10. chickscleo

    chickscleo Junior Member

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    Can those that have replaced the combination meter, how pricey is it? Also, how many people need to complain to Toyota before they take care of this problem or do a recall...I'm just curious. Thanks!
     
  11. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    For those out of warranty, Toyota is in under no obligation to "take care" of it at all. They might be willing to cover part/all of the costs out of goodwill.

    As for a recall, some are initiated by the manufacturer themselves and others are ordered by NHTSA. However, recalls generally only cover safety issues or some sort of non-compliance w/Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. I'm not whether there have been recalls for other cars w/similar problems as this IMHO is a borderline case at best of "safety". You can file a complaint at Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), File A Safety Complaint.

    An example of an odometer related recall I can remember is http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/p...&summary=true&prod_id=102868&PrintVersion=YES where some US 02 Maximas had odometers that'd register in km instead of miles.
     
  12. webnyprius

    webnyprius New Member

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    The dealer replaced our combination meter in our 2009 base model Prius under warranty a couple of months ago. The part had to be ordered from Toyota with our odometer reading already programmed in. I think it would have cost about $800 for the repair had it not been covered under warranty.
     
  13. bdew

    bdew 2001 & 2007 Prius Owner

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    The inability to turn off the car started happening to us a couple of weeks ago. The dash display lights were flashing. Very impressive, very strange. Of course by the time I got in for service the codes were not available to diagnose and the problem would not duplicate itself. HOWEVER, I had already had the combination ECU replaced, perhaps a week or two earlier. (Cost $488.96 covered by "platinum" extended service plan.) It's a 2007 model with about 65K miles. Based on what y'all are saying, maybe I need another combination ECU. But first I need a jump, because even though it won't turn off, I can't get it started, either. I'll let people know how it turns out.
     
  14. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    You might also need a new 12V battery.

    While trying to turn the car off, are you holding the POWER button down for several seconds?
     
  15. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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  16. NC_Prius

    NC_Prius Member

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    Is this an actual documented problem with the Prius? I just happened to notice that *everyone* who posted with this complaint (in this particular thread) only had a couple to a "few" posts apiece. Seems a little strange. Has anyone who has been on PriusChat awhile experienced this?
     
  17. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    It may be caused by the IG1 relay in the freezing temp. Check with your dealer to perform T-SB-0047-09.
     
  18. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    There is also T-SB-0172-09 for the combination meter intermittent display issue.

    • This repair is covered under the Toyota Comprehensive Warranty. This warranty is in effect for 36 months or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the vehicle’s in-service date.
    • Warranty application is limited to correction of a problem based upon a customer’s specific complaint.
     
  19. NC_Prius

    NC_Prius Member

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    That's bad for those who move to a cold climate after the warranty period expires. Would it be covered under the extended warranty as well?
     
  20. prince101005

    prince101005 Junior Member

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    Prius Fans, I've experienced this in my 2008 Prius twice now. Both in colder months and both on nights when the temperature shifted significantly from the night/day previously. This is in DC though, so while cool, is certainly not 'cold'.

    Each time the dash was dark, but in my case I was able to shut down and restart several times and it eventually came back on. Maybe I could shut down because I did not move my car??? Unsure, but it did allow me to shut down and eventually started with the lights on.

    I will be contacting Toyota on this to add to the numbers. Good to know that the lights eventually came on for everyone though as had I been in a hurry (which is often) I would have driven without them...after all the flow of DC traffic is above the speed limit anyway!