A few quick questions. I would assume one should disconnect the aux. battery before removing the comb. meter board ? If so, will you lose the presets?
Yes, you should probably disconnect the battery for safety. You will have to reset your clock/radio/nav settings and the auto power window up function.
Sorry for any delays for those that have attempted to contact me. Sometimes I don't see the PM's here right away. (And have been out of town over the holidays) I have set up a hotmail.com account for this. The address is "P4L", so use it for faster response. Thanks!
Just took the board out and shipped it out. FYI for others, taking my time , it took about 3 hrs. If I had to do it again, it would take about an 1 hr. P.S. I did not reassemble it yet.
Hi I'm new to this writing, but have been reading the threads. I drive approximately 170 miles a day on a route, 165000 miles so far -08- prius. I have the meter problem too. I have started to warmup the car a few minutes before leaving and running the heater on high to heat up the interior on the way to the office before I start my route. Most of the time when I startup to leave the office, the display works, but sometimes not, then I pluggin my garmin for speed indicator. Did I read where you can still drive/run your prius while the meter is removed? Another electrical problem that has appeared. I replaced the right front axle shaft assembly and ever since then the 3 right side indicators of brake,ABS,VSC come on if I go over 63 mph and stay on until I come to a stop and increase my speed to about 30 mph. Then they will go off until I hit 63-64 mph again. The only thing I did was remove the bolt that holds the sensor is place so I could swing the arm out of the way to pull the axle out. Any suggestions on that? Thanks Mailcarrier
damm looking at the dashboard remove i think its also a desigh fault that its so many parts that needs to be taken of before you can get to a board....
Well it's back together and everything seems to be OK, time will tell. The only thing that doesn't work is the cruise control. That is where the issue started, but the other symptoms appeared about a month later, and those are fixed. My experience with pEEf, Great!!! Jan 6, removed the board (3hrs) and shipped it out USPS (NOT recommended). From WI to CA. by way of Jamaica NY. 2 WEEKS Jan 20 pEEf received it, and shipped it out (UPS) the same day Jan 26 received it back and installed it (2 hrs.) NOTE be sure you connect ALL the wiring!! I did not, and had to take it apart again, hook up the circut board, and reassemble. The good news is once the tools are assembled, I can now remove the board and reassemble in about an 1 1/2 hr. Now all I have to do is track down the cruise control issue.
I'm reporting on my experience getting the combination meter on my 2007 Prius fixed by pEEf and removing/installing it in the car myself. In summary, working with pEEf was an excellent experience, removing and installing the combination meter myself wasn't too hard even though I don't have much experience working on cars, and so far the new combination meter is working great. OK, now here are all my notes in excruciating detail : I removed the Combination Meter in the parking lot of my apartment complex using the instructions from ingineerix dot com posted earlier in this thread (I don't have a high enough post count to post links). It took me about 2.5 hours. Like I said earlier, I don't have a lot of experience working on cars. I am somewhat mechanically inclined, I have installed a couple stereos and speakers in other cars, and I sometimes do my own oil changes. The tool that I found most valuable was a Husky T-handle ratcheting driver set that I bought at Home Depot a while back. That made it easier to get at hard to reach screws and bolts. Following the instructions to take everything apart was pretty easy. There were, however, three places that I got caught up on that I wish I had know about beforehand: Step 10a: Removing the 2 hole covers in the back of the glove box is tricky. I couldn't do it without making some ugly gouges in them with a screwdriver. Luckily, my glove box is full of junk so I can't see them . The only advice I can give is use a very small screwdriver and keep at it. Step 14a: My airbag wiring harness did not have a white tab as described in the instructions, so I was very confused here. For me, the whole thing was yellow. The "locking tab" the instructions talk about is flush one of the four sides of the harness and blends in very well. Try dragging your thumb along each side of the harness until you find the sliding tab. Step 15a: To see the two bolts that hold the passenger airbag module on, you have to actually get on your back and get your head underneath the glove box area. The two bolts are pretty far up there and are attached to a thick metal rod. They are also on very tight, so the ratcheting driver with an extender worked wonders here. Before I started taking everything apart, I contacted pEEf at p4l@hotmail.com and arranged to have him fix the CM. He was very responsive to emails and answered all of my questions. After I got it out of the car, I packaged the CM in lots of bubble wrap and sent it to pEEf via USPS Priority Mail. He is located in Berkeley, which is pretty close to me, so it got there the next day. Now here is the part that blew my mind: pEEf fixed the board and dropped it off at UPS the same day he received it. UPS got it back to me the next day, so it was only a total of 3 days round trip to get the CM fixed! Obviously, your mileage may vary depending on where you live, but I got mine back in the very least amount of time possible, which was great. Thanks, pEEf! Next, I had to put everything back together. After getting the experience of taking everything apart, putting it back was much easier and faster, only taking about 1.5 hours. The only problem I ran into was that, after I got everything back together, I started the car back up and everything turned on except for the speedometer. I panicked for a second, then decided to try "rebooting" the car. I shut it down, waited a few seconds, and turned it back on. The speedometer came on and everything worked! That was about two weeks ago, and I have had no problems in that time. Earlier this winter, I was having the CM go out once or twice a week. I've been very happy to see that it has not gone out once since the fix. If anyone has any questions about my experience, just let me know and I'll do my best to answer.
Bluetooth for MPH! For those that need to drive while the Combination Meter is either out being repaired, or just on the blink, you can get an ELM327 bluetooth OBDII device and plug it in (under the steering wheel) then use a smartphone app like Torque Pro to monitor your MPH and other information while driving. I have an android, but I think there's an iPhone app for it as well... The ELM unit is about $20 shipped from many different eBay sellers. One caveat; I can't get a fuel level reading from this, it just says "no information", so just keep the fuel tank topped off. Google Torque Pro, then click on the Images link to get some screenshots of the app's "instrumentation". Hope this is of help to someone...
Unfortunately, You will not be able to use an OBD2 device to read speed while the CM is dead or missing, as it is responsible for generation of the speed information. FYI: When removing/re-installing the CM, it's wise to disconnect the battery. This will prevent the "reboot" issue that c4mb0t describes above. Also: If you have any fuel gauge inaccuracies after the repair, you will need to reset your incinometers. There is a procedure here somewhere, I'll post it if I find it. I'll also try to correct the R&R Instructions when I get some time. Thanks for noting the problem with the SRS connector. The black plastic screw covers can also be removed easily with a "dental pick" style tool. -Phil
The procedure's at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/45425-gas-gauge-didnt-show-empty.html#post595534. I've never tried it as I've never needed it yet...
I just finished replacing the CM on my '07, as repaired/upgraded by Phil. As everyone else has noted, it was a pleasure working with Phil and the job went very well. The instructions, along with the notes in post #50 above, made the job go quickly and hassle-free. My neighbor had his replaced at the dealer last year, cost him $1400. I was pleased to get mine done for closer to $150, and less than 4 hours of my (free) time.
I just wanted to share my experience getting the Toyota dealer to replace the combination meter in my '08. One cold morning I had the blank instrument panel when I started the car and after my 40 minute commute it never turned on. On my way back home everything was fine. After researching I found the service bulletin and knew that was my problem so asked the dealer to fix it but they wouldn't since it was now working again. A few months later it happened upon starting the car and I drove straight to the dealership and showed them what was happening. The service advisor told me they were too busy to take the car without an appt. but that they would be able to look at the codes and fix it if I brought it back another day. I told him I tried that before and that they said it had to be happening while they had the car to verify the problem, so I would only leave if they would guarantee me they could fix it later even if it was then fine, since they saw my dash while it was acting up. He then changed his story and said that they couldn't identify the problem if I brought the car back when everything was working, so I told them I wasn't leaving until I had some assurance that they would fix it, since there was a service bulletin identifying this issue and the car was at there shop. A technician came out to scan my car and they asked me to wait inside but I stayed with the car and saw the trouble codes that came up and the technician told me it was a good thing I didn't leave because they wouldn't have been able to replace it under warranty if I had left. I was then told that I couldn't leave anyway because it was a safety issue to drive that way and they had to give me a loaner car. 5 days later I got the car back with the combination meter replaced and I didn't have to pay a dime. They didn't want to cover it though, so I wanted to let everyone know that if they tell you it isn't covered under warranty they are lying and you shouldn't give up or pay them if you are still under warranty coverage.
Hi, I have the same problem with combination meters you were talking above and i tried to connect Phil as well. If somebody can advise me how to be with that Thank you.
As I posted earlier in this thread, the best way to contact me is by my hotmail.com email account. The address is "P4L".
Does anyone know if Phil is still working on the meters? I emailed him a few days ago but have not heard back yet. Sure hope he is still actively working on the CM's.
