Instrument cluster/dash readout dead

*UPDATE - Now the car will not turn off when the power button is pressed. If someone can explain why this is happening I'd appreciate it. I'm disabled, and not having my car working is very scary as I'm extremely dependent on it. Thanks

Some of you have been following my journey and threads on here, as it pertains to my new (to me) Prius, which I bought at the beginning of this year, and mostly use for car camping.

Just returned yesterday from a 4 week car camping trip, and this afternoon my instrument cluster went dead. This happened once about 2 weeks ago, but I simply shut the car, restarted it, and it worked fine again.

Anywho, glad this happened when I was back home, and not on the road.

Questions...

Does anyone have any easy fixes...at least to get it working temporarily?

Is it safe to drive the car without it (without damaging anything further)?

Anyone know where to get good used one's my mechanic can install?

Is this issue ONLY the instrument panel, or could there also be underlying causes as well?

Other than the panel being out, car rides like a dream, and no other problems to report.

I was supposed to head out on the open road again tomorrow for a few weeks, but it now appears I have mechanical work in my future

 

Thanks, PC!!! I found Nikki Delventhal's video online (love her channel), and she had the SAME issue I'm having. So I learned how to force shut the car by holding the power button off for 3 seconds...and then clicking it 2 more times. That makes me feel better!

Now the BIG question...is it better to buy a quality used meter & have my mechanic install it, or send it to an outfit like you mentioned, or perhaps these guys? 2004 - 2009 Toyota Prius Instrument Cluster Panel Repair

QUOTE="PriusCamper, post: 3251473, member: 87188"]Do you solder much? Or have a friend that solders? This problem is a faulty capacitor that needs to be replaced in your combination meter? It's a very inexpensive and easy repair if you're able to deal with the hassle of removing it from the dash on your own.

The reason the car won't turn off is there's some such down sequences integrated into the combination meter that don't work when the capacitor fails to start up the meter. For the past year I've had this problem in my 2007 and it's still super intermittent so haven't bothered to fix it.

But when it does act up I press and hold the power button till it shuts down. Usually this means pulling the key FOB out of the slot to complete the shut down sequence.

And if you don't have a soldering option you can send it off to these folks:
https://www.texashybridbatteries.com/prius-combination-meter-repair or just drive your car all the way to Dallas without the combination meter and get it fixed by them... The car is safe, but a bit more dangerous to drive because you don't know how much gas you have left or how fast you're going. Of course your OBD2 reader and many apps will give you your MPH.[/QUOTE]

 

Thank you, Jerry. I have an AMAZING mechanic here in NJ, but I probably won't be able to get into him until at least Monday. Hopefully he knows how to solder, because I don't. I suffered a massive stroke 2 years ago and I'm lucky to still be able to hobble around (badly), so repairing anything big that needs to be taken apart - like a dashboard - is definitely beyond my ability.

Assuming the mechanic can do this, will the fix be just as reliable as the repair company you guys mentioned?

P.S. - When I was looking for replacement clusters, many websites mentioned a $300 core fee? I thought that was just for the battery?

 

I'm trying to sleep in the Prius now, before getting all this sorted out tomorrow. Force shut the car off by holding the power button for 3 seconds, and that brought up another issue...

While the car is off, the power button is glowing green, as is the key fob slot indicator lights. Probably because I'm in the vehicle with the keys/fobs. Will that drain the battery overnight? Better to leave the car on?

The overhead dome lights wouldn't even dim out like usual, until I manually clicked the switch to the OFF position.

 

UPDATE - After force shutting the car last night, I woke up this morning to the instrument cluster working again!

This is the second time this has happened in about 2 weeks. First time I simply restarted the car and it came back on, and last night it was out for many hours until I woke up and checked it.

There's obviously an issue with it and needs repair, but the million dollar question is...

Do I roll the dice and let it be while I head out on my next multi-week camping adventure, or spend the bucks to get it fixed prior to leaving?

I found a GREAT guy here in NJ who ONLY fixes clusters, but not sure if I should just live with the problem or spend the $400 or so I'm guesstimating it'll cost to remedy.

I know that the vents are failure points when taking the dash out and making the repairs. Are these expensive fixes/parts if they should be affected during the procedure?

Also, can someone explain the importance of the fuel bladder issue. Apparently it also needs to be reset along with the cluster. Or something like that. Thanks