Very occasional blank dash from poor Fob engagement?

No, this problem has nothing to do with your fob, but a known issue with a failing capacitor on the combination meter (CM).

There is a pinned thread in the Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting forum that has details of the problem and various remedies. The thread title is Combination Meter Repair - DIY

 

Okay The problem I have with all of this is and the Texas hybrid guy said the same thing if you're display keeps coming back on he believes it's further down the line whatever I have a display that's out of the car that keeps returning and working and the capacitor and the board and everything there looks and seemingly tests reasonably well I was going to send it down to Texas hybrid and have them I don't know what they do test see what the deal is and tell me and go ahead and send me a replacement anyway just for haha's but then I have just held up on that because I got several low mileage heads up displays for 7 to 9 Prius. And each one of those I've installed in this one car that I'm driving every so often the dash won't light and all I do is hold the start button in car stops goes off I wait literally a second I restart the car and the display lights up on one of the displays the first one that I discussed sometimes the display will go out for a day or 10 starts and then come back on Texas hybrid still said He believes it's further down the line it's not my display usually when the capacitor fails it might do this a couple of times but to be doing this for 2 years highly unlikely and would be thought to be numerically near impossible I guess.

 

If you are not GOOD at soldering, then this isn't the job you want to do. Pull the CM and send it to TexasHybridBatteries.com.

It is still a bit tricky to disassemble things. The center air vent pieces are very likely to be brittle and crack- oh well. And you want tiny needle nose pliers to gently twist the ends of the clips that hold the tops of the plastic trim on the front windshield (A pillar trim).

Take pictures of every electrical connector you remove. It's easy to forget to plug something in (BTDT).

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

That would make sense if we are talking about the multi-functional display, but this problem is about the combination meter and the symptoms match exactly the problem with the capacitor.

I think you're most likely misunderstanding what was said or THB misunderstood what you were saying.

 

No I'm talking about HUD on dash with speedo and trans indicators all the amber. Red tri etc . I've not had any problems with MFDs except plastic peeling off the displays in general wear on the buttons and then displays not going blank but being so dim you can't ever see them usually I just pull the later ones out of the seven to nine models and save them for my cars as needed. I am talking about the speedometer the several that I've had the one that I have now the car that I'm driving now they keep telling me if it keeps coming back on it is something further up or down the line not necessarily the display but everybody here says oh that's exactly what happens when the capacitor starts to go bad. But yet the display is laying here on my floor was on the bench I got tired of testing and fooling with it I got another one out of another car that I know was working perfectly I put it in my car and now every so often it doesn't light up when I boot the car I seriously doubt it's this other display I'm using now but we'll just say it is for the sake of the discussion no problem.

 

Gen 2 Prius does not have a heads-up display (HUD), you're talking about the combination meter (CM) here. A HUD projects a semi-transparent image onto the windshield so you don't need to look down to view the information.

You could well have a different issue given what you describe which is different from what happens to most people. The capacitor issue usually starts off very intermittently failing more often until the final failure.

It would be useful to get to the bottom of your issues so that you could definitively say what went wrong in your problem car.

 

Well I have the display out. The one that was giving me the most problems that would go off for days at a time it's sitting here on the bench ready to go to whoever might be able to take a look at it and then tell me if the capacitor or whatever is going bad. By looking at the board even with a magnifying glass everything looks really clean where is others that I have seen online with pictures of similar look really not so clean. The solder joints corrosion whatever goes on on a board. So I guess at some point I'll send this display that keeps going off down to Texas hybrids and tell them if they could just have a look at it see what they think and then regardless of that just send me a replacement that's been done because I would buy it anyway. Just to try it and see and then when I get this thing that's had the capacitors replaced and all the stuff done to it get it in my car and it starts to go on and off at random I guess then I will have the Texas hybrid guys proof of what he's saying I just haven't gone the route of unplugging half the car and playing the games. because I'm driving the car. Like I say the latest display that I took out the low mileage car I just call it a heads up display because it shines in a mirror I guess. Sometimes it goes off and it seems like it has something to do with the fob not being docked properly. But the car starts right up and drives with no display just to check engine light on which is for my low catalyst threshold that's what it always is. And then I get down the street to my first stop literally 4 mi maybe five go into the McDonald's to get a burger come out remote still in the slot because I don't bother pulling it to go in I come out open the door I still hear no beeps with the remote docked. So I removed the remote while sitting in the car and the door is open and I reinsert the remote smartly and the beeps immediately start I close the door hit the button with the brake and my display is back on. Oh well

 

The gen2 actually DOES employ heads up display technology but instead of projecting it onto the windshield it projects it to a black mirrored surface opposite the combination meter board.

A stupid system that results in a dim display.

 

Yeah that's why I called it a heads up display like I said above it shines up on the mirror and kind of does like what would happen in a fighter plane etc but whatever it is sometimes it turns off or doesn't fire up at boot It never turns off when it's on until I turn the car off but sometimes it doesn't boot it's like the display only doesn't boot but the rest of the car does I don't even have a ready light All I have is my check engine light but everything is working the MFD shows everything in a green turtle green car but yet when I take my foot off the gas I don't see the region display on the display on the MFD. And the car seems like it'll coast forever during this. But as soon as I get down the way and reboot the car because I have to get out of it and turn it off the display comes back on the MFD shows regen breaking all the turtles and cars are green and my mileage is like 49.1 never under 47 nowdays

 

Reflecting off a mirror is not a heads-up display.

The fact it is reflected and it is not in your field of view makes it not a HUD. Not even sort of the same. The key difference is that the projected image is right in your field of view and is transparent enough so you can see through it and not be distracted by it. That is what makes it useful in fighter jets and now also in commercial airliners.

The Prius dash ssyem is a great system and certainly bright enough, even in the full brightness of summer, and as long as the mirror doesn't somehow get crud on it and you keep the outside surfaces of the glass clean – both the horizontal glass over the CM and the vertical glass covering the mirror – it is plenty bright.

 

I believe I actually heard a Toyota dealer call it that too but I don't care what we call it it's the speedometer on the car however it refracts shines displays or doesn't is actually of no consequence until it doesn't and that is the discussion here is that it isn't doing I do believe however it works it's not or it's momentary or it's every so often or it's not consistent.

 

There were some models of Prius that did have a true HUD, so your dealer person might have been confused with that. It seems it is not so unusual for some at dealerships to be confused. We saw a lot of that when the Prius was new.

Accurately naming parts helps readers understand what you are talking about and also can help new people get a better understanding.

I understand you don't care much for detail or clarity and that's ok, but it makes your post helluva difficult to make sense of.

Yup, that's one of the symptoms of a CM that failed to start.

Yup, a lot of comments from fixers that say you couldn't tell by looking at any of the capacitors that they were done for.

 

NO but you can test the cap with fluke meter with the function. Anyway I get it I'm going to get it redone or replaced from Texas just swap n.pay we shall see . I believe the guy down they're. It's up or downstream . But Is ok because car runs n drives w no mileage hits .

 

As I said previously, the combination meter uses HUD technology regardless of where it is projected. A stupid implementation of it instead of a direct reading LED panel. Depending on the angle and intensity of the sun, it can be unreadable.
Just like the bladder fuel tank, lack of an internal hatch release, melting hatch release button cover, etc., it’s one of few annoying things Toyota got wrong on the gen2 perhaps to save pennies.

 

I have like 7 hatch button covers in drawer perfect... mine was non existent.

Seems the first Gen2 had better rubber 04 to 06 early

 

I respectfully disagree, if you look at where the resultant image is, it would be difficult to place the CM in that position, so it is more likely for practical reasons that they designed it that way, I doubt cost-cutting has much to do with it.

As for whether it is HUD or not, here are the first four links I found that explain what HUD is. The other readers can then decide what is correct. You are free to hold whatever opinion you want. I just like to call a spade a spade.

Head-up display | Wikipedia
Heads-Up Display: What Is It and Which Cars Have It? | AUTOLIST
heads-up display (HUD) | WhatIs
What Are Head-Up Displays? And Are They Worth It? | MotorTrend

I'd agree. It seems the most common year for this problem was the '07 at least from the stories reported here. I am unsure if it affected the '08 - '09 but I don't recollect many stories involving them.

 

Maybe spades are different in NZ