combination meter repair - DIY

Bold emphasis is mine.

 

There seems to be something of an opinion split over whether all of that work is necessary, or just replacing/increasing C3 generally does the trick.

 

OK, first major test of the repair. It was 42F this morning. The combo meter always fails when the temperature drops below 48F. It came on right away. If I recall correctly, when I did this repair the first time in Feb of 2024, it also worked when it got this cold. So, I might not know how permanent this fix is until next winter.

If it starts to fail again next winter, I will not only replace the caps but I'll also replace the voltage regulator.

 

My 2009 Instrument cluster always seemed to fail at random times, my roommate's 2007 instrument cluster seemed to always fail when the car was warm, and my 2006 seemed to fail the "final time" when the car was warm although also seemed to do the random thing. Was able to get it to work again but stopped at 7-11 to get a diet Pepsi and would not come on again. Always used the various tricks to get the cluster to work in my 2009. My roommate bought hers from a Toyota dealer so they replaced it as part of her purchase. I simply replace the capacitor in my 2006 and we have been having a number of 20 degree nights. So far it has been fine.

 

Interesting that the conditions under which the combo meter fails is different from car to car. In my car, it has been 100% low temperature related. My uncle gave me the car, and he never experienced the issue, because he always kept it garaged. Even in the winter, the garage doesn't get as cold as the outdoors. My garage, like most California homes, is used like a basement. LOL.

 

Coldest morning yet, and the fix still holding. I have frost on the car, yet the dash still indicated 41 degrees.

 

Hello everyone!

Not a prius guy myself but am reaching out on behalf of my cousin. 2004 prius, 250 some thousand miles.

He was having what seems to be the common issue here, full death of the meter with no open door light. He sent me a youtube video of just replacing the 100 to a 220 cap and supplied 10 caps of unknown origin (likely amazon).

I went ahead and did the repair per the video, it worked for a day and crapped out again. I did some more research, finding this thread, having him buy caps from digikey (no voltage IC as i do not have a hot air station). Replaced, worked for a day, but he let the car run out of gas and now there is a much weirder set of symptoms, as follows:

No speedometer/odometer/gas regardless of if the open door light is on or not.

Flashing of all lights in the cluster.

Intermittent big red triangle that corresponds to a useless “Problem!” warning on the center screen. Flashes with the other lights, but will stay on longer, and will beep.

Passenger seatbelt sign is flickering.


All in all, this screams weak power source to me. Could his voltage IC on the board be fried from letting the caps presumably go completely bad? Or having worrying quality amazon cap on the main 220 trace?

All connections have been cleaned and verified on install of the dash back into the car. No corrosion present on any connector. I will be going over the solder joints for the entire board tonight, but any help would be appreciated.

 

There are like 200+ possibilities for the master warning light (red triangle). The same applies to the other warning lights, to a lesser extent, so all a light tells you is that there is a code or some codes to read relating to the appropriate system.

If by intermittent, you mean the light flashes quickly for short periods, like slowing down or taking a corner, then that is an indication that the oil is perilously low. I would have your cousin check the oil dipstick and add oil if necessary. Tell him to stop driving the car until he has done that.

Possibly. If you want to reach out to Texas Hybrid Batteries, they have been known to be able to help out and advise on what to do. They can replace the power IC if you conclude that's what needs to be done, assuming you don't want to set yourself up with a hot air station.

P.S., if your cousin's Prius is 2004, as indicated in your profile, its CM will top out at 299,999 miles. Therefore, you might want to consider getting the 2006-2009 retrofit (upgrade??) offered by Texas Hybrid Batteries, which addresses that issue.

P.P.S., there is a bridging cable that plugs in on both ends. The CM end is disconnected to remove the CM, but the car-side connector can be inadvertently pulled loose, so that might be worth checking too. There is a picture, maybe in this thread, of that cable.