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MFD damaged by clay....

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by tony g, Apr 26, 2009.

  1. tony g

    tony g AffordableComputerGeek.co m

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    Clay things fry Prius’ touchscreen
    By Tom & Ray Magliozzi / Car Talk | Sunday, April 26, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Automotive
    Dear Tom & Ray:
    I’m a proud grandma - and a disappointed and angry owner of a 2006 Toyota Prius.
    The proud grandma part is this: My precious grandchildren made me some small clay decorations that I proudly displayed on my Prius’ dashboard.
    There was a 2-inch clay flower and a 1-inch clay ball, which I sat against the Prius’ multifunction screen.
    Well, the screen stopped working after a few weeks, so I brought the car to the dealer.
    The mechanic said the small clay objects had “burned an image into the screen,†causing it to stop working.
    He said he’d have to remove the whole multifunction device and send out for repairs - at a cost of $850 to $4,300!
    No where does my Prius owner’s manual warn that such a thing could happen.
    What do you guys think?
    - Barbara
    TOM: There are several possible explanations for what happened, Barbara. First, clay is made up of a bunch of minerals suspended in either water or oil. So, it’s possible some liquid seeped out of the clay and affected the electronic circuits that surround your Prius’ screen.
    RAY: Another possibility is that the clay leaning against the touchscreen activated some control for weeks on end. Think of flipping a light switch on and off continuously until it broke. The reason your dealer estimates the repair price at anywhere from $850 to $4,300 is that he doesn’t really know what’s wrong. He plans to send the unit back to Toyota for diagnosis and probable replacement.
    TOM: The possibilities of what needs to be replaced are pretty far-reaching. A Prius touchscreen contains controls for heating, ventilation, audio and navigational systems. Separate on-board computers run each of those systems. So you might need a new screen, or a new screen plus one or more computers.
    RAY: We’d suggest that you call Toyota directly at 800-331-4331. This is an unusual problem, so they might show you some mercy and cover the repair.
    TOM: If no mercy is forthcoming, ask your dealer or a non-dealer garage to check junkyards for a used Prius touchscreen. I’m sure there are Priuses in the junkyard that met their demise from one end or the other, leaving the touchscreen intact. Good luck!
    Article URL: Clay things fry Prius’ touchscreen - BostonHerald.com
     
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    I never understood all these things people put up on their dashes... Leave these things in your house people, not on your dashboard. <rant off>
     
  3. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    This sounds like the precious darlings made something out of modelling clay and grandma thought it was a bright idea to stick it on the display. Since some believe it is Toyota's fault because they didn't say, "don't put crap on the display", on Toyota's behalf I say to all the dim bulbs out there:

    DON'T PUT CRAP ON ANY DISPLAYS

    Grandma should be reported to DYFS for Prius abuse.
     
  4. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I imagine the oil in the clay attacked the touch screen coating on the MFD. It doesn't take much thinking to realize you don't want to stick things on a touch screen.

    Tom
     
  5. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Its also a bad idea to store floppy discs by using a magnet to stick them to the side of a file cabinet or to the refrigerator. :madgrin:
     
  6. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    It's for reasons such as this that there's a disclaimer on sun shields something to the extent of "do not operate vehicle with sun shield in place."
     
  7. anthofang

    anthofang New Member

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    lol. i would never put anything rock hard on my dashboard. I have a super mario mushroom plushie and thats stuck on the corner where the little window is. and i have no problems.
     
  8. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I have seen that done. Back in the days of 8" floppies, I remember someone leaving one for us, stuck to their filing cabinet by a big magnet.

    Tom
     
  9. Tenebre

    Tenebre Custom User Title

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    On more than one occation, I got 5¼ floppies sent to me stapled to letters explaining the content of the disk. Usually they were stapled through the magnetic storage medium, not the paper shielding.
     
  10. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    I have a little green dog which emits air deodoriser, he lives in the little window in front of the left side mirror. I have a growler bear in the other side, god I'm a girl!
     
  11. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I'm so angry at Toyota for not telling me that using an ice pick to touch the MFD would be bad...shouldn't they tell you this kind of thing. Do they owe me a free replacement?

    Geez people...think first...will putting this thing on my expensive fancy display potentially cause problems...maybe, so maybe I shouldn't do it.
     
  12. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    My favorite in this department of warnings came when I worked for a pharmaceutical company. Do you remember glass drug ampules with flame sealed tips? They looked like small sharp torpedoes made from delicate crystal glass. Ours were labeled "NOT TO BE USED AS A SUPPOSITORY." I should certainly hope not.

    Tom
     
  13. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I remember hearing about a safe-sex movement on a college campus somewhere in which the well-meaning individuals were stapling condoms to informational packets.

    Yes, stapling.
     
  14. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    I never thought of using an ice pick before.....what a great idea! I'll never have to clean fingerprints off the screen again! :madgrin:
     
  15. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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  16. Frayadjacent

    Frayadjacent Resident Conservative

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    Play stupid game, win stupid prizes.
     
  17. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    There are probably a few people here who remember IBM cards...

    Anyway, I remember a report from a university professor in the US who was supposed to receive a box of about 2000 IBM cards from another professor in Canada. The US Customs people were suspicious, so they took out a handful of the cards and sent them to Washington for analysis. Apparently the cards were deemed no threat, as the box of cards eventually was delivered, with the handful just thrown back on top of the rest of the cards. I certainly hope the cards were sequenced. In any case, we were certainly protected from the potential importation of dangerous information on IBM cards from a university in Canada.
     
  18. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Good story, and believable. Here is another in a similar vein:

    A little ways past the Hollerith card days, but still in the days of magnetic tape, one of my engineers was traveling back to the U.S. with a small reel of computer tape. When he went through U.S. Customs he got a young agent who became very animated when he spotted the reel of tape. The young agent whisked up the tape, reeled off a section, and knowingly held it up to the light where he attempted to look through it. This guy thought he had found a stag film. I suppose he was disappointed.

    Tom
     
  19. Qlara

    Qlara New Member

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    So did this 'Pride' grandma get a new MFD from Toyota, or from Junkyard instead?
     
  20. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Given that she had been happily driving around with something sticky attached to her MFD, they probably pasted a static photo of a working MFD over her now dead unit. Problem solved and everyone is happy.

    Tom