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Instrument cluster went out

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by patflanagan, Sep 4, 2009.

  1. patflanagan

    patflanagan New Member

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    While driving home last week the instrument cluster that displays the gas tank and speed went black. It just completely went out. I drove to the local Toyota dealer and they told me that there was a bad batch of boards and would order a new board. The following Monday (last Monday) they replaced the board and the screen/cluster is working again. However, it is now not as bright as before during the daytime if I have the lights on.

    Anyone else have a similar problem?
     
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  2. ALS

    ALS Active Member

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    Did you turn the little dimmer wheel all the way up until it clicks. It stops then it has one additional setting. Give it a little push until it clicks.
     
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  3. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    All the way up forces day-time mode, all the way down turns off the display completely.
     
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  4. patflanagan

    patflanagan New Member

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    I guess the reason I posted this was to see if anyone else experienced the cluster going completely out. They replaced the board and it really was no inconvenience other than being without my car for half a day and they did give me a loaner. I did rotate the control wheel and it helped but still different than it used to be.
     
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  5. dmvp

    dmvp Member

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    I remember someone posting an exact scenario on the day he purchased his car. From down South, if I recall correctly. Bought it in one state and it went out as he approached his home state. Other than that, I don't think anyone else on PC has noted this.

    If they know that there is a bad batch of boards...I'm surprised there isn't a recall. Odd.
     
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  6. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    Bad batch doesn't mean every board is bad. Gotta wait until they fail to find the bad ones in the batch.
     
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  7. Randall Rash

    Randall Rash Member

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    Could be that the "problem" with the board was that it was letting it burn to bright, and like a shooting star, poof. Lights out.
     
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  8. dfran1

    dfran1 New Member

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    I Wonder if this is the correction for the blurry (double image) speedometer/gas gauge.
     
  9. robnbill

    robnbill Junior Member

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    I turned a corner the other day and the eco light over the eco gauge went out. It would not come on again although the eco bar continued to work fine. I got home turned the car off. The next morning and since the lights have worked fine.

    Don't know what happened. I am just waiting to see if it happens again.
     
  10. Bobsprius

    Bobsprius BobPrius

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    Anyone have any Data on when these boards were installed or a manufacture date for their vehicles? Were these early deliveries or deliveries as late as August 2009? Did Toyota have any comment on dates or VIN's affected?

    Thanks
     
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  11. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    Hmm, I wonder if it'll be another poorly designed connector
    that will plague the 2010s and give rise to thousands of forum
    postings and a few reverse-engineering projects...
    .
    _H*
     
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  12. LaurenceRooks

    LaurenceRooks New Member

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    The same thing happened to me as I was driving my friend's 2010 Prius. How much did it cost for them to replace the board?

    Thanks.
     
  13. angelrob

    angelrob New Member

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    I keep getting the intermittent buzzing sound when the panel is not on full brightness. If I turn the lights off and back on, or turn the panel lights all the way up, it stops. It's on my list to have the dealer review at my first visit.

    Robbin
     
  14. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    I'm going to make a wild leap in the dark here and say that it was covered 100% by the warranty.

    Your friend should take it to the dealer to have it fixed.
     
  15. timo27

    timo27 Member

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    The same (or something similar) happened to me yesterday. I wodered if it had been doing this all along, and I just noticed it for the first time. Any others experiencing this? Any resolution?
    Thx,
    Tim
     
  16. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    Don't go getting wild and crazy on us now. :pound:
     
  17. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    The "rheostat" for the dash lights isn't actually one in the
    classic sense, but a little PWM circuit -- see this pic of the one
    in an '04. It chops at around 200 Hz, if I remember right, which
    would definitely produce audible noise if it was passing current to
    anything that can physically flex in response to electrical power.
    You'd be surprised what kind of components can go "microphonic"
    sometimes; I would easily believe it causing other parts to become
    noise sources.
    .
    _H*
     
  18. mwetter

    mwetter Junior Member

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    I had the same problem. I took it back in for a new board. Apparently there have been several cases of this happening. Hopefully not a trend.
     
  19. Spartane

    Spartane Member

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    This sounds like you may have done one of two things:

    1. Switched to PWR mode.

    2. Accidentally bumped the shifter and changed it from "D" to "B". Another side-effect for "B" is that the cruise control will not engage.

    I believe the ECO light goes out while you're in either "B" or PWR mode.
     
  20. Vincent

    Vincent Don't Wait Until Tomorrow

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    Have you checked to be sure something hasn't slipped down the dash and is covering the speedo/gauge projector lens. Remember, you're actually looking at an image projected on a mirror from below. I freaked out a few weeks after I got my 06 when a car wash receipt drifted down over the projector lens and it was lights out for a few days until my service manager made me feel like a fool.