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Multi Information Display not Working

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Plasmahidef, Nov 10, 2012.

  1. Plasmahidef

    Plasmahidef Junior Member

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    My wife on her way home from work called me to say that the MID screen was blank - not working. I asked if she could drive the car, she could, but the energy monitor screen that she has on usually was not coming on. Her concern while driving was that she could not tell how fast she was going. Fortunately, just a week ago I had installed Scangauge II in her car (despite her objection to that ugly thing - her words lol ) and had her convert one of existing gauge to MPH.


    This is a new 2012 Prius IV that is about 2 months old. I'm going to call dealer for service but wanted to know if anybody had experienced it before and somehow she may turned it off accidentally. Although, I'm pretty sure that MID can't be turned off. Any ideas what may have caused it and something I can check before calling the dealer for appointment.

    Thanks.
     
  2. Adam Leibovitch

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    Did she accidentally roll down the dimmer knob while fiddling for the mph/kph button? Not un unpopular thing to happen. Also if the headlights are off and the dimmer switch is rolled to minimum, HID will still display, but with headlights on minimum will not display. One could fiddle with it during the day with headlights off, and not notice until night time. Hopefully thats all it is.
     
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  3. Metalman

    Metalman Member

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    I had the same problem and it was the panel light dimmer that was set low and I had inadvertently turned on the parking lights.
     
  4. Plasmahidef

    Plasmahidef Junior Member

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    That was it! Did not even think about it. Learn new stuff everyday. Thank you very much for saving me from feeling like a chump if I had gone to the dealer! ;)
     
  5. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    If you have to look like an @$$ better here than at the dealer. BTW, everyone here is going to do it sooner or later.
    --
    There's a reason you always ask, "Is it plugged in? Is it turned on?"
     
  6. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    This information is also detailed in your owner's manual. Flipping through that would also save you that "chump" feeling at the dealer.
     
  7. Plasmahidef

    Plasmahidef Junior Member

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    Actually I did look at the owners manual first before posting here. Unfortunately, I went straight to the MID section but did not see that specific information. After reading your comment, I went back to the Owners manual. You are correct its there, but its under the Instrument Panel Light Control, which is few pages before the MID section. Of course if I had made that connection mentally between dimmer and MID, I would have looked for it, but did not. As some one said, I don't mind being chump here than at the dealer and PC community was quick to help...so in the end its all good!
     
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  8. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Truthfully, this happens so frequently (I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has posted this concern over the last 10+ years of Priuschat, Y! Groups, etc.), it really should be part of the troubleshooting section in the manual. I'll give you props for checking, and point the finger at Toyota's technical writers for not putting a "warning" or "note" section.
     
  9. amberlea

    amberlea Junior Member

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    What about if only half of the display is working and the other half is not? I had a dead battery and had to jump start this morning. On my way to work, I noticed the part of the display that shows the graph, etc. was not on. The speed section was on. Any thoughts on what the problem could be in this case?
    Thanks!
     
  10. Plasmahidef

    Plasmahidef Junior Member

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    Sorry amberlea, I do not have an answer for that. Hopefully other experts from PC will chime in. The only thing I would hazard to guess may be its related to your dead battery/ weak battery problem.
     
  11. blizzardwhat

    blizzardwhat Junior Member

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    Wow I had the exact same problem tonight.
    I've only had my prius for a week and thought it malfunction and was asking myself why did I buy this pos. lol
    I came to this forum and problem solved. :)
     
  12. BinaBomb

    BinaBomb Junior Member

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    I know this an old post, but... Hey amberlea, I just had the same exact scenario happen to me this morning. I was in a rush, so I went to start my car, ran back inside the house and found that the whole display was visible, but dimly lit. This is when I figured that I had a dead battery. I jumped the car, but then when I was backing out of my driveway I noticed that the speedometer portion of the display was working, but the multi information display was dark. Did you ever figure out what was wrong, or did it just fix itself?

    Thanks,
     
  13. BinaBomb

    BinaBomb Junior Member

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    I started the car over the noon hour, and now the both sides of the display are working correctly. Perhaps the car needed to "reset" something after the jump. My problem is solved... for now.
     
  14. jdk2

    jdk2 Active Member

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    Is the battery original? If so, replacement is a very real probability.
     
  15. BinaBomb

    BinaBomb Junior Member

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    I am the second owner, but the battery appears to be original. I did notice this morning that my drivers door was slightly ajar, most likely enough to keep the interior light on all night. With that said, it is a 2010 with 25k miles, I would hope that a battery would not be needed at this time. Since I did drain the battery down I was considering removing and charging, but I am not sure if that would be worth the effort.
     
  16. jdk2

    jdk2 Active Member

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    You should be able to charge the battery under the hood. Use a charger that uses no more than 4 amps if possible.
     
  17. BinaBomb

    BinaBomb Junior Member

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    Would there be any issue with charging directly on the 12v batter posts rather than using the charging location under the hood? The reason I ask is because my engine compartment is current inaccessible due to someone pulling out in front of me.:mad: I could possibly open the hood, but there is no guarantee that I would be able to get it latched again. [​IMG]
     
  18. jdk2

    jdk2 Active Member

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    No problem charging from either location. Usually it's just easier to charge from under the hood. I see what you're saying though.
     
  19. SharonK

    SharonK New Member

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    Thank you for posting this. You saved my life tonight.
     
  20. Dark_matter_doesn't

    Dark_matter_doesn't Prius Tinkerer

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    I bought a Battery Minder (about $40) and hooked its cable up to the battery terminals and have it sticking out of the passenger side of the cargo deck cover.