Speedometer just disappeared .....

I regularly bump my big fat knee against that dimmer dial. First time it happened had me stumped for a bit trying to figure out what happened. With headlamps off I had normal display but it disappeared when I switched 'em on. Ah ha! I like those simple 'fixes' but I felt a bit sheepish about it. BTW, losing the speedometer due to a major fault makes me glad for the backup speed display in my Garmin GPS. Ya never know...

 

I've had this happen a few times on my Prius V - usually associated with a low 12V battery condition from sitting too long. I'll go to start it, the display will be intermittent through a few start attempts, then one of the displays will refuse to work. Last time it happened I brought it into the dealer, but by the time I got it there they were both working, and they said the 12V battery was fine as well. Bringing it into the dealer this week to take another look.

 

Did anybody find a good way to eliminate/reduce the glare? (I have tried turning down the brightness...works some, but not enough, and the turn signal brightness/glare isn't affected at all.)

The glare I am talking about (because folks seem to be talking sometimes about daytime glare and sometimes about night time glare), is night time glare.

I am talking about the reflection of the instrument lights (speedometer and close-by indicators), as well as the turn signals (which are not being projected like the speedometer, obviously), which light up the dash right in front of the instruments, which then casts light up into the windshield, creating, for me, a very distracting glare in the windshield RIGHT in my line of sight.

What seems to be needed is either:

1) Some sort of glare shield mounted above the instruments which extends out a few inches toward the driver, not unlike the glare shield that is made for the GPS:

Prius Navigation Sun Visor, Eliminate Sun Glare On Prius Navigation Screen. Makes it easier to see your MFD Multi Function Display.

2) Some kind of non-shiny black product (tape? carpet? a paper-like product?), that would cover the area of the dash directly in front of the instrument cluster.

Any thoughts?

Thanks...

 

Off topic question I always wanted to ask. Why the left side of display uses a mirror why the right one doesn't?

 

This has happened to me a few times. Is there a TSB out for this?

 

jim256: THANK YOU! I ran back out to the car and took the letters off the dashboard, started it and there was the speedometer! That would have been a very embarrassing trip to the dealership! I've had the car for about 10 weeks-I don't know why I haven't had this accidentally happen before this! Thank you again-I didn't realize that about a mirror reflection!

 

This just happened to mine for the first time. With the headlights on, the instrument cluster, along with the HVAC display panel, were completely dark, except for some indicator lights (headlight indicator light, for example). With headlights off, they were lit. It started working again when I began to adjust the dimmer switch. After that, both panels had at least some level of light, when the dimmer switch was moved to all positions.

The radio/nav/backup camera head was not affected by the problem.

And no, the instrument cluster and the HVAC display were unobstructed.

My car is a 2014 model with about 15,000 miles.

I have an appointment Monday to have it looked at. But it seems to be working correctly now.

Is there any special way to get the instrument cluster to do this?