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Speedometer isn't Lit/Car won't turn off

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by walroose, Dec 9, 2009.

  1. walroose

    walroose New Member

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    I was wondering if anybody else had this problem and what the solution was...

    I have a 2006 Prius. When I started my car up for work this morning and left, I got halfway down the block when I noticed that my speedometer was not lit up. I checked the dimmer switch and it was turned up all the way. I drove around the block and parked in front of my house, that is when I noticed that the car would not turn off. I could put the car in Park and select the gear, but the Power button was not responding. It may not mean anything, but also on the CFD Energy Monitor Screen where it says "Current" and shows 0.00 when stopped- the "0.00" was missing.

    Anyway, I played around with the power button, park button, and gear selector and was eventually able to get the car off. I ran inside the house to wake up my wife so she could drive me to work and to check on PriusChat while she was getting ready to go. I wasn't able to find anything here, that is why I am posting. Before we were ready to leave, I wanted to move the car back in the driveway. The car started up as normal- the speedometer showing, everything- so I decided to drive the car to work (work is closer to the dealership than home). I got to work with no issues. When I got to work, I shut the car down and it started back up normally again.

    I am wondering if anybody else has had this problem, what it might be or if it is a fluke.

    Thanks in advance for your help,
    M
     
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    In paragraph 2 you say the car wouldn't shut off.
    In paragraph 3 you say you started the car up.

    We're missing some data in between here. I've not hear of this nor experienced this problem, but it could be an issue with your combination meter I suppose. Was it really cold or was the car garaged? You don't have your location in your profile.
     
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  3. Mike Dimmick

    Mike Dimmick Active Member

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    From http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...77-common-2g-problems-what-do-about-them.html:

    "Problem: Car won't shut off
    Symptoms: When the car is READY and the POWER button is depressed, the car will not shift into P and move from READY to IG-OFF.
    Frequency: Intermittent
    Diagnostic: No DTC will be posted
    Cure: For temporary relief, hold the POWER button down for several seconds until the car becomes IG-OFF. The permanent cure is to have the combination meter assembly replaced (this displays the speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge, warning lights, etc.)
    Other information/Alternate diagnosis possible: This issue has been appearing on newer model years, particularly 2007-2009. Usually this problem will be accompanied by the combination meter going blank on an intermittent basis. The reason for the problem appears to be that the combination meter has an intermittent connection within and loses vehicle speed information. The POWER control circuitry will not move from READY to IG-OFF if the car's speed is indeterminate."

    Get a mechanic to check the connections from the Combination Meter to the rest of the car.
     
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  4. walroose

    walroose New Member

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    Thanks Mike and Evan,

    I think that might have been how I got the car turned off eventually...I was trying everything. I remember holding the power button in like you would on a computer and I think that is what did it. I was in a hurry and I don't remember all that I tried.

    I think the reason I couldn't find it on PriusChat was because of the search terms I was using. Reading the post you linked to, I think my searching was mainly focused on the speedometer not showing up.

    The combination meter is a good starting point, do you guys know how much that repair will cost? Christmas is coming....

    Thanks again,
    Matthew
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The combination meter will cost ~$600 and there's probably a couple of labor hours involved so the bill will probably be $800 or so. Assuming this is the problem, you might want to ask that the part is special ordered so that your odometer reading will be transferred to the new part. Otherwise your odometer will read 0 miles.
     
  6. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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  7. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    Seems to happen to a lot of taxis... probably due to whatever connection their taxi meters are making to get the odometer reading for fare calculation.
     
  8. pEEf

    pEEf Engineer - EV nut

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    This will happen to ALL Gen II's eventually. (unless the car suffers an early fate!) I have a low-cost solution. See [this] post. We have repaired hundreds of them now. We routinely get bulk quantities from fleet users (such as Taxi's). They seem to like to fail from 75k-150k. The repair upgrades the problem responsible, so they don't re-fail.

    -Phil
     
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  9. Crystal ONeil

    Crystal ONeil New Member

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    It may be helpful to all you newbies to know that if your dash lights all go out (and at some point they will) there is an extended warranty, but it usually just misses you. Yes, that is by design. At any rate, the issue is likely the combination meter if all your dash lights go out, but your car still runs. You may also have issues getting it to turn off.

    I found a fix for mine that took seconds and didn't involve me spending any money. It was from someone who had already spent money fixing his and then still had to use this sequence to turn it back on.
    • Without stepping on the brake press the start button
    • Now press and hold the "info" button while turning the headlights on and off 3 times.
    • When the diagnostic screen appears on the console, press the start button without stepping on the brake.
    • Display comes on and you can now turn the car off and start normally with display.
    For me, the screen did not turn on so I just pressed the power button and the lights all came on. I pressed the brake and power then everything came on. I almost cried because I thought I would have to spend at least $600-800 to get this fixed.

    If at first you don't succeed, keep digging around on the internet until you find what you need! Have a great day everyone!
     
  10. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Thanks for responding to an almost 10 year old thread. I can assure you that both the problem and repair has been discussed many times in the Almost 10 years since this thread started.

    combination meter repair - DIY | PriusChat
     
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Thats works for a while Crystal and then it usually gets to a point where the car will no longer shut off no matter what chicken dance you do. At that point you have to disconnect the 12 volt battery lead in the trunk to kill it.

    Combo meter repair is $100.