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MFD went black

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Pdog808, Jun 15, 2023.

  1. Pdog808

    Pdog808 Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2017
    413
    271
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    No previous issues with the MFD then this morning I turn on my 2018 Prime and the MFD is black. Of course, no MFD equals no backup camera, no stereo, no Bluetooth, no climate controls (although it may be partially usable through the dashboad display) - basically a lot of nothing.

    Turned the car off then on multiple times. Held down the audio on/off button to try to reboot the unit and nothing.

    I pulled passenger compartment fuses labeled TV and Display (I think) and ran continuity checks and they were fine. Also pulled a few other passenger compartment fuses that looked like they may have something to do with the MFD and they all checked out fine. Does anyone know which specific fuses go to the MFD?

    Checked the battery with the car off and it read 12.7V. Turned the car on and it read about 14.4 volts.

    Pulled the negative terminal off of the battery to try to "reset" the electronics - still nothing.

    Called the Toyota service department and it turns out it will either be a few hundred bucks to diagnose and if I'm lucky it could be as simple as a firmware "push" or possibly just an internal fuse in the head unit. Worst case is complete replacement of the head unit which could run about $5 to $10k. This would mean I will be immediately in the market for a 2023 or 2024 Prime (!).

    Any suggestions would be appreciated.
     
  2. Pdog808

    Pdog808 Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2017
    413
    271
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    Hm.. I'm guessing the lack of replies may indicate that losing the MFD may be a very rare occurrence.

    Just an update on this - Toyota diagnosed the issue and determined it was a bad MFD. Gave me a quote of just under $10k to replace it.

    Found an outside ex-Toyota master mechanic who found a used replacement for about $1200. Hopefully this will resolve the issue.

    $10k is insane for the display - it would be cheaper to do a complete engine replacement.
     
  3. andrewassurance83

    andrewassurance83 New Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2023
    11
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    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Two Eco
  4. Pdog808

    Pdog808 Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2017
    413
    271
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    Thanks. I ended up going to an external mechanic (ex-Toyota master mechanic) and he found me a replacement screen for $1200 (used) and only charged about $140 for labor to put it back in and test. Can barely tell the screen was used by the way. One small almost undetectable scratch in the upper left on the bezel. The screen itself has no scratches.

    Back up and running for a lot less than that $10k that Toyota was asking for (yikes).
     
  5. andrewassurance83

    andrewassurance83 New Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2023
    11
    2
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Two Eco
    That's good to know!;)