1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

My Prius Computer is freaking out

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by sbrath, Aug 1, 2006.

  1. sbrath

    sbrath New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2006
    8
    0
    0
    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    I really need some help on this one.

    I have a '04 Prius with the NAV+Voice+Bluetooth options
    I have a Coastal EV and a Costal NAV Override installed, for several months now.

    But as of this weekend the car is now acting VERY wierd.

    When I turn it on, the MFD takes a long time (like several minutes) to come on, and when I go to the Info screen to see fuel efficiency, every number is blank, and all the numbers are missing.

    If I go to the Air Conditioner screen to ajust the temp, it says "Check connection to air conditioner...."
    When I go To NAV, it says "External system not connected"

    While the radio is playing, I get a notice on the MFD that the "Audio off" , but it is still playing the Radio.

    Info screen seems to be missing some Icons? And the Consumption and Energy screens are all mostly BLank or missing stuff.

    Please Help. Tonight I am going to try removing the NAV Override and see if that changes things, then I guess I'll open the Computers up and check the connections, and then remove the Coastal EV?

    Thoughts??

    Shane.
     
    #1 sbrath, Aug 1, 2006
  2. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    5,122
    268
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    it sounds to me like there's a connection problem. Basically, it looks like the MFD isn't getting all the info it's supposed to be. this could be due to a loose connection in the back (although usually i thought that cause the thing to just go black) or a problem with one of the computers in the car. i'd go in and wiggle the wires a bit, and if that doesn't help take it to the dealer.
     
    #2 eagle33199, Aug 1, 2006
  3. aaf709

    aaf709 Ravenpaw of ThunderClan

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2005
    3,862
    18
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    I understand that the 2004s have had MFD issues and there was a TSB about that. Could these problems be part of that?
     
    #3 aaf709, Aug 1, 2006
  4. Susan5s

    Susan5s Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2004
    54
    1
    0
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Check out this thread on Priusonline.com:

    http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=8468

    Michelle Vadeboncoeur includes a link in her post on the 2nd page of this thread (try the 2nd link, not the first one she posts) to the TSB itself regarding the MFD. She mentions some important points that perhaps could save you from paying substantially less than full new part/labor price for replacing MFD.

    Susan
     
    #4 Susan5s, Aug 1, 2006
  5. sbrath

    sbrath New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2006
    8
    0
    0
    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    So do I have to remove my EV Mod and NAV overrride before I take the car in for repair?
    Also if this isn't covered by the Loose wires or the TSB, does this fall under the Toyota Certified Pre-owned waranty?

    Shane.
     
    #5 sbrath, Aug 1, 2006
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,851
    16,089
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Your symptoms are exactly the same as mine when my MFD went haywire on Saturday. I just fiddled around with my DICE unit and somehow fixed it. Weird. I'd have it checked by the dealer. They won't notice the EV mod but they might see the NAV override.
     
    #6 Tideland Prius, Aug 1, 2006
  7. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2004
    14,816
    2,497
    66
    Location:
    Far-North Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I'm glad you chimed in, Tideland. While reading, I was thinking "this sounds familiar." I remember someone mentioning connection issues before. And that's pretty much what it was, loose connection. No big deal once they figured out what it was.
     
    #7 TonyPSchaefer, Aug 1, 2006
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,851
    16,089
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Except the difference is that he doesn't have a DICE unit lol. But then again, it could be a similar plug that got loose.

    Edit: Btw Shane, tell me if any codes are pulled from the car when you take it in. Even though my problem is supposedly fixed, I wanna know if I still need to take it in to prevent a future failure.

    TIA
     
    #8 Tideland Prius, Aug 1, 2006
  9. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
    9,810
    465
    0
    Location:
    MD
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    do a search for "dreaded MFD failure" and see if the symptoms others list match yours. plenty of good advice and descriptions there too, if it is indeed that condition.
     
    #9 galaxee, Aug 1, 2006
  10. sbrath

    sbrath New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2006
    8
    0
    0
    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    Just to tell everyone what happened with this.

    I worked with my Dealer "Jon Lancaster" Toyota in Madison to have the MFD Diagnosed. And they also took my
    information on my Power Train Warranty for Toyota Certified Pre-Owned.

    I have also called in and opened a ticket with Toyota Customer Experience Center. Note: I was really nice about the whole thing, and didn't raise my voice, or be rude or anything. And they were very helpful about getting my request worked. I submitted it on a Thursday Night at about 6pm CST, and I got a call back by noon Friday!

    I have the 4 page support document I read from that I wrote in advance to make sure I had my stuff together.
    Basicly:
    * This part should not fail like this
    * This is obviously a loose wire, and I'm not paying 600$ for a soldering job
    * The MFD sometimes stays on and dosen't honor the Dim-Lites setting while driving in the dark, this is a hazard.
    * I've heard many others complain about this and they have recieved refunds.


    So what's the outcome:
    1) A very nice person from Toyota (Lisa) called me back on Friday, and was looking for more info about the repair, my dealer didn't have the MFD failure on the Service History because I haven't repaired it yet so after I got the details on the repair and called Toyota back, they were very anxious to help me out, and pay for the repairs. Note: The Customer Experience Center will re-imburse you after the fact, so if you had a MFD fail, and you paid out of pocket to fix it. CALL IN NOW, and get this going, and they might pay for yours even now.

    2) So after finding out that Toyota was going to Gradis Repair it, I called by to my dealer to schedule an appoitment. I told them about the Gradis thing, and they informed me that the Toyota Power Train Waranty people had agreed to fix the MFD under the Power Train Warranty. They just had found that out, and hadn't had a chance to call me yet.

    So Thursday I go in to have this all repaired, including the other recalls Stearing and Brakes and such. But if all goes well I'll be paying 0$ out of pocket for getting everything repaired..

    I also discussed with the Toyota rep that this failure was a major problem, and that the "PriusChat" boards had called this the "Dreaded MFD Failure" and she was concerned, and was looking into the larger issue. The lady said that they have had a escelated number of these failures and they want to start looking into it as a more major problem. Maybe making the repair a elective Recall or something... But I'll talk to her again on Friday after the car is fixed and get moer on that..

    Thanks for all you're help on priuschat, I'd never have been this commited to not paying for this if it wasn't for everyone else here... :)

    Shane.
     
    #10 sbrath, Aug 15, 2006
  11. Zerkster

    Zerkster New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2006
    21
    0
    0
    Location:
    SanDiego
    I had the same problem on my 06' after they installed my NAV, basically it was a loose connection.
    A/C connection failure, MFD took 3 minutes to connect the arrows would flicker then nothing(no power meter at all), light dimmer switch wouldn't work, Audio showed off (even though i could hit the radio on the stiring control).

    My baby and I got lucky...Hope yours is simalarly easy to solve.
     
    #11 Zerkster, Aug 15, 2006
  12. jgills240

    jgills240 Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2006
    190
    2
    0
    Location:
    Palmdale, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Well, if not simply to beat a dead horse, I'm submitting my acceptance to the "dreaded MFD failure" club. A problem that started as an "04 problem" now spans to the 07s... it seems this one is a stinker for those Toyota engineers.

    Now, after combing through all the threads regarding the same issue, the only solid solution around seems to be to take it to the dealership and hope they're chill enough to give you the freebie fix. My first reaction was loose connection, and i spent an enduring 3 or so minutes looking for loose connectors in random areas of the dash's nether regions. Since I didn't see any more detailed home fix solutions, I guess I'll be headed to the dealership this week; perhaps after another searching sesh. Shucks.

    but if somebody out there's parked on an answer, hook it up baby!
    ________________________

    It's your one way ticket to midnight
    Call it
    Heavy Metal
    ​
     
    #12 jgills240, Mar 31, 2008
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)