2004 MFD Acting UP

I suggest that you take photos of the MFD display to document the symptoms that you noted. Then the service dept can use that evidence to become comfortable that the part indeed needs to be replaced.

 

I had the same problem and the dealership insisted on spending time with the car prior to ordering parts. It did not act up while they had it but they ordered the refurbished screen and installed it a week later anyway.

I got the impression that this inspection is a formality that the service department is required to perform before they can proceed on the warranty claim.

Let us know if they accept a photo as proof but I suspect that there is a process to go through to get it fixed.

John

 

OK, then maybe you should bring a copy of the TSB as well as your MFD photos so that the "service guy" can become educated about this issue.

 

Uhh, didn't this TSB apply only during the initial warranty period? That has expired for the OP's car. Or did Toyota extend this in some way?

 

Hi Richard,

A TSB provides technical advice to the Toyota techs about how to fix a problem; hence there is no expiration date to that advice unless superceded by a more recent TSB.

A separate question is whether or not the customer must pay for the service recommended by a TSB. The bottom of the front page of each TSB describes any applicable warranty associated with the service.

If the OP, owning a 2004, did not purchase extended warranty coverage, s/he would have to pay for MFD replacement now. Since s/he holds an extended warranty contract, the MFD replacement should not result in an out-of-pocket charge.

 

Thanks for your usual correctness and clarity. I was careless in reading the bit about "warranty claim".

Maybe I'm fooling myself, but haven't most of the failed MFDs been in climes with large temperature swings? Thermally induced stress is a common contributor to solder joint failure. Maybe I can hope that mine will never break...

 

Hi Richard,

My dad was the first owner of my 2004, which spent the first 2+ years of its life in Honolulu, where the ambient temps usually range from the low 70's to the high 80's. After I bought the car from my dad (only 15K miles on the odometer at that time) I had it shipped to southern CA in the fall of 2006. A couple of months later, as winter approached, the MFD started to become flaky as ambient temps dropped down to the low 50's and high 40's at night. I then had the MFD replaced under the 3 year/36K mile warranty.

Hence I would agree that thermal stress likely contributed to the early failure of my original MFD. The good news is that Hobbit identified the exact point where the failure occurred, so with some persistence anyone with a small-tip soldering iron can replicate his success in repairing a failed unit whose warranty has now expired.

 

I have a 2008 that did this once so far. I turned off the car and back on and it started working. Is this the same problem? I will have to ask the dealer tomorrow when I have it in for other work

 

The MFD design changed in 2006; however I've noticed that a small number of owners continue to report MFD issues. Hence if your MFD is intermittent it would be quite reasonable to report that to your dealer.

However I suggest that you document its failure via photo, to make it easier for the tech to justify its replacement. Often an intermittent failure will refuse to manifest itself while the car is being tested at the dealer.