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Be careful when having your windows tinted. HUD could fry!

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by Jimbo69ny, Aug 22, 2012.

  1. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    I just had my PIP's windows tinted on Monday, all windows including the windshield.

    I had read a post on here somewhere stating that their heads up display wasnt working after their windshield was tinted so I wanted to make sure I warned them.

    Low and behold, my HUD was affected as well. It was flickering and the screen was rolling like a laptop screen would if you watched it through a video camera. It would also pixilate and shut off completely. Im not a a/v guy so I cant describe it any better. Basically, it was not working. My 7" nav screen was also foggy from all the water they used.

    I consider myself lucky because as of today it must've dried out and it seems to be working. I will know more when I leave my office to get lunch today.
     
  2. bielinsk

    bielinsk Gremlin

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    Must depend on the installer. I had my windshield done three weeks ago and had no problems at all with my HUD.

    I count myself lucky.
     
  3. rogerv

    rogerv Senior Member

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    Just curious, but when you say "windshield" how much of it is being tinted? In California, the law restricts tinting to the top few inches.
     
  4. bielinsk

    bielinsk Gremlin

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    The entire windshield. You can use 80% clear
     
  5. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Yes the whole thing. I went with Carbon XP 55%. It looks great! I just wish my HUD worked.

    I thought it was all fine but I just went to lunch and its still flickering. I called Toyota and they dont even offer the part yet. But they do have a price its $450 not including labor to install.

    No begins the fight with the tint shop.
     
  6. bielinsk

    bielinsk Gremlin

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    I would turn the HUD off for a week or so, park in the sun if you can, put a blowdryer to it.

    Its not dead, its just wet.
     
  7. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Its hard to see in the video but here is it flickering.
     
  8. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Thats what I am hoping. However the tint shop just emailed me and assured me that they will make it right no matter what it takes. More to come...
     
  9. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Here is my tint job. Looks good at least...
    [​IMG]
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  10. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Looks really good!

    As for the HUD, is there not a coating on the interior of the windscreen that allows the HUD to be projected? Hopefully this wasn't damaged by the tint. The rolling/flickering should not be a symptom. It would just be harder or impossible to see.

    Roll and flicker sound like it is out of sync which shouldn't happen, ever. If they used enough water to make the MFD foggy... That is a big red flag. Hopefully it will just dry out and be fine. But the more you use it and it shorts the worse off it will be.
     
  11. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Im kind of surprised it hasnt shorted out yet honestly. Pretty good tech I guess. It seemed better today after I drove it on lunch. Hopefully it will continue to dry and be ok.

    No there isnt a special coating on the window to display the HUD. I was worried about this but I did a lot of searching before having the work done and it didnt seem like it was going to be an issue. So rest assured, if you want to tint your front window, it will display fine as long as they dont soak your HUD unit.
     
  12. MikeyF

    MikeyF New Member

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    What level darkness (or however it is measured) did you go with the windows and back window? Looks good.
     
  13. n5160u

    n5160u Junior Member

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    Please note that the display switches on the dashboard do not turn the HUD On or Off. They only select what will be displayed.
    The HUD is Powered ON the whole time the vehicle is powered up.
    Even if the HUD display does not appear to be turned on, you can still see it showing the Welcome Screen every time you power up the car. The HUD welcome screen shows at the same time the MFD shows its version of the welcome screen. Those displays are powered on even if they have nothing selected to show.

    Park your car in the sun and hope it can dry itself out from the sun's heating the interior. When the car is powered up you are running current through both the HUD and MFD displays and running current through a wet circuit is inviting major damage from corrosion and shorted electronic components.
     
  14. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    I went with 35% on the sides and rear but I did not tint the lower rear window because its already at 29% from the factory.
    The windshield is 55%.
     
  15. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    Thread cleaned up. If you guys want to bicker more, you know who you are, start a conversation with each other.
     
    bielinsk and Jimbo69ny like this.
  16. rogerv

    rogerv Senior Member

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    Mea culpa. My sincere apologies to all concerned.
     
  17. stackcheese

    stackcheese Junior Member

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    woah! that hud is awesome is this for advanced version only?
     
  18. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Yeah. Its only available on the advanced. Its pretty sweet, even if it does flicker now.
     
  19. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    I just wanted to update this thread.

    Im not sure why but all of a sudden it stopped working completely and shut off. I left it off for about a week and then turned it on. Since that point its been working flawlessly. Its been working for about 3 weeks now without a problem.

    Very strange but Im glad its working again.

    The tint shop was very good about it. They were going to pay for everything. The total was going to be around $1000 for the part and labor. Im glad they didnt need to tear apart my dash.
     
  20. rogerv

    rogerv Senior Member

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    Glad to hear it worked out for you, especially without having any further work on the car.:)