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

blurry dash display after body repair

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by taxce, Feb 24, 2019.

  1. taxce

    taxce Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2019
    11
    1
    0
    Location:
    california
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Hi everyone

    A body shop just did some repairs to the front passenger side of my car after a minor accident.

    When I went to pick up my car I noticed the digital dash display area which shows MPH, fuel level, etc. looked blurry and the plastic covering the display (?) was all smudged up. I found this a bit odd because I couldn't figure out why anyone would have gone anywhere near the dash display during repairs.

    When I got back home I cleaned the display with a wet towel assuming this would solve the problem. It did get rid of the smudges but the display still looks blurry. Looking more closely I noticed that something now seems misaligned with the digital display. To me it looks sort of like there are "two layers" in the digital display which are not matching up, so it is like each illuminated image in the display has a lighter shadow.

    Since the display was all smudged up I'm guessing someone at the shop was actually aware this problem had arisen, and was trying to fix it somehow - which is what caused all the smudging. But when I went to pick up my car nothing was mentioned to me about this.

    Does anyone know what could have caused this, and if there is anything I might be able to do to fix it myself? I am wondering if force they were applying to the outside of the car during repairs could have caused a misalignment of digital components in the interior panel? Any background you could give me about what might be causing the problem would be helpful because if I can't resolve it myself I am going to have to call the body shop and try to get them to take care of it.

    Thanks.
     
    #1 taxce, Feb 24, 2019
  2. jadd806

    jadd806 Member

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2015
    41
    34
    0
    Location:
    MA
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Persona
    I had the exact same issue after a body shop repair. MPH display was blurry and was ghosting so bad I could see 2 separate images at certain angles.

    The display you see is actually reflected from a screen in the flat area of the dash. Feel around in front of the speedometer display on the left side, you'll feel a recessed rectangular area. That's the screen that's projecting the display data. IIRC from researching when I had this issue, the recessed projector screen is glass, but has a plastic "screen protector" of sorts over it.

    In my case, it was dirty and scratched. I figure they must have wiped down the dash with a crappy shop towel that had debris on it and that's how it got scratched.

    Removing the dirt was easy, just wiped down the inside of that recess with a wet microfiber towel. I still had a couple artifacts being projected onto the display though (right through the speedometer numbers, no less) which is how I came to learn that it was scratched. I used Meguiar's Ultimate Rubbing Compound on another microfiber towel, gave the screen inside the recess a good buffing and wiped it out with a clean area of the towel. Scratches gone, and good as new!
     
    #2 jadd806, Feb 24, 2019
    kc5dlo likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)