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dashboard dead when headlights on

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by BoBraxton, Apr 5, 2007.

  1. BoBraxton

    BoBraxton New Member

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    Within the last week (maximum two weeks) whenever the driver turns 2005 Prius (silver) headlights on, the dashboard display instead of dimming goes totally black (empty completely) and this creates a very dangerous situation. The car was delivered last day of March, 2005. It has 21,000 miles (which of course one cannot read when headlights are turned on). We purchased the 7 year warranty, 70,000 miles.
    Has any other Prius owner experienced this? Is it a setting that can be corrected? Does it require some kind of service to correct? If so, does the warranty cover it in full? Service bulletin?
    Our dealer is in Fairfax, VA, where we live.
     
  2. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BoBraxton @ Apr 5 2007, 08:17 AM) [snapback]418119[/snapback]</div>
    Have you tried adjusting the brightness with the lights on? Its the vertical thumb dial to the left of the steering column. Rolling it up till it clicks puts the display at full brightness.

    JeffD
     
  3. 8AA

    8AA Active Member

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    ...and if it's turned down to a certain point, the speedometer, fuel, odometer, gear indicator, etc. all go completely black.

    However, if it isn't the dimmer adjustment, some people have reported that the dealer found a loose wire behind the dashboard that should have been attached to the dimmer. So it might be a easy fix. Regardless, any repairs should be covered in full.