When speedometer/gas guage/gear indicater/door-ajar/etc does not illuminate. The (gen 2) prius will not shut off normally with a momentary press of the start/stop button. To turn off the prius you will need to hold the start/stop button down for 8 to 10 seconds. Once the car is shut off (long depression of start/stop button), you can remove the dome light fuse for 10 to 20 seconds then reinsert fuse. On the next startup the speedometer/fuel/etc display should display properly. Removing the dome light fuse is much easier than momentary disconnecting the 12 volt battery (other recovery method). The dome light fuse is located in the engine compartment (fuse relay compartment) just behind the drivers side headlight. The dome light fuse is the fourth one back from the drivers headlight. It is a 15amp blue fuse. Use the included white fuse puller to remove the fuse. Reinsert the fuse using fingers only. Do not use the puller to reinstall the fuse its to difficult. Return puller to its storage slot push it all the way in. Reinstall fuse box cover.
This generally means that a capacitor on the combination meter board has drifted from original specs and must be replaced. There are a large number of 'tricks' people have posted here over the years for getting it to work again temporarily. The tricks all keep working until they don't.
or just fix the combination meter. or just remove the battery from the FOB and use it in the slot. It will turn on and off normally even if the combo-meter is dark.
