Intermittant Display Head Malfunction?

Search the site (and Priusonline) and you will find this is a known problem. The dealer should replace the display assembly (including perhaps the surrounding buttons) and check your steering wheel switches as well.

 

Yes this is a known problem. There is a TSB on it, EL002-05. The fix involves replacing the Multi-function Display. Also a couple of wires in the connector at the rear must be checked for tightness, can also cause those symptoms.

 

It's happening on 2004 Highlanders and Land Cruisers with the Navigation system, and on 2004 Prius with or without the Navigation system. There are different part numbers for the Nav and non-Nav Prius displays, so if you are having problems make sure your dealer orders the correct one for your car...

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota...Bs/EL002-05.zip

or

http://www.alldata.com/tsb/Toyota/11053440...2-05/index.html

To quote US TSB EL002-05:

Some customers may experience various malfunctions occuring in the multi-display. Some examples are:
* "Audio off" is shown on audio screen while the audio system is playing.
* Climate control is not responsive and may say "Check connection of the air conditioner."
* Map, Destination buttons are inoperative and may display "External system not connected."
* When pressing any button on the multi-display, the system takes 5 to 10 seconds to respond to the user's input.
* Outside air temperature not displayed.

Prior reports on various Prius boards have noted other Classic Prius' Newarkitis symptoms: no charge on the battery icon, no arrow flows on the Energy Monitor, a "stuck" Consumption screen showing many consecutive 100MPG (or 0 l/100km) segments even with the engine running at idle... It will occur randomly at first, but will get progressively worse. It's only covered for the basic 3 year/36,000 mile warranty, so be careful if you're going past on mileage as it could be very expensive... Car is fully driveable, but it's mostly an annoyance. A reboot may temporarily fix the problem. Problem has been reported on US, Canadian, and Australian Prius so far that I've noted, I don't recall one way or the other on the
European/UK lists... Here's some photos taken by an Australian Prius owner of what's occuring: http://www.trufit.com.au/Prius/ScreenUnitFailure/

The car is safe to drive while waiting for the part (usually on backorder these days). Usually the buttons on the steering wheel work best when trying to change things and the display is acting up.

The good thing is that if you have a pre-April 2004 Prius with the navigation system, the new display will change the Info button on the steering wheel to toggle between the Energy Screen and the Consumption Monitor.

 

Yes, all this plus while driving the radio or tape will cut off and the Display will freeze. Also got a "system check" screen this morning after starting.

Ugh. Off to the dealer. 35,000 miles - hope it's under warranty.

 

yep, if you're within your 3/36 it's covered. if not, they have an exchange program. sometimes you can push them to replace it for free anyway, as documented a couple of times on PC.

 

Thanks for the tip about the TSB EL002-05. My '04 Prius (around 24,000 miles) just started exhibiting many of these symptoms today. The car was left outside in a driving ran last night (an infrequent occurrence, but we had family visiting) and I starting seeing the problems this morning. At first I suspected that moisture was to somehow blame. It has corrected itself a couple of times today as I journeyed to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH (avg 51.5 MPG round trip).

Anyway, I'll take it in and have them check it out. I wouldn't mind getting a new display unit with the steering wheel button toggle between the Energy Screen and the Consumption Monitor.