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Odd display on audio equipment

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by kgall, Jul 13, 2012.

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  1. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    I have a 2010 Prius II with the standard audio deal.

    In the past few days something very odd has been happening to the display. When I turn the car and the radio on, everything is fine. After driving for a while with the radio on, the display shows H'' followed by a bunch of what look like bizarre bar charts. There's a tiny ST at the top near the center. The radio station stays tuned. If I try to tune to another station that works, but the display doesn't change. If I turn the radio off and on again, the bizarre display immediately comes back. I have punched all the buttons, in various random orders, and nothing happens. But if I turn off the car and turn it back on again, the display is correct again.

    The only suggestion I have is sort of a joke and sort of not: that the H stands for Hot--it has been well over 90 here recently, often over a hundred.

    Below is a picture of the odd display.
    Does anyone have any idea of what's wrong?
    Any idea how to fix it?
    Any idea if it indicates a problem that will get worse if I don't fix it?
    Any other bright ideas?


    priusradiophoto.JPG
     
    #1 kgall, Jul 13, 2012
  2. xamnosidda

    xamnosidda Junior Member

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    Sounds like the LCD is going bad. I live in Florida and haven't had issues with heat. I've got tinting on my windshield and I always use my Heatshield. The highest I've seen the temperature on the display was 102, and that was a couple of days ago. How hot have you seen it?
     
    #2 xamnosidda, Jul 14, 2012
  3. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    At least 104, but I'm pretty sure it has been hotter, and the hot days have continued for weeks at a time.

    What makes you think what you do?

    Thanks
     
    #3 kgall, Jul 15, 2012
  4. PaJa

    PaJa Senior member

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    Did you fix it? when everything else is working, this is probably just a display problem. If your car is out of warranty let try to visit some local electronic repair shop. They could disassemble the radio unit and minimally to check connections between PCB and display itself.
     
    #4 PaJa, Aug 28, 2012
  5. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    PaJa
    Not fixed yet. As high temperatures have receded from the hundreds back to the mere 90s the problem has sort of, but not completely, abated. I have no idea if the two are connected.
    I suspect I may have to do something like what you suggest, eventually.
    Thanks
     
    #5 kgall, Aug 28, 2012
  6. dhancock

    dhancock 2 Prius Family

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    According the the repair manuals, the AV Systems do have a temperature check mechanism. The manuals do not refer to any particular displays, but do refer to DTC codes being generated. Seeing that there is a concern about temperature (particularly regarding the CD drive) I would bet that this display indicates that it is too hot (even though the CD player is not being used then).

    Based on my recent (poor) experience dealing with my dealer (in warranty) on a CD issue, the dealer is likely to be little help (most likely will ONLY want to replace the receiver.:sick:
     
    #6 dhancock, Aug 28, 2012
  7. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    DH--
    Thanks. I actually sort of made the "H for hot" comment as sort of a joke, but maybe there really is something in it.
    Because I'm over 36K miles, and I did not get an extended warranty, the dealer has told me that when the problem gets worse, I will have to get something new. Actually if the dealer only wanted to replace the receiver, I would be OK, as that's what I use almost all the time.
    I think the problem is in the receiver or its connection to the LED display or the display, because funny things happen when I change radio stations sometimes. E.g., the stereo system will go off, but come back on again when I turn it on; or the display will go blank, but the rest of the system will continue to work properly.
     
    #7 kgall, Aug 29, 2012
  8. dhancock

    dhancock 2 Prius Family

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    Believe me: Even if you were clearly in warranty the dealer & Toyota would try to wiggle out of any warranty coverage!
     
    #8 dhancock, Aug 29, 2012
  9. rspence92

    rspence92 New Member

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    The exact problem just happened with my Gen III model 4 2010 prius. The temperatures here in New England have cooled significantly in the last few weeks, so it does not seem correlated with extreme high temps. My display has the same "weird graph" characters, but the "H" is more of a strange "F", so I think you "H" on the display was just a coincidence with the LED dying. Any info/luck on getting it fixed? the functions all work fine on my unit, just the display is affected.
     
    #9 rspence92, Sep 14, 2012
  10. rspence92

    rspence92 New Member

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    Correction, should have said, "LCD" dying.
     
    #10 rspence92, Sep 14, 2012
  11. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    Nope. The dealer acted like he had heard of this before, but wasn't going to do anything about it. He said, drive it until the whole stereo dies and then get a new one--you are out of warranty.
     
    #11 kgall, Sep 14, 2012
  12. pharrmac

    pharrmac New Member

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    Same problem on my 2010 model III, out of warranty for the stereo.
    Initially it was garbled characters, then progressively worsened so that now, any radio buttons I hit will turn the radio off, it rarely will change channel, it ejects the cd when any buttons are pressed.

    Without even looking at it, the dealership just said it was out of warranty and would cost a couple of thousand to replace.
     
    #12 pharrmac, Sep 24, 2012
  13. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    ^^^
    Try to see if the dealer will plead your case w/Toyota. See if they'll cover part of the cost.

    If not, call them at Toyota Help and log a complaint. It seems like this is a pretty common problem and it sucks to have it happen not that far out of warranty, at least by time.
     
    #13 cwerdna, Sep 24, 2012
    kgall likes this.
  14. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    Thanks.
    I seem to see a pattern developing.
    Besides Toyota Help, which I will try, is there any way to get non-safety related complaints about regularly occuring problems into the system?
     
    #14 kgall, Sep 25, 2012
  15. artnsx

    artnsx Junior Member

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    This just happened to me today, at first there were solid blocks across the display going through and cycle of getting larger and smaller and now it looks like a jumble of stuff. Everything still works but its impossible to read what radio station you're on. It was pretty cold today (19 degrees)

    [​IMG]
     
    #15 artnsx, Jan 22, 2013
  16. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    I haven't seen my problem in the cold weather yet, but I haven't driven it at below 20F yet this winter.
     
    #16 kgall, Jan 23, 2013
  17. artnsx

    artnsx Junior Member

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    I have 36,200 miles on the car, coincidence or conspiracy?
     
    #17 artnsx, Jan 23, 2013
  18. sugarfreejones

    sugarfreejones 2010 Prius 3 Owner

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    I have a 2010 Prius; when it's hot outside (100+ degrees), the display on the stereo starts to flash and then it ejects all the CDs. After I run the AC in the car for a a few minutes, the display returns to normal.
    I posted a video on youtube showing this behavior.     ​
     
    #18 sugarfreejones, Mar 22, 2013
  19. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    That's even odder behavior than my stereo. How did you find the A/C cure?
    Unfortunately, the A/C doesn't seem to cure my problem.
     
    #19 kgall, Mar 25, 2013
  20. detroit11

    detroit11 Junior Member

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    I have had the same issue. Its very intermittent but seems to happen after I have been driving a while. I have a certified preowned warranty and and extended warranty. The dealer said they wont do anything if they cant duplicate the problem, which of course I cant on demand :(
     
    #20 detroit11, Apr 1, 2013
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