MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

He probably meant, what constitutes early/late for this problem. The TSB explicilty lists the range of affected VINs; as I recall it went into April of 2005.

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

patsparks, You're very fortunate to have an electronic repair person custom repair something for $25.

Most of the electronic repair people that I've been associated with just want to swap out boards rather than actually go in fix the problem part.

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Ask around.
Ask your local computer shop if they know someone who fixes stuff by repairing damaged boards etc. I got one shop to another then another and that shop put me onto Harry the tech with an actual soldering iron and a microscope. He also has a video microscope so I could see his work, beautiful!!
Remember, Hobbit has done all the hard work doing the diagnostics and you can tell the tech you won't put any responsibility on them if the repair doesn't work.

$25 was Harry's minimum price for a repair. He was an interesting guy to talk to as well. Does a lot of work for the mining industry in remote locations, he has his own plane to get to work.

 

Well, I just completed and shipped off my first for-pay repair.
A totally "textbook" [?!] pin-60 crack:
_ http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/mfd/524rs-ck01.jpg
_ http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/mfd/526rs-ck02.jpg
There were also some suspicious-looking areas on some of the
other connections so I wound up reflowing several more of them
and a couple on the other side of the connector too.
.
Remember that these pins are only about the width of two or
three human hairs...
.
On this one I noticed that due to the way the MFD frame parts
are stamped, it is possible that the upper board winds up being
slightly stressed toward one corner -- coincidentally, *away*
from the pin 60 corner of the connector which would have a
tendency to try and pull that corner up. By "biasing" the
play around various screws before tightening them down I was able
to neutralize this shift and have the upper board sit squarely
over the lower one, which will hopefully keep the problem from
recurring long-term. In extreme cases it might even make sense to
ream out the non-threaded parts of some holes to give the whole
thing a little more play. This is a new factor I didn't notice
in the original analysis, but may be relevant for others doing
their own fixes as more and more '04 etc units succumb to the
pounding of economic-downturn-driven road maintenance degradation.
.
_H*

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

:hail:

I gotta admit, an Uber Geek like you makes me feel pretty unworthy

Agree with your assessments, but a couple of questions:

What are you using for reflow? I've got a handle on a slightly used hot air reflow station - thank you downturn in the economy

You really do need a stereo microscope to work on a lot of these teeny parts, or maybe my eyes are getting worse. do you use the headband-style magnifier or a genuine stereo microscope?

 

I've got a genuine 20x and 30x stereo microscope, which is also
how the "vignetted" pictures were shot, *and* a head-mounted "old
man" style flip-down magnifier for the more generic stuff. I
forget where I got the scope, but it's fairly old and I had to
add a top-light to it to make it actually useful. There's a
picture of it in the original MFD page. I'd love a pair of those
flexible fiber illuminators that sometimes go along with them.
.
Reflow is maybe the wrong word; it's straightforward touch-up
with a small weller tip "extended" with a bit of something like 22 ga
copper wire wound around it. That and the thinnest solder I have.
It's a little dicey but I wait for a while until after the coffee
wears off and I can be reasonably steady in there.
.
_H*

 

Geez, you ARE a techno-stud

I'm trying to determine if I can write-off a Nikon stereo scope, the model I'm considering is around $4,300. No way in hell I'd buy something like that if I can't write it off

Do you think a air reflow might be better for that sort of work? My track record for pencil solder rework/touchup is iffy. I was able to play with a Madell air reflow station, and was VERY impressed with it.

I was also very impressed with the estimated $9 G's price tag too

As far as coffee shakes, try heavy drinking. That seemed to work for me

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

The part that is really difficult is finding someone with the skill and tools and willingness to do the work once you have disassembled it.

Now in my case, I am such a terrific mechanic that I have found over the years that I can reassemble devices (mechanical and electronic) and not need nearly as many parts as was originally used to put the device together .

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Well that wasn't easy for me either, I was refered from computer shop to computer shop until I found my man who did the repair while I went to the bank to get the cash to pay him, he didn't take cards.

I was once such a great mechanic, I overhauled a Ford 3 speed gearbox, had a thrust washer left over. The gearbox lasted until the first downshift. It was my own gearbox! Ouch!

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Oh, you've done that too?

Around 5 years ago when I put the PowerTrax LockRight

POWERTRAX® TRACTION SYSTEM

in the Ford work truck rear axle at my hobby farm, I buttoned everything up and then found this tiny spring. To properly position the engagement and disengagement, each half has four recesses with four springs.

Actually, a large spring with a smaller spring inside. For some reason, one of the smaller springs managed to escape on me. Having accidently destroyed stuff in my youth due to not checking things over (An oil pump relief spring on a Chevy motor, a cone washer on a transmission, the list goes on) I knew better, and tore everything apart again

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

That isn't the only example, I could name a few but I have worked in the automotive industry for a number of years. That incident was the earliest I can recall and the most terminal.
Since then I have never had an engine or transmission I rebuilt fail. I don't actually know where they each are now but I have been out of the industry for 9 years now. I am from time to time in touch with the guys who still work for my last employer where I worked for 10 years and I would surely have been told if they knew of any failures. I was also in contact with a former employer during that 10 years and there was nothing from them of any failures, in fact they offered to re employ me on more than one occasion.

There was one time I changed a clutch in a Subaru and it was as I was re-installing the radiator I found the thrust bearing I had forgotten to install, then there was the turbocharged Holden Piazza full engine overhaul. I was finishing off bolting the engine and all the peripherals into the crowded engine bay when I found the 5 bolts out of the rear main seal carrier,:frusty: a hasty removal of the transmission and flywheel followed to install them. It was only held in place by the sump bolts.

I won't go on, I'm starting to :Cry:

 

Actually, the best way to learn is to royally f*** something up, and fix it again. It's not a mistake you repeat

Even in my "official" career, I've made some impressive boo-boo's I've had to fix

1. On a large tank farm, I wrote a program to cycle the tank agitators. The reason was to save energy, and to keep the finished chemical products from being "beaten up" by the agitators and go out of spec.

Below a certain tank volume, the agitators were not supposed to run at all, as the lower paddles would be in the air. Eg: IF LT1234.PV<5000 THEN AGT1234.PV=OFF. I entered it as IF LT1234.PV>5000 THEN AGT1234.PV=OFF. That simple typo meant the agitator would try to run when the tank was empty, but refuse to run when the tank had product in it.

It was a simple fix, and I immediately caught it. Once I uploaded the revised program, almost all the tank farm agitators shut down, except for a couple of empty tanks where they promptly started up. No damage done, and I got a lot of good natured teasing about it too

2. A product transfer pipeline, with a product that could freeze in winter. Using a temp sensor, if the ambient temp was below a certain setpoint, once the product transfer was done, a polyurethane "pig" was supposed to be sent through to keep the pipeline clean and make sure no free product remained to freeze

A similar transposed sort of typo, but that one I didn't catch until one section froze. Since the pipeline used to freeze on a fairly regular basis, no huge disaster but the program was intended to prevent that sort of problem

I never did repeat those mistakes

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Did Toyota Customer Service ever reply to you about problems with the display?

The display on my 2004 Prius started getting a "Check Air Conditioner connection" last week. Service at my Toyota dealer tells me that the display needs to be replaced. Just ordering the part is $1045, and they haven't given me an estimate for labor yet.

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Don't do it, have the display fixed. I can't believe people wont get this thing fixed when the instructions are on Prius Chat and the savings are substantial.

Is there a electronics guru on Prius Chat who would buy a broken MFD for maybe $50 and repair it then sell it on an exchange basis? You could sell it for say $300 with exchange plus shipping costs both ways I reckon and provide a 6 month warranty. Would be a good pocket money earner. To ensure you get the old MFD back charge $500 up front and refund $200 when you receive the old MFD.

I'd do it and I'd have to get a tech to do the soldering except I'm too far from the action here.

 

I'm thinking somebody like Hobbit or Qbee42 would be in a good position to set up that sort of MFD repair.

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Yet another data point:

I posted about my experience a few years ago here. My dad bought a Prius the same time as I did, in late 2003. His MFD just failed with the usual symptoms. It is well out of warranty, both in years and miles.

He brought it into his dealer. I don't know if it's allowable to post names here, but it's one of the big guys just north of Boston. The service manager, without blinking, offered a new (or rebuilt, do not know) MFD as a "goodwill overture." The only charge was $115 for labor.

I don't know if Toyota has softened their position, or if the dealer really swallowed the cost of the MFD. However, if folks are still being quoted $1000 and upward, they should put up a fight.

 

Yes, please post the name. Truth is always welcome, and what dealer would complain about a good recommendation?

 

Hi there,
I'm a really new in this forum, and i was glad to find such detailed technical discussion here. This is what I need:
Not very many 2004-05 prius owners know that the MFD part number 86110-47070 &47071 is camera compatible . Plus, in the SERVICE display is a grayed CAMERA menu. Plus, the japanese 2004 prius was equipped with camera and IPA, using the same MFD, no RGB convertor!!!
Finnaly...got the camera from steveautobeyours with great price, but I dont know the M13 and M14 MFD connectors schematics. Comparing with 2006 (which is very easy to find info's on the net), the wires in these connectors are switched randomly.
Hobbit, you are the great escape: what are the roles for the wires on M13 and M14?
Which one('s) are for camera connections?

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

My MFD has failed at 135,000 miles. First thing ever to go bad. LOVE my car, Kearny mesa toyota wantw $710 to install the rebuild.

I am incompetent.

Does anyone know someone who solders and/or removes things in

SAN DIEGO?????????


Fingers crossed, I hope someone can connect me up.


thanks all,


Art

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Try what I did.
Ask your local computer store, you may get passed from store to store a little but you will find a tech who can do the repair using Hobbit's great instructions. Seek out someone who repairs PDAs or radio equipment. Any reasonable mechanic should be able to remove the MFD from the dash and refit. You can drive the car with the MFD removed if you want but you need to reassemble the rest of the dash.