MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

My 2004 MFD went bad about two weeks ago at 130k miles. I repaired it myself with Hobbit's web page as a guide. Many thanks for the excellent detective work and photos. I had access to good soldering equipment and a binocular microscope, it would be hard for a DIY repair otherwise.

Thanks!

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Hi all,

I would appreciate any help or guidance on this. I have a 2004 Prius whose MFD is showing all of the signs of the EL002-05 TSB. But it also does the following:

- Often the audio will just power off on its own. Waiting anywhere between 1 and 10 seconds, I can press the PWR button on the dash (not on the MFD) and it will come right back on to the same station or CD. Many times when I power it back on, if the audio display happened to be on the MFD, it will show Audio Off. If a dynamic screen (such as either of the info screens) is up when the power goes out, whatever screen was up on the MFD freezes and only shows the overlay (for example, the 5 minute bars disappear and don't reappear but I can see the rest of the screen around where the bars usually go).

- The audio (doesn't matter if AM/FM/CD/Cassette) will stop for less than half a second, play for about a second, cut out again, play again and do this a few times. This happens not only when driving but also when stopped or parked with the engine on.

Possibly unrelated: My wife was on a 3 hour drive after leaving the car in an airport parking lot for 2 weeks. At a stop approximately 2 hours in, she turned off the engine, locked the car. She returned to find the engine wouldn't start and every error light on the dash would turn on when she would try to start the car. This was fixed by a jump. I have checked the 12V battery via the maintenance mode and it seems to be within normal ranges posted here.

Two weeks previous to that, I had gotten the full error lights on the dash when starting the car. I found by starting the car in steps (push Power button once, wait for accessories, push Power button a second time, wait for more accessories, press brake and press Power button a third time) these messages went away and everything was fine. I had it into the dealer after that and they didn't find anything wrong.

The problem is worsening and becoming more frequent.

So any thoughts on what I should tackle first? I'm not an electrician so I'd probably have to take the MFD out someplace to do Hobbit's fix. But I'm willing (or aka desperately short of money) to dig in and check the connections myself. But could all this be caused by an old/dying 12V battery?

I'd appreciate any advice.

Cheers

 

I have a 2004 and at 214,000 miles the replacement/refurb unit went out. what a drag. Even the newer/current part goes bad.

 

Katsu, was your problem ever solved?

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Hi MFA,

Thanks for asking. I finally found some time today to post some of the info I've been saving (some pics for other repairs).

First, THANK YOU HOBBIT and other Pruischat members. As I noted previously in this thread, my 2004 Prius MFD was dying with the now typical intermittent functioning. Using HOBBIT's guide, I took out the MFD myself and took it to an electronics repair shop nearby. They charged me about 70 bucks and re-soldered the entire socket with the suspected bad connection.

I crossed my fingers, reinstalled the MFD and dash panels. Holding my breath (and somewhat disbelieving it would actually work since it was such a cheap and simple fix), I pressed the big black button, once.... twice... three times... and...

It worked. I felt my guy self sufficiency score rise dramatically. And it kept working. And is still working.

W00t!

Seriously, I want to thank Hobbit and the priuschat community. Right now we don't have the huge bucks to replace the MFD and we would have driven without it as long as possible. Due to the information here, our Prius now is so much nicer.

Yet, when one door is closed another door opens...

I'll post the problems I'm having with intermittent error lights in another post.

THANKS EVERYONE!

 

The display-unit failure in the 2004 model is due to breakage of a particular solder joint on a connector inside the unit. Thanks to detailed information available online, I had no trouble pulling my unit out of the dashboard, disassembling it on the kitchen table, locating the broken joint, and resoldering it. The hardest part was (a) getting a good view of the broken connector -- it's just under 0.01" in diameter; (b) rigging up a customized tip on a soldering gun to work on such a small spot; and (c) seeing what I was doing while touching the tip to the connector. I used a handheld microscope to inspect the joint before and after -- something like Radio Shack part 63-1313 ($13 illuminated microscope); a very strong magnifying glass while applying the heat; and a copper wire wrapped around my soldering gun's tip, and filed down to a needle-sharp point. It takes courage, but I didn't want to pay somebody else $350 to resolder two connectors (terminals No. 59 and 60 on a 60-terminal connector), nor pay a dealer $4,000 for a replacement unit. Still, I practiced for a half-hour on similar-sized terminals on the circuit board inside an old telephone that I was going to throw away anyway, before soldering the Prius part. The actual soldering operation is lightning-fast: you don't add solder; you simply apply heat for just two or three seconds to each of the two terminals (59 and 60) to reflow the solder that is already there.

The website where I got all the detailed information explains how Toyota fixed the problem on later models.

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

I also repaired my own MFD. When I reflowed the solder the problem reocurred a couple of weeks later. I then bought some (Danger - Politically Incorrect) 60-40 Tin-LEAD very fine (1/64 inch) solder and a solder flux pen. The second time was the charm.

JeffD

 

A recurrence -- that's very bad news. My soldering tip was tinned with 60/40 solder, and then dipped in flux, but I didn't add any solder to the joint when re-flowing it. I hope it holds up! I also adjusted the alignment of the board on its mounting to eliminate the torque on the connector that may have been the cause of the break. Anyone, I'm thinking, if an engineering prof had to fix it twice, I'm probably going to have to fix it five times. -- Brett

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

An Engineering Professor with weak eyes and not too steady hands. Besides taking the MFD out the second time takes about half the time.

JeffD

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Yeah, I think that's the fundamental design flaw. If there's no stress on the board, there's no reason for it to fail. I'll bet you're good for another 7 years. Maybe even minimal shock mounting would be useful.

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

If you read the great Hobbit on the MFD failure, you find that the base design flaw was a misalignment of the solder pad with the foot of the connector going to pin 60. This makes for a thin, very weak (especially with modern brittle solder - no lead), solder joint. Reducing mechanical stress will, of course, help.

JeffD

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

I did read that, as well as just about everything else Hobbit has written, but details continue to fade over time . I did remember someone noting that he saw the board flex a little as it was fastened down, and said to myself "uh-oh...". I have a stash of lead-based solder I've used for electronics since the 50s. I'm not sure if it's legal any more (I know it's not in potable plumbing applications), and don't know about relative strength, but there's nothing like the smell of multicore solder in the morning... maybe I've smelled too much of that, which mught account for my memory issues.

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

First, THANK YOU HOBBIT and other Pruischat members. As I noted previously in this thread, my 2004 Prius MFD was dying with the now typical intermittent functioning. Using HOBBIT's guide, I took out the MFD myself and took it to an electronics repair shop nearby. They charged me about 70 bucks and re-soldered the entire socket with the suspected bad connection.


Katsu,

I find myself in the same boat. Wondering if your electronics repair shop is in the LA area. If I can save money and a lot of time, I'd love to do what you did. Is it still working, btw?

Strafgod
2004 Salsa Red Prius
54000 miles

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

My MFD self repair was done over a year (and 30k miles) ago with no re-occurance of the problem. Since you are looking for a tech to do it for you, consider checking with technical schools and EE departments at universities to find a tech to solder the board for you. pEEf in the San Fransico area would do it for you for a reasonable price as well.

JeffD

 

I offer 04 -05 mfd repair for 325 dollars.
I also warranty the repair. return shipping is included.new components are installed.
in addition to checking for cold solder connections
for removal instructions see this page
http://http://www.autobeyours.com/Ebay%20MFD%20listing.htm

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

"autobeyours"

I used this company to swap out my MFD 2 years ago and it is still going strong. Highly recommended. It is more expensive that searching out "local electronics shops" but if your time is worth anything just use a company like this and move along. The installation was a little scary pulling about the dash, but in the end not difficult. Took me 2 hours, but if I had to do it on my second Prius it would take 30 minutes.

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

You have one too many http:// in your link so it doesn't work.

should be : Prius MFD Touchscreen Repair

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

+1
Steve (imwoody36) at AutoBeYours is honest and knows the Prius. If I weren't an EE myself, he would have gotten the job of fixing my MFD. He fixed my Prius when a dealer had messed it up and only charged me $40.

JeffD

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Hi All.

I was the "guinea pig" MFD for Hobbits repair.
I still have the repaired unit if anyone wants it.
First $100 plus shipping can take it home.
Send me a private message if interested.

Scott

 

Re: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

Still looking for someone in LA who could do the solder.... Katsu, your guy didn't happen to be in the LA area, did he?

Love to hear how I could find him if he is.

Thanks,

Larry