My Prius will not turn off!

I see this is an old thread. I am having this same problem. Itermittently I have no display, the milage computer is on but doesn't register anything, and the car does not turn off. At some point after driving around a little it just starts working again. I have asked the dealer in the past, but they've said this could be really hard to diagnose. I wish I had pushed then, just so that it would have been documented, because now it's out of warrenty. It happened this morning. I made two stops on my way to work where it wouldn't turn off, so I drove straight to the dealer. Of course it turned off for them, but the display still didn't work. Then at some point it just started working for them. They said they could start throwing parts at it, but it would be expensive and they have no idea what's going to fix it.

I see the combination meter and the 12V ground are things to ask them to check. Any other things I should ask them to focus on?

Thanks!

 

I have a 2005 Prius, and this happened to me for the first time a few days ago (it's June, so not cold weather). You do feel a bit crazy if you aren't familiar with mechanical aspects of the car, so I was wondering whether to go to the dealer (a time-consuming prospect) and if I do, how to explain it to them. I didn't write down all the things I tried.

However, I have also had a weird thing with the brake warning light when I start it occasionally, seemingly related to how hard I press the brake when starting it. So, when I tried turning it off, eventually I pressed the brake firmly, and did get the warning light. I also tried holding down the start button for an extended count, to no avail. It just seemed to shut off when it felt like it.

I'll read the bulletin to which several posts refer. I have JUST over 36K on the car --

 

I also live in Longmont, CO., and have AE software to read any codes that may come up for you. It'll save you $$ instead of the dealer $100+ charge for just reading the codes. If you are interested I am available during the weekday mornings, and late day weekends. Many have had this problem but by the time they drive to the dealer it is gone. It would be interesting if any codes are logged in your prius while this problem is occuring, or better yet "real time data" may show something as well.
Let me know, you can send a PM and I will respond.

 

I have had this happen 5-6 times. The last two times were a week or two ago. The blank display, check engine light, and refusing to power off. The radio insisted on playing when the power button was held 3-4 seconds.

The display was normal for the 5 miles to work. I loaded the mail and powered up to leave but the display was blank. The radio, check engine light and mfd were normal. I pressed the power button and held for shut down numerous times, no response from the speedometer.

The mail must go, even without a speedometer. No mpg or miles registered on the mfd. Tried numerous times to power off and on at stop signs and mailboxes for about 10 miles, no speedometer.

Then, I needed a tray of mail stored in the hatch. Tried the latch, no response, hit the unlock button on the drivers door, still acts like the hatch is locked. Reached in the drivers window and locked the Prius. Walked back to the hatch and touched the latch, presto, smart key unlocked the hatch. Power on and the speedometer is back.

A week or so later I start the Prius in the morning, no speedometer. Power down ( or so it seems, radio plays), reach in and hit the lock button, walk to the hatch and let smart key unlock. Power up and the speedometer is back. Hasn't happened since.

The Lucious website mentions the hatch being part of the Body Electrical Area Network. Something in the lockdown and smart key unlock of the hatch is allowing the signal to return to the combo meter/cluster. Worth a try if your speedometer decides to disappear. Jerry

 

Pretty bizarre behavior, neighbor.

No check engine light?

Original owner? Miles on the clock?

Perhaps the mail route has jarred some connections?

Curious to see if Patrick Wong or others have thoughts beyond taking it to the dealer.

My brother does his route in a 4WD 1 ton diesel. Bet you get better mileage, gauges or not...

 

Check Engine light when speedometer is off.
Been on mail route from 2 weeks new till now.
Over 100,000 miles, less than $7000.00 for gas.
Left front shock leak at 95,000 warranty repair
Right side steering wheel buttons left at 50 - 60000 warranty repair.
Right side brake and gas pedals, self designed and installed, removeable, 5 minutes or less.
Will drive till the wheels fall off. Jerry

 

Find a scangauge, read the CEL, google for meaning of the code. My thoughts still run to a loose connection.

Good luck.

 

Probably something to do with the 20 miles of dirt roads a day. The Prius is full of dust (blows out the vents every time you try high fan). Not to mention bouncing through the potholes and washboard roads.

Keep the hatch in mind if you ever wind up without a speedometer. Not a big deal on the route. Kinda important when the police are near. Jerry

 

Might want to open up the high-voltage system cooling fan every now and then to clean it out. Somewhere there's an illustrated thread about this.

 

Has anyone had trouble with the car not turning off completely, then coming out to a dead battery and having to jump start it? I must not always be holding the 'Power' button long enough, because the car seems to be off when it isn't. An alarm sounds if it's not in 'Park' but no alarm sounds if I've pushed 'power' too quickly.

 

These have been popping up more often recently due to temperature changes. It's caused by a fault in the combination meter (Instrument Cluster). I've repaired 3 in the last 2 days! The failure is an electromechanical fault related to vibration and temperature cycling. It's also an industry-wide issue that's cropped up since [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive"]RoHS[/ame] came about. If the display is dark, and you can't turn off your car, simply hold the power switch for at least 3 seconds.



I can't promise that all failures are because of this, but I am pretty confident. I can offer a discounted repair service for fellow PriusChatters on these for $75, and I will cover return shipping. In the event I cannot repair them, I will not charge anything for the attempt.

As well as not costing much, another advantage of repair is your mileage display remains accurate. If you order a used one it too may have the fault, and you're mileage will be inaccurate.

Some additional things to consider; you will not have any reverse lights while this board is malfunctioning. It will also not report vehicle speed to the other vehicle systems, for instance, the Nav system will not record movement until it has a strong sat lock. The rear hatch release has a lockout so it doesn't open while you are driving, and this lack of speed indication may prevent the hatch from unlatching when you try to open it. The power ECU also demands a 3 second press on the power button to turn off the Hybrid system if it thinks you might be moving, so this why you must hold it to get the car to turn off.

If you pull (or have pulled) the module, your car will still run, just like it does when the display goes dark, so the car will still be operable while the board is in transit. I can usually turn these around in one business day upon receipt. If you'd like to have it repaired, just send me a PM.

I am also working with Luscious Garage in San Francisco for the repair of these, so if you are in the area, Carolyn will treat you right and she can pull your display and re-install it. If you are in the East Bay, I might even have the time for the Removal/Reinstallation.

 

Update to my posts. Since July the combination meter has left me numerous times, for days at a time. Cold weather has settled in and the display only works if the morning temperature is 35 degrees or lower. If the temperature rises to 50 degrees or more during the day, it will not display the next power up.

The one thing I discovered is the only way to turn the car off when the three second hold doesn't work. Yes the radio plays and the smart key will not function.

To turn the car completely off. Take your fob and put it in the dash slot. Leave it for a few seconds and remove. My Prius will shut down all systems by this method. If it doesn't work the first time, try again. This has worked every time, and that is many times since I fooled around and stuck it in one day. Hope it helps if you can't shut down. Jerry

 

If you're lucky it's just operator error :_> Make sure that all the dash lights are OFF before you get out. Then lock the car, no matter where you parked; if the common battery-draining conditions exist the car will give a long warning beep.

If you're not lucky the combination meter will have to be replaced.

 

I have a 2007 prius with 117973 miles on it. After a very cold night last week I had the same symptoms: no combination meter lights, no mileage registering in the MFD, and the car would not turn off. It drove just fine and started working properly after 15 or so minutes.

I just got back from the dealership and they verified the issue was in line with a service bulletin.

Toyota Service Bulletin tsb-5760172-09

The only solution is to replace the faulty combination meter for $446.00 plus tax. This was not covered under my Gold Extended Service contract so I had them leave it in place. It would be covered under the original service contract or the Platinum version.

Oh well.... It hasn't malfunctioned again.

 

That is not the only option. See my post above.

So far I've found that once they start going out, the problem seems to only get worse over time. If it does, I'll be happy to repair it. If you want to go the $446 option instead, I'd love to have to old one so I can offer an exchange service to others.

 

Very happy to have found this forum as I am experiencing basically the same problem. Started about a year ago as just an occasional speedometer outage; about a 2 months ago had my first taste of the car not turning off; and now, the speedometer is almost always off on my morning drive to work (50-some degrees in Southern California; 30 to 40 minute drive) and when I get there, about half the time the car will not turn off. Interestingly, when the car is running, the green light on the power button is off. When I resort to holding down that button for 3 seconds to shut down the engine, the green light turns ON (and the light on the PARK button turns OFF) and, of course, the info display in the middle of the dashboard stays ON. The car will not move in this mode, but I cannot leave the car without causing it to beep, and I cannot lock the doors, as the car 'thinks' it is still on (and some of it, indeed, is on) so it doesn't want me to take the key away. Repeated pressing of buttons will eventually cause the entire thing to shut down (at which point the green light comes ON on the power button). Taking it to the Toyota dealer will ALWAYS cause the car to shut down correctly. I have made iPhone videos of the last 7 or 8 times the car would not shut down; I may try to use those to get help at the dealer (along with info gleaned from these posts, thank you!). I have about 74,000 miles on my car and have had no other major problems.

I should note that, although I had previously encountered the speedometer problem, the bigger problem of the car not turning off did not happen until after an incident where the 9-volt battery died in Sequoia National Park in December. We had to jump-start the car to start it and all was well for the next few days until I had my first "won't turn off" event. I'm wondering if we fried something when we jump-started what has been described to me as a 9-volt battery with a 12-volt pickup truck.

At one point a few weeks ago, the car would not START, either, even though the radio and lights were working. After pushing many combinations of buttons, I got the speedometer to flash all kinds of crazy ways - it looked like Vegas! The borders around the PRND indicators all flashed in some kind of pattern, and the gas gauge was zipping back and forth and stuff was twinkling all over the place. The dealer told me I likely had a dead 9-volt battery (this would be the 2nd time in about a month); the Auto Club tow-truck driver jump-started the car, and the dealer replaced the 9-volt battery. Since then I've had constant trouble with both the speedometer and the car not turning off. The dealer can only replicate the blank speedometer; the car always turns off for them. They want $1000 to dismantle the dashboard and then they'll tell me what they think needs to be replaced. I think I'll direct them to these posts.

The blank dashboard problem happens at different times of the day (but rarely at night); the "won't turn off" problem happens only in the morning after the car has not been driven all night, and when it is the coldest part of the day.

The dimmer that controls instrumentation brightness is not likely the problem. When I have no speedometer, I also have no current data on my central display (although that unit displays graphics when the speedometer is dark). So it's some circuit board problem, for sure.

Please pardon me if I have repeated things that have been reported previously; just want to add my data to the discussion in case any of my details can shine a light on some other aspect of it. Thanks again to all who have reported so far.

 

Just a quick note, I had this happen last winter to my '07. Dealer replaced the combination meter, and it was covered by the Toyota Extended warranty.

So far we've had about every major "normal" issue with our Prius, can't wait for 140K miles for the transaxle to fail...

 

[ I'm wondering if we fried something when we jump-started what has been described to me as a 9-volt battery with a 12-volt pickup truck.]
That is very possible, and no it is a 12V battery, similar to a motorcycle battery.

Jump starting a prius is very risky unless it's done correctly. Always connect the pos. cable first, then the neg. last. Make sure the jump vehicle is already running, then as soon as the prius starts, disconnect the neg. lead first then the Pos. lead, at this point be very careful not to touch them together and short out the jump vehicle. I like to disconnect that vehicles Neg. quickly next, then lastly the jump vehicles pos. lead.

The inverter can easily blow the 12v fets and igbt's inside the inverter if this sequence is not followed.

On the combination meters problem, a lose connection could cause this. Perhaps unplugging and reinserting any connectors to/from the MFD/Combination meter would do well, maybe even some contact cleaner in the pins. They should do this anyway if they're replacing it, so wouldn't it make sense to try this before spending money for replacement?

I've never had a problem in this area and from the sound of it -hope I never do. Of course would definitely disconnect the Neg. first on the 12v battery (kill CPU's) before attempting any unplugging and re-plugging of any cables. As a matter of fact would probably pull the service plug in rear as well. Better safe than sorry, but I do think this is worth a try. Connection pins can become intermittant, and usually just need some contact cleaner and a few insertions and re-insertions. Best of luck.

 

I have a 2005 Prius as well - This has been happening to me over the past few years too - (My car not turning off) It is frustrating because the problem never replicates when by the time I get it to the dealer. I will print out all of these messages - take it in to them and ask that the combination meter and 12v ground be changed. And by the way - I live in California and this happens on days that are warm, hot, cool, and normal - weather doesn't play a role for my car. Thanks

 

This has been happening to my 2005 Prius since last year but it has happened more frequently within the past few months. Mostly recently caused problems when me and my family took a road trip to California. We took it to a Toyota dealership in California and they said it would take 2 weeks to get the cluster part in and that it would cost a little more than $600 to repair. We decided that it would be better to wait til we got home to Nevada. The day after we arrived in Nevada we took the car to the Toyota dealership and they told us it would cost $1,500 to repair the cluster! I couldn't believe the price difference going from one place to another.

For those of you who have had the cluster fixed or replaced how much did you guys pay??