Radio buttons failing

Pressing on them like this probably is enough to make a temporary connection. This is likely why it fails again.

 

It was not the fact that the solder as the radio came from the manufacturer was cracked. It was what is called in the industry "a cold solder joint." In other words, the solder never got hot enough during manufacture of the radio to make a proper connection in the first place.

 

I will try as I will have spare time next week to fiddle with the Prii and also a friend with a powerfull Weller, and try to remake those connections.

I have to do some conversions, as we use the metric sistem, and thos 1/8 inch sound off for us here in Europe.

 

Remember those sizes are approximate. There is a tool to convert inches to mm here.

At the base of each radio knob are two solder tabs that look something like the one in the attached photo.

They are part of the knob body and there are four tabs in total. They should be easy to find. I am unable to find a picture of the exact control, however, I have attached a pdf file that has a picture of a similar control. The main differences between the controls on the radio and the control in the picture is that the controls on the radio have a round body and the tabs on the side of the control are also larger. As pictured in the pdf, the there are three leads to the right in the picture, and a tab on the side of the control. On the control in the radio, there is also a tab on the other side of the control. It is these tabs on the sides of the control in the radio that need to be reheated/resoldered. Hopefully, this will make it clear what tabs need have the solder heated. I expect that your friend will have some experience with soldering, and may be able to help you resolder/reheat the tabs such that the resulting solder connection is good.

If you still have questions as to what connections need to be redone and are able to post a photo of the back of the control panel, I am willing to mark up that photo and repost it; however, it may take me a few days to do so.

Good luck. Doing this did fix my problems. It is fairly easy to do the repair correctly with the right equipment, but being cautious is something I recommend.

 

Your a genius! I made an account just because I wanted to thank you! tapping the right side made it worked! Wth is wrong with it idk, Honestly i would just the #@$# out of it again if it stops

 

Found a Fix for the Prius radio on/off button not working......... The radio on/off button on my 192,000 mile 07 Prius stopped working. Couldn't turn on the radio with the button or steering wheel controls. Found that the oblong on/off button seems to have a fulcrum point in the middle, even though it's only maybe 5/8ths inch long. By pushing on the left end of the button, then the right end, and repeating this sequence 20 or thirty times, the radio came back on and worked fine for two weeks, until on/off button failed to work again. Again did as before, pushed on alternate ends of the on/off button about 30 or forty times, and it resumed working. It's been working correctly for about 2 months now. If it goes out again, I'll try the same fix. Better than buying a new radio.

 

I've never used a soldering iron in my life so I may end up having the dealer replace the radio (I'm told it will cost ~$395 with some sort of exchange) but I tried to view your video but get a "site cannot be reached" message. Is the video URL good?

Thanks.

 

The link was working when I posted it; however, I can no longer edit the post.

If you actually get that price with labor, IMO, it is a good price. I was quoted something like $1,200. Perhaps it is worth double-checking to see if that price includes labor. The exchange is probably that they want the old radio back.

I think others have posted to this thread who have had the radio replaced, and it still had the same problem so that may not help.

If you go to YouTube and search for 2006 Prius Radio Removal, you will find several videos with some better than others.

Maybe you can find a friend who can do the soldering for you?

I am attempting to embed the video in this post.

Hopefully, you will be able to view it this time.