2006 Prius MFD anomaly

My wife's prius was bought new with power everything. Historically I have experienced issues with the passenger side HID. She has gone through fourth Philips D4R and I am awaiting the arrival of number five. We only seem to be having problems with the passenger side. The lamp on the drivers side is the original and still works flawlessly. I often wonder why Prius has not had a recall on the '06 HID circuitry as almost everyone has issues with thest lamps.

Now on to my real issue. The MFD in my bride's prius works, but with quirks! The touch screen only responds to touches on the right side and activates whatever is on the left side of the line pushed. For example, if you are on the climate screen and press the lower right corner, you will turn the A/C on or off. You are unable to control the cabin fan (blower) because the left side of that line turns the fan off.

Kinda makes this vehicle difficult to operate.

 

Thanks for the help, I appreciate your kind words, but what I was looking for was answers (help). I didn't fall off the tomato truck this morning. I have read all the tech on High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lamps and the warnings about counterfeit bulbs from abroad (you know the country name) posted elsewhere in this forum, and use latex free gloves when replacing or checking lamps on my vehicles.

Warranties on HID lamps and ballasts are of no concern to me. However failure trends are and when a manufacturer's model has a failure rate similar to what the Prius has had with a lamp that should outlast the life of the vehicle, it causes me a little concern - especially when the Service department wants to charge $149.99 for the bulb and $245 to install it. If I can change the lamp from within the engine compartment - in less than 30 minutes, the dealers should be able to do likewise and charge a more reasonable rate. And, yes I am familiar with Toyota's pricing habits (I recently replaced the serpentine belt for less than $30.00 by DIY.

This high failure rate occurring predominately on one side of the vehicle (read the Prius history and you will agree) indicates that the problem is more likely in the lighting circuitry and less likely in the lamp itself.

Our vehicle has 84,500 miles on it. We are on our third set of tires (Michelin HydroEdge 70,000 tires had severe dry-rot after only 40,000 but had plenty of tread life left) We had 2 TMPS units fail at 78,000 so replaced all four, We are currently on our third auxiliary battery and fourth set of windshield wipers. Oil and filter are changed every 5K miles and tires are rotated at the same.

 

No one else but Gleemie and me having problems with their 2006 MFD? The MFD manual provided by Toyota is useless when it comes to troubleshooting. I've checked the fuses, disconnected my Satellite radio, replaced the 12V battery, and am now at my whit's end regarding what to do next. Just a thought, might one of the connectors come loose? I know that is far fetched, but all MFD functions seem to work, I just cannot access them. The MFD only responds to controls from the steering wheel. All function buttons on the steering wheel work properly, but when you depress the on-screen buttons they all seem to default to the left side of the screen on the same row as depressed (same characteristics as described by Gleemie above). It doesn't appear that anyone is wanting to work on the 2006 MFD w/Nav units. Navigation works, but I am unable to input a destination or route information. Anyone have similar issues??

In response to "CREWDNA's" comment regarding my few posts in six years, I can honestly say that our 2006 Prius, with 99,275 miles, has been so reliable that I've had little need to add unnecessary banter to this very informative and helpful forum and I have better things to do than sit in front of my computer and chit chat just for the heck of it.

 

Thank you Patrick - It is a pleasure talking to someone who is willing to discuss the issue at hand rather than criticizing another's participation on the forum. I think we are reading from the same script. Since (a) all utility apps function (b) the hard buttons on the sides of the MFD access each utility and (c) the controls on the steering wheel all work properly, I believe that the MFD is also working properly. This leads me to the assumption that a connector has somehow (?) worked loose. I will follow your recommendation once I get the courage to disassemble the dash. I have checked all my fuses and they are good as evidenced by dome light, cosmetic lights on the sun visors working and other accessories functioning properly.

incidentally, I ran Michelin HydroEdge tires for more than 40K miles with excellent results. the wider footprint affords much better control than the original equipment Gyear Integras. I find the tire rack website an excellent research tool when considering new tires. I am currently running Continental Pro Contact with EcoPlus+ technology 190R60 15 88 T's and am very pleased with them.

The Tire Rack Survey results lets you see how each tire you are considering stacks up against other tires in its class (based on customer feedback), which provides an excellent comparison tool when shopping for new rubber. I buy my tires locally but take advantage of Tire Rack's research tools.

 

Thank you Pat for all your help. I have solved the problem - I just bought a "New" 2013 Avalon XLE Touring Hybrid with only 100 miles on it and never titled for $30,300 OTD. Had to go to Knoxville (about 275 miles) to pick it up, but I am a happy camper right now. Thanks again.