combination meter repair - DIY

Hi Talonts,

Sorry I'm late to the party but my CM problem has just gone from intermittent to constant. I'm really not in a place where I can spend $800 at a dealership to get the problem fixed so I was hoping you might still have the 06-09 meter you grabbed at the salvage?

 

2018 is a new year, and could be time to share your secret.

 

contact texas hybrids, matt has a very good rep here, i used one of his rebuilt meter on my 08 and its been perfect .. an hour to put it in myself and only cost 175 free shipping both way.

 

Found this posting last week on CL, back then he wanted 80 for a combination fix -and now asks for 100.

Also lowered his mobile install rate from 120 (or was it 150?) to 100. So for 200 he will come to you, do the R+R and fix your meter. Doesn't mention swapping parts or reprogramming mileage as an option.

Toyota Prius Digital Instrument Cluster Repair - auto parts - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

Wonder how much business he is getting?

 

if he is repairing the cars speedo he doesn't have to reprogram the miles .. its only when you replace it with another one the miles have to be programed, IDK what parts he replaces, if its just the 2 caps shown on youtube I doubt the repair will last.. I went with Matts service because it has a life time warrantee

 

Update on the previous repair to my 2007 combination meter. Everything still working after 5 months and about 7k miles. My wife's 2004 just started to have the same symptoms so removed and repaired her combination meter as well. This time, I have an ESR meter and confirmed that the 10uF cap was the culprit. Readings were well below 1uF and resistance was 13 ohms. Even though only one capacitor identified as bad, I replaced all 3 capacitors as well as changed out the regulator. IMHO, that is the right way to repair things since all capacitors were the same age. Even the 330uF appeared to bulge some.

Started to see ads on Craigslist as well advertising repair for the combination meters around Boston for $200. Just hope they replace all the capacitors and regulator as well.

 

for all the interested and not intended to DIY, overall for Europeans, I repair the combo boards - 100eur - repair of your boards (not a swap)

 

now there is!

 

You realise this is not a fix, but a work around, don't you? Eventually this work around will work less and less. At that point you will need to get the combination meter (CM) fixed.

 

Kudos to TexasNative, especially post #71! I replaced the 3 caps in my '09 Prius with the recommended ones from Mouser, and it's running fine now! I didn't bother replacing the 5V regulator. I did use the 220 uF cap instead of the original 100 uF.

 

I welded an 470uF 35V capacitor from my washing machine and hope everything goes well.

 

this is the original instruction

 

good welding

 

Good on you for getting the meter working, however, that said, the OEM capacitor may be a problem in the future. It's not good electronics practice to:

• Check capacitance while the capacitor is in the circuit.
• Parallel a good capacitor with a known bad, or failing, capacitor.

IMHO, it would be a good idea to remove the failing capacitor from the PCB and solder in a known good capacitor. Otherwise, I think it will be a possible point of failure in the future.

 

I found a difference betwen European CM and USA CM.

The European ones don't have that small socket.

 

Good one LEVE. Paralleling a capacitor that's already esr'ing is a guaranteed fail.

 

Quick question ... I hope I didn't overlook the answer here. I am planning on sending my combination meter in for repair. Will the Prius function (run errands with me) while the meter is out being repaired or am I car-less in the meantime?

 

Yes, you can drive it. You just won't have any indication of gear and speed.

 

Thank you! I plan to drive it to the auto paint place to have some work done. They'll need it a few days. I figure I can double up - send the meter out for repair while the paint guys have my car.