Common 2G Problems, and What to Do About Them...

Well, I should add that there are a couple electrical connectors to unplug and I think you'll want to pop off the buttons on the armrest. That'll make it possible to set the panel aside out of the way.

 

"new" Gen 2 problem: catalytic converter theft
Apparently this has been going on for a few years. Recent rash of thefts in Durham NC included my daughter's 2009 Touring (formerly mine), cat stolen overnight Tuesday night right in front of her apartment building. Gah. Possible solution: $300 shield, or having the cat welded to the frame. No idea if the former is bad in states using road salt

 

If you have a failed TPS sensor, the low tire pressure indicator light will flash a few times before becoming steady. Also, if you need to replace one sensor, you might as well replace them all as the others will go bad shortly. It's actually the battery that goes out, but not much you can do about it as they are soldered in. It cost me about $240 to replace all of mine.

 

I trust you've figured this out, but other newbies may want to know.

When you turn on your headlights, it automatically dims the dash lights ---it's assuming you are driving at night. When it's light out, it of course makes it impossible to read the dash when it's that dim, as you have seen.

There is a dial to the left of the steering column that you can use to adjust the brightness of your dash lights for daytime driving, or fine tuning at other times. (I like it a tad brighter than the night time setting) it will look something like this photo (icon of a speedometer + lightbulb)

 

I find that rolling down the window and screaming,”Its a BEAR!” or “Its a LION!” and pointing also helps alert people to Prius presence.

 

Here's something that I know works in Gen 3, and might also work in Gen 2.

The Gen 3 body ECU includes an "auto headlights" feature, even though most trim lines of the car (at least in US) don't use the feature.

The dash has the necessary light sensor on top (the HVAC uses it, even if you don't have the headlights feature).

In cars that don't have the auto headlights feature, two things are missing: (1) a length of wire connecting that light sensor to the body ECU, and (2) a headlight stalk switch that has an AUTO position.

In Gen 3, even if you just complete (1) and never add (2), it solves the too-dim-to-read problem. It uses the light sensor to decide when to keep the dash brighter, even when you have the headlights on. That's a huge improvement right there.

Then, if you add (2), you can also have it automatically turn the headlights on.

The Gen 3 mod is described in this post. I know Gen 2 has a light sensor on the dash, and I might have heard about some Gen 2s maybe having an auto headlight feature, so it seems at least possible this could work in Gen 2 also (some wiring details would be different).

 

I'm going to through in my 0.02 here: Mine would disappear when the headlights came on intermittently (say, every 3 occurrences), however it wasn't the dimming pot for the cluster. It turned out to be the death throes of the capacitors on the VFD cluster itself...replaced = problem solved.

 

That's not a TPMS

There's a thumb wheel on the left lower dash. Approx. above the parking brake. It's for dimming the dash lights when the interfere with night driving. You have it turned down. Turn it up.

 

That light is a brake warning light and not the TPMS. Mine's on all the time. I think it's for the box near the 12 battery. Might indicate a problem with that.

 

there.
Can I write about my troubleshooting experience for gen2 prius here?

 

In the end, it took three days to resolve the problem. At one point, I thought about scrapping the car, but I was able to come up with a solution.

Problem: 12V battery keeps dying and no power
Symptoms: after being self key programing AKA chicken dance, 12v BATT always dead even with New 12V BATT.
Frequency: N/A
Diagnostic: N/A
Cause: smart key programing mode have not end well, and still in key programing mode. so DC currency
consumption is several amps. this is deadly numbers for 12v BATT.
Cure: if you have time leave it alone a whole day long after removing 12V BATT + terminal, or at least several hours.
Other information/Alternate diagnosis possible: In very rare cases, similar symptoms occur due to a short circuit or error inside the HV control computer. if so, the way of repair is only replacing HV computer.