MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

I was expecting this to happen, and finally last week I started seeing the symptoms of the MFD failure , my car is 2004 and it has 113k miles on it.

So I have seen the article written by the Hobbit and I was a bit scared to tear down the dash to get to the MFD but it was a very smooth experience and I managed to get the board where the fix needs to be done and I took it to a mobile phone repair shop , and they re-soldered pin 60 and 59 for free.

It was hard to believe that there is a crack in pin 60 , you won't be able to tell the difference between pin 60 and any other pin(attached pic) , but I've done the soldering anyway and my MFD is now working as it should.

Many thanks to the Hobbit for his brilliant discovery and very detailed articles

 

Me too! Okay. Prius 2004, 130k when it started. For two years put up with no more gps, radio control almost impossible, etc,etc. Now at 159k Just fixed it at Xmas! My gift to myself. Was in Dallas visiting sister and new born baby. Drove back to Chicago and voila has been working since. Thanks hobbit! Did call Toyota and left them a complain and case number for the record.

Used hobbit s thin copper wire around the tip of solder iron technique, did pin 60 first, then 58. But doing 58 I got it solder to 56. So I just wiped solder from the thin copper iron tip, and quickly ran it between 56 and 58 a couple of times so that it would take away the solder excess that was connecting them both. Used a multimeter for continuity to make sure pins 60 58 56 were not shorted (solder together).

Thanks hobbit! I got my prius back in fine working condition! And shame on u Toyota for not recalling all these displays! PS my was the F version board exactly as hobbit described.

 

So people can have an idea of the pin sizes before dissembling the unit.

 

Yay. Unfortunately, I doubt they'd recall them as the MFDs not working does not constitute a safety defect nor violation of FMVSS.

 

Our 2004's MFD started having issues late fall 2012 once the weather turned cold (Minnesota). Through out the winter the MFD would work about 50% of the time, typically working once warmed up, and failing while cold (but not always). But I didn't want to start ripping the dash apart in the middle of winter since plastic likes to snap and I don't have a heated garage. I waited until we warmed up again and pulled the MFD out last night. I looked at pin 60 (and the other pins) under a stereo scope and couldn't see any breaks but will try re-soldering anyway in hopes it works (following Hobbit's instructions). Overall the car has been very good to us, with very few repairs, but I can't help but want to fix this one for free! Pulling the MFD out was easy too (done lots of car/truck maintenance/repairs before, this was nothing).

The only other repairs we've had to do have been a 12V battery (original battery, just replaced it last summer!), stupidly expensive headlight leveling sensor (ebay!), HID headlight bulb, tail light bulb, and I'm working on fixing the upper glove box "spring issue" causing the dash to warp. Overall, pretty easy stuff though. Can't complain!

 

As a follow up to my previous post just before this one, my MFD repair was a success. I re-soldered pins 59 and 60 even though I couldn't see anything wrong under a stereoscope, and I re-soldered about 4 other pins (didn't keep track of which ones, just did the worst looking ones). Whatever I did worked, and my MFD has worked for 5 days now without issues, and it otherwise would have failed every day about half the time the car was in use. In total, it took about 5 minutes to get the MFD assembly removed from the dash, another 10 to diassemble, 10 to fix, and another 15 to put it all back together and in the car again. I also found out why our driver's side HVAC vent (near door) was weak. The white "fiber batting" on the far driver's side of the dash (facing door) was folded into the vent and blocking half of it for years.

 

Thanks to Hobbit and everyone involved in this project. I was having the same symptoms and followed the instructions up until the soldering (took it to a local laptop repair shop who reflowed all the connectors for $45). After putting everything back together I was relieved to find it working normally. If anyone in Southern Cali needs it done you can contact PC TECH in Van Nuys.

 

Apparently, Toyota hasn't taken of this issue. I have a 2009 Prius and my MFD has gone out. Unlike other past users, I can still work the radio an my AC doesn't go off. The screen is out and the controls to either side of the screen are non responsive. It either comes back on on its own or comes on when the car is restarted. Goes out at least once a day. Unfortunately, the problem has been intermittent. My car has been at the dealer (the 2nd dealer I've gone to) and they have had the cars for 2 days and of course, it hasn't gone out. They can't state that the system fails since it hasn't failed for them.

I'm new to this Forum and haven't been able to find a thread on this topic for 09 Prius owners. If someone knows where that is, please pass it along. Nonetheless, it is clear that Toyota didn't take the time or effort to fix this issue 5 years after they knew of it. Unfortunately, until the until fails with the Tech, I can't even argue with Toyota about fixing/replacing this at their cost.

 

Actually if you read through the thread, Toyota (or their supplier of the screen) made changes to the engineering of the screen to eliminate the problem in the 2005+ Prius. Nothing (yes, not even the Prius) is perfect.
Good luck with your screen issue, I know it is frustrating for the techs when they can't find a fault, not just for the owner. They actually want you to be happy with your car and their work.

 

If anyone has a BROKEN or CRACKED screen . We now have parts to repair them!
We also buy broken Prius MFD's to recycle.
the repair cost is 325 dollars and includes return shipping to you.

 

My 2009 Prius seems to be having an MFD problem as well. My A/C button does not go off and I cannot change anything apart from the off and on button. Does it make sense to take into the dealer or just replace the MFD?

 

It sounds like your touchscreen is having problems. What makes sense depends on where you are at with DIY projects, and to what extent your time=money. Personally I would replace with a used unit, or repair it through the previous poster's offer. The dealer will install a new one, which will cost you something north of 4 times that.

 

Just ran into this issue. Last week the screen started randomly returning to the blue "Prius Hybrid Synergy Drive" screen that comes on when you start the car. It would go black for a second, then go to the blue splash screen again, then black and so on. None of the buttons on either side of the MFD would function. Sometimes the hybrid system screen would come on, but then would go black and then back to the blue splash screen again. Occasionally, the screen would be full of horizontal lines and then go blue again.

After finding this thread and reading Hobbit's web find, I took the faulty 60 pin board to an electronics repair shop. The owner took the board, wiped it with some flux fluid, wrapped the whole thing with aluminum foil except for the 60 pin connector, and then put the board into what is essentially an infrared easy bake oven that heats all of the soldering connections so that any cracks melt themselves back together. I was a bit worried because I realized that if this melted it too much then it would do more harm than good. However, I figured I had nothing to lose since I don't have anyone around here who could reflow the offending connections. After a few minutes of heating up he took it out and said good luck. No charge.

Went home and reinstalled everything. Works perfectly.

 

These problems are temperature dependent. Do a follow-up report after a month or so on this thread to show us that the fix held up. If it does you have made a good contribution to our knowledge base.

JeffD

 

My MFD is growing dimmer by the day. Can no longer be read in sunlight, but not too bad in the dead of night. I don't think it's a day/night mode issue, and doesn't seem to be affected by the dash dimmer setting.

 

After almost 11 years, my late 2003 prius mfd also showed the problem of no connection with sensors or air con, at first only intermitent after parking under hot sun, but later completely not working. Followed the thread and repaired successfully by resoldering pin 60 and the lower row of pins (Since pin 60 looked ok under high magnification)
This is a reliablity fault and should have been identified under accelerated ageing.
The repair is simple and took me less than an hour.
Thank you all !

 

Hello all,

A new Prius owner here. I bought a 2004 model second hand, no warranty. The first car I have ever owned (at 43 years old). The MFD failed on the way back from the purchase!

Thanks to the excellent guidance here I was able to take the dash apart myself and remove the unit. The solder to pin 60 and the two adjacent pins were re-flowed by my local computer repair shop in North West London. Cost me £5.

The MFD is now working normally.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this immensely helpful thread!

 

I have an '08 Prius and my MFD is freezing or just not turning on intermittently. Is it possible that the solder fix will work on the newer MFD's? Has anyone with a newer MFD have success repairing there old ones? Thanks.

 

Yes I see this o nebay , the $20 replacement touch 6module, -- they dont 6even bother to take out the 04 and 05 years, and only upon asking do they'consult 6their technician' to fdind out 6it 6wont 6fit 6?

i think its a bit smaller on the 04/05 ?

mine has gone dim... i can barely see during day, at 6night 6it is there but not pleasant to look at 6like a clear high 6contrast 6display should be ..

 

The MFD on our 2008 Prius is completely blank, the buttons on both sides also do not luminate.

We removed it from the dash to take a look, obviously we have no idea. But we got the part number from the back, it's 86110-47220.

Do the newer units also suffer the PIN 60 weakness?