Volume Gone Wild (and then stops working)

I have an 09 Prius with JBL no satellite, I have the volume wander on it's own. I can fight it back to normal with the steering wheel buttons. (I have never tried the knob on the radio, ever)

 

Hi All,
it looks I have similar problem - have just bought used Prius (07' - 30k km driven). I drove with it 1k km and everything working OK. After I arrived and had some break the volume button (JBL audio) just not react at all - everything else working correct but just the volume button. Have tried everything (restart, cd play,...) but nothing. Steering volumne button works ok.

But after I read the comments here, I will see tomorrow (after cooling it a bit) + will try to clean it (compressed air).

 

Mine is acting up again now that its hot.... usually forcing the button to the left makes it work.. all else fails, I use the steering wheel.

 

Mine acted up again this morning "wasnt hot".. but it was yesterday?
Anyway.. after doing the typical jamming the knob to the left, I got numbers to come up but they wouldnt scroll, so I adjusted on my steering wheel instead as normal.

But then I went back and tried something that "worked" and we will see how long it lasts!

1. push your knob back in so its recessed and let go.
2. now push it again so it pops out so you can use it.... works perfect now!

If it acts up again.. Ill post.

 

It seems that I am never alone with my problems.
Same as most of your except!
My radio unit was replaced with a new one in the spring. Old one took about two minutes to come on when powering up in cold Illinois weather. Just fine in the warmer weather. So I had to wait till cold weather to show the dealer it did not work. No problem with that any more but now I have the same problem as you guys.
My volume button works some of the time and not some of the time.
Steering wheel works all of the time.
Funny my daughter said just turn the nob dad and that is the volume. So funny but it does not work.
Irritation when you are turning the corner and the wheel is upside down and you want to lower the volume of your dog gone radio!
Turn the car off and get back in and the volume button works just fine.
Why do I think that if I take my car to the dealer and it will work just fine even though I say no it does not and he says sorry! Why do I believe he will say sorry it works fine here and we can do nothing for you.
Yes I am under warranty still.

 

I'm trying to zero in on a formula that makes it work.... the best I can tell its an internal IC issue.

So far what works is to hit the volume up at least one notch on the steering wheel, followed by pushing in the knob and then back out.

So are that works when mine messes up.

 

I wonder if it's a cracked solder joint somewhere in the radio that's mangling the data from the front panel. I had mine replaced because sometimes the volume control would stop working. The service tech said he's seen a lot of them.

 

yep, same problem as most people here: my 07, package 6 prius (32k miles) started having intermittent stereo button issues. The volume sometimes turns up by itself, volume and tuner knobs don't work sometimes...even the other stereo buttons (i.e. fast forward/backward, disc, stereo, etc.) don't work "sometimes". Other times, it does work. Steering wheel always works. (knock on wood).

I'll bring it up at my next service (35k). It's really hot right now in LA, so maybe heat has something to do with it. Hopefully it has nothing to do with the amp/computer under the passenger seat!!

If anyone learns anything, let me know!

 

Odd! My 2009 is doing the same thing!

 

Ditto

 

Well I'm assuming that "Everybody's" doesn't do it.
I have two prius's and both do it from time to time.

Its really hard to get it to do it when you want to take it to the dealer.

 

@windstrings - well, i noticed you made the original post like over a year ago, so you haven't noticed it get progressively worse since then? About the same frequency of randomness? I was assuming that this problem might get worse and worse, which is why I cruised the forums to look this up as soon as I started noticing it...

 

My wife hasn't mentioned hers at all.. but that doesn't mean much.. I'll have to ask.
As far as mine.. sometimes I think its fixed and then it does it again... but over time.. three times in a row now when its done it.. the little sequence I used seems to work...
1. Move the volume up "don't know if down works" at least one notch on the steering wheel.
2. push the volume knob in and then back out and it works.

I'm not sure if all those steps are really necessary but thats what I"ve found so far.. It's pretty infrequent that it does it and it seems to be an anomaly that appears to plague many units.

If I could get it to mess up consistently, I'd have it fixed.. but I can't.

 

Count me among those who have the exact same problem, since a year or so. As Windstrings describes, it is fairly infrequent, but does seem to happen mostly when it is hot/humid. Steering controls always work, when the problem pops up, pushing the knob in-out a number of times seems to eventually fix it.

Since I am long off warranty (and was off warranty when it started happening long ago), I haven't been to eager to get it diagnosed, as I know the dealer is going to say I have to replace the head unit for several hundred $$$. Besides, I KNOW it will never happen when I am at the dealer.hwell: If it starts happening a lot more consistently (which it doesn't sound like it has for anyone), then I may re-evaluate.

Given the seeming frequency with which this seems to happen (even on 2009's?!), I find it unlikely Toyota will volunteer any recall, but it sure would be nice if they would!

 

The other problem I thought about is that how do you know its fixed when you get it back from the dealer?
If the 2009's are doing it... are they going to give us an updated unit thats even newer?

If they put your exact same unit back in, you would most likely think its fixed until some time later.
In other words.. I'm not convinced the problem has ever been fixed.. even in the new units.

Its anybody's guess as to whether these anomalies are few and far between or whether everyone experiences it in all units.

It would be good to hear that someone got it exchanged and it never happened again.. but sometimes it takes a very long time before you even see it act up?

It would also be good to hear that someone has many miles on their car and it "never" happened to them.... that would be encouraging.

I have two cars and it does it from time to time on both... I don't know if its a bad lot, if so.. why do the 2009's have the issue too?

 

Yup, in other words, intermittent problems just plain suck. hwell:

At this point, it is fairly rare, so it is a minor annoyance at best. Sure, I'd like to fix it if possible, but not at the idea of spending several hundreds of dollars to get another unit that may end up doing the same thing.

If anything, if I am changing the radio, I will investigate to see if there is an aftermarket unit that would fit the double-din space (and probably lower cost). I know the audio is integrated with the MFD (and steering wheel), which obviously complicates things... whatever, I will do my homework at that time if necessary. Far from my priority list right now...

 

its worth asking.. last time I shopped for a nice stereo... "about 5 years ago now".. they were really coming up with some units that would marriage with many integrated units.
The prius is popular enough, there may be a unit that will work......

 

I had my 2009's JBL unit replaced in June under warranty.

The service advisor quickly agreed with the problem - radio volume knob not controlling volume.

That morning, it took over an hour for the unit to fail, but it failed hard. I brought it to Piercey, they ordered a replacement, came in 1 week later, put it in 1 hour.

Has not failed since.

the volume knob was intermittently failing, then got worse.

Service tech said this is a common problem in radio units, not just the Prius.

If under warranty, get it replaced immediately. Tech mentioned JBL radio unit is ~ $1,000.

 

Thanks brett... I'll ask about mine.. I still have the extended warranty.

 

UPDATE: my stereo took a turn for the worse this past weekend (it was REALLY hot in LA) and not only did the volume control fizz out, all the buttons as well as the CD LED lights went out completely (steering wheel continued to be fine).

I did what one poster suggested and used my palm to push on the face of the stereo, and lo-and-behold, everything started working again (for now anyways).

I called my dealership (Keyes Toyota) and my service advisor said he has heard of this problem before. He said he'll order a replacement under warranty and replace it no questions asked, even though it is currently working fine.

Not sure what my options/costs would have been if i was out of warranty...will let you all know how the replacement goes plus any further updates then.