We recently purchased a salvage title 2008 Prius that had been totaled after it sucked water into the engine. The car runs fine, but has a small quirk. When you turn the headlights on, the digital speedometer, gas gauge, odometer, etc., turn off. Do any of you Prius enthusiasts have an idea what might be wrong and how much it would cost to fix it? I assume that it has somehting to do with the daytime running light system or something similar, since the speedometer only shuts off when the headlights are on. At the moment, "Elvis" only gets driven during the day, since it is pretty risky to speed in Phoenix, with its 100 new photo radar cameras.

Since it is a salvage title, we don't have a warranty.

Thanks.

 

There is a variable resistor control somewhere on the panel that controls the intensity. On my NHW11 I think it has both a switch and the ability to turn the intensity down so low as to be "OFF." That control is not working?

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

I think we tried that, but I will try again when we get home.

 

I understand that you are trying to fix a problem. If fixing it correctly turns out to be expensive you might look into using a ScanGauge in place of your speedometer.

My first ScanGauge is being used as a speedometer in a friend's car. He was going to fix the car and give me back the ScanGauge....

....So now I'm on ScanGauge #2.

A ScanGauge will display 4 different gauge functions at one time.



Check it out at:

http://www.scangauge.com/

Amazon has em slightly cheaper:

http://www.amazon.com/ScanGauge-Comp.../dp/B000AAMY86

 

Turns out, it was the dial. I think we were just borrowing trouble, and looking for the other shoe to drop. Thanks for the help. It's a good thing that the fix was simple.

 

Excellent! Glad to have helped.

So how did you wind up with this Prius?

Bob Wilson

 

I found an ad on craigslist. The seller was a small time dealer who buys salvage cars at auction. This car (2008 with 5000 miles) was salvaged because it went through a wash and sucked up water into the engine.
The only problem now is that it didn't come with smart keys. After driving my dad's new Prius with smart keys, the lack thereof is a bit annoying.