[mattsbigcom]

Has anyone figured out a secret keypress on the Prius that will show engine diagnostics like rpm, engine temperature, oil pressure, etc? I have to believe that's in there somewhere.

It sure would be handy.

 

[drowningguinea]

Yeah, this is something I've also wondered about. If there is not display to tell these things, would it tell if say the engine is over-heating or no oil pressure like normal cars?

 

[hyperion]

If you check your manual you will see that Toyota has furnished you with a cluster of warning (IDIOT) lights. Most remarks in manual state if you get this warning stop the car and call Toyota for assistance.
This was a real cost cutter that a multitude of owners don't seem to care about.
I believe this is the only car made without any instrumentation. The newer hybrids have them, but this car is a little like the beetle with no changes made in the newer models.
One excuse is that the car is completely automatic and doesn't need them, but this is only a "cop-out".
The info is in the ECM. Just no way to have it displayed.

 

[Seaside Harry]

The info is in the ECM. Just no way to have it displayed.

Marketing opportunity for Coastal Dave?

 

[hyperion]

We've asked coastal Dave for two years for any info. He did develop an engine run light for the classic but never updated it for the 04's. You do know that there are times when the ICE runs and there is no visible indicatrion of it on the MFD. In Japan there is a tachometer kit of some kind but nothing else. There is no instrument after market for the Prius.

 

[Jonnycat26]

This was a real cost cutter that a multitude of owners don't seem to care about.

Exactly... it's much cheaper to have idiot lights and a MFMFD than to produce left/right hand versions of an instrument cluster and proper HVAC/stereo controls.

That aside, there *is* some sort of hidden diagnostic screen in the Prius. I'm not sure if it shows temp/RPM info tho. If you google for it, you can find it.

 

[jeromep]

It would be nice if there is a miniscanner out there that we could attach to the OBD port that is in the cabin. Graham made one for the first gen, but hasn't gotten around to doing it for the current series. Too bad because I'm sure there are lots of folks out there that would buy that, more than were around for the first gen.

With that said, I'm not particularly concerned about oil pressure or water temp. Oil pressure gages are not indicators of oil level, just oil pressure and that is pretty much a condition of having oil pressure or not.

As for water temp, that would be nice to know, and it could have been placed up with the spedo, but it isn't there. It would have been nice if the extra guages people wanted were on the MFD. That could be done in software you know.

 

[Rmarchena]

Because me...

Because me....

When I asked about just three clocks:
One for the electric mode time,
One for the gas mode time, and
One for electric and gas mode summary,
I was bombarded very bad. I was called sick nerd.

Now you ask (how somebody called "for idiots") indicators and just looks fine. Did somebody say Affirmative or Negative Action?

 

[tleonhar]

Re: Because me...

Because me....

When I asked about just three clocks:
One for the electric mode time,
One for the gas mode time, and
One for electric and gas mode summary,
I was bombarded very bad. I was called sick nerd.

Now you ask (how somebody called "for idiots") indicators and just looks fine. Did somebody said Affirmative or Negative Action?

This could be done fairly simply. A basic timer turned on ond off with the power switch, a second timer triggered from an inductive pickup n one of the ignition signal lines to a coil. Then a Palm or Pocket PC program to do the math.
A possible alternative may be in a device called the "Car Chip" (a Google search should lead you to thier site), that is if they have one for the CAN buss.

 

[jeromep]

I think people have said that the CarChip doesn't work on Prius. I've heard that it doesn't work on Escape hybrid either. If it doesn't work, it is probably related to the additional codes that can be generated by the hybrid system for hybrid specific operating modes.

 

[hyperion]

The Escape hybrid although outfitted with an MFD is also outfitted with instruments. Just as the Highlander "H" and the Lexas "H"
My guess it was left out of the Prius account of cost. Henry Ford said "Put just one tail light on, and paint them all black

 

[Leo]

It seems to me that installing idiot lights, with the LEDs and the wiring, would be more expensive than asking a programmer to read the sensors and display them on the existing hardware screen. No additional parts would be required, no factory installation, etc.
There is a lot that could have been done with the MFD if Toyota had spared a few more dollars for better programming.

 

[rpetersen1616]