Intermittent Display on Yaris

tipping

As of a few weeks ago the centre dashon my trusty 00 Yaris (speed etc) is flashing on and off when driving. Happens most when cold and under acceleration. Radio/Lights etc don't flicker when it happens but basically the entire dash does.
Driving fine but wouldn't want to be going too far on it.
Brought to a local mechanic who said drive away, probably faulty dash and no fault codes.

Any ideas bar a faulty dash which wouldn't be worth repairing. It has been jumped a few times recently (the lights on buzzer is dead). I've taken off the front panel but can't see anything in the way of a loose connection.

Foxhole Norman

Get the voltage on the battery checked, might be a bit low.

tipping

With my multi-meter

12.4V with the car off
13.5V with the car on

It starts no bother if that's any help.

Foxhole Norman

Have you a hammer? Hit it :pac: I found that worked if mine dimmed

tipping

Very tempting but it's her first fault in my 6 years of ownership so coulnd't quite do that to her..yet

Pov06

Check the battery connections.

The positive connector for the battery has a little box on it. Open it up, there will be a few screws inside with connections. Make sure there's no rust or anything and that they haven't loosened up.

I did a subwoofer install and one morning my dash lights weren't working at all but the engine started. Turned out to be a problem in that little box.

tipping

OK so tried to open up the little box but failed. Gave it a little wiggle while I was at it and made it a lot worse. Won't start now. Starter relay clicking continuously one the key is put in (not turned). All electrical not working now so must have created a short or something.

Pov06 wrote: »

Check the battery connections.

The positive connector for the battery has a little box on it. Open it up, there will be a few screws inside with connections. Make sure there's no rust or anything and that they haven't loosened up.

I did a subwoofer install and one morning my dash lights weren't working at all but the engine started. Turned out to be a problem in that little box.

tipping

So quick update. Seeing as I basically killed it last night just by fiddling around with some cables, got a mechanic out this morning.

Turns out grounding to the chassis wasn't great. Reckon it had taken a good tip on the front at some stage in its life and there was some paint in around the ground connection from when it was repaired. Cleaned it off and off she went but said to improve the earthing by adding a better earth lead. No idea yet if it also fixed the intermittent display but here's hoping.

jimgoose

That charging voltage is too low. Do you mean 13.5V with the engine running?

tipping

Yep. 13.5V with the engine running

tipping

Well all seems fixed now with the improved grounding from the battery. And all cost zero to fix (homestart callout this morning).

jimgoose

tipping wrote: »

Well all seems fixed now with the improved grounding from the battery. And all cost zero to fix (homestart callout this morning).

What's the charging voltage like now?