2007 Prius will become non-responsive at times. Locks, Lights work but the start button is not active. No illumination and will not trigger the computer to start

I replaced the 12v battery. it is not a 12v batter issue. I am getting 12.4 to 12.6v from the battery during the times this occurs.

I have had success unhooking the battery and moving the wheel/tires to a different position. to get the button to activate.

I also noticed the lights on the steering wheel do not illuminate. I only noticed this because if I turn a corner sharply at night they do illuminate but for a brief moment. Could there be a short that affects the steering wheel lights and the start button when the wheel is turned?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Have you replaced the battery in the key?

 

Yes,
We have replaced the fob battery. And, we have a new fob. It has happened with both.

 

If you leave your foot off of the brake and press the start button, does anything happen?

 

No, nothing happens with my foot off the brake either.

it happened again this morning. I was in the garage and could see the start button would illuminate when I put the fob in the slot. No lights on the dash at all.

Take the fob out and lock the car and the security light(little red car with key in it) does come on. I unlock car and insert fob and the security light goes off.

Only thing I can think to do is disconnect the battery again when I get home and see if that works again. Then get it to a dealership. Don't know what else to do.

 

Do the disconnect and if that doesn't work, someone will need to have a factory scanner hooked up while the car will not start to see what is going on. That will, as you noted, be a trip to the dealer for most people.

 

Thank you for your responses!

 

I had this on my 2004 after 250K miles and a guy in CA modified the odometer PC board to fix it. It also happened on my 2007 Prius at 190K miles, so I put in a used odometer assembly from LKQ parts for $80 and that fixed it. Toyota admitted that they had a problem but if you did not get it fixed in 9 years the recall expired.

 

This is the notorious "combination meter" failure.

http://www.texashybridbatteries.com/...n-meter-repair

$150 for a lifetime warranty repaired unit programmed to match your odometer.