Recently I had battery problems, mainly loose battery terminal I think, resulting in effectively a “flat battery” or even what appeared to be a “disconnected battery”.

Now, the Nav System does not work. The audio is fine. When starting the engine, I see the Toyota logo briefly, then a blank screen. The Info button does work, bring up a few on screen options, and I can confirm the Security system is off, but the on-screen Maintenance or Calendar “buttons” do nothing. The Audio button brings up the usual list of AM and FM stations and I can select any of those stations, which work fine. The other hardware buttons, eg Menu, Map, etc do nothing.

i can report one time when I got into the car (before I found the loose battery terminals) I turned the key and saw very briefly on the screen something like “Don’t switch off - initializing the system”. But it all happened so quickly as I turned the key and I had moved the key to Start before my brain registered the message! Moving to the Start position apparently switches off power to the Nav system while it cranks the motor to start.

So it appears to me, the Nav system has reset itself after it lost battery power, tried to re-initialize itself, but I inadvertently interrupted the restart?

Now I need help to get it started again. Maybe a secret combination of buttons, or something? Maybe I should disconnect the battery again?

Anyone, please?

 

Is the screen off or just too dim to see in daylight?

 

Thanks for your reply.

The screen is fine.

When pressing INFO it comes up looking bright, clear and normal, displaying a few icons including the one for Security. I can select that option and turn Security ON or OFF (It is OFF) and when pressing AUDIO it displays all the radio stations (and plays them as well). So the screen itself is not a problem. The problem is the Nav system is dead. There is no map, no error messages, no response from the Nav buttons, such as MENU, DEST, MAP etc. Just a blank screen.

So I need to resurrect the Nav system.

 

Toyota states a hard reset is to disconnect the battery and waiting for 30 sec before reconnection.

 

Ahhhh, I suspected something like that but was afraid to try it.

Thank you Joey. Assured by your advice, I will give that a try.

 

Well, I tried that “solution” by disconnecting the battery, but still the problem remains, I am afraid.

After reconnecting the battery, I turned the key to the first stop to switch on the Nav Screen. This time it came up and told me it was loading the system and it warned me to keep power on while it did that. Wonderful, I felt good. Then it came up with the infamous safety warning where I had to press “I agree”. I thought it was fixed and everything was back to normal.

But that is where the good news ends. After I pressed “I agree” the screen went blank and all the symptoms mentioned above returned. Audio, AM, FM, Disc all work fine. The INFO button works fine. But none of the Nav buttons do anything. No map on the screen. Nothing.

And now, when I turn the key to switch on the Nav Screen, it comes up with the Toyota logo, then blank. I no longer get the “I agree” warning.

Any further advice or suggestions please?

 

Is the now blank screen really off or just too dim?

Unfortunately the Toyota navigation system has had a LOT of issues. Finding the cause on a DIY basis appears like trying to capture the wind.

Suggest you try Toyotanation.com in the sites Audio, Video and security forum. If no help here search the internet. There are vendors who claim they can fix certain models of Toyota Nav systems for a fixed fee.

Many have just decided to replace the Toyota system with an aftermarket unit.

 

Hi Joey,

No, the screen is really blank for all Nav functions. Screen is fine for Audio functions.

Thank you for trying Joey. The Camry is now over 15 years old and is probably not worth spending lotsa money on this. I think I will just have to live with it.

Happy Christmas to all.