Tns300Eta Resetting

[Petlew]

I have an 05 Avensis T3 Spirt that is fitted with the TNS300ETA Sat Nav/multi function display.

Let me say right away that I don't use the Sat Nav option preferring my trusty Tom Tom, although from dabbling with it I know it does work. But I would like to leave displayed the average fuel consumption (as I used to do on the previous 52 plate Avensis)

My problem is; that whilst I can have an average figure displayed, I can see no way of resetting the average fuel consumption to zero at the beginning of a trip, although the owners manual alludes to this any instructions fail to work.

I do have the TNS300ETA seperate manual, but it doesn't seem to cover this or indeed any of the other multi functions of the unit, only the Sat Nav.

Any information would be appreciated.

[steve-61]

Hi, i have the 56 facelift Tspirit with the multi information display on the dash board which shows fuel consumption etc, to reset this you press the display button on the steering wheel until the display shows the fuel consumption, hold the button down for 5 seconds & the display will reset.

Sounds like yours is different than mine if the fuel consumption is shown on the sat nav screen

[Petlew]

Thank you for your reply.

I'm beginning to think the set up in my T3 Spirit is one of several available types. The post 2003 Sat Nav/trip information screen is set into the centre of the dashboard in a position that is occupied in some models by a small shelf, there being the screen set into the back of the "shelf" directly below the windscreen the screen being half-moon in shape.

Below the screen is a row of six buttons and a central knob (just above the CD player) some of the buttons seem to have a combined dual function in the way that some computer keys have with the shift button in use (navigation and trip functions) The TNS300ETA seperate manual covers in detail the navigation options on the buttons but not the trip functions which I find very odd.

In use the screen can be divided to a dual view with the sat nav in one half and the trip in the other half, for personal preference the views can be switched from side to side. Thereby lies my problem, yes it can and does show a changing average mpg, but I can't find a way of resetting it to zero when required, so it is currently showing a figure that started at some time before I bought the car several months ago.

Disconnecting the Battery to reset the entire system seems a rather excessive way of achieving an mpg average reset.

[Petlew]

Correction:

Ooop's, the row of buttons and central knob is above the central air-con/heating vents, which are themselves between the CD player and the button row.

@steve-61, I too have the same milage trip in the instrument cluster, which has A and B distance travelled trips, but no offerings for mpg/kmpg averages, the only option is to reset the trips to zero for distance travelled. This has no effect on the average shown in the sat nav/information display.

The sat nav/information display does have two fuel options; average or "instantaneous" which gives the actual fuel consumption every 10 (I think) seconds, this figure can be in excess of 100mpg if the engine is idling or at low throttle settings, which can give you a nice warm feeling in the wallet but is somewhat dampened when the average is worked out. neither setting can be calibrated back to zero as far as I can see. My previous Avensis 1.8 Verona had a similar system, but could easily be reset to zero when required.

Both cars are automatic, but I can't see what difference that should make.

[steve-61]

Toyota don't make things easy do they? I haven't owned this Avensis long & when I bought it I decided to update the map DVD, what a job it was to find out which sat nav was fitted to the car, there were no useful model numbers printed on the unit or any other details, after quite a bit of detective work I have found out that its either a TNS310 or a gen 1 whatever they are!

Regarding yours, it must be different than mine as mine has the screen in the same place but it pops up when needed & there are no buttons around it, the buttons for the sat nav are down by the gear lever.

My mpg display is on the dash, there are two displays, one on the left in the middle of the speedo which does odometer readings & one on the right in the middle of the tachometer which does the time, engine checks, outside temperature & mpg figures etc, to reset any function on this display you press the display button on the steering wheel until the function you want to reset is displayed & then hold the display button until it resets.

It does sound like you have a different system than me but I bet you have to push & hold a button somewhere to reset your mpg, you shouldn't need to disconnect your Battery. Why not give your local Toyota dealer a ring & ask them, I have always found them to be most helpful

Steve

[Petlew]

Yes, as a matter of fact I've found my local Toyota service dept very helpful to odd questions, however I have actually tried this one on them without much luck, a lot of sympathy but not much else.

And yes again, I'm pretty sure it is just a matter of pressing the right button in the right sequence for the right amount of time, but the combination seems to be a state secret known only to the software programmers.

The instrument cluster rev counter on mine also has a small screen, but it only shows the clock, and being automatic the position of the gear lever. The knob only adjusts the clock.

Thanks for your interest though.

Peter

[My first toyota]

I don't know exactly which sat nav unit I have in my 2004 t spirit but the only time the average mpg resets to zero is after a fill up at a petrol station. I think the idea behind that is to show what your average mpg was for that tank or half tank, or however much you put in.

Ill fiddle about with mine and see if I can find it.

[Petlew]

Thank you, well, I've just filled my tank and the displayed average mpg figure didn't change immediately or after half-hour of driving except, to continue updating the pre fill figure marginally after the decimal point. Which, is not what I'm trying to achieve, the object being to reset the average to zero after a fill up to show the average to the next fill then, to reset to zero again. Something I could do easily with my previous model Avensis (which I still have and use for general back and forward to work hacking duties) with its much simpler trip computer.

I should say I'm not being penny-pinchingly obsessed with operating costs, Just mildly miffed that I can't do something in this car that I could easily do in the older car, and didn't reset all the time in that one, usually at the start of a long run when it became a point of interest rather than costing to see how much can be saved by judicious use of the throttle without reducing speed significantly, but that's progress I suppose.

[Petlew]

This seems to have been cracked now!!...albet with the help of all who responded here, Thank you.

The main problem was me!! I was relating to the trip computer of my earlier Avensis, and expecting the multi-information display of the later car to operate the same way...well it does...er! sort of....back to fromt

In the earlier car as I've already said, the average fuel consumption can be set to zero at any time, the "Instantaneous" figure then follows the set to zero with moment by moment consumption figures.

In the later car it is the opposite way round; the "momentary" figure can be set to zero, the average consumption then follows this zero setting. I was slightly confused since if the momentry figure is set to zero with the engine running the average is computed to 22mpg even at a stand-still, with the engine off the average simply shows the last figure after the previous use.

It doesn't seem possible to actually set the average fuel consumption figure to zero.

It hasn't helped that the information for the later car's multi-information is spread around two seperate books, three chapters and at least twelve widely seperated pages with headings that largely don't appear in the index. In a previous life I used to write instructions books for a large multi-national company, I would have been smartly looking for another job had I offered this up for general use.