Radio / Clock display problem 1998 and up Explorers ( blank / fade / blanks / fades )

The Mach and Premium Explorer radios should be fixed by pros. For the most of $60 it's a better choice. The whole radio should be had used for under $100. Don't buy a new or rebuilt/repaired sub amp, they are reliable and cheap to buy, I have one or two.
I just received my Mach radio back, display and CD repaired, plus five(5) RCA ouputs installed. Good luck,

Nice fix. It is too bad those boards get so hot. The components are placed to close together. I was looking at the mach in my dads mountaineer today. Took me all of 2 min to get the display board out. There was very obvious heating of the board, as it was a brownish gold color near what I think was an opamp, and some blue colored resistors, and other surface mount resistors. I reheated a few of the joints, but it still didn't work. The display works when cold, so I may not give up quite yet. My dad really doesn't want to pay to get it fixed, but he would like it to work.

I really wish they sold that board separately, as I am probably going to be needing two of them. One for his radio, and one for a radio I am getting for my X.

As common of a repair as it is, surely someone has put in print a source for the board. Search on here, I wouldn't be surprised. Good luck,

I found this guy on eBay, for $40 plus shipping he fixed my 1998 Explorer's blank face display. He even fixed some other issues my radio had for no extra charge.

He had it fixed the day he got it and even though there were some shipping problems (all FedEx's fault, who is my employer) I got it back today and it looks great. He guarantees his work and will fix it for free if it happens again.

I forgot to check the forum for this problem, but I can highly recommend Mike's repair.

http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZbiscaynekid

roog

The boards are available new at
http://www.speedometerservice.com/

Scucci

Hi,

Any photos of repair and/or radio disassembling.

Thanks.
Marcos

there wont eb a problem if i just replace the head unit with a after market one will there?

and will the rear controls still be able to work?

swap board

I tried cleaning and resoldering to no avail. Finally, I spent the $85 for swapping out my board with a repaired one (http://www.shareamemory.com/radio/). This was by far the best thing for me. Once shipped to me, the replacement took 30 minutes, and was very simple. I HIGHLY recommend it!

Update. I had to resolder about 3-4 months after my initial solder job, but I've since moved to San Diego where it never gets cold and I haven't had a problem. Thanks for all of the info guys. Very helpful.

Another solder solution

I too had this problem with my radio display. I chose to go the solder route with the help of a co-worker. You can purchase solder that is made for higher temperatures. I wish I could tell you the name of it but my coworker is no longer my coworker. I'm sure if you asked at a electronic store, they could point you in the right direction. Anyway, I haven't had a problem since. Hope this helps.

I'm so glad I found this forum. I will try the tips suggested soon and let you know how it worked for me.
Thanks again,
Carlos

The soldering method worked for me. First time i did it (was also my first soldering experience), I only soldered the points that looked bad. This lasted about 3 months then developed the problem again. The second time I soldered EVERY point i could. This fixed it. Has been almost a year and no sign that the problem will re-occur.

Used Mike and the best $40 I could have spent!

I am another one that used Mike who advertises on Ebay for repairing the infamous "no display" problem and can attest to the quality of his work. Very fast turn-around and as someone already mentioned, he guarantees his work PERIOD . . . if it ever goes out again, he will fix it for free. Must be sure of his work to offer that and based on what I got from him, I believe it.

His cost is $40 to go through the radio and while you might be without it for a few days, if you have any qualms about doing the solder job yourself, I'd let Mike do it and not worry about it.

He goes under the Ebay name of biscaynekid and you can find his profile at : http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZbiscaynekid.

His Email address is sayko4 @ aol.com (remove the spaces when you paste it into your Email program) in case you want to reach him and discuss any radio issues you might have.

Just another option and for the price, its hard to beat his service!

Andy (SC)

Blank Radio Display Repair

Very nice info...for what it's worth, I've now fixed 6 radios for family and friends, starting with my own (both in Explorers and Nissan Quest mininvans - same radio). I used the Save My Sanity swap program at www.shareamemory.com/radio (you can also get to it at www.FixYourRadio.com). It's cheaper than buying the board from Pioneer, and if the board is not your problem (I ran into this once), they will let you return the board for a complete refund (no hassle)! It's been great using the service and you don't have to ship your radio anywhere. You will get the board in about 2 days and install and return your old one. Great, GREAT, Service!

I just replaced the display power board in my 2000 Explorer CD/Radio using the www.shareamemory.com/radio service. It's $80 for the board swap. The swap board
comes already modified so the problem will not re-occur. The instructions are well illustrated and easy to follow. The technician has worked hard on his service and delivers a great product. No need for me to go further, just visit the web site for
details. It was a great feeling to see the clock blinking 12:00.

I previously replaced the power resistors and mounted them so they are not sitting on the board... and still no display. But then I found this thread. After touching the surface mount components recommended at the top of this thread (R1057/C1071/R1058/C1083/R1064) with a soldering iron my display works again. Sweet! I actually touched all of the surface mount solder joints just to be sure.

98 Mach Radios Uses Selective Lighting

Just wanted to mention that the 98 Mach Stereo uses the selective lighting, depending on what mode you are in. For example, it would light up only the buttons that works in CD mode. 1999s+ all light up because of excessive warranty concerns about buttons lights burning out when they are really not.

98EBV8 said:

Just wanted to mention that the 98 Mach Stereo uses the selective lighting, depending on what mode you are in. For example, it would light up only the buttons that works in CD mode. 1999s+ all light up because of excessive warranty concerns about buttons lights burning out when they are really not.

Click to expand...

Interesting, I thought that they all were like that. I like the feature because it tells you if there is a cassette or CD loaded etc.

Does anyone know how to fix the volume control knob problem?
I fixed the display problem some time ago but still have the problem with the volume control. From what I've read you need to replace some cheap parts but I don't know which ones. And please don't post the link to the shareamemory site, there is no way in heck I would pay anyone 25 bucks just to tell me what I need to buy from RadioShack. The concept is in direct contrast to this entire web wite!

Thanks in advance;
Bob

I ended up frying my 1998 XLT stereo while trying this repair(my own fault). Does anyone have a good contact where I can buy a WORKING replacement at a decent price? Thanks as always for any input!