radio display fix

[babyhuey]

I hope this helps other fellow X owners. After trying all the fixes that I found here (many were helpful for the short term) I found the problem with mine. I replaced the light blue resistors on the circuit board for the display. They are different ohm wise but are all 2 watt. I found that the 3.3 ohm (you will see 2 side by side and the 3.3 is the one closest to the edge of the board), on mine it was a bit brown almost like it was burnt. At the electronics shop where I got the new ones at I was told that it was dead. Just to be sure I replaced them all and it cost me a whopping $11.00cdn. After hooking it back up into the X and turning the key..PRESTO I now have a display again. So hopefully that was the problem. One more note to add. When installing them I left them about 1/4 inch higher than what they were originally. So if you feel comfortable with a soldering iron you might want to try it. It sure saves the amount of money that Ford wants for a new one.I wish you all the luck and it hopes it works for you as well as it did for me....Jim

 

[section525]

Wow.. great. I'll try this on my gf's X. She has a 98 Sport with no display. After multiple alcohol pen clean jobs, it still doesn't work. %$!@# Keep us posted on whether the display stays or not.

 

[babyhuey]

I definately will keep you posted on how it works out. Like I said it was worth the money to try it.

 

[williecume]

any chance of you getting a pic of the ones that where bad on yours? i might be fixing a few of the "display-less" radios in about a month. other than that good job on finding out the problem.

 

[babyhuey]

Sorry but I don't have a digital camera. The ones that I replaced are all the 2 watt. There are 2-2.2ohm, 1-3.3 ohm and 1-1.8ohm. Mine were all light blue resistors. They are about 1/2 inch long. Sorry I can't take any pics. I will have to get with the times soon.

 

[section525]

BH.. where were these resistors and on which board? Were they on the display board, which easily removes from the whole unit? Or were they within the actual CD player? Do you know what I mean? I took off the display part, but can't find any resistors at all. I'll take some photos of the player and post them and you can point out where yours were. Thanks!

 

[section525]

Okay, here are the pics. If you could just point out where (if anywhere) these resistors are in any of the pics that would be awesome.

Pic1
Dead Link Removed

Pic2
Dead Link Removed

Pic3
Dead Link Removed

Pic4
Dead Link Removed

Thanks again!

 

[babyhuey]

They are not on there. If you take the top cover off he unit (In the pictures you can see the board on the left in Pic 1 , the plug that you unattached with the blue wires from the front face is also attached to the display board. ) You will see a small board with a heat shield over it. You have to remove the heat shield to get at the resistors. It is just held on by solder. On that board you see light blue resistors. take note of the ohms that they are. They are all 2 watt tho. I just replaced those. I hope this helps you and works out for you. I know it did for me, but I can't say that that is the problem with yours..Jim

This is a link to show you what the board looks like
http://www.shareamemory.com/radio/the_fix.htm

 

[section525]

I have an uneducated thought about this process. If you replace the resistors with the exact same ones that were in there to begin with... won't they just go out too? Shouldn't we be wanting to up the ohms or watts or some other technical term??

 

[babyhuey]

That I couldn't tell you. All I know is that my 3.3 ohm was burnt and well I was in there I replaced them all. Its still working so far.

 

[GR899V8]

The key is to get the resistors away from the board. These resistors get very hot, and the thought is they are heating the other components on the power supply board. Once you have the board out to fix all the poor solder connections, it's easy to just use a small screwdriver under the resistor, apply heat to the solder and lift one end at a time. Mine had plenty of extra wire on the resistors to move them up off the board. One other person did what I was going to do if the fix didn't work: cut a small hole in the AC duct right above the stereo, then direct the cool air through the cooling slots in the stereo. My CD's come out smoking hot, his prolly has ice cubes on them!

 

[section525]

Ahh.. I gotcha. That makes more sense now. What kind of place sells these resistors? My local Radio Shack doesn't have them.

 

[GR899V8]

You might have to go to a real electronics supply house. I'm sure a stereo or TV repair shop would be able to sell you them for a few dollars.

Make sure to re-solder the other connections on the bottom of the board, the factory solder joints are pretty bad. Good luck and hopefully we can get another factory HU with a display!

 

[section525]

Hey GR8.. do you have any pics of your truck anywhere?

 

[GR899V8]

section525,
Sorry I don't have any pix of my truck. I'm not too computer literate and I'm using my work computer during working hours. If there's anything I can "describe" to you just let me know!

I really wish I did have some on this site because looking at everyone else's pictures (like yours) gives me ideas how to do mine and I'd like to share. When I get the nerve I'll try to bribe one of the IT dudes here and get some pix on. Thanks!

 

[section525]

If there's anything I can "describe" to you just let me know!

Yeah! What size tires are you running? I think we pretty much have the same setup (as far as the front) and I'm lookin to see if I could clear 33s with no rub. I think you're the only other V8, besides Chris and his fenders, that has a 3" body lift.

 

[GR899V8]

My tires are (teensy) 255-70-16's that I bought before the lift. When these wear out I'm going to go for taller ones, I'm not afraid to trim the flares some if I can get more ground clearance. When I lifted it I moved the front receiver for the winch up about 5" higher, then tilted it back a few degrees. Added tow hooks on the front and "tucked" the front bumper cover up with them, so both those mods gave me alot more clearance up front.

I don't think there are too many other limited's going the off-road route like me, but I'd sure like to know how big of tire I can go. Yea, if I can get some pix on alot of people would say I'm nuts for lifting and making it more capable.

BTW, you have a really nice looking truck!

 

[dgrinnan]

Best fix for your radio display

I have been researching this issue for about three weeks. I have reviewed all the postings. I went to Radio Shack and bought the soldering iron, silver solder and solder wick. Then, the more I thought about it, the more angree I got. I called Ford twice. They noted my concern (big deal). They did suggest I contact my local dealer to see if there was a program in place to help customers out of warranty with this issue. To my suprize, my local dealer told me because I was a customer, (I did buy the 99 Explorer from them, and a 2002 Escape XLT recently for my wife) if I paid a deductible of $50, they would send the radio out and have it fixed!! I paid almost $20 at Radio Shack for the stuff to fix it myself, and who knows how long it would last. I am taking the radio to my local dealer for the $50 fix. I will take the stuff back to Radio Shack. I did inform my dealer service center that I knew this was a common problem before they had a chance to reply. I don't know if that helped or not. I would suggest you at least give it a shot before attempting repairs yourself. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[seldont]

I did the clean and resolder on mine this past weekend and it seems to be working fine for the las couple of days now. Will update you guys if that changes

 

[taxx]

I did this stuff. didn't replace the resistors but tested them and they where fine, still no display! ARRRRG!