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Radio LED display fix!!!

I have a '98 Explorer and the display is usually off when I first start the car. After it warms up, the display stays on. I guess it expands as it warms up and makes a good connection then. Using the instructions from this thread, I took out the radio and removed the power supply board. It definitely has some places on it that have gotten crusty. I cleaned with rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush and replaced the unit. It still goes off initially and then come on. I may have to try resoldering some of the joints.

Has anyone determined which components' solder joints are the most likely cause or do we think everyone's case is slightly different?
 



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You'll have to go over the entire board with a magnifying glass the find the solder fractures that are around the little square resistors.
 






I finaly had a little time today and tried this fix...

my board that hooks up to the face is totaly messed up....

its burnt to a crisp....and there are 3 TINY little pieces with numbers on them....1 of them fell off.... i tried to resolder it on and then resoldered the 2 resistors back in...(they were a little lose)

but the moment of truth had no love and my deck face still dosn't work....

So this Board everyone talks about ordering from pioneer...is it a revised one?....whoever has done that let me know part #'s...

I'd like to just get a new board and plug it in....I don't want to send my radio anywhere...
 






Just tell them its the power supply board for the radio display. You will need to have the Poineer mod. # on the back of the radio.
 






I actualy found a guy on ebay that will permantly fix the deck for 60$ total including shipping back to me!!

http://home.att.net/~pacificaudiotech/

He said he can also fix my 6 disc but i havn't gotten a price yet...

I might just send them all to him and see what happends....

Man ford really screwed up on our stereo's eh?
 






This radio is terrible

Well, nothing I tried, fixed the display, and now the CD player is starting to get flakey. I can't believe they charged $880 for such a piece of junk.

I'm just going to wait until the radio or CD becomes unusable and replace it with an after market unit.
 






This Worked For Me...

Hi, new to the forum & just bought my '99 EB 1 week ago. As luck would have it, 2 days after buying from a private party my wife took it to have it smogged. Smog guy wasn't too good on the dyno and apparently had the X bouncing all over the place! After that bouncing, the display went blank! Found this forum and all the info. Great Stuff! I started thinking it had to be something from the vibration/shaking. Initially found the cracked solder joints on the RF shield on the power supply board (the long, thin board on the left everyone talks about). Doubted that cleaning the board would've helped - all the brown "scorched" looking stuff is only solder flux and should not be a problem. But I resoldered the shield, gooped some more silicone around the wire coil ("donut"), cleaned the flux and replaced it. Worked for about 1/2 hour then went blank. Still thinking it had to be a connection problem, I went over the underneath side of the board with a magnifying glass and found what may have been hairline fractures in some of the connections on a few of the surface-mount components (the small "chips" soldered onto the board). I went over these with a 33watt soldering iron and thin-wire solder and re-soldered every component that I could. I did not try the I.C. chips (larger chips with multiple legs) as they looked to be good. I have to give credit to another forum that gave me the info, including the idea for raising the 2 watt resistors on the top side by unsoldering and lifting them up, then re-soldering. Happy to report that the display is back on and working! Hopefully a long-term fix. I will report back after a time and let you al know if it still works!

Here's the article:

http://forums.vmag.com/suvexplorer0199/messages/5403.html


2/25 - Still Workin! Woo-Hoo!

5/8/2004 - STILL WORKING - THIS IS THE FIX, FOLKS!! GIVE IT A TRY - IT'S REALLY NOT TOO HARD. EMAIL ME IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS. SKIDMARK@PACBELL.NET
~~~~~~~~~~

*CAUTION & DISCLAIMER*
The soldering that needs to be done is "precision" soldering and you should not even attempt to try it if you don't have ALOT of electronic soldering experience! It requires the proper tools and skills to prevent further damage to the board! In any case - DON"T BLAME ME IF YOU FRY YOUR BOARD!!!
 






Still dark display

I hope that someone here can tell me if I soldered the right one or not. I took the wifes radio out of her 98 Explorer that has a dark and flikering display. I took the top off and removed the circut board that is directly behind the volume knob, is this the right one? There were three spots that needed to be resoldered, and I fixed them. But the display did not come back on like it was supposed to, it only came on dim then faded out. Now if you kind of slap the sides, more like bang it around, it will come back on (half a$$ed), then it went back out. Is there another circut board that needs attention? And if so, how the heck do I get to it? I don't have the foggyest idea how to get the rest of the unit apart. Any pics of the circut board in question would be really helpful, thanks.

Jim B :D .
 






Look at the board that is to the left and is above the cd drive. Its got a shiney heat shield cover to the back end of it and its also bolted by one screw to the main heat sink for the unit.
 






Detailed Instructions!!! Really Works!! E-z, Too!

T-Bird -

The board you want is located under the top cover, along the left side (as you are looking at the front of the unit). It is about an inch wide and as long as the unit is deep. You'll see a shiny metal RF shield (cover) over most of it and the cover has an opening on the top. If you look down at the left front cover of the board (next to the edge of the unit), you'll see a small metal tab that is bent at a 45 deg. angle over the board. This is a hold-down. Bend the tab straight over the little slot in the board. Next, look down in the hole on top of the RF Shield and you'll see another hold-down. Do the same with that one. Last, look at the rear left corner of the unit and you'll see a big heat sink. Look for a copper tab coming up over the top of the case from the back of the board. It is attached to the heat sink with a phillips head screw. Remove the screw. You should now be able to gently lift the small PC board and shield out of the unit. Be carefull with the small blue cable that's plugged into the front edge of the board. You can carefully lift the small white connector out of the socket and now the board is completely free in your hands.

The RF shield is what alot of the folks say they've found to have broken solder joints (as did I), but that is NOT the problem. The problem is the failed solder joints on the small components mounted on the bottom of the board. The crack in the solder is so small you can only see it by looking though a magnifying glass and then it's still hard to see. Take my word for it, they're cracked. Just get some cleaner (alchohol and a toothbrush works great) and scrub the old flux & junk off the components and board first. Then just go around and CAREFULLY resolder as many of them as you can get to. DON"T try to do the IC chip with all the legs on it though, you'll likely mess that up!

If you want to get fancy, you can heat the legs on the large blue resistors that are on top of the board and lift them up away from the board and re-solder. This will help prevent heat transfer to the board. You'll probably find cracked solder joints on the RF shield, so go ahead and resolder those as well.

If you're not real good with a soldering iron, you need to look for info on the web and practice, practice, practice before you try it on the radio! Use a 33 Watt iron or less (33 is good, it has enough capacity to heat quickly, yet won't burn boards too easily).

Once you're done, clean it off once more, plug in the blue cable, place the board back inside, bend the tabs, replace the heat sink screw, cover back on, radio back in and you are looking at your display again!!! WOO-HOO

Good Luck!

~~~~~~

Oops, forgot to add the components are actually glued to the board so they won't fall off.

Also, sorry to all the people trying to sell this info on their respective websites - but I hate having to pay for this kind of information so I'm giving out what I gleaned for myself!
 






I have just completed the fix as posted in this section on my radio led display. The display is now lighted and looks as it originally did. Thanks very much for posting very detailed directions on what items to remove, clean, and inspect. Although I did not see any signs of physical damage, I did follow the recommended cleaning procedures. Sure enough the display looks good.

Thanks to all of you and your comments.

Sly
 






Hey Ri2616, couldn't tell by your post if you did the re-soldering or only cleaned it. If you only cleaned it, it will likely fail again. During the cleaning process, you are actually making the cracked solder joints make contact again simply by manipulating the board. But after expansion and contraction due to heating/cooling during use the cracks will open again, and the display will fail!

The soldering is not that hard to get the hang of! Don't Give Up!

Heck, send it to me and I'll do it for you for $20 (HAR!)
 






TLoewenberg said:
Even more important is to make sure EVERYONE with the "disappearing" display problem contact Ford. Go to their web site and follow the buttons to the owner section. I had the problem, contacted Ford, and they claimed that they had no history which is an absolute crock! Good luck and remember to make your feelings known to Ford!

As of yesterday (4/7/04) Ford Customer Service still claims that this is not a commonly reported problem with their products. Based on my casually conducted research, I'm confident that four out of five 1995 to 2000 Explorers (probably all Ford trucks for that matter) in a WalMart parking lot have displays that work intermittantly or not at all.

Guess I'll have to do the Pacific Audio fix if Ford isn't going to step up. I guess QUALITY is a relative term... :fire:
 






Nitrous SSC said:
I actualy found a guy on ebay that will permantly fix the deck for 60$ total including shipping back to me!!

http://home.att.net/~pacificaudiotech/

He said he can also fix my 6 disc but i havn't gotten a price yet...

I might just send them all to him and see what happends....

Man ford really screwed up on our stereo's eh?

You said a MOUTHFUL Nitro! Screwed up is RIGHT!

The eBay ad from Pacific Audio guarantees that "the display will never go out again!" And they offer same-day repair, or maybe it's a swap-out program, so turnaround time should be minimal either way.

I think I'm going to give them a go. Not being able to tell when your CD player is in Shuffle mode will drive you NUTS! :banghead:
 






Oh crap I forgot to post an update.

MY DECK WORKS PERFECTLY and so does my 6 disc changer! :)

I was so happy to see that display work again!

Also the 6-disc works so damn well its only skipped once while wheeling!

A+ to that pacific audio!
 






It Worked!!!

Before joining the forum I tried replacing the keyboard circuit board which I ordered from Pioneerelectronics.com ($165.00 + 2nd day air+tax). The keyboard CB LED panel had a burn mark inside the display. It worked briefly (before not at all) and went out. Not giving up, I discovered this wonderful forum and found the fix described on this thread. I tried the repair to the long board and it worked! I did use a soft nylon bristle brush, however I found a dull pointed solder pen did better at scraping the flux and excess solder off the board, where the heat shield attached. By the way Pioneer was very easy to work with to order parts for the Ford Audio Systems. After I gave them my Ford part #(found on top of the radio head unit), they cross-referenced to the Pioneer part #, and faxed me the exploded view of my radio with the pioneer part numbers attached to a seperate sheet. It was a simple online order from there. :chug:
 






mine display is working again

i did some research by calling a number of ford dealerships and even more centers that repair this issue. depending on which city's ford dealership i called, they referred me to a store that would repair them, except at a hefty price. the cheapest location said 120. i finally followed the link above for pacific audio (www.explorerradio.com) and gave them a call. the person (trevor) was very helpful. he charged me 60 for the fix, which included return shipping. i sent my radio on a thursday, and got it back the next thursday, which i don't feel was too long, given that he sent the item back to me the same day that he got it.
 






Worked

Bought a 98 sport 2 days ago,,radio led was off no display,I read and read and read,and today 2 days later I pulled it apart as to the instructions on this site.

First get the radio out,can make 2 hooks from a coat hanger like I did,this fix cost me $0.00 as I had solder iron,solder,de solder strip and free coat hanger,,was nice to have a free fix for once that other want $200.00 + for hahaha

then follow these steps:
take 2 screws out on face plate only on sides,and one 3/4" screw on top right when holding deck from back upright in your hands.there is 1 phillips screw for top cover its holding.
Pull up 2 black tabs on each side of faceplate to clear the metal retaining tabs that are part of the radio housing.
Wiggle off the faceplate but do not pull far since a series of blue wires is attached to it (no need to remove any knobs).

The blue wire harness you want to remove is plugged into the socket in the middle. Grip the white harness that the blue wires go into and wiggle it out of socket. The other set of blue wires just goes from top of faceplate electric or circuit board (whatever the correct terminology is) behind volume control to the bottom of faceplate electric board.

After faceplate is removed, pull off metal top of radio housing, by gripping in the middle front, this will bow it in the middle and give clearance for the tabs on the side of the metal radio-housing frame.

The electric or circuit board you need to remove is the one that the blue wire plugs into. There are two small metal retaining tabs that need to be bent out of the way to remove the board. The first is in front next to where the blue wires plug in. The board is colored white beneath it, green most everywhere else. This one is easy to bend to side. The second one is tough, look in the semi circle in the thin metal cover from top and you will see it, again on a white background. You need long nose pliers to bend this towards side of radio so it lines up with slot in the electric board.

Remove orange screw from back right of heat sink that screws into copper colored clip at rear of electric board.

If the 2 small metal tabs are lined up correctly, and the back right screw removed, you should be able to reach in the semi circle hole with a finger and pull the electric board up and out. You may have to wiggle it a little to get the tabs to line up. The thin metal cover with the semi circle is only welded to the board so be gentle
I pulled the power supply board out like explained above,and had it in my hand after a few mins,,I cleaned with 99% alcolhol and a mild bristle brush,than I desoldered the RF silver plate held on by 4 solder points(,2 were allready cracked).
I inspected the board and seen a few areas that looked overheated,so anyhow,I soldered all areas I could get to on the upper side of the board, I was working on than flipped it over and did the same on the other side.

I had maybe 30 solder points to re blob a small amount to,I did not want to have to remove the radio/cd unit again in a week from just cleaning it.So I decided all the chips i can resolder (had access without difficulty)was better than a few that were xplained in earlier posts,for the xtra 5 mins it takes I was allready into this so whats a few more solders,the cracks are so thin u cannot see with the human eye..
After I was done soldering chips and diodes,I drilled about 15 holes in the RF plate thinking maybe it would bypass heat better,(optional).
I than resoldered the RF silver cover back on where it was before i took it off.

I plugged in radio to my truck,and YAE WALLA!,,display I see working fine.

Replacing the board into the radio was a little difficult. I slid the board in from the front so that the board was just above the two metal tabs that you bent out of the way to remove it. This way, the quarter inch round hole in side of thin metal cover (the one with the semi circle on the top) will line up with the circular rivet/tab on side of radio metal housing. Line up the two metal tabs you bent out of way and push the board down and bend the tabs back in place. Replace the orange screw from back into the copper colored clip at back of board.
Plug in blue wires to face plate and reattach faceplate with two tiny black screws.

The people I bought truck from never mentioned the display not working of course,but Thanks to a little reading and 30 mins well spent,I fixed my display and seen it work for the first time,now I can add better speaker,amp and worry about mp3 player later after I am sick of the stock player..It has a mach audio in this truk,,was fully loaded,leather sunroof everything.

I read that many had this problem with no display on 97 to 01 xplorers and many other vehicle types too with same pioneer stereo thay are useing.

I just wanted to add my success story,to say its true and does work,and I believe because I soldered all points It will last another 80,000kms which I will have replaced the stereo or sold truck by than.
At least I can read what channel and song I am on now :)..
Good luck it was not hard,an average steady hand can do it.I used a 15 watt iron by the way!!.
Good luck guys.My partner at work could not believe I did this,He said was too far for him to go,but he watched and was amazed the working unit after only 30 mins,,will post if it ever goes out again,,but i believe its good to go for yrs to come as there alot more of a buildup of better solder than factory on it now thanks to me.
Factory solder looked dry probably cause this unit gets so hot from the heater ducts it melts the solder sometimes dulls and dries away and will crack solder.

Thanks FOR ALL THE HELP people in earlier posts,,I will say cleaning is not the ticket,,you must at least re solder dried areas on this board..
Good luck!
 









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Pionner Part #

sdflyboy said:
Before joining the forum I tried replacing the keyboard circuit board which I ordered from Pioneerelectronics.com ($165.00 + 2nd day air+tax). The keyboard CB LED panel had a burn mark inside the display. It worked briefly (before not at all) and went out. Not giving up, I discovered this wonderful forum and found the fix described on this thread. I tried the repair to the long board and it worked! I did use a soft nylon bristle brush, however I found a dull pointed solder pen did better at scraping the flux and excess solder off the board, where the heat shield attached. By the way Pioneer was very easy to work with to order parts for the Ford Audio Systems. After I gave them my Ford part #(found on top of the radio head unit), they cross-referenced to the Pioneer part #, and faxed me the exploded view of my radio with the pioneer part numbers attached to a seperate sheet. It was a simple online order from there. :chug:

Can anyone tell me if the part# from Pioneer, HWM0043 (this is the compound set) will work in a Ford 2000 Mach audio unit? (Ford part# XL2F-18C868-CA) I tried to order this from Pioneer Canada, and was told it is not a valid part number. It can be found on the US web site here: http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/index.asp
 






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