Radio Display problem........

[Doug Rodrigues]

This bit of information should be of help to those of us who had the problem of the radio display going blank:

This fix applies to the radios in the 1998 thru 2001, and maybe newer ones in the Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, and even the Nissan Quest! The soldering in those mass produced radios made by Pioneer was lousy. Go to www.shareamemory.com/radio. The "Fix" sells for $19.99. It was the best money I ever spent. The dealer here in Reno wanted a minimum of $300 just to pull it out and send it in! Can you say "Rip Off?" The service department said...and I quote, "It's going to be at least $300, but probably more like $450 by the time we get it back." Can you believe it?

I bought the above instructions, which are also in photo form that you can copy on your printer. I bought the radio removal tool from Wal-Mart for $7. The 30 watt soldering iron, soldering wick and thin wire solder I bought from Radio Shack. Total amount for the instructions and tools: about $40. With the radio removal tool, I had the radio completely removed in about 15 seconds. After about one hour of partial disassembly (following instructions and looking at the photos), I had the areas to be re-soldered finished. That was three months ago. The display worked great, even up to the point of an idiot plowing into my Mountaineer and totaling it out! Even after that hard impact, the display still worked! So now I've got a spare radio for the 2000 Mountaineer I just bought which has exactly the same radio. If this newer Radio ever develops the lack of display problem, I already know how to fix it!

[Doug Rodrigues]

Today, I visited the eBay site and typed in "radio display fix" into the search box. I discovered a radio shop unrelated to shareamemory site that will do the same repair for $175....that same repair that you can do yourself.

[tbergluind]

the display on my 2000 quit and would come back on for a second of two and now nothing and also now the dash and dimer switch quit is this the same problem?

[Doug Rodrigues]

Sounds like your problem is with the dimmer control, and not with the radio.

[tbergluind]

Originally Posted by Doug Rodrigues

Sounds like your problem is with the dimmer control, and not with the radio.

That is my thoughts too. but the repair manual that I have doesnt give any diagrams for a 00 but that is what the book is for? Go figure . Is it the switch or a relay any thoughts? email me @[email protected]. The dealer want's$50 just to look at it and when they find the problem they still want to charge me for the part and labor. What a bunch of ****! Anything would be helpful.

[Doug Rodrigues]

If you're good with disassembling things, if it were me I'd work my way to the dimmer switch. Once there I'd temporarily wire around the switch to see if I had full brightness. Only then can you determine if the switch was defective. How about the fuse box? Is there a circuit breaker for that circuit? I'd try wiring in a fuse to check the circuit breaker. How about loose wires? These are things that the mechanic would be checking. The only difference is that you'll be paying him to do it. Somewhere on the internet is a web page of typical problems with particular vehicles and the fixes necessary to get rid of the problem. I haven't been to that web page in over a year and have misplaced the information to find it. Maybe you can find it by surfing the internet.

[tbergluind]

Originally Posted by Doug Rodrigues

If you're good with disassembling things, if it were me I'd work my way to the dimmer switch. Once there I'd temporarily wire around the switch to see if I had full brightness. Only then can you determine if the switch was defective. How about the fuse box? Is there a circuit breaker for that circuit? I'd try wiring in a fuse to check the circuit breaker. How about loose wires? These are things that the mechanic would be checking. The only difference is that you'll be paying him to do it. Somewhere on the internet is a web page of typical problems with particular vehicles and the fixes necessary to get rid of the problem. I haven't been to that web page in over a year and have misplaced the information to find it. Maybe you can find it by surfing the internet.

Thanks for the info I will try that and let you know what I find. I won't be able to do it try it tell saturday thanks.