Display blank, 98 Explorer radio. Help!
Unknown
display is not coming on. The radio works great otherwise. I wonder
what the voltage is suppose to be on the orange wire that is in the
wiring connector that plugs into the back of the radio. The orange
wire is shown as being the "dash light dimmer switch" according to
data on www.installdr.com. I would appreciate any information that
anyone can give me. Thanks in advance.
Everett
matt.r...@worldnet.att.net
> Please help me solve the problem with my 1998 Ford Explorer radio. The
> display is not coming on. The radio works great otherwise.
Do you have both hot-with-key and hot-at-all-times voltages to the
radio? Most digitally tuned car stereos require both.
On the cheaper aftermarket units I've played with, the "main" and
"memory" power wires work like you would expect. If you hook up
the main but not the memory, the radio tunes and plays just fine,
but forgets its clock settings and station presets when switched
off. On the Delco stereo in my '89 Chevy, however, the "memory"
wire also seems to power some substantial portion of the radio.
With the memory wire disconnected, I can turn on the radio and
adjust the volume of the static, but I cannot tune it.
> I wonder what the voltage is suppose to be on the orange wire that
> is in the wiring connector that plugs into the back of the radio.
> The orange wire is shown as being the "dash light dimmer switch"
> according to data on www.installdr.com.
You should be able to turn the headlight knob or a wheel next to it
and vary the brightness of the instrument panel lights. That's what
this wire does. It should vary from around 12-13v at full bright to
0v or so at full dim. If your dash lights are working but you get
no reading on this wire, there's a break in it somewhere. If your
dash lights aren't working, check the fuses.
Car stereos with a vacuum-fluorescent display (glowing green figures)
usually dim their displays when the parking lights are clicked on.
Your stereo might have an LCD display with a burned-out backlight.
You might try shining a small, powerful flashlight at the display
and see if you can make out any changing digits as you tune the
radio. If so, then the bulb or maybe LED behind the LCD is out.
Good luck!
Matt Roberds
Unknown
f87f-18c868cd and would have a green display if it was working. The
dash board lights are working and all fuses in the panel are good.
I checked the voltage on the orange wire that is marked as "dash light
dimmer wire" according to www.installdr.com. If this wire is indeed
the control wire for the radio then it may be the problem as I am not
getting a reading on the DC scale of the DDM and only get around .55v
AC on the wire with the dash lights turned full bright. I am scared to
just power this orange wire to 12 vdc as it might cause additional
problems. My guess however is that it would be a 0 - 13.6 vdc line
that supplys the control for the lights.
Thanks for you reply everet...@mindspring.com
Unknown
Hi I just wanted to post the cure that fixed my radio. The cure came
from someone that e-mailed me directly, so I will not post his name
here. Here is the instructions that I followed. I am an electronics
tech and did not have a problem with the prochedure.
By opening up the radio you will find a narrow display power board
within the left side of the radio (faceplate toward you). This board
has a metal cover soldered to it, with a toroid (wire wound doughnut)
inside on one side, and a bank of surface mount resistors and
capacitors on the bottom side. One end of the board (SCR heat sink)
is screwed to the heat sink at the back of the radio, the board is
secured with 2 metal bend-tabs, and it has a white mini connector on
the other end which connects to the faceplate. Remove the board from
the radio.
On the bottom of the board look for surface mount components
R1057/C1071/R1058/C1083/R1064. The colder these resistor/capacitor
chipsets get, the brighter the display. I left the car out in the +5
f degree weather and the display worked until it warmed up a little.
That is how I was able to track it down to these temperature sensitive
parts. Freeze-it also helped after I narrowed it down to a few
components.
The fix that worked for me was to re-molten the solder for each end of
these surface mount components. Be very careful if you try this, as a
big soldering iron, or a lot of heat will destroy the components and
board. And don't do this with the radio plugged in. If you're not
comfortable doing this take it to a friend who is. So far this fix
has kept working for a week, I hope it is permanent.
Disclaimers - don't try this without proper training. It may not be
the same problem that mine had. Don't hold me financially liable to
any damage or expenses you may incur. Fix suggestion is not meant to
put anyone's audio repair business out of business, etc,...
Good Luck!
craig osborn
problems I have found on those units and sometimes a bad cap.
JEFF
<Everett Cotton> wrote in message
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