sorry can't seem to type today or spell but i think you can catch what i am saying lol

 

I sent my Radio to TARO Electronics, nice guy to deal with, they turned it around in 1 day, shipping took 6 days each way by UPS, I reinstalled it and everything works great! I would recommend TARO to anyone who has this proble, it's the cheapest fix other than doing it yourself (I opened up my radio and closed it back up almost immediately for fear of doing more damage!)

Good Luck!


TARO fix the display and offer a 1 year warranty, $45.00 plus $12.00 shipping!


If you have any questions please call Ted at:

888-594-2136

TARO Electronics Inc.

Monday thru Saturday

7:00 AM - 3.00 PM EST

 

My only concern with sending the radio off is that I'm told that "If the problem is the display problem, then it's only $45." Once they get the radio, I'm told it's not the display problem and it will be $175 (plus shipping).

 

I would look at all the options you have with the radio I am glad i decide to just put in a after market deck. There is alot of pros and con's to sending anything out in the mail. Well lets us know what you decdide on and good luck. josh

 

I too have the display problem. I have done quite a bit of soldering over the years so I am pretty confident in doing that. I do have another (hopefully not too stupid) question though. I may have missed something in the previous posts.
How is the radio removed from the dash? I have heard you need a special tool for this. Thanks to all for the assistance!

 

The removal of the radio is explained in the procedures at:
http://www.shareamemory.com/radio/removal.htm

 

i've used 2 '10 penny'' nails to pull it

 

Cool beans - many thanks for the info!!

 

Can anyone post a picture of the underside of the power supply board? I have a component that has completely fallen off. (hopefully it didn't cause any damage rattling around in there). I just need to know the orientation(which way the dot goes) of the component.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the information that has gotten me this far. It really is a shame that people charge for what should be free knowledge.

Thank-you.

 

I used the http://www.shareamemory.com/radio/ $20 special about a year ago. The radio worked for another 6 months and quit again. It's my parents car, and the way they hold on to cars makes me want to have it working for them, but I'm also worried that any repair will fail after the year warrantee has expired and I'll be out the $85 or whatever...

 

After Three trys to find a bad solder connection I have given up (in pulling the radio a number of times now have a scratched lens as well). Talking with "Cindy" @ Auto Radio $ Electronics out of Ca. (800-442-4491 ext. #562) Will be purchasing the Three boards (kit) and a new lens / bezel. Boards including the subject HWM0043 power supply board) will cost around $90.00. As has been posted HEAT must be the culprit since the board has serious discolorization around the micro resistors and capacitors. Did find a cracked solder point on one heat shield tab but it had zero effect on the LED readout. Will post the final cost as soon as Cindy replys. My radio PN is F87F18C868-CD.

 

I first experienced this display problem on my '00 explorer limited, and after trying the fix and it didn't work, I patronized the swap program that's been described elsewhere and that worked.
Well, I just got a used 2001 explorer limited, and the salesman agreed to knock off $250 from the price because the radio display was blank and that's what it would cost to fix it. I checked the swap program website and checked fro the "Save my Sanity" link (http://www.shareamemory.com/radio/), and the price had gone from $20+ several years ago to now $84.99. When I first learned about this, he was only asking for a "donation" in return for the fix!
I whipped out my removal tool, soldering iron and solder which I still had from back then, and this afternoon sat down and resoldered the 5 surface-mounted components mentiond here:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.a...10fa3b26a4e0f4
I also touched up a few other connectors that seemed to need it as suggested (thought I screwed up when solder from one flowed to an adjoining connector, but no fear).
Alas, I have display! It took about 20 minutes overall. Credit should coninue to go to Duane Harrison for thinking this up, and in this capitalist society, he can't be blamed fro jacking up the price.

 

I have been repairing the dual media blank display for over 5 years at the dealership I work at. I have started to do these repairs out of my home also. If interested, I repair these for a fraction of the dealership cost. $55.00 that includes return shipping. www.radiodisplayrepair.com

If you choose to repair these yourself, and run into trouble, E-mail me and I will try to help with any info I can. no charge.

 

If you go to www.FixYourRadio.com, there is a Save My Sanity Swap Program in which you get a modified board, no soldering required, just remove three screws and use a pair of needle nose pliers to bend a couple of tabs, then replace the modified board with your broke board. Once you verify all is working, you return your old board using the shipping label they provide and the same box too. I did NOT have to go weeks without my radio while I waited for it to be repaired. Took me about 20 minutes (that time I was without my radio) to swap out the board. Took me only 2 days to get my board once I placed the order. I got access to excellent instructions that were filled with detailed pictures that lead me through the repair step by step. I did all this with no electronics background whatsoever. What a pleasant way to be reunited with my display. Been working like a champ ever since! I actually like driving my car again! I did this back in Feb. 2003 and it's still working great...the display is shining a bright green display as bright as new.

This is the same place as www.shareamemory.com/radio and I see that that they still have the $19.99 Do It Yourself instructions or the Save My Sanity option for $84.99 (this is the way I went to avoid shipping my radio and I didn't have to go without my radio, no shipping or insurance charges. At the time I got my swap board in about 2 days after ordering).

 

my display is faded out too, im just gonna replace it with a nice pioneer or kenwood.