Have a 99 explorer the clock and radio information stopped lighting up.

everything works fine Tape,CD and CD changer.

How do I fix this.

Or where should I send the radio to be repaired.

 

ther is a bulb that back lights the display. The radio has to be removed to change it.

 

I checked there is no bulb it looks as if there is some sort of strip behind the plastic front.
Maybe LED was not correct.
Any other ideas.
Thanks

 

I have a 1999 Mountaineer and the lights went out yesterday on the clock/radio display. Everything else is lit and the stereo works/sounds fine. While driving to work today, the lights came back on and then went off (and stayed off). Any idea what the cause is?

I saw a reply to your note stating that there was no bulb behind this LCD display.

Any recos. on how to fix?

Thanks,
John
email: jegilbert@fuse.net

 

fcsr@msn.com
Check out the above address they can fix it.
My 1999 radio has been flashing on an off for two years there is a short someplace. I contacted Ford they send it out for repairs $350. No recalls on record. I think the guys in Florida charge about $150.

 

check ebay. I had pacificaudio do my repairs and it was $75 round trip with one year warranty.

There is no bulb. The old din style had one bulb but the new ones are a circuit board. You can clean teh board and sometimes that fixes it, but its not a guarteened fix.

 

I had the same problem and googled up the following fix. It took me two attempts but it worked. The display had been totally out but the radio stil worked. Since I fixed it several days ago the display has worked flawlessly...

The first attempt I just resoldered the resistors/capictors mentioned in the post below. Second crack I resoldered those again and some more connections on the board that looked like they could use it. You don't have to really resolder them as in applying additional solder, just have a fine tip soldering iron and remolten the joints. Easy as pie. You can do what I did and go about removing every screw from the outside of the chassis but you'll only discover as I did that it wasn't necessary. All you need to remove is the faceplate - there is a screw on either end then it just pops off, and then the top of the radio also pops off. There is one screw holding the circuit board in question into the radio at the top rear, its obvious which one, and two little bend tabs you just straighten with a little pressure and a flat blade screwdriver. Then the circuit board that is the power supply for the display lifts
straight up and out.

Getting the radio out of the dash is also a piece of cake IF you have the proper tool. You can get it at Autozone for about $5. Its just two U shaped wires with pointy ends that you pop into the 4 holes at the ends of the radio. That disengages it and then it slides right out. Pull the wire plugs and antenna off the back and bring inside your house for surgery. Many people claim to be able to get the radio out with coat hangers with a lot of trial and error. Never tried that but my estimation is it would be a big headache in the making, with the little tool from Autozone its just click click out, that simple.

Enjoy...


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!

 

Went there ( http://www.shareamemory.com/radio ) bought the instructions and fixed the radio.

But I have to tell you the instructions are pretty weak, at least for the Navi/Expedtion fix....I'm frankly disappointed the man charges for the info, and solicits it out here on the forum. The instructions are nothing more than randomly hitting a few solder joints and he isn't even sure of which ones will effect the repair. I would have done this anyway!

My advice is don't pay for the instructions.

 

Thanks OZZY52! (I own a Ford Explorer 1999) Your info led me to the same results. After the PC board was removed I inspected PCB for telltail signs of cold solder joints, but could see nothing obvious. With your leed I heated each of the noted solder joints, for good mesure I heated and filled as nessary other joints. The only ones I saw as possible problems were the mount tabs for the metal sheild. I don't belive they could have been the cause. I must have touched the correct joint as when installed the display works fine! Like yours mine would work sometimes, and more offten when the interior of the explorer was very cold. The last chalange was to set the clock, as I haven't seen it in al l-o-n-g tine. Thanks again for your input. As for anyone that is considering following ozzy52's instruction I could only sugest getting and using a 25watt pencil tip soldering tool. Small is good.

 

Thanks a lot for posting on how to fix this problem. I have been suffering with this for quite a while, and was hating to pay tons of money to dealers to fix or replace the radio.

I have one more problem in my radio - even after I have turned off the power and locked my van, I see green light coming from the radio buttons. Looks like they are not being turned off, and hence keep draining my battery. So, if I do not drive my car for 2-3 days, the van won't start, and I have to jump start it Today I paid $70 to just verify if this is the reason, or my alternator is not charging the battery, and as expected the radio turned out to be the culprit

Has anyone else had similar experience? Any suggestion on how to fix it?

I am hoping once I have fixed the display problem, it solves the battery drain problem too ;-)

I noticed a detailed posting on how to fix this at :
http://forums.vmag.com/mvquest1199/messages/393.html

Also, I have just started to follow the steps mentioned above, but am stuck at step 9 Could anyone please elaborate on that?

I have separated the face panel and the metal case containing the players. Now we have blue wires on both metal case (on the left upper corner, one end on the circuit board and one hanging out) as well on the face plate (both ends on the circuit board - first on the top side of a small circuit board in the corner, the one with the volume or power ****, and the second in the bottom corner on the bigger circuit board). I am confused at this stage as to on which unit I should try to take the board out by bending metal?

Best Regards.

 

Ok, so I figured I need to take out the board which is in the metal casing, not the one on the face plate. I have straightened the two metal hooks, and removed the screw from the heat sink (on the back of the casing), but I am still not able to take the circuit board out from the casing When I look from the front it looks like the copper strip which connects to the heat sink is holding up the board from coming out. Also, when I push the board up so that I can free it from the inside metal hook (the one on the white semi circle), it is not moving up much. I guess that again could be due to the copper strip which is holding the aluminum casing. Am I supposed to BEND the copper strip? Hope not, as it would be very difficult to put it back. I tried removing the rest of the screws from the heat sink also, but of no help.

I also noticed a screw connecting a black strip which seems to be coming from this board to this copper strip. Do I need to remove that screw? It might be very difficult as it is almost the end of the board, and it is almost inline with the toroid (wire wound doughnut).

Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Alright. I was able to take the circuit board out and re-soldered several connections
as suggested on various websites. The good thing is I did not screw anything, and my
radio, cassette, and cd still work ;-), but the bad thing is my display still does not work

And I still see some light coming from some of the switches on the radio panel which
continues to glow even after I have turned off the car, removed the key, and have locked
it. It means I still have the battery drain problem as well.

Any suggestion or help would be very appreciated.