I have a 1998 ford explorer and I still have the manufactured cd player in my car. It works fine except the display light doesn't work, so I have to guess what number or radio station it's on,does anyone know what the problem may be?
The circuit board inside needs fixing. there are people on eBay who sell plans to DIY or will do it for you for a fee, of course... my friend tried the DIY on his 1999 radio, but it didn't work out....
My 1999 Explorer Sport has this exact same problem. The stereo in it came from a 2000 Explorer EB and had a CD player in it, my original one was AM/FM/tape only. I removed it (with 4 skinny screw drivers) and noticed that there is a place where the circuit board mounts to the front display area. In my case I reseated this board to where it mounts and the display came back on. Unfortunately it went back off a week later and I haven't repeated the process yet. I would suggest trying this before purchasing replacement parts. Maybe you can get it to stay in place and work. Next time I do mine again I will be cleanining the contacts in there and seeing if there is a way I can get it seated better.
If I remember right, this connector is right behind the area where the
5 bottom buttons are, and it might be repeated pressing of these buttons that causes it to become loose.I just fixed mine today.
Here's what you need to do:
- Remove the radio with 4 skinny screw drivers or 2 wires bent at a U shape and about 2.5-3 inches length per leg.
- Unplug the antenna and power/control plugs (all by hand).
- Once the radio is out you will need to remove one screw at the top right corner of the radio. Mine is a CD/Tape head unit and has a black heat sink in the back. The screw is at the top right. It holds the display power daughter board.
- Remove the top cover of the radio. Easy to do with a couple of flat head screw drivers. No screws. Just pop it out.
- Looking from the top you will see the display power daughter board on the right. It's held in with two bend type metals. One close to the display and the other in the center where there is a hole at the top of the chrome cover. A needle nose pliers will easily bend those and the daughter board will come out easily. You will need to unplug the white connector with the blue wires from the daughter board.
- Now that it is out turn it over and you will see some electronic components. The culprits are usually the small (about 2mm by 1mm) resistors. You will need a very low wattage soldering iron to re-solder those in place. Sometimes you will see where heat has damaged the solder. Just redo those.
I recommend installing the daughter board back only with the plug connected and then plugging the radio back in the car to check and see if it worked. Don't put everything back together before you made sure the fix worked.
Enjoy your fixed display for the next few months. It will go dark again. I did mine for the 3rd time today.
Zoti
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