radio not displaying time or station

If it's similar to the stock one in my 97 the the problem is the actual display itself. These are vacuum flourescent units that have small heaters that emit the electrons that show up as segements when properly driven. I 'lost' the top half on my radio in 2000. You cannot get the display so the only option is to buy another radio or 'press and guess' what station you're on. A very slight chance the PCB may have a bad solder joint, but odds are against you. It takes about 15 seconds to pull the radio, another 15 minutes to prove what is wrong. been there done that

hth

Jay

Some earlier models had a little light bulb that you could actually replace. Easily. I'm not sure how the display worked, but I think it was an LCD where the numbers were the only thing transparent. Anyway, if it's that, it's an easy fix, but I don't have a 1999.

old age. to view time or station info, turn on the lights. the radio face will backlight, allowing you to see the info. OR take it to a dealer, and they can have it repaired/replaced for around $400

Actually, if you turn on the lights the display dims - presumably so as to not ofer such a visual distraction in a dark cab.

HR.

Ed-

Chances are the display is toast, unless you get lucky and have a display that is powered by a little light bulb. Most likely you will need to replace the deck though. The display on the deck in my tempo went south last winter - same situation, and even better, it was jammed in the dash and wouldn't come out. So a buddy and I took out our agression by removing it with a big hammer and screwdriver... :)

Dave

ed coll> Hi, All

Ed,

I had the very same probelm witho my 99 Explorer recently. The solution was to take it to the dealer who had a local contractor remove the deck. They installed a loaner. The contractor then to my deck to their shop. repared or replace the display panel. The service advisor called me when they had had back at the dealer. It took about 1/2 hour to remove the loaner and replace it with my serviced deck. Cost about $200 in the Austin area.

For $200 you could also simply get a fairly nice aftermarket deck. That's what I did, and now I can play MP3 files, in addition to regular CDs. You can get ALOT more songs on one disk that way. Some might consider loosing the factory deck appearance to be a downside, plus my stereo no longer automatically adjusts volume with speed changes. Another option to consider if you're going to fork out that kind of cash.

-- Josh

I bought a used one on ebay for less than that