Random radio display appearances on 98 Ford Explorer.

My radio display appearance on my 98 Ford Explorer is now turning on at
random moments, it is not completely dead. Is there a fix to this, like a
loose wire, or is it still a bad board? Please let me know if you know a
solution to this annoying problem.

It's a poor design that Ford, as usual, stuck with for quite a few years,
and would not admit to. A couple resistors on the display power supply board
dissipate much more heat than that board can take (and there is no
ventillation to speak of). It creates all sorts of problems, including
solder junctions that literally desolder themselves over time. Some
(including myself) had success with resoldering them, but it does not last
long. Apparently, newer boards work better. See the message just below yours
in the thread for a possible source of those.

"sean1234" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> My radio display appearance on my 98 Ford Explorer is now turning on at
> random moments, it is not completely dead. Is there a fix to this, like a
> loose wire, or is it still a bad board? Please let me know if you know a
> solution to this annoying problem.
>

My radio started acting up the same way. I went to
www.shareamemory.com/radio and got the "Save My Sanity" swap board and it
fixed my problem (and my wife's). I got detailed instructions with step by
step pictures on the process to replace the board and did not have to use
any special tools except for the removal tools (made out of stiff
hangers...see the details at the web site...actually taking the radio out of
the dash was the hardest part) and a philips screw driver and a pair of
needle nose pliers. No soldering required. I've been enjoying the radio
display now for almost a year now since doing the swap. Very enjoyable to
see the time and station.


"sean1234" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
My radio display appearance on my 98 Ford Explorer is now turning on at
random moments, it is not completely dead. Is there a fix to this, like a
loose wire, or is it still a bad board? Please let me know if you know a
solution to this annoying problem.

If you are familiar with a soldering iron, you could see if you can fix
it yourself.

I posted pictures after fixing a friends radio.
http://mysite.verizon.net/res046jx/id1.html


Billy

Well I tried the free information I found on this annoying problem with the
fading display on my Explorer. I didn't have any luck on my own repair
attempts. I decided to buck up and do the swap program at
www.shareamemory.com/radio and I'm happy to report that I have a working
radio display again! It's just great to see the clock again, not to
mention the radio station and not having to do the repeated random seeking
to find my radio stations.

.... or, as others had reported here before, you can buy a brand new display
power supply board from Pioneer for about the same price. Comes in a kit
with two other boards (which are not needed to fix this problem). The part
number is HWM5469.
Don't know if the sharememory guy has some significant improvement to the
obviously flawed design. If so, he might still be the better option, because
the Pioneer part is essentially identical to the old one. The only
difference is that the power resistors are mounted on long leads and hang in
the air, instead of sitting on the board. This hopefully reduces the
overheating of nearby components and prevents the cracked solder joints.
Nevertheless, there is still too much heat being dissipated in that tiny
volume.


"Watton" > wrote in message
lkabouttrucks.com...
> Well I tried the free information I found on this annoying problem with
the
> fading display on my Explorer. I didn't have any luck on my own repair
> attempts. I decided to buck up and do the swap program at
> www.shareamemory.com/radio and I'm happy to report that I have a working
> radio display again!

"Happy Traveler1" wrote:
> .... or, as others had reported here before, you can buy a
> brand new display
> power supply board from Pioneer for about the same price.
> Comes in a kit
> with two other boards (which are not needed to fix this
> problem). The part
> number is HWM5469.
> Don't know if the sharememory guy has some significant
> improvement to the
> obviously flawed design. If so, he might still be the better
> option, because
> the Pioneer part is essentially identical to the old one. The
> only
> difference is that the power resistors are mounted on long
> leads and hang in
> the air, instead of sitting on the board. This hopefully
> reduces the
> overheating of nearby components and prevents the cracked
> solder joints.
> Nevertheless, there is still too much heat being dissipated in
> that tiny
> volume.
>
>
> "Watton" > wrote in message
> lkabouttrucks.com...
> > Well I tried the free information I found on this annoying
> problem with
> the
> > fading display on my Explorer. I didn't have any luck on my
> own repair
> > attempts. I decided to buck up and do the swap program at
> > www.shareamemory.com/radio and I'm happy to report that I have a working
> > radio display again!

..be cautious of ordering the new boards from Pioneer. I originally
went that way and it didn’t even last 6 months. I tried to get
Pioneer to replace it and that was fruitless...they seem reluctant to
warranty these boards. I decided to go with the
shareamemory.com/radio swap program and I’m just past the year mark on
it and still going strong with a bright display. I compared the board
I got from shareamemory.com/radio with the new one from Pioneer and it
has a lot more robust soldering on the board...you can clearly see the
difference, some components looked different too. I also asked six
different ways about the warranty with shareamemory.com/radio and they
have a 1 year warranty (every time and way I asked about it, their
answer came back the same), so that was comforting.

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