dead radio pixel fix attempt

tonycajjo · #1 03-04-2009, 12:38 AM

so the card game got canceled tonight, the cold weather up here has given everyone a bit of a cold. so since i unexpectedly had the night off (and the fact that i'm single

) i had a chance to putz around with my stock radio that i swapped for a navi unit and try to fix the dead pixels. notice the title of the post. "attempt" cause it didn't work.

i can definitely see where the problem is, it's that poor/dirty connection with the ribbon cable to the main board of the radio.

if you dont know which i'm talking about see this Eric, I fixed your MID from Peter. Writeup of E38 MID repair

i didn't destroy it, made it worse, but not destroyed. i'll give another crack at putting the ribbon cable back on with the compression clip, i didnt do the greatest job. i'm gonna put off attempt two until some other day, i was curious to know how many success and or failures we've had here. who's sucessfully accomplished this? which of us has failed?

you think i can get a new ribbon somewhere? the old one is difficult to work with.

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paulymano · #2 12-18-2009, 07:10 PM

Hi tony, did you have anymore luck with this. My radio LEDs are partly gone as well and have ran into this post while searching for a fix. I did see the write up by Peter and was debating to give it a try at it. There's also a repair DIY on eBay but don't know if that is worth buying. Let me know if you got yours fix.

xnsf · #3 12-18-2009, 07:45 PM

I did this fix a couple of weeks ago. I used that diy for inspiration, but I did most of it myself. Here are some tips:

1. All you need is some acetone (I used nail polish remover, qtips, and the right precision screwdrivers, and maybe a toothpick. I don't know what the eBay kits come with, but this is all I used.
2. You might break red plastic clip to the cord to the volume control knob. I couldn't get the red plastic clip off the plug without breaking it. If you break it, it's not a big deal.
3. Remove the metal retainer clip very carefully, it bends easily.
4. Rub all the tarnished stuff off of the connectors, the connectors should be completely golden.
5. When you clean the ribbon cable, get to the point where you're rubbing out the yellow surround, exposing the metal connection, but don't rub too crazy.
6. Whatever you do, DO NOT bend the metal retainer clip in anyway, not even to tighten the contacts.

Let me know if you have any questions.

barryb97 · #4 01-25-2010, 03:22 PM

I tried Peter's fix on my 01 business CD radio yesterday. Everything was going great until it came to cleaning the ribbon. I don't know if I was over zealous or what but in some areas it looks like it took the metal off also. Reinstalling the ribbon is a B##ch! Now that I have it all back together the radio works but I have NO PIXELS at all! Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I guess I will be looking for a new radio.

barryb97 · #5 01-27-2010, 10:46 PM

I was able to find a used radio with 100% pixels on e-bay. Just installed it. It works perfect. Maybe I should have done this in the first place.

Anyone need a good radio that just needs a ribbon cable. Let me know.

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