problem with headunit/ac control and lcd screen!!!
 

hi all, earlier during the day i tried to remove my headunit to install an ipod adaptor but i forgot a bolt during the process of removing so gave up since it was getting dark so i pushed all the clips back bolts etc. then the next time i started my car up none of the lights on my headunit came on nor did the lcd show anything! but the stereo was still playing a cd. and i could control the volume with my steering wheel controls. what went wrong? anyone got any ideas thanks.

i have checked the plugs and they are all intact. the electric rear mirrors and lighter also works which share the same fuse as the audio system so im guessing its not the fuse either....any ideas?

The faceplate connects to the modular stereo unit via a small wiring harness on the left side of the headunit. When you were trying to pull the headunit out you either disconnected this harness (less likely, as I believe it has a release that needs to be pushed), or cracked the circuit board on the faceplate (more likely). Remove that 10mm bolt and take the headunit out, make sure this harness is secure and inspect for any cracks on the PCB. A crack may not be obvious though.

thanks for your reply,
i did take it out and checked the circuit it seemed alright? but like u said the crack would be hard to find...
since i resetted the hu unit. the cd is not playing anymore fan is turned on in first speed. and my hazard light control still works. but no lights or controls are working lcd screen is blank

okay, similar scenario here, a few months back while trying to remove my headunit i broke off part of the circuit board, obviously ruining it. I have since bought a new head unit, however, i am also having problems with the new one not working. i hooked up all the wires etc, and when i turned the car on my lcd lit up, but didn't display anything, i could hear static sounds coming from the speakers, (very quietly) so power is obviously making it to the speakers, but none of the controls work, the radio won't turn on, and the air is stuck on heater, with only the 01234 knob working. as i was driving to napa to get fuses something happened, (bump?) now the lcd screen is dark. does anyone have any suggestions, ideas, tips, etc? loose wire inside the connector? blown fuse? are there any internal fuses in the deck itself? radio reset? please help!

hey, i had a similar problem except that instead of being blank, my screen showed all the characters so that you couldn't make anything out. I guess you could day it was the exact opposite of being blank. Anyway, after spending a few years ignoring it I finally decided to do something about it. After replacing the screen (on a mazda tech's advice) and much money spent in diagnostics it was finally determined that the cause was a cracked board that was sending too much power to the screen. It was the board that is located in the face plate (with all the controls). So basically all I have to do is replace that. Same goes for you too probably. What's interesting is that I have taken the face plate apart and examined the board carefully and I could find to cracks at all, so if they are there they are indeed imperceptible.

Bought the wife a Dice iPod unit for Christmas. I carefully removed the radio and connected the Dice unit. it did not work so I unplugged the Dice unit and not the radio, hazard light, and LCD display is not working. I checked all the fuses and now the DSC is off and won't turn back on. Seems like the more I try and figure out what went wrong, the more that goes wrong. Now the wife is pissed because she has no radio at all. Any idea's??

Time display LCD flickers and blinks, please help
 

I bought my rx8 a month ago and as soon as I took it out of the dealer the Time Display(LCD) stopped working properly. It flickers and blinking, shows half the characters! Radio and CD are working fine, but its just the LCD that is doing that.

Its very cold in winter in Montreal/Canada, When this happened I used to park my car outside and it is now couple of days that the weather is kind of warmer and the LCD started working again today! but after driving for 2 hours it started doing the same thing(flickering and blinking and showing half the characters) so I decided to take a picture and post it. Here's the link

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8...splayerror.jpg

Please Help!!!

There is a connector in the back of the HU for the LCD display... maybe its a little loose/not secured.

Thanks for the Reply "Jon316G"
I will try to open the whole unit tomorrow see if that is the case, However I want to also take a look at the fuse and reset the fuse. Do you know which fuse I should pull out and put back in to reset the Information display LCD?

There is no "resetting" the LCD display.
If you want to reset the head unit, simply disconnect the battery for ~10min.
You'll know its successful because all your radio presets will be wiped.

And there is no need to "open the whole unit" because its simply plugged into the back.
You'll just need to slide the HU out and disconnect/reconnect.

wow thx alot man, Im goinno try it right now! so all i need to do is unplug the battery for 10 mins right? BTW what is HU? and how do we unplug it?? lol sorry for my stupid question!

HU = Head Unit... basically the whole radio piece.
Once you slide the radio out, you'll see a cable running between the display and the HU.
There is a connector with a tab that you press in to unlock it. Then pull it out.

How long you think it'll take me to pull out the whole head unit?,... I saw couple of comments, some said they broke the board or somethin while removing the HU... is it risky? what would you recommend to do?

oh and some one posted: "I just pulled out the fuse and put it back in. Everything is back to normal" which fuse are they talking about? I know where the fuse box is but don't know which one to pull out... there are so many!

^They are talking about the ROOM fuse in the kick panel.
You're doing the same thing there as disconnecting the battery.

For removing the HU, here is a DIY for installing an aux port for an ipod, but the first few steps show how to pull the HU out:
http://www.whatsmyip.org/ipodrx8/1.php

wow man! thx alot, I really appreciate your help. I have installed an alarm and starter so if i unplug the battery i think the all the setting of the starter will be gone and i have to take it back to Bestbuy and reprogram it!

^I've never heard of a starter needing "reprogrammed" after disconnecting a battery.
I had one on my truck and never encountered this.
But if you feel more comfortable with just removing the room fuse, just do that.

thx alot, Im going to try that right now... is it in this fuse box? can you tell me which one to pull out?

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/5407/fusebox.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/8470/fusecover.jpg

I can't view pics from those links because I'm at work and they block the Imageshack site.
When you remove the kick panel cover you'll see a pic on the inside of the cover showing where each fuse is.

thx alot man! really appreciate ur assistance, im goinno try this right now.

omg!! I just found what was wrong with it! i pushed the right corner of HU (radio-cd) and everything came back on working!!!!! HOW SICKKKKKK!!!! wow man im so happpy thx alot bro, ah man that was such a gooooooooooood feeeling! thx alot!

Did you hear it click and feel the radio snap into the dash when you pushed on it? If so, the faceplate was probably loose. The faceplate has two connectors towards the middle of the radio vertically, one on the left and one on the right. If it snapped into place, the right side connector was probably making a bad connection causing the problem and it'll be fine, although the faceplate should also secure with screws from behind. If it didn't snap into place it's possible that your faceplate PCB is cracked and your temporary fix with be short-lived.

lol last week it did the same thing, The time lcd display is doing the same thing again! flickering and blinking half characters.... :(((((((( ah man, im so pissed... i donno what to do anymore! :(

What do you mean you don't know what to do anymore!!!
How about doing what I suggested earlier and remove the HU and check the connection?
You might have just gotten lucky when you pushed on the right side and it came back on.
If the connector was indeed loose, it would have been only time before it came out again.