Searched this problem and did not find anything exactly like what is occurring with my dash display.

This morning when I changed the radio station with the button on the steering wheel, the radio display and everything else on the digital display bar started to continuously scroll through every available character (including Japanese).
Radio still works but can't (obviously) read display.

Whahoppen? How do you fix it?

'04 6-speed with GPS & 27,000 miles.

 

I believe hold down scan and power for 20 sec I'll check my post later or you can check , someone else helped me here

 

i am interested in this myself..can bus problem?

 

Thanks for the suggestion, however, I checked the hold down the radio power and scroll up button procedure to see if the temp control diagnosis mode would appear to stop the scrolling problem. No luck, but I may not have held it for 10 seconds.
Finally, out of desperation, I disconnected the battery and went to bed. Next morning, when I hooked the battery back up, problem solved. Can't help but wonder if it will reappear soon.
Anyone know what caused it in the first place? I need to do the heat/AC temp control fix, so it will be apart soon for that. Could fix two things at once if it doesn’t involve expen$ive module purchase.

 

Well, it happened again today. Sure wish there was some idea where to start trying to fix this gremlin. I'll try un-hooking the battery again tonight.

Since it seems to start when I use the radio control button on the steering wheel to change stations, I guess I'll stop doing that and see if it stops happening.

 

Just an update. Disconnected the battery again. Must be disconnected for an hour or so to reset. I've been driving it for a few days now without turning on the radio and all is well. Next, I'll turn on the radio for a few days (without touching any buttons) to see if anything goes wrong. Then, the dreaded steering wheel station changing button will be used. I'm pretty sure it is somehow linked to this problem.

I'll post what happens.

 

I have this problem as well but it only happens when my car's been sitting out in the sun for a while and its 90+ outside. Resetting the ECU is only a temporary fix.

It believe it is directly related to the contacts on the back of the radio faceplate. This is probably all heat related. One of these days I'll pull the faceplate off again and try super-gluing the contacts, lol.

Does it clear up some of the characters when you press in below the CD slot??

 

Nope, nothing I can do to stop it, once it starts, except disconnect the battery for an hour or so. I've been driving it for about a week now with the radio off, and so far, no problem. This week, I'll turn the radio on, but not touch any of the buttons. If no problems, next week, I'll start tuning with the faceplate buttons, next week, tune with the steering wheel buttons. I'm sure that something will have occurred by then.

Your faceplate contact idea sounds like a logical reason for this to happen. Mine started in the (record) heat of this summer also. May just go there next time it happens and see if that fixes the problem. I need to fix my heat/AC temperature control anyway.

 

Update - Every thing CD and radio related works fine, up to not touching the steering wheel radio buttons. Don't know if it has healed, (problem may have gone away due to cooler weather) or will come back this week when I start using the steering wheel radio buttons again.