Mine used to work but not anymore. Sometimes it will light up but no reading. Tried to research it but not much luck.

 

Well at least I'm not the only one. Ha

 

check fuses and make sure its getting power. if it is then the circuit board is probably fried which is extremely common. luckily its easy to fix or you can get a used replacement on ebay. the Ford Explorers use a different style console but the same circuit board so you can use one of them for like 50$ on ebay. otherwise theres several vidoes and threads about fixing them such as this one


Overhead console display fix | Ford Explorer and Ranger Forums - Serious Explorations

 

THANKS! I was hoping it was something like this! I will disassemble again tomorrow and attempt to fix it.

Thanks again!!

 

Well mine looks as if it's not reparable... I'm going to try to find another one out of an explorer or maybe check and see if one of those eBay repair places can fix it. I will update what happens.

 

Awesome

 

That's a lot of help

 

Yo lugnut1009,

"... my overhead console display started flickering and then went out completely. I disassembled the console module that houses the board and display, I noticed the faint smell of something that had burnt. I also noticed that the 5 pin heatsinked voltage regulator (ST brand L4947H Home - STMicroelectronics) was dissapating quite a bit of heat when powered. Using a meter and the spec sheets on the two regulators (the other was LM2940CT-12 or NTE1954) I noticed that the output from the L4947H was around 2 volts where it should have been 5 volts. Noting the amount of heat being dissapated and the low voltage reading, I determined that another component must have failed. I started looking at the nearest component which was a 100uF 6.3 volt electrolytic capacitor. Closer inspection revealed some brown crud under the bottom of it which meant that the capacitor had failed. I dug around in some spare parts and found a 100uF 16 volt capacitor which I installed in the circuit. Put the console back together and display is working fine.."
Source: by kc5mhb @ FSB

For a YARD SEARCH on-line, I use;
http://www.hollanderparts.com/
A yard that uses Hollander Interchange can search other yards and have it shipped
Can select certain parts
Has Vehicle Pics! They show about 3 - 5 pics for some vehicles
...
or
http://www.copartfinder.com/finder/searchMake.do
Has Vehicle Pics! They show about 4 - 5 pics per vehicle incl. interior/dash, back seat, front & rear and engine bay.
Can NOT Select certain parts
...

http://www.car-parts.com/
Can select certain parts
Has Some Vehicle Pics! They show about 4 - 8 pics per vehicle incl. interior/dash, back seat, front & rear and engine bay
...

http://www.picknpull.com
This is a Company name w/yard locations in various states
Can NOT Select certain parts

http://row52.com/Search
Can NOT Select certain parts
Has Vehicle Pics AND Want a Part? It's Easy...
1. You create a Parts Wanted Listing.
2. Parts Pullers respond with offers.
3. You pick the best one.
A Parts Puller gets the parts you need.

 

Yo lugnut1009,

"... my overhead console display started flickering and then went out completely. I disassembled the console module that houses the board and display, I noticed the faint smell of something that had burnt. I also noticed that the 5 pin heatsinked voltage regulator (ST brand L4947H Home - STMicroelectronics) was dissapating quite a bit of heat when powered. Using a meter and the spec sheets on the two regulators (the other was LM2940CT-12 or NTE1954) I noticed that the output from the L4947H was around 2 volts where it should have been 5 volts. Noting the amount of heat being dissapated and the low voltage reading, I determined that another component must have failed. I started looking at the nearest component which was a 100uF 6.3 volt electrolytic capacitor. Closer inspection revealed some brown crud under the bottom of it which meant that the capacitor had failed. I dug around in some spare parts and found a 100uF 16 volt capacitor which I installed in the circuit. Put the console back together and display is working fine.."
Source: by kc5mhb @ FSB

For a YARD SEARCH on-line, I use;
http://www.hollanderparts.com/
A yard that uses Hollander Interchange can search other yards and have it shipped
Can select certain parts
Has Vehicle Pics! They show about 3 - 5 pics for some vehicles
...
or
CoPartfinder - Your guide to Auto Parts on the Internet
Has Vehicle Pics! They show about 4 - 5 pics per vehicle incl. interior/dash, back seat, front & rear and engine bay.
Can NOT Select certain parts
...

Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market
Can select certain parts
Has Some Vehicle Pics! They show about 4 - 8 pics per vehicle incl. interior/dash, back seat, front & rear and engine bay
...

Pick-n-Pull » Home
This is a Company name w/yard locations in various states
Can NOT Select certain parts

Row52 | Search Results
Can NOT Select certain parts
Has Vehicle Pics AND Want a Part? It's Easy...
1. You create a Parts Wanted Listing.
2. Parts Pullers respond with offers.
3. You pick the best one.
A Parts Puller gets the parts you need.

Thanks again miesk5

 

I just replaced the capacitor in the board in the overhead console tonight and it fixed it right up!
It was not coming on at times and I could rap on it to change the display. It would go to all lit up as if it was rebooting. Then at times it would flash as if the dash lights were being turned on and off really fast. And it would take forever to display a temp and direction when it did work. 50 cent part with $4 shipping but cheaper than a new one or an Explorer conversion.

 

The cap that usually goes is the one in the upper middle of this picture. Maybe someone will reference this thread and see your fix (and my picture)

 

That's the same location that mine looks bad. Can you take a better picture of a good board? I thought I had lost a couple of the tiny resistors around that cap. But if it's just a bad cap, that's an easy fix.

 

I work on guitar amps in my spare time and capacitors give them hell. As a rule, they are changed out once every 20 years or so regardless of if they are played. They just swell and pop and thus give no capacitance any longer.

Consequently, LCD and plasma TVs as well as computer monitors have the same problems. Capacitors die and give the impression that the whole monitor is dead. Usually, a quick cap change and you are back in business.

All that to say; I am not surprised by this being the issue at all. Failed capacitors wreak havoc on circuits.

 

I finally found this thread on here: http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3845578

 

its a simple matter to swap the guts out of the OHC in an explorer, just make sure you get the lights as well, as the connector is different. Everything else is the same. You can also plug it in and test it right in the junk yard parking lot to make sure it works, if not, take it back and go find another while your there.

 

Well just finding time to go to the scrap yard is tough for me. So I just ordered a capacitor and I'll try my luck and see if it works. Actually came in a pack of 50 so if it does work I'll have plenty of anybody needs a few

 

Well I bought the capacitors for a couple bucks and replaced it today. I tested it and no change. I guess mine was too far gone to repair that way. The original cap was definitely bad though, but maybe it burnt the card or something else when it burnt up. Oh well, pull-a-part here I come...

 

UPDATE!!! I must have not had it plugged in right before. I decided to try it again and it works great!

Oh, I have 49 more capacitors if anybody needs one.

 

good deal! I got to get mine working! lost one in an Ebay bid last week.

 

I have one for sale I just picked up last week from an Explorer to retrofit into my Bronco, but I have decided it's too much work. It's Tan and black. PM me if interested, I'll let it go for pretty cheap.

-Griffin

 

It still will every now and then go out, at least it did today. Well, it didn't "go out", just read temp then display "OC" which would be open circuit. Don't know if it's the electronics or if the temp sensor is going bad. ??? We shall see

 

Awesome it works though!

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

I took it back apart and found the resistor right beside the capacitor I replaced with a bad solder joint. It has a 161 on top of it, which is a 160 ohm resistor. I tried resoldering it but I couldn't get the solder to stick to anything but the soldering iron.

 

Well I gave it one more last shot, I tried soldering the resistor again and it does work better. But I ended up getting one out of a '99 explorer anyway since I was in the Pull-a-part place anyway getting parts for one of my boys trucks. I don't regret trying to fix it first, but if I had it to do over again, I would just get an explorer one like everybody suggested. There were at least 40 explorers in the junk yard, and only 3 F-series trucks my body style, no broncos at all.

Oh, and I only paid $7.50 for the electronics and the overhead console lights ...