Display problem

[Dan Clark]

The display area (where the clock is at) on my headunit (stock) goes crazy sometimes. It becomes unclear to read and jumbles everything on the screen. I went to a pontiac dealership and they said that it was bc my cd player had dust and dirt in it.

Has anyone else had this problem, and is the dealer correct about why it's messed up?

[TucsonBird]

I have that same deal. When I went to the dealer for them to fix my headlights "under warranty", they said that it would be $50 to check out the radio to see what was wrong with it, but he said radios arent covered so I told him screw it and I'll deal with it.

[Dan Clark]

dont even get me started with "under warranty" lol!

bumper to bumper my a$$

[TucsonBird]

Yeah, I'm never buying an "extended" warranty again. What happened is they wanted to check to see whats broken and see if the part is covered. Well, big surprise it wasn't and I ended up paying them $50 to check it. They also wanted $200 in parts and $200 in labor to fix it. I went home and rotated the gear in a half hour of my time.

But yeah, I'm just gonna tough it out with the radio. Once I get out of school and work some full-time hours I'll have enough cash to get this head unit I like and move my 10's from my old car. Let me know if you find anything about the display thing though. My plan was to just get a nice mp3 head unit that had a red backlight to match the rest of the dash. Would you imagine theres only like 3 or 4 of em on the market? I never looked at it before but like almost all the head units out there are either blue, white, or green.

[Dan Clark]

yeah, i always notice that about the color and it's dumb bc red looks the best of all. I think some can change colors, though.

Personally, I perfer the stock look. So, thats why I havnt just changed the head unit. But, yeah, im gonna post this ? on a few other sites and see if i can come up with anything. Ill let you know if i do.

[TucsonBird]

Thanks. Yeah, I have heard somewhere of ones that will change, but I will have to agree red definately looks the best. I never really thought outside the normal blue or green illumination that you see in any other car until I test drove my 'bird and I fell in love with it. IMHO the red is the best I've seen. Within the first month of owning it I went to autozone and picked up 3" red neons and placed them under the dash, wired them all up through the center console. Adds a lot during the night I think.

[Rob Bell]

The display problem is common for the stock radios. I just had mine fixed a couple of days before the warranty was up. It just started doing it two weeks ago. Two other people I know with similar radios had the same problem. One was fixed under warranty and the other never was, so I don't know what it would cost to fix it. But they have send the radio out for a few days. At least now that I got it fixed I think the repair is covered for another year.

[max5]

TucsonBird you have to send me a picture of your underdash neons, that is exactly what i want to do?

send me a picture m_goody25@hotmail.com

[TucsonBird]

Originally posted by max5:
TucsonBird you have to send me a picture of your underdash neons, that is exactly what i want to do?

send me a picture m_goody25@hotmail.com

I don't have a camera, but tomorrow I'm shooting pictures of student's cars for the yearbook page and I'll see if I can get one. It wasn't that hard, cost about $30 or $40. I just got one of the cigarette lighter extenders (with 4 sockets) and 2 3" red neons and threw the wires inside the center console. At night, if I remember to, I plug it in and usually I remember to unplug it when I'm out of the car for the night. Yesterday I cut the cigarette lighter end off the extender to wire it up to the lights so it goes on and off with the driving/headlights but they're not coming on now for some reason. I'll have to look at it sometime. But yeah, let me know if you guys want me to do a write-up.

[max5]

ya it shouldn't be too hard to do. The questions i have are: are the 3 inch lights enough or should i go with the like foot long tubes? and how did u mount them(double sided tape or something)? the biggest fear i have i that i will buy some neons, and the will be like a really light red, and not go with the darker red that the rest of the stock interior is. pictures with them on would be sweet, but if you can't get them no big deal. what other members have done this, any pics from them?

[TucsonBird]

I think the 3" ones are enough, though some people don't notice it right away and I end up having to tell them to look at your feet. Depends on the effect you are going for. I would start with the 3" ones, and if they are not enough, just exchange them for bigger ones. I got mine from Autozone, and the one here at least is always cool with returns. Hell, first I got a 10" and I couldn't find anywhere to fit it so I returned it for a 3" one (and forgot some of the packaging) and they were cool with it.

I think I ended up losing the tape that came with it and went with some 3M double sided tape I had laying around. I just hid the wires and transformers underneath the center console. If you get one of the 4-cigarette lighter extender things, I stuck it on the bottom of the lid on the center console, and I'm in the process of splicing it and connecting it to the ashtray light wire so it goes on with the rest of the illumination.