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Toyota RAV4 Radio LCD Display Problems
Has anyone noticed their radio LCD getting distorted. Today my LCD just went wacko, does not show the station number but some square marks and slightly visible compact disks numbers.
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Jimmy
Jimmy Drew
It continues to misbehave even after the weather has become normal again, so while heat may have or may have not triggered it, the underlying issue is not dependant on heat. I am suspecting a short or electrical issue in the head unit or power to it, and since others are seeing it, it must be a quality or assembly issue at the factory. We are about to take it into Toyota to get it resolved.
I brought the car in April 06. It is now August 06, and I am already replacing the
CD player for a second time. After googling this issue, I find that it is endemic
to Lexus multi-CD players and certain Toyotas, yet Lexus has not done anything to
address the problem (and the dealer acts surprised when you bring it back with this
problem). This seems unacceptable in a car with an MSRP over $46K.
It covers the regular 6-cd radio and the JBL 6-cd radio.
People have mentioned this to their dealers and gotten replacements.
Intermittent control problem
Symptoms:
Player erratically turns off when CD is playing
Sometimes ejects the CD and turns off
Display goes blank or displays rectangles, or otherwise rendered unreadable
When buttons are pressed, player turns off and/or radio turns off
Otherwise, CD player and radio are usable.
Troubleshooting Tip:
Player and radio are workable. Only the display and controls are not working properly, which isolates the problem to the connector shown in the picture.
Root Cause:
Bad connector design - pins get stuck in the connector and fail to maintain spring-type pressure on opposing receptacle. This is due to long-term warpage of the connector material from temperature and humidity changes which binds the pins.
Solution:
Dealers usually replace the radio/CD player under warranty
DYIers can fix without replacing (if not under warranty)
Fix on Toyota Corolla (2009-2013):
1. Remove the radio using instruction here:
Tip: only dismantle the top portion of the panel. You will have to loosen the lower left side panel strip to get access to the upper left side strip. Then remove left and right side strips, then the upper vent assembly, then the radio.
2. Remove the front radio panel by loosening the 4 side screws, and releasing locking tabs (picture 1 & 2).
3. Using a large pin or needle, bend the pins outward on the connector shown, about .05 to .1 inch (not too much, as you don't want the pins to bind on the receptacle, or worse, to bend out of shape and render the connector unusable). You should notice some of the pins binding in the connector; they should be bent far enough to release the stress (picture 3).
4. Reassemble the front panel to the radio assembly.
5. Plug in the radio assembly and test prior to assembling the screws and tabbed parts.
There is no guarantee that this is a permanent fix. The pins could bind again over time as they did at first. The only permanent solution is to buy a different audio set. All these Toyota standard factory CD/radios have the same connector, and they all have a probability of eventually having this issue.
But the last representative I talked to suggested that anyone having similar problems with Toyota radio systems both call and email so that complaints can be documented and possible reimbursements issued.
https://www.toyota.com/support/contact-us
A Google search revealed that problems with Toyota radio systems may be a common problem:
(https://www.carcomplaints.com/Toyota/RAV4/2014/accessories-interior/stereo_not_working.shtml)