A few days ago I got frustrated and punched the infotainment screen on my 22 Explorer ST. The screen died. It went black, just like if power was instantly cut. Instead of purchasing a new one, I decided to fix mine.
After some digging and reverse engineering, I found the issue was a blown fuse internal to the touchscreen. Heres how to fix it. Hopefully this will help someone in the future if they have the same issue.
NOTE: the actual fix to this is kind of hacky and does take some technical skill. Read through the whole tutorial before attempting
First you must remove the actual screen. There are videos on how to do this one the internet so I wont go into detail on how to do it. Just be sure to disconnect your battery.
Once this is done, start by removing the smaller torx screws on the outer shell
Next slide a flat head screw driver around the outer edge on the plastic to separate the outer shell. It has some plastic clips that are pretty durable, but still be careful.
Pop it off, then youll see the remaining larger torx screws. I didn't get a pic of this, but i think its 5 screws. Separate the screen from the inner shell by again sliding a thin screw driver between the screen and the inner plastic shell and prying it out. It is also connected by some double sided tape so there will be some resistance even with the screws gone.
Finally the screen is out but theres still more dis assembly.
Next you will find 8 8mm nuts that hold down the metal shielding. Remove the nuts to get access to the circuit board.
disconnect the ribbon cables from the screen and lift the board out.
This is board looks daunting but don't let it scare you. There are 2 main power regions to this board. Low voltage is in blue. That powers the logical stuff like the deserializer and the touch screen chip. Higher voltage (even though its still not too high) is in red. That is for your back light.
Each Region is protected by a surface mounted fuse. Grab a multimeter and CHECK CONTINUITY. If the fuses are broken, theres your problem. If they arent broken then the rest of this wont help you. In my case the low voltage logical side fuse was busted.
This part is where it gets hacky, perform at your own risk.
(above is the completed work). Ford obviously does not supply their circuit diagram, nor was the marking on the fuse legible, so I had to do some guestimating. That fuse is about a quarter size of a grain of rice. With the size plus it being on the logical side, i assume it is rated for .5 amps on the high end (but more likely .25 amps). Again these are assumptions, if someone can find the exact rating, it would be super helpful. I learned a trick from an old mentor of mine that in a pinch a fuse can be replaced with a thin wire that has around the same current limit as the fuse. I found the thinnest wire I could find, which is about 38awg. This wire has a normal current limit of about .13 amps. Way under the .5 amps, but its better to be on the lower end.
Carefully solder on the wire from one end of the fuse to the other. Be very delicate, if too much heat is applied you risk damaging the board. Once the wire is on, check continuity again. It there is continuity between both ends of the fuse, then your board is fixed. I do recommend covering the fuse/wire with a piece of electrical tape to avoid any unwanted grounding.
Reassemble the board and the screen by doing the steps in reverse. I put mine back in today, and now I can once again enjoy the glory of the Explorer ST infotainment center. Hope this helps!
PS: It still would be better if an actual fuse was used rather than a thin piece of wire. If anyone can find out the current rating of that fuse, please let me know.
After some digging and reverse engineering, I found the issue was a blown fuse internal to the touchscreen. Heres how to fix it. Hopefully this will help someone in the future if they have the same issue.
NOTE: the actual fix to this is kind of hacky and does take some technical skill. Read through the whole tutorial before attempting
First you must remove the actual screen. There are videos on how to do this one the internet so I wont go into detail on how to do it. Just be sure to disconnect your battery.
Once this is done, start by removing the smaller torx screws on the outer shell
Next slide a flat head screw driver around the outer edge on the plastic to separate the outer shell. It has some plastic clips that are pretty durable, but still be careful.
Pop it off, then youll see the remaining larger torx screws. I didn't get a pic of this, but i think its 5 screws. Separate the screen from the inner shell by again sliding a thin screw driver between the screen and the inner plastic shell and prying it out. It is also connected by some double sided tape so there will be some resistance even with the screws gone.
Finally the screen is out but theres still more dis assembly.
Next you will find 8 8mm nuts that hold down the metal shielding. Remove the nuts to get access to the circuit board.
disconnect the ribbon cables from the screen and lift the board out.
This is board looks daunting but don't let it scare you. There are 2 main power regions to this board. Low voltage is in blue. That powers the logical stuff like the deserializer and the touch screen chip. Higher voltage (even though its still not too high) is in red. That is for your back light.
Each Region is protected by a surface mounted fuse. Grab a multimeter and CHECK CONTINUITY. If the fuses are broken, theres your problem. If they arent broken then the rest of this wont help you. In my case the low voltage logical side fuse was busted.
This part is where it gets hacky, perform at your own risk.
(above is the completed work). Ford obviously does not supply their circuit diagram, nor was the marking on the fuse legible, so I had to do some guestimating. That fuse is about a quarter size of a grain of rice. With the size plus it being on the logical side, i assume it is rated for .5 amps on the high end (but more likely .25 amps). Again these are assumptions, if someone can find the exact rating, it would be super helpful. I learned a trick from an old mentor of mine that in a pinch a fuse can be replaced with a thin wire that has around the same current limit as the fuse. I found the thinnest wire I could find, which is about 38awg. This wire has a normal current limit of about .13 amps. Way under the .5 amps, but its better to be on the lower end.
Carefully solder on the wire from one end of the fuse to the other. Be very delicate, if too much heat is applied you risk damaging the board. Once the wire is on, check continuity again. It there is continuity between both ends of the fuse, then your board is fixed. I do recommend covering the fuse/wire with a piece of electrical tape to avoid any unwanted grounding.
Reassemble the board and the screen by doing the steps in reverse. I put mine back in today, and now I can once again enjoy the glory of the Explorer ST infotainment center. Hope this helps!
PS: It still would be better if an actual fuse was used rather than a thin piece of wire. If anyone can find out the current rating of that fuse, please let me know.
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