Mondeo MK4.5 MCA radio/navigation blank screen.

  • Hello,

    I apologize for posting in English on a German forum, but my German is really, really bad(from Sweden).


    I'm usually active on talkford, but I haven't found anyone with enough expertise to help me with this problem.

    I've had issues with the MCA display flickering and showing artifacts before, but since about a week I get no image at all anymore. Sure it might be broken and needs replacing but I really want to look at every possible solution before buying something else (or a replacement).

    I have removed the battery twice to see if something needed resetting. Before the reset, everything worked but no image on display (even though it lights up). After reset, nothing works, maybe because I cannot enter the radio PIN on the display. The heating seems to be stuck at like 28-30C and the buttons and wheels for controlling the temperature doesn't do anything anymore (they worked before, but you had to guess the temp since you couldn't read it of the display). The radio worked as well.

    I took the entire unit out and put it inside to heat up and dry up (if there was any condensation) but it hasn't helped. I've opened it up and I can't see any issues at least. No loose connections or traces of moisture on the chips.

    I read the DTC's with ForScan today, but I'm unsure if the adapter I have is good enough to get everything. I've attached the saved information to the post.

    Any suggestions or tips would be so very much appreciated, because I'm so stuck right now and a replacement unit is very expensive (if I can even find one).
    And we really need the car at Christmas...

    If I have missed any information please let me know and I'll append it asap.

    The most important thing right now is to get the AC-controller working. The display/radio/navigation is seconday.

  • Wenn man tot ist, ist das für einen selber nicht schlimm, weil man ja tot ist ... schlimm ist es für die anderen .... genauso ist das übrigens wenn man doof ist! :D

  • Sorry, no idea about your description. :pardon:

    If it would be the NX from the pre facelift, I would guess this is the known weakness of 2 integrated circuits (RAM).

    Just see what Ossi posted.

    :00000156: Wir sind über'n Berg, es geht bergab! Unser treuer Begleiter bisher in: D, A, CH, F, I , MC, L, B, NL, DK, S

  • Thanks for answering Endurance.

    I'm starting to think maybe it's the LCD that has failed, since everything still worked until I removed the battery. If the RAM was bad, then I'm thinking that the radio and AC wouldn't have worked.

  • I fear there is no short answer to this. I ran into the same trouble a while ago and it looks as if there are several possible faults which may cause this kind of issue.

    What i can tell is, that it is completely untelated to the mainboard (and also the mainboard RAMs) and only located on the graphicsboard.

    I habe two such defect units at hand, one from an McA and one from an NX. I spend many many hours of searching, measureing und component swapping, mostly without an luck. On the MCA it looks like it was just a defect capacitor, shorting the converter of the LCD voltage boost regulator output. But this is just a hunch.

    Unfortunately there are no spare boards available on the market, especially not for the MCA+ with video input.

    "Lernen ist Erfahrung. Alles andere ist einfach nur Information."

    Albert Einstein

  • I fear there is no short answer to this. I ran into the same trouble a while ago and it looks as if there are several possible faults which may cause this kind of issue.

    What i can tell is, that it is completely untelated to the mainboard (and also the mainboard RAMs) and only located on the graphicsboard.

    I have two such defect units at hand, one from an McA and one from an NX. I spend many many hours of searching, measuring and component swapping, mostly without luck. On the MCA it looks like it was just a defect capacitor, shorting the converter of the LCD voltage boost regulator output. But this is just a hunch.

    Unfortunately there are no spare boards available on the market, especially not for the MCA+ with video input.

    Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me!
    Then I'll probably not spend any more time on it, too bad :/
    Considering the prices for a used replacement unit, I will probably go with a separate AC controller and then add another stereo. Don't know if it's better to look for a third party unit or go with the cheaper stereos from another Mondeo though. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please feel free to let me know :)
    Would be nice to keep the reverse camera though as it really helps when caravanning.

    Edit: Do you know which capacitor on the MCA? Might give it a go replacing that in that case, before giving up.

    Edit2: I've also lost Convers+ but I'm guessing that has to do with the head unit not working.

  • Is there some website where you can search for used car parts in Germany, except Ebay?
    Here in Sweden we have Bildelsbasen.se, I'm wondering if you guys have something similar.

  • Around this chips is the boost-converter for the base LCD voltages:

    Measure these voltages:

    "Lernen ist Erfahrung. Alles andere ist einfach nur Information."

    Albert Einstein

  • Around these chips is the boost converter for the base LCD voltages:

    Measure these voltages:

    Thanks so much again Go4IT!

    I'm guessing it's possible to power the MCA outside the car? By applying voltage to the relevant pins on the quadlock connector.

    Edit: at the same time, the LCD seems to get power since it lights up, but maybe that is separate from actually showing stuff on the screen.

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Alex.L (22. Dezember 2022 um 16:50)

  • LCD+ is 12V

    LCD is 2.4V

    5V is 5V

    Not sure if/what you wanted me to measure between LCD+ and -?

    Thanks again!

    Edit:
    So I put the head unit back together again and plugged it in to the car. Same thing, white blank screen.
    Then I put in my CD with the 2015 MCA update in and after a while the Convers+ menu came back, still greyed out though since I cannot input the radio code.
    The screen started to respond to button pushes (the ones around the screen) by trying to change to the relevant screen I suppose.
    I really wish there was a way to input the code without the touchscreen...

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Alex.L (23. Dezember 2022 um 10:40)

  • First of all, this will be a journey, not a quick trip, so prepare to spend a lot of time for this to fix. It's perfect to have an alternative meanwhile, as you will by adding a separate climate control unit. Hope you electronic skills are high and also your equipment. You should be familiar with SMD soldering/desoldering and should have a digital Oscilloscope, Measurement equipment and an adjustable powersource.

    To power the unit you just need to apply 12V (~1.8 - 2.0A) to the pins 12 (GND) and 15 (+) of the Quadlock, that's enough: https://mk4-wiki.denkdose.de/artikel/audio_…lock#versorgung

    The "white" you see is due to the background illumination of the display. Normally the crystals inside the LCD screen are aligned to shade the light from it and/or form color filters to only pass color components of a specific amount. This way the pixels turns black/white or any color inbetwen. Such LCDs needs a lot of different voltage to work. They are derived out of this converter.

    You should always measure to GND:

    The 5V you measure is the input power of the boost-converter MC34063 (the chip in the middle of the red circle). It shows that the converter is getting the needed input power to work, good!

    The "LCD+" should be the output voltage the converter produces. In my writings it was about +12V (which fits your measuring). The "LCD-" should produce negative voltage, -8,3V.

    Check the rectifier diodes (BAV99, SOT-23 case) as they might melded (use a simple DMM for it):

    Also check the caps at least measure resistance if not capacity. The should not have a resistance, if they have, they are melted.

    "Lernen ist Erfahrung. Alles andere ist einfach nur Information."

    Albert Einstein

  • Thanks so much yet again for your time and effort!

    Oscilloscope is something I don't own unfortunately, will have to look into borrowing one maybe.
    I have done SMD soldering on one or two occasions before, but not extensively.

    With Christmas tomorrow this will take a while, I'll report back when I've checked of your list here.

  • Just a quick update.

    I found a guy in Poland selling parts from his MCA head unit, so I bought the graphics card from him. I'm hoping this will solve my issue.

    I will try and repair my broken one in any case, but I won't be in the same rush/panic ?

  • Fingers crossed for you!

    Hope to hear again when you can progress in finding the issue.

    "Lernen ist Erfahrung. Alles andere ist einfach nur Information."

    Albert Einstein

  • Small update again .

    Got the graphics card today, installed it, reprogrammed the BCM back to support the AC controller and display.

    Now I have the correct backlight but the screen is still not showing any information...

    But, the AC controller is responding and I can turn the screen on and off. There are no lights on the controller buttons though. Now I've disconnected the battery again over night and I'll resume tomorrow.

    Still open to suggestions.

    Thanks!

  • Well, this is unexpected... i would suggest to inspect the Keyboard PCB for fluid/corrosion

    "Lernen ist Erfahrung. Alles andere ist einfach nur Information."

    Albert Einstein

  • Well, this is unexpected... I would suggest to inspect the keyboard PCB for fluid/corrosion

    Yes it was.

    I've already gone over every millimeter of all the PCBs, so it's probably not that (unless it's impossible to see with the naked eye).

    When powered on separate from the car, should any text be visible on the display?

    Edit: I did try to run the 2015 MCA upgrade, that's how I got Convers+ back (even though its still greyed out). Might it have to do with that?

    Edit 2: No difference today unfortunately.

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Alex.L (4. Januar 2023 um 09:36)

  • And now I get this. It doesn't show up at first when plugging it in and I haven't been able to figure out what makes it show these lines, but I don't think they show up unless I plug in the AC connectors in the black box controller.
    This is driving me a bit crazy now. And I can't shake the feeling that maybe something else is wrong.

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