I only brought one last year for £50 but I gave it to a friend so there are still some out there to be found my one has just gone it didn’t flash at all it worked on my way home from work and didn’t work on the way to work the next day.
It will continue to leak on the bad capacitors… same as ECU… Only this has a double board, get it out and try to send it off to @dodgemonkey place.
Dave
Did you try pushing the buttons, I know that sounds stupid, but you can turn these off, pressing one of the other buttons starts it back again. Don’t know if it is the same problem related but the aircon fan comes on at startup and pressing the off button stops it. Well, it does on mine, @jerry_SC gave me that tip when I thought I’d got gremlins when I started it up for the first time in don’t know how many years. A big relief I can tell you.
Or maybe its the green, 'tis late 
Terry 
2 Likes
Does anybody have faulty ones they want to sell? I will pay £20 plus post on the condition they haven’t been buggered with and the plastic isn’t broken. PM me with what ever you have.
Joe
I can just about handle no display, what does my head in is the constant and random beeping from the nadgered unit. Gets worse if I try to turn the unit off, it wont go off and its trying desperately to survive. Its been a long painful death since it started to flicker 
Yo @mickJ, how are you, long time no see. My old one never beeped just the screen disappeared. I’ll have another look at mine tonight and see if the new one beeps. 
Terry
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Just throwing this experience at you guys , in case it means anything to anyone.
When I did not have a “Instrument illumination dimmer control fitted” my display would be fine until I turned my lights on - then it would go into a BLANK mode, until I touched a button, then it would briefly wake up.
Means nothing to me , as I have insufficient knowledge on these cars.
I’m just glad it works great, now I’ve got my dimmer fitted. Oh and for reference- the dimmers from the GTO cars works a treat in a GT.
M
Hi Terry, I’m good ta, I’m a bit like my GTO…just been ticking over for the last 12 months. Looking forward to getting to a couple of shows this year 
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Can post 96 units be used in pre 96’s and if not why, I’m assuming these units are controling solonoids and motors to adjust and direct the heat and control the fan.
Enda
Hi Joe,
I am sure I have one in my garage I will check for you when I get home
drop me a message and I will send some pics for you to see if any are what your looking for
08750176174
The Early units have the Aircon ECU in a black box underneath the Display
The later ones have the ECU as part of on a chip inside the display unit itself
Its seriously massive pain to swap over and not worth the effort to do
2 Likes
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the reply, is it the wiring to the unit that needs to be adapted or do other components need swopped or adjusted also.
Enda
every single part is different the wiring is not the same and the connectors are wired up different, its a major headache to do it …
Hi @martyn1, checked with mine yesterday. When I was driving in daylight the screen was on, when I turned my lights on the screen went blank, when I the turned up the dimmer switch the display gradually increased until it was nearly as good as when the lights were off.
Terry
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Ive got 4 sitting on a shelf if anyones stuck … pm me a offer
Hi Everybody
I hope you don’t mind me adding to this on going post but electronics design and service was my job for nearly 30 years and I thought some of you might be interested in a little education just for the sake of it.
Firstly, all electrical components will fail over time. That time will vary based on many factors. For instance, a standard, off the shelf typical capacitor will last around 10-20 years. This time will be reduced if left in a circuit, un-charged for periods of time or if it is regularly subjected to extremes of hot and cold or if it is under rated and being over worked. You can change the life parameters by using tantalum capacitors or ones of a better quality or heat tolerance but they will all eventually fail. Mitsubishi mostly use Nichicon electrolytic capacitors which are one of the best you can buy unless you go to military grade. Given that the heater display and display controller is in a confined space with continued heating and cooling, with nearly 30 years of on / off use and often idle for months at a time, I would say they have performed outstandingly. Lets face it, when the TV starts playing up after 5 years, we just throw it away without a thought as to what component failed and yet, the TV sits in a nice stable environment day after day. The semiconductors also have a lifespan which is affected by similar conditions but also gets hot itself which just to adds to the problems. With all that said, lets look at the problems and how to sort them.
Don’t get confused between the fault and the cause. You may well repair the fault but without finding the cause, the fault will re occur and with each repair you reduce the life of the board and risk much more costly repairs.
Capacitor failure is a really common fault that gives rise to the symptoms of blink or flickering display. Flickering is the warning to get the problem sorted as soon as possible before something more catastrophic happens. Dead display means it has already happened. Then ask yourself if the capacitor was dying of old age or did something else fail and damage the capacitors. Within the display circuit is a 5v regulator IC4. It’s nothing that special at just 150m/a rating but when it goes wrong, it can short circuit and send 12v direct to many other components that are only set up for 5v. Have you seen the burnt out tracks or resistors ? There you go. This can also cause the failure of many of the capacitors. There is also a number of other transistors and in particular TR2. This is a much higher current rated component which can also cause untold damage. Are you starting to understand where I am coming from now? Yes the capacitors can and will fail with age but always go looking for a cause before you go swapping them out and patting yourself on the back.
Now lets look at repairs. If you don’t have a digital volt meter, you should probably stop right there. If you don’t have at least a vacuum rework station, it’s also time to stop thinking about going any further. The printed circuit board used in the display is a very high quality board but it is also multi layer and has plate through holes with a very heat sapping fluorescent display. Any attempt to carry out repairs with solder wick is likely to end in tears.
After removing the two joined boards from the plastic case, you will be faced with a display which needs to be removed at least on one side before you get to work on fault finding.
With the display removed, you can start the visual check. If there are no signs of over heating around any of the components or tracks, you can let out a sigh of relief because the Gods may be on your side today. Just change all of the capacitors with the same uf rating and the same or higher voltage rating. Be sure to use 105 deg capacitors and it’s worth paying a couple of extra pennies for Nichicon capacitors. Keep the job tidy by getting the same physical size. Once the capacitors are removed, you must clean underneath and inspect for any track damage. Put it all back together and lets hope you are up and running.
If you have any components overheated or tracks burnt, it’s time to put the thing back together or get the multi meter out. Start with components around the burnt component or track. Look for short circuits, especially around the regulator and TR2. You will probably find 1 or 2 resistors open circuit and a track or 2 which has gone open circuit or high resistance. The resistor value is very important so don’t think that a value change doesn’t matter. The extra few ohms can put an extra loading on other components and cause them to fail quicker.
While the unit is apart, it’s a good time to check the 2 bulbs on the board so that the buttons can be seen at night.
When testing the units, be sure to match the correct display with its controller. For the orange display it is controller MB609591 and for the newer brighter display it will be controller MB897173.
You can swap them in pairs and they seem to work fine.
If at this point, you are still in need of help, it is probably time to pass it to someone else. I see a couple of places have already been suggested so you may want to give them a try but if you are still stuck I will do it for you. I charge £50 including parts and return postage if you haven’t attempted any repairs yourself. Its £175 if you have because I don’t really have the time to spend looking for what you did wrong before I start on the actual repair. The price does not include any cosmetic parts or breakages. I am really busy right now so it may be up to 2 weeks turn around. Good luck to you all and I hope this has at least helped you out and been an education.
Joe
11 Likes
Hi Joe,
I have also worked in a similar area many years ago , mostly on Tv’s . I got a kit of components from another member here with the intention of refurbing a couple of units, but for £50 , not having a vacum station and your superior knowledge , I’m going to send mine to you.
I’ll pm you for your address.
Enda
2 Likes
Can Joe’s post be added to How to section ?
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Only if he repairs the fluckers, but then again, if we can’t repair them but he can, how’s it going to help being in the ‘How to’ section? Ah ■■■■ that sounded harsh, sorry @spiros, just got up, clocks changed, have to go shopping, have to go to dads, seems like not a good day today. 
Terry
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