Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio and Centre Buttons Inop

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Thu 10 Dec 2020 13:34
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio and Centre Buttons Inop - A3 A4

Hi as always, just out of 2nd hand warranty, my daughters Astra has this morning shown the above problem.

The central display has flickering lines, no radio function, apart from the steering wheel controls and the buttons above (parking sensor ec) have also ceased to function.

The car was fine when last left and has shown no other problems. I suspect water ingress but any other ideas or where to look as ever gratefully received.

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Thu 10 Dec 2020 14:16
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio and Centre Buttons Inop - elekie&a/c doctor
First off , I would disconnect the battery for 10 mins , and retry. A low voltage in the system can cause all sorts of issues .
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Thu 10 Dec 2020 14:49
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio and Centre Buttons Inop - A3 A4

Thank you, for your reply.

Would disconnecting it cause any other reprogramming issues, such as radio code etc?

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Thu 10 Dec 2020 14:57
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio and Centre Buttons Inop - elekie&a/c doctor
Should be no problem. Radio code held within the electronics of the car .
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Thu 10 Dec 2020 20:52
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio. - A3 A4

Thanks again.

Disconnecting the battery made no difference.

The display just has bright flashing horizontal lines bright lines on it when the ignition is on and they still appear as dark lines with the ignition off (no back lighting)

It appears to be all radio related as none of the radio buttons work, yet you can still change the volume, source etc from the steering wheel.

I was wrong earlier the other buttons on the consul do work as does the illumination.

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Thu 10 Dec 2020 21:11
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio. - elekie&a/c doctor
Looks like the screen is goosed. Search the Astra forums and I think you will find this is not an uncommon fault . Not a cheap fix either . May be cheaper to fit an aftermarket radio unit .
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Thu 10 Dec 2020 21:38
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio. - A3 A4

Cheers, as I suspected looks like a faulty LCD screen.

Would a 2nd hand display eg Ebay be an easy slot in, or is it unique to the radio?

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Thu 10 Dec 2020 21:47
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio. - elekie&a/c doctor
I suspect the screen is security coded to the car , so a s/hand unit probably won’t work .
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Sat 3 Apr 2021 18:49
Astra J 2013 SRi A16XER - No Central Display, Radio. - A3 A4

Good weather so finally got around to stripping the dash.

It was indeed the display unit. Got it out,,opened it up and spotted some verdigris on the pins of the internal main micro ribbon cable connector. Carefully disconnected the ribbon cable and cleaned both ribbon cable and connector with a fibreglass pencil. Reconnected and reinstalled it, all working fine which was a relief as I guess it would be a costly dealer diagnosis and fix.

No idea how moisture got in there it's pretty much sealed, no other sign of it.

Hopefully of help to anyone with a similar problem. Plenty of videos online as far as stripping the dash goes, just a Philips screwdriver, 7mm socket and trim tool required, all fairly simple.

Edited by A3 A4 on 03/04/2021 at 18:59

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