Zafira 2002 Multi Function Display

[Gio]

For some reason the lower part section of the display has stopped working. The very bottom of the displayed radio station name is the actual area of the display that does not show.

Any ideas of a possible cause ?

Thanks

Gio

 

[airsmoothed]

For some reason the lower part section of the display has stopped working.. The very bottom of the displayed radio station name is the actual area of the display that does not show.

Any ideas of a possible cause ?

Thanks

Gio

Having had a number of Vauxhalls with these displays they do tend to lose digits as they get older, but I wouldn't expect that to be happening on a 2002 car, the one in SWMBO's 2001 Zafira is fine as is the one in my 99 Vectra; the one in my '96 Vectra has started losing digits however. There's a web page somewhere which describes how to strip down and refurbrish these displays, if I can find it I'll post a link. Before doing anything more time consuming I'd try a gentle thump on the dash near the display ;-)

 

[Gio]

For some reason the lower part section of the display has stopped working. The very bottom of the displayed radio station name is the actual area of the display that does not show.

Any ideas of a possible cause ?

Thanks

Gio

Having had a number of Vauxhalls with these displays they do tend to lose digits as they get older, but I wouldn't expect that to be happening on a 2002 car, the one in SWMBO's 2001 Zafira is fine as is the one in my 99 Vectra; the one in my '96 Vectra has started losing digits however. There's a web page somewhere which describes how to strip down and refurbrish these displays, if I can find it I'll post a link. Before doing anything more time consuming I'd try a gentle thump on the dash near the display ;-)

Thanks Airsmoothed, I would appreciate the link if you locate it. I have been looking for MFD, MFD faults etc but other than bulb changes there was little else to spot. When you say they do start to loose digits, is that single complete digits or sections of the display running from left to right?

 

[airsmoothed]

Having had a number of Vauxhalls with these displays they do tend to lose digits as they get older, but I wouldn't expect that to be happening on a 2002 car, the one in SWMBO's 2001 Zafira is fine as is the one in my 99 Vectra; the one in my '96 Vectra has started losing digits however. There's a web page somewhere which describes how to strip down and refurbrish these displays, if I can find it I'll post a link.  Before doing anything more time consuming I'd try a gentle thump on the dash near the display ;-)

Thanks Airsmoothed, I would appreciate the link if you locate it.  I have been looking for MFD, MFD faults etc but other than bulb changes there was little else to spot. When you say they do start to loose digits, is that single complete digits or sections of the display running from left to right?

I still haven't tracked down the link, will have another look today. In essence what happens is the cable that connects the MFD to the dash starts to lose contact with the MFD PCB. Hence rows of the display start to disappear, i.e. sections of display as you describe them. Yours does sound rather new to start displaying this problem though. :-/

 

[Brim]

Have a read of various documents here (requires Adobe Reader). Mk 4 Astra is very similar to Zafira A. Could be just background illumination bulb gone in display, Can you see any digits if you look at display from an angle or shine a torch on display from above?

http://www.astraownersclub.com/vb/showthread.php?t=96753

 

[Gio]

snip

I still haven't tracked down the link, will have another look today. In essence what happens is the cable that connects the MFD to the dash starts to lose contact with the MFD PCB. Hence rows of the display start to disappear, i.e. sections of display as you describe them. Yours does sound rather new to start displaying this problem though. :-/

Thank you for that advice. It must have been a Friday car, hence the display is playing up after 55k. On closer examination the display has less actually missing than I initially thought and on close examination it must only be a row or two of the matrix as I can just make out the dots of the malformed characters.

It looks like either I put up with it or look to getting it out and examining cable feeds and the unit itself. 1st option should be ok if nothing further vanishes as removal looks a real pain because it looks to be quite integral with the dash.

see image

 

[Gio]

Have a read of various documents here (requires Adobe Reader). Mk 4 Astra is very similar to Zafira A. Could be just background illumination bulb gone in display, Can you see any digits if you look at display from an angle or shine a torch on display from above?

http://www.astraownersclub.com/vb/showthread.php?t=96753

Hi Brim, thank you for that. the display on closer examination is not as bad as I first thought. and appears to be just two rows of the matrix dots. Looking closely you can just make out the missing dots of the characters. The tp indicators etc at the bottom of the display are all there and I hope it either springs back to life or at worse stays as it is until I buck up the courage to set about getting it out.

 

[airsmoothed]

Hi Brim, thank you for that. the display on closer examination is not as bad as I first thought. and appears to be just two rows of the matrix dots. Looking closely you can just make out the missing dots of the characters. The tp indicators etc at the bottom of the display are all there and I hope it either springs back to life or at worse stays as it is until I buck up the courage to set about getting it out.

Personally I'd leave it then,it certainly isn't trivial to remove it. On my 13year old Vectra the missing rows do suddenly come back to life some days. I'm still loloking for the link!

 

[Mike (archive)]

Personally I'd leave it then,it certainly isn't trivial to remove it. On my 13year old Vectra the missing rows do suddenly come back to life some days. I'm still loloking for the link!

I too have a 13 year old vectra and it suffers the same fault, and for the same reasons. It is largely dependant on the time of year and levels of dampness, as its no longer a dry car. We have had it for 11 years now, and it started doing this at about 6 years old so I bought a new display which worked. but is now as bad as the old one. but at the time I did pull the old one apart and discovered the cause (in my case at least) was where the data ribbon cable clamped onto the glass plate of the display. there was some form of either corrosion or maybe even mould where the connections meet, as they are simply pressed together with some form of clamp. Unfortunately I broke it trying to fix it, but the principle is probably the same as the display on the zaf. We had a zax too, a 2000 1.8 and the display occasionally had hiccups but I just learned to live with it.

Mike