Ambulance Camper/ Expedition Rig Conversion FAQ

[Bikersmurf]

My ‘04 “factory stereo” stopped working in my ‘97. It had cut in and out a few times until one day it stopped working entirely.

I thought it was a fuse or wiring, but my Voltmeter said otherwise.
Close examination revealed a small break in the copper wire where it connects to the board. Pushed together it works… release it doesn’t.

Fingers crossed I can solder the gap and get it working again.

 

[fatmab]

View attachment 875600
My ‘04 “factory stereo” stopped working in my ‘97. It had cut in and out a few times until one day it stopped working entirely.

I thought it was a fuse or wiring, but my Voltmeter said otherwise.
Close examination revealed a small break in the copper wire where it connects to the board. Pushed together it works… release it doesn’t.

Fingers crossed I can solder the gap and get it working again.

Good find!

 

[Bikersmurf]

Good find!

A friend of mine through Landcruisers identified the part as an inductor. He said heavy components like it should be secured to prevent the soldered connections from breaking like this. I removed the component from the board and made a small jumper out of stranded wire. After scraping off some of the green insulating coating, I reinstalled the inductor. One pole is soldered to the back of the board and the other pole is now connected, via the jumper, to the copper trace I exposed on the front of the board.

Result… the Am/Fm/CD/MP3 player is working well.

This radio, out of a 2004 Ford (Escape?) was manufactured in a way that it could outlive the vehicle. However, none of the heavier components soldered on the circuit boards were secured by anything more than the solder.

It’s a sign of the way things are made now… save a few pennies per unit at the cost of longevity. Unfortunately, most people these days would simply toss it rather than repair it. I got lucky this time and was able to fix it for the cost of a scrap of wire and a small piece of solder.

Well also a newer soldering iron since the cheap one I bought off Amazon fell apart after using it 3-4 times. It was cheap garbage and I should have bought a better one at that time… live and learn. Now I’m buying local, and supporting out local economy. No more Amazon… as convenient as it was.