Expert: Garry S. McLemore - 8/23/2006

Question
Hi Garry,
In my 2003 Mazda Protege LX, the LCD display screen sometimes does not show all shutters, leaving one to only guess what time it is.  When I press on the upper right hand corner of the screen, the display works as normal like it should.  It will also work at random times and sometimes won't.  Is there a faulty connection? How could I fix this and where would I look to fix/ check wire connectivity?  (I'm not very tech savvy but can follow directions) Thanks and looking forward to hearing your response!

Answer
well, it does sound like a bad connection on one or more backlight lamps. after removing stereo, you'll probably see several screws and plastic catches holding the face on, then more small screws and catches and connectors you'll have to deal with in order to get it apart enough to get to lamps. also, they don't want to go back together easily, so what i'd do......visit a junkyard and replace whole stereo with exact model. make sure numbers match up, or you might just have a severe wiring problem.