My Dash Died!

[Adam NZ]

Hi there, new to this forum so hoping someone can help.. I bought a 2003 Stagea 250 RX a week ago (in New Zealand) and a couple of days in was dismayed to find that the whole center console stopped working.

The air con is stuck in full on cold mode and the stereo doesn't work at all. Can someone suggest if there is anything I could check? I've checked all the fuses in the kick panel and in the battery compartment and all seems fine. Last night we pulled as much of the console and dash apart to see if there were any loose connections but all seemed fine. It appears that the navigation system was removed before export from Japan. Everything was working fine when I got the car. Also when I turn the lights on, there is a light in the cassette deck but thats the most life I can get out of it.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Cheers

Adam.

[iamhe77]

Hi Adam, welcome to the SAU boards.

A mate of mine had a similar problem, but with an RS.

It happened just before the car was due for a service, so he took it to a dealership that was prepared to look at his car.

They did a "factory reset" using Consult 2 and the problem was gone.

Also, if you have lights on but the car won't turn over, you may have turned on the Fog lights by accident.

If you have, the car will squeal at you when you try to get out. The fog light is located on the inside of the light/indicator stalk. Just turn the rotating part of the stalk towards you.

If that does not help... I dunno... Sorry.

Edited January 5, 2009 by iamhe77

[Chris Rogers]

swap the radio out for another one.. that is the part at fault. I do one a month with this fault. last one was an AXIS.

[Adam NZ]

swap the radio out for another one.. that is the part at fault. I do one a month with this fault. last one was an AXIS.

Yup. Bang on, that turned out to be the issue. Since the stereo and aircon units appear to be a single unit. Turns out to be a very expensive part too (>1000NZD), so the guy I bought the car off slapped in a 2nd hand one, with a broken disc changer.

Anyone know if I can replace the stereo and put in a decent head deck instead?

[Chris Rogers]

if your old chnager worked then if you are mechanically inclined you can swap the two around so you have a working unit.