2009 Aspen Factory Nav / Radio problems - help!
 

Just picked up a 2009 4wd limited with the hemi. So far so great. The owner said the radio/nav was having problems so he purchased a new one for $1000 less than a year ago from the dealer.

Driving the car home was fine yesterday, but today, the radio went out. First the screen went blank, but the radio still played, but no onscreen buttons showed (or worked). Then I clicked off the radio, and it would not click back on.

Parked for a while, then came back, and the radio was working. Put in my nav destination, listened to the radio, drove down the road, then the screen got some grey horizontal lines on it and was not updating. All I could do was turn it off. Would not come back on.

Turned the car off, left, turned it back on, no nav no radio, black screen.

Came back an hour later, started up the car and for now it is working fine.

Not sure how to approach this or where to turn next. Searched the forum but did not find any answers. Is this radio used in other cars? Can anyone help?

Below are pics of the radio/nav when it is working.


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Hi 2009-Aspen-Hemi,

If you decide to visit your local dealership for further diagnosis I'd be happy to offer assistance if needed, just PM our page with your VIN and let me know!

Andrea
Chrysler Social Care Specialist

You have a short somewhere within the display or the path to the display. This could be something as simple as a loose ribbon cable or cold solder joint to a more complex issue such as a video driver going bad. In any case, it's not something that will be easy to fix unless you have a good knowledge of electronics at the component level. Especially since the components keep getting smaller and smaller. I have repaired a few shorts in radios and other electronic devices before. However, I've been playing with electronics since I was probably 9 and I've got an associates degree in electronics.

You can try the dealer, but chances are they are just going to tell you that you need a new radio since they won't work on the internal components of the radio either. At that point you are paying for the diagnostics of that solution, the new radio if you choose to get one and the install of that radio (unless you choose to install it yourself).

I personally would recommend going to a local car audio shop and ask if they have a hookup on a repair shop. Many of them have someone they use to fix their own audio components. Sometimes for less than $100. I would go this route first before going the expensive dealer route.

This is what it looks like when it is locking up. Not sure what to do, I did PM Chrysler Cares as requested above, have not heard back yet. Any ideas?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.chr...fb435ca22b.jpg

Hi 2009-Aspen-Hemi,

I just responded to your PM!

Andrea
Chrysler Social Care Specialist

Definitely an internal short/loose connection. You can take it to a dealer, but like I said earlier, they won't work on the internals of a radio. Just sell you another one.

I wanted to let everyone know how this was resolved. I took it into my local dealer with the paperwork showing the new nav system was installed about 18 months ago. They swapped the head unit out with another (refurb) unit for free. It seems to be working fine as of this writing.