Just wondered, for those who had this radio overheating problem, has Ford issued anything official abouut it? I went to my dealers service dept today, and the guy behind the desk looked at me like I was a chump, and said the usual, "I wasn't aware of anything like that...I'll look into it and give ya a call." I'd feel better walking in there with something straight from the horses mouth.

Thanks in advance.

 

my local service department told me that ford is now putting small cooling fans in the radios. however, i've had mine replaced with so-called "cooled" radio and it just began acting up again. cd player started skipping erratically and then "cd hot" showed up on radio monitor just before cd quit playing. i'm off to the dealership monday to have them look at it.

 

Which year truck and which radio is overheating? When did Ford start adding the fan?

 

That CD player scared the devil out of me! I'm cruising up 1-95 with the heat on (playing a CD), and after about 25 miles I start smelling hot plastic! I thought the wiring was melting under the dash LOL I always fear the worst it seems! I pulled the CD out and it was scortching hot. I'm going to have them order me one when I go in for my next service. Mine never actually showed "hot cd" though, but it darn sure was hot!

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F150 SuperCrew XLT

5.4L, class III towing, Oxford White, Parchment interior, Sliding rear window, Ford Duraliner bedliner, Power drivers seat, auto lights, 3.55, born on 10/00...more to come!

 

as far as i know, the cooling fan is a recent development. just got back from the dealership and they plan on replacing the entire cd player/radio again. hopefully this will fix it, but i'm not holding my breath.

 

Folks,

Tehre is an internal Ford service memo that goes out to the Ford authorized "entertainment" system repair shops.

According to my Service Manager in Illinois, Ford is replacing these "HOT CD's" with a unit that has a fan. There is a new CD player that is replacing the earlier repleced CD palyers with a reported larger fan; however, these new CD players are 4 weeks out on order. Mine is due to be replaced sometime in June when these newer CD players become available. Ford dealers do not have access to these ISM's (Internal Service Memos) - only the authorized repair shops.


I will have my repair order posted on here once I get the work done so that part numbers and repair work can be viewed bt all.

Cheers
Cheers

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2001 SCrew Lariat, 5.4L, 4x4, Arizona Beige, CD, Leather 60/40, Skids, Slider, 3.55LS, Tow Package, Block Heater. Future Mods: Plastic Bed Liner, Westin Chromed Stainless Step Bars, Front Hitch, Warn semi-hidden winch. Bed Cap. K&N Filter

 

i'm not really sure which radios and years are affected. my 01' s-crew has the single in-dash cd player. the cd player works fine until it gets hot and then it quits. when this happens, ejected cds are almost too hot to touch with your hand! supposedly the cooling fan is supposed to be the remedy but so far it didn't work on the first replacement radio installed in my truck. interestingly enough, it appears that this problem isn't just with the supercrews. i recently read a test report on the new ford escape and the journalist mentioned the same thing happening on their test vehicle!

 

Although I have the CD changer in the console, I often play tapes in the dash, and they get extremely hot on long trips. I am concerned about the affect on the tapes themselves, as well as the long term performance of the head unit.
Any comments?

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Craig Brossman
2001 SCrew 5.4L 4WD Lariat
Az Beige/Wedgewood Blue
Cpts. chairs, Moon roof, Tow package, CD changer
3.55 lim. slip, Rear slider, Skid plates
Mods:Ford Bedliner, Ford BugGaurd, Westin Step Bar, WeatherBoot Floor Mats

 

i just had my in-dash cd player replaced for the second time. now i can actually hear a fan running in the vicinity of the cd player whenever the vehicle is started. so far...so good!

[This message has been edited by TroyK (edited 05-26-2001).]

 

Is it only the indash CD or is the indash tape affected as well?

 

i believe the only reason ford is offering to change the cd players (and developed a fix in the first place) is because the cd player would get so hot it quit working. i don't know if the cassette players have had this problem. i've read here that they get hot, but i don't know if anyone has had a problem with them quitting.

btw, this hot radio business seems to be a big issue for ford in quite a few vehicle lines. not only are f150s affected. the new escape and even old generation explorers have had the same problems.

 

I'm on my third CD player in less than a year and it's malfunctioning. Not sure if the coming of hot weather in Louisiana is compounding the problem or what the deal is. I rarely play the CD except when traveling so I left the first one in for months until the truck was in the dealership for other things. Then the second player malfunctioned immediately. I suspect it wasn't a new player anyway but it was then definitely replaced with a new unit. This new unit is malfunctioning before it has played a half-dozen CD's.

I tried to get the service manager to look into a CD player with the cooling fan but I made no headway in that direction. I seriously doubt that any of the CD players without the fan can survive in the heat under my dash. Of course that raises the obvious concern as to if the other electronic components in the dash are likely to fail due to the heat also. Excessive under dash heat being the cause of the CD player failures is speculation of course but seems more likely than three defective CD players being installed in my SuperCrew.

Hu

 

I just ran an OASIS on an early build SuperCrew for "entertainment system" concerns and received no Technical Service Bulletin or Special Service Message info on the hot CD issue. As g-money has posted earlier, there apparently is an internal service memo issued to the "entertainment" system repair centers but not to Ford dealerships. We are required to send all radio / CD repairs to an outside vendor. Dealers can also call an audio system hotline but we rarely receive much assistance from them. The hotline did confirm that additional cooling fans are being added to the CD units.

 

hu, i think the cd player itself is the heat culprit, not anthing else in the dash.

 

here is a tsb on the 2000 f150 about radio concerns. not sure it applies but here it is anyway:

Service Bulletin Number: 14207
Bulletin Sequence Number: 138
Date of Bulletin: 0006
NHTSA Item Number: SB613903
Make: FORD TRUCK
Model: F150
Year: 2000
Component: EQUIPMENT:ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT:RADIO:TAPE DECK ETC.
Summary: CONCERNS WITH THE PREMIUM SOUND SYSTEM CUTTING OUT WHILE DRIVING. *TT