2005 Nissan pathfinder climate control fault. (lcd screen weirdness)

[ShmoeMo]

Hey guys, so i have this issue with my pathfinder where the lcd screed in my climate control drops out, sometimes it fades out slowly, lightly flashes in and out or straight up cuts out. The climate control still functions and controls everything but the screen drops out. I thought it may have been a bad solder joint but nope, went through every joint under my microscope. It also seems to work perfectly when the inside of the car is hot. I put the bare pcb and lcd back into the car and found if i get a finger anywhere near the left 3 pins of the lcd (within 5mm) it does the weird stuff. Anybody care to shed some light on that and or a possible fix?
 

[m3vuv]

I had too look at the dash on one of the new fiat 500's a while ago,has a round speedo with an lcd display in the center on like a separate pod for fuel level and engine temp,long story short,i stripped it(all looked good),tested caps for esr,they tested sort of ok ish,i replaced them and it fixed it,try the caps,at least test them.

[ShmoeMo]

I don't have an esr meter unfortunately as i have never needed one. was it just the electrolytics you replaced?  i don't really feel like trying to find the values of like 100 mlcc's haha

Thanks for the quick response to.

[james_s]

You can get an ESR meter pretty cheap these days. How much would it cost to buy a replacement climate control panel? I bet a lot more than the cost of all the tools and parts you'll need to fix it.

[m3vuv]

yes it was just the electrolytics i changed,search on here for 5 transistor esr meter by j diddy,i built one,works fine,ok for in circuit testing as well.

[ShmoeMo]

A new control panel is about 250 buks. I don't really wanna spend that much on something so basic. I might just try replacing the electrolytics and see how i go.

[jpanhalt]

Is operation only when hot explained by high ESR?  My understanding is that leakage current increases with temperature, but ESR is not greatly affected (https://product.tdk.com/en/contact/faq/capacitors-0040.html ).

I had a Buick in 1990.  Its odometer only worked when hot.  After inspection and wiggling stuff, it was a bad solder joint on a diode in the instrument cluster.  Very little SMD though.

[DavidAlfa]

A quick test is to re-solder everything (Specially smd parts), vibrations can cause solder joints to break, there aren't so many part there so it'll only take 10 minutes.

[james_s]

Is operation only when hot explained by high ESR?  My understanding is that leakage current increases with temperature, but ESR is not greatly affected (https://product.tdk.com/en/contact/faq/capacitors-0040.html ).

I had a Buick in 1990.  Its odometer only worked when hot.  After inspection and wiggling stuff, it was a bad solder joint on a diode in the instrument cluster.  Very little SMD though.

ESR of electrolytics typically greatly decreases as temperature rises. A classic symptom of failing capacitors is equipment that only works after it warms up.

[floobydust]

First to look for is cracked solder joints. I've fixed Nissan Pathfinder daytime running lights modules, they have cracked soldering joints and the headlights won't come on or go intermittent.

Spend some time with a magnifying glass looking over the board, or just outright resolder the display and controls through-hole parts on the board. Lots of vibration and a rough hand on the controls will flex the board.