Infotainment went out

Turtle_714

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So my infotainment unit went out. It's completely black. No power to any of the screen or buttons. Also at the same time my "cigarette lighter" port also lost power, yet the ac will turn on and off, those buttons work. Not really sure how this happened. I've tried disconnecting the negative side of the battery, checking fuses, turned the car on and off several times. This was a few days ago so it doesn't seem like it's just going to start working again, s I had hoped. Has this happened to anybody else? I'm over 36K miles and also have a sound system so I doubt it would be covered. Before spending a bunch of money replacing it, wanted to see if anybody has any solutions.
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So my infotainment unit went out. It's completely black. No power to any of the screen or buttons. Also at the same time my "cigarette lighter" port also lost power, yet the ac will turn on and off, those buttons work. Not really sure how this happened. I've tried disconnecting the negative side of the battery, checking fuses, turned the car on and off several times. This was a few days ago so it doesn't seem like it's just going to start working again, s I had hoped. Has this happened to anybody else? I'm over 36K miles and also have a sound system so I doubt it would be covered. Before spending a bunch of money replacing it, wanted to see if anybody has any solutions.
How did you check if the accessory power port is not working? Did you use a volt meter, or just plugged in an accessory? It is possible that whatever you had plugged in to the accessory is now bad. But if there is no voltage to the accessory port, then it probably means that there is either a bad fuse (I know you checked them), or a bad wire.

Did it happen while driving or after it was parked for a while? Do you park outside? There have been cases of rodents chewing wires that can wreak havoc.
 
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Turtle_714

Turtle_714

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How did you check if the accessory power port is not working? Did you use a volt meter, or just plugged in an accessory? It is possible that whatever you had plugged in to the accessory is now bad. But if there is no voltage to the accessory port, then it probably means that there is either a bad fuse (I know you checked them), or a bad wire.

Did it happen while driving or after it was parked for a while? Do you park outside? There have been cases of rodents chewing wires that can wreak havoc.
I did not use a volt meter. My car is garaged, I went and started the car, as it was warming up the infotainment center was working fine. As I lowered my back seat and sat back in the drivers seat I realized the head unit went completely blank. At that time I also noticed my phone which was charging just a moment ago, was no longer charging through the accessory port. I suppose it would be possible a rodent could have done this but I have never seen any or any indication that there are rodents in my garage.
 

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I did not use a volt meter. My car is garaged, I went and started the car, as it was warming up the infotainment center was working fine. As I lowered my back seat and sat back in the drivers seat I realized the head unit went completely blank. At that time I also noticed my phone which was charging just a moment ago, was no longer charging through the accessory port. I suppose it would be possible a rodent could have done this but I have never seen any or any indication that there are rodents in my garage.
The built-in USB accessory port doesn't work, or the 'cigarette lighter' port doesn't work? The built-in USB port is part of the head unit, so that makes sense.
 
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The built-in USB accessory port doesn't work, or the 'cigarette lighter' port doesn't work? The built-in USB port is part of the head unit, so that makes sense.
I have not tried the usb port side, but i'll check that as well.
 


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I have not tried the usb port side, but i'll check that as well.
I was trying to say that I would not expect that to work since the USB port is part of the head unit.

But if the accessory power port doesn't work, then I would expect the issue not to be with the head unit, but a fuse or wire. If it is working, then most likely the head unit is faulty.

So, most important is to be sure the accessory power port really is not working.
 

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When in doubt; check all fuses. IMO... starting to troubleshoot anywhere else is pointless in this situation.

Do you have any cables run behind your seat that may have been pinched when you adjusted your seat?
 
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When in doubt; check all fuses. IMO... starting to troubleshoot anywhere else is pointless in this situation.

Do you have any cables run behind your seat that may have been pinched when you adjusted your seat?
I have both my Rockford Fosgate amps screwed into the back side of my back seat with all wires and cables running down. Which made me think something became unplugged or pinched. I've taken a look and nothing seems out of place. However I think a more thorough check is necessary. I find that it has to be more than a coincidence that everything went out when I lowered the seats that have all those wires running down the seat.
 


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My dealership refused to touch the thing until I had removed all the aftermarket stereo stuff.

Can you easily and temporarily disconnect/disable your aftermarket stuff; then reset the head unit? That might be another thing to try before you take it to 'the man'.

I'm wondering if you pinched a power or speaker wire and now the HU is in protection mode.
 
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Turtle_714

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My dealership refused to touch the thing until I had removed all the aftermarket stereo stuff.

Can you easily and temporarily disconnect/disable your aftermarket stuff; then reset the head unit? That might be another thing to try before you take it to 'the man'.
I've taken my sub out of the trunk but that's about it. Also, I wish I could reset the head unit but there isn't any power to it at all. I've read posts about holding down the power button for 30 seconds to reset it, but mine is completely blank, even to the buttons. Weird thing is, yesterday I pulled all the fuses, which seemed fine, and when I started my car it all worked just fine. Then about 10 minutes into driving it all cut out again. Which leads me to believe there must be a loose connection somewhere.
 

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Something loose or something being shorted intermittently or it just takes that long for the HU to go into protection mode again, IMO. Were you using the HU to play anything during the ten minutes?

I dunno how nuts you want to go with troubleshooting. But if it were me; I'd try and bypass all the add-on stuff and see if it behaves (without trying to play audio) after a reset (which is what you did when pulling the fuses). If it will function with the 'info' portion of the infotainment; then it seems to be having a problem with the speaker load that it's seeing when trying to drive them.

Just my thoughts.
 
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Turtle_714

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Something loose or something being shorted intermittently or it just takes that long for the HU to go into protection mode again, IMO. Were you using the HU to play anything during the ten minutes?

I dunno how nuts you want to go with troubleshooting. But if it were me; I'd try and bypass all the add-on stuff and see if it behaves (without trying to play audio) after a reset (which is what you did when pulling the fuses). If it will function with the 'info' portion of the infotainment; then it seems to be having a problem with the speaker load that it's seeing when trying to drive them.

Just my thoughts.
When it turned on shortly yesterday it worked fine. The music played, my reverse and blind spot camera came on screen, I could adjust the ac etc, it was as if nothing ever happened. And then it cut out again. I'm not sure where to even look for a bad connection.
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