Pioneer DEH-P960mp ribbon cable replacement

[JGood]

I had the somewhat expected issue of the faceplate coming halfway down on power-up, then stopping, and the unit shutting off. I ordered the new ribbon cable (it's still on it's way), just wondering how hard the replacement is? I have the faceplate off, and unscrewed the ribbon bracket from that, but the ribbon goes into the slot in the unit and terminates somewhere in there I guess. How hard is that to get to? I don't want to go tearing apart a $500 head unit without knowing what I'm doing.

I'm hoping one of you guys who worked in an audio shop have dealt with this rather common problem.

Thanks!

[Mless5]

Usually just a pressure fit, pull it out, push it in.

[JGood]

Usually just a pressure fit, pull it out, push it in.

I'm looking for someone who has done this actual repair. The ribbon goes way back into the head unit, there's no way I'd be able to fish the new one to the correct spot and apply pressure to make it fit. I'm sure it needs disassembled and I'm just trying to find the exact procedure as I don't feel like buying another head unit if I break something.

[e30sd]

i had that deck. it sucked. good riddance.

[Mless5]

This is the connector I am talking about. By pressure fit, I mean that you just push in the ribbon into the slot. Very easy. That usually is the case.

[JGood]

No, that's not the type of "slot" I'm talking about. The slot I'm talking about is just an opening below the face of the unit, where the cable passes through, and probably a few inches behind that it attaches to the circuit board, in a slot like you are talking about. I can't see in that far though, and there would be no way to reconnect it. The unit has to be opened to reveal the circuit board that you have a pic of, so I can pull the cable out. I'm just trying to find the best way to open the unit without breaking anything.

[JGood]

i had that deck. it sucked. good riddance.

I like it because of the 13 band EQ, as opposed to the 3 or 6 band most units have. The sound quality from this unit is awesome. May I ask what exactly you think sucks about it?

[e30sd]

the eq was cool but my eclipse has an 11 band eq and better sound processing. too many moving parts, after a year the external display stopped working. had the unit serviced but it didnt fix the problem. pioneer quality went downhill imo, the older stuff was awesome but this new stuff is crap. im stickin with nak or eclipse.

[PiercedE30]

Take the metal cage off of the deck itself. It should only be a couple of screws holding it in place.

[JGood]

the eq was cool but my eclipse has an 11 band eq and better sound processing. too many moving parts, after a year the external display stopped working. had the unit serviced but it didnt fix the problem. pioneer quality went downhill imo, the older stuff was awesome but this new stuff is crap. im stickin with nak or eclipse.

Yeah, that problem is caused by the binding of the ribbon cable that I was talking about. I guess the redesigned surround that comes with the repair kit fixes the issue. I've had several pioneers, and have had good luck with them. I agree on the moving parts thing - if it were up to me I wouldn't have the fancy display and dual faces. I just like all of the audio options.

Which Eclipse model do you have?