2003 F150 TV Inoperative.

New Unit

When the TV doesn't work, the kids aren't happy

A few years ago I was handed a “hurry up” work order on a new truck with only 28 miles. It was a 2003 Super Crew (4 full size doors), with an inoperative Rear Entertainment System (ceiling-mounted television.)  

This unit has a VCR mounted in the console (most units have a DVD integral with the ceiling mounted unit), and on this one the TV was as dead as a hammer and the truck was already sold. The console-mounted VCR was wide awake and operating, but no audio from the inserted videotape was coming from the speakers, and the rear audio control panel, while it was illuminated, couldn’t be activated by pressing the 3 and 5 preset buttons on the radio, and was completely unresponsive.

Researching the wiring and pinpoint tests in the shop manual, I removed four screws and dropped the TV assembly loose from the ceiling.  I found that the TV assembly has only four wires leading to it.  One wire is 12 volt power, another wire is ground, the third wire comes from the VCR and the fourth wire comes from the rear control panel.  Ford Audio systems with multiple control panels or remotely mounted receivers have a circuit called “ASYSON” (Audio System On), which is a single wire that activates remote modules and control panels as soon as the driver turns on the radio.

The TV display panel had good power and ground feeds as well as good continuity to the VCR connector and the control panel.  Removing the radio and measuring the continuity of the ASYSON wire, we found it open somewhere between the radio and the rear control panel.  The control panel never received a signal thus never knew it was supposed to wake up and go to work.  

Notice the bent pins...

Searching for the open ASYSON (Audio System On) circuit became quite an adventure.  With the console ripped out, and the pins and circuits checked, we discovered that our ASYSON wire had an open circuit somewhere between the radio and the console.  This was a late-breaking problem, almost unsupported by existing shop manual info. All but the very newest editions of the shop manual had incorrect connector shapes and pinouts for this system, making the whole process something of an Easter egg hunt. 

The problem surfaced when we finally managed to track the ASYSON circuit to the next connector on the map, a square plug over behind the kick panel where we found a pushed back female terminal and some bent pins in the mating shell.  It took a fine pair of needlenose pliers to straighten the pins, but when we reassembled the connector, re-mounted the ceiling unit, pushed PLAY on the VCR to test the system, we were able to watch John Travolta having his face removed on the TV.