New to LINK management systems. My display (the little box connected to the ribbon cable) stopped displaying. I actually have 2 boxes and they do the same thing. If I unplug the box while the engine is running and reconnect, I will get about 6 black squares on the display. It used to work just fine. For a while I had some display issues and then they went away. Nowthey are back. I looked at where the ribbon cable goes into the ECU and it doesnt have a connector on the ECU but goes under the ECU cover into the ECU. Is that normal?
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Bobby

 

Yea its normal to have the cable run into the ecu case. Do you have a serial link, can you data log it? If you can't data log it, it may be indicative of a problem with the cable or the Link itself.

 

Check the condition of the solder where the ribbon cable plugs into the ecu

 

Is the serial link a connection on the ECU itself or is it an adapter for the ribbon cable. I will check the solder connections when I get back home. Since the issue is intermittent I'm hoping it is a connection problem.

 

Replace the ribbon cable. You can remove the cover on the ecu, unplug the ribbon cable from the board, and bring it with you to tech store (Frys, Radioshack...)

 

The car came with a roll of ribbon cable......Wonder why? LOL

Thanks.

 

For what it's worth, I built my own keypad (info a few threads down in the Link section). I used a newer display board and I ALWAYS get black boxes on the screen when reconnecting. Does yours work if it's connected before you start the car?

 

It used to work when connected before starting the car. Now I get nothing but the lights on the buttons illuminated. When i disconnect and reconnect while the car is running, I get the black boxes. This happens on both keypads that I have. I am going to replace the ribbon cable as suggested earlier to see if this corrects the issue. Any other suggestions?

 

Ribbon cable is my guess. After that solder joints. Red Caramel had his ECU re-soldered by someone in PA, I believe.

You can get the cable from digikey or mouser.

 

It was the cable. I replaced it and all is well. I had a spare cable in the glovebox. Thanks for the help!