Mk4 SatNav insides

[Cotswold Pete]

Has anyone ever taken apart a Mk4 Sat Nav to see how the light tubes are fixed inside the unit.

I assume the CFL tubes were a standard product from that  era and possibly still made up until a few years ago, and so wonder if possible to refresh a Sat Nav.

Mine if very faded first thing on a cold morning, which is sign of CFL being totally naff in next few years.

[ColinBarber]

If the screen is similar to the LS430 one then it would be difficult to replace just the backlight - they aren't really designed to be taken apart and you can end up with dust/fingerprints on the diffusers which will be visible on the display. Chances of finding CFLs that are the same spec are slim now too.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1279497052.html

 

[Cotswold Pete]

Colin,  at a guess it looks like same product for all the backlighting.

I assumed it was a probably a no-no mucking about with taking the thing apart, to try and put new CFLs in.

 

[ambermarine]

1 hour ago, Cotswold Pete said:

Has anyone ever taken apart a Mk4 Sat Nav to see how the light tubes are fixed inside the unit.

I assume the CFL tubes were a standard product from that  era and possibly still made up until a few years ago, and so wonder if possible to refresh a Sat Nav.

Mine if very faded first thing on a cold morning, which is sign of CFL being totally naff in next few years.

When I bought my Mark 1V nearly ten years ago it was mint with 20k on the clock,yes it was like new but it was already 13 years old and the first thing I realized, the importance of spare parts .

I saw a complete  nav and entertainment console on eBay for £60 being sold at that price because the guy did not have the code for the entertainment centre well you don't need a code if you know the switch dance routine because that gets you in to the system to reset it.That particular module at the time it could be replaced was £5K.

Then I got two wing mirrors complete for just under £80 complete unit new £1200 each add to that a couple of coil packs for £20 and just recently a used combination meter for the bulbs and clocks for £40, £1800 new.

They are all safely stowed away unused and may not be but one thing I have learned about these cars is the reliability makes people complacent to the point they think they run forever, believe me nothing does and when you don't need one they are worthless when you do they are worth their weight in gold especially when you cannot buy one.