UCONNECT 8.4 screen fix, i did it.

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

RamHemi18

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Posts
167
Reaction score
131
Location
48328
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7L Hemi
I might be doing this soon. My delaminating bubble is getting pretty big...I'm a little afraid to do it. I don't want to mess anything up. I wish the screen and digitizer together weren't so expensive, I'd just replace it. Should I order a digitizer to have just in case?
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,723
Reaction score
23,390
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
I used zip ties for mounting. You can hear them in ACC if you are paying attention but they are barely noticeable. I have to turn the HVAC off (even on the lowest setting) to hear if they are running or not.
Pulled the radio out this afternoon on the wifes Challenger.There's definitely not as much room behind it as the trucks,but there's some room to mount a fan on the pass side of the radio.The whole back of the radio appears to be a heatsink,so i was going to mount a fan blowing across the back of the radio.In the trial and error stage though,as i'm in no rush,still winter up here for another month or 3 yet,lol.
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,723
Reaction score
23,390
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
That is the same one I used but I had the 145 x 145 1.5 sheet. I had a lot leftover and I "think" you can get it done with the 50x50 sheet. You must remove the old thermal pads, too much thermal material can be worse than too little. I used the old pads to trace out the new pads. The fans used were Arctic F9 Silent Fans. You may be able to fit a larger size in but likely only one instead of two. The fans are blowing away from the radio (towards the engine bay). Eventually I'm going to add some insulation to the air ducts too. Here is the updated version of the fans I used...


EDIT: This is probably overkill but I also made a heat shield (made with fiberglass exhaust wrap and foil duct tape) for my version 1 screen to try and prevent delamination, so far so good...
Had to settle on the F8 version ,as there's not enough room for the bigger F9 fan SKB.
There's a noticable price fifferance between Amazon.com and Canuck Amazon.ca though,just shows how much us Canucks get ripped off,lol.

US Amazon

Canuck Amazon
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
Had to settle on the F8 version ,as there's not enough room for the bigger F9 fan SKB.
There's a noticable price fifferance between Amazon.com and Canuck Amazon.ca though,just shows how much us Canucks get ripped off,lol.

US Amazon

Canuck Amazon
Understandable. Whichever fan fits is the one to use! I think the more important upgrade is actually replacing the thermal pads but I didn't do any test outside of touching to see how hot it felt.
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,723
Reaction score
23,390
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
Understandable. Whichever fan fits is the one to use! I think the more important upgrade is actually replacing the thermal pads but I didn't do any test outside of touching to see how hot it felt.
The whole back of the radio looks to be a heatsink,plus it doesn't look like it's all that easy to take apart,lol.I figured i'd give the fan a shot first,if it doesn't pan out,then i might do the pads.The radio works good,except when it gets warm,the sirus part screws up,it'll give you a notification a favorite is on,but as soon as you hit the button,it says no favorites selected.It only happens after about 50 miles and the interior has warmed up.It's a 1320 Challenger with the drag pages.The factory line lock and transmission brake work through the radio,so i'm a little gunshy on taking it apart to install new pads,lol.The 1320's and Demons are the only ones with a factory trannny brake and active drag suspension.Rumour mill says they use a differant radio then a normal Scatpack/Hellcat do,but whether that's true or not,i'm not sure,to me i'd think it'd be differant programming but i'm not real up on the cars radio's.The car has the high end Harman / Kardon sound system,but the radio is made by Panasonic
 
Last edited:

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
The whole back of the radio looks to be a heatsink,plus it doesn't look like it's all that easy to take apart,lol.I figured i'd give the fan a shot first,if it doesn't pan out,then i might do the pads.The radio works good,except when it gets warm,the sirus part screws up,it'll give you a notification a favorite is on,but as soon as you hit the button,it says no favorites selected.It only happens after about 50 miles and the interior has warmed up.It's a 1320 Challenger with the drag pages.The factory line lock and transmission brake work through the radio,so i'm a little gunshy on taking it apart to install new pads,lol.The 1320's and Demons are the only ones with a factory trannny brake and active drag suspension.Rumour mill says they use a differant radio then a normal Scatpack/Hellcat do,but whether that's true or not,i'm not sure,to me i'd think it'd be differant programming but i'm not real up on the cars radio's.The car has the high end Harman / Kardon sound system,but the radio is made by Panasonic
Fair enough, it's not too tricky should you change your mind...

 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,723
Reaction score
23,390
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,723
Reaction score
23,390
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
Fair enough, it's not too tricky should you change your mind...

What are your thoughts on using 2mm instead of 1.5mm.Just looking at your photo's comparing the new pads to the original,the original pad does look slightly thicker. Toss up between these 2.



 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
What are your thoughts on using 2mm instead of 1.5mm.Just looking at your photo's comparing the new pads to the original,the original pad does look slightly thicker. Toss up between these 2.



Stick with 1.5mm. It makes contact and doesn't get overly compressed. Compression can effect the efficiency of the thermal material too.
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,723
Reaction score
23,390
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
Stick with 1.5mm. It makes contact and doesn't get overly compressed. Compression can effect the efficiency of the thermal material too.
Good point,i'll stick with the 1.5 pad then. Thanks for all your help SKB
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,723
Reaction score
23,390
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
No problem!
Well i have the radio in pieces,and it only has 3 heatsink pads,and they're alot smaller then what's in the video of the guy replacing the screen on his truck radio.Kind of glad i only ordered the smaller 1.5mm pad now,lol. The inside of this radio looks a fair bit differant then the inside of the trucks radio,as 2 of the pads are under the lower circuit board.I gave the stands the pads sit on, a light scuff with 1500 grit, a light vaccum job, and then a wipe down with Acetone. i'm hoping a clean surface will help with heat transfer,as the factory finish is pretty crude,and almost looks to be aluminium oxidized.I also dug through my collection of heatsinks,and have 3 that i'm going to put under 3 screws ,not sure they'll help,but i had them laying around figured i might as well put a couple to use.
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
Well i have the radio in pieces,and it only has 3 heatsink pads,and they're alot smaller then what's in the video of the guy replacing the screen on his truck radio.Kind of glad i only ordered the smaller 1.5mm pad now,lol. The inside of this radio looks a fair bit differant then the inside of the trucks radio,as 2 of the pads are under the lower circuit board.I gave the stands the pads sit on, a light scuff with 1500 grit, a light vaccum job, and then a wipe down with Acetone. i'm hoping a clean surface will help with heat transfer,as the factory finish is pretty crude,and almost looks to be aluminium oxidized.I also dug through my collection of heatsinks,and have 3 that i'm going to put under 3 screws ,not sure they'll help,but i had them laying around figured i might as well put a couple to use.
Sounds like you know what your doing!
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,723
Reaction score
23,390
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
Sounds like you know what your doing!
I was just going to update you,i found 2 more pads ,lol. I lifted the bottom circuit board up,and there's 2 more pads under it,all told i found 6 heat pads in the radio. Now i'm kicking my rear for not ordering the bigger piece,it'll be here hopefully next Monday,aarrgghh,lol.
I found a razor blade works good to cut it and makes it easy to get a straight edge.
Thanks SKB,i'd never have taken it apart with-out your help.I'll be the first to admit,this is the first radio i've ever taken apart,so i was a bit gunshy on tackling it,lol
 
Last edited:

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
I was just going to update you,i found 2 more pads ,lol. I lifted the bottom circuit board up,and there's 2 more pads under it,all told i found 6 heat pads in the radio. Now i'm kicking my rear for not ordering the bigger piece,it'll be here hopefully next Monday,aarrgghh,lol.
I found a razor blade works good to cut it and makes it easy to get a straight edge.
Thanks SKB,i'd never have taken it apart with-out your help.I'll be the first to admit,this is the first radio i've ever taken apart,so i was a bit gunshy on tackling it,lol
It's understandable, you don't know until you know! I'm interested in finding out if it corrects your performance issues.
 

LONGHORNY

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2022
Posts
11
Reaction score
17
Location
Buffalo NY
Ram Year
2018
Engine
HEMI 5.7
So I joined the ghost touch screen club earlier this spring. Perused the threads on here, and youtube vids, and decided to order a replacement screen after DodgeCares apparently didn't care. Dealer quoted me over $ 1K to do the replacement. Short story long, my ebay replacement screen came in early June and I just now got the time to do the swap.

20220925_093649.jpg

I opened the package when it first came in and at first glance, I guess it looked like what I was after. It was only after I got the OEM unit out that I discovered it was close.......but no quite close enough.

Back of OEM unit:

20220925_095750.jpg

Back or replacement:


20220925_093704.jpg

About the only thing similar was the overall width and height. That being said (after panick ensued) I decided to try the re-work of the digitizer screen. There was a decent video on youtube showing removal of the digitizer glass, removal of the glue, and re-setting with a double sided tape spacer.

In the vid he used a small plastic bondo applicator, which I happened to have, to wedge between the layers and separate the face. Mine popped (cracked) within the first 15 seconds. Getting that glass off was about a 2 + hour chore. Let me forewarn anyone who gets to this point. That glue was apparently developed, and produced, in hell by the devil himself. Shy of 2 part epoxy I don't think I have ever come across anything quite this sticky. I used denatured alcohol and some lacquer thinner to SLOWLY break it down and remove it. At this point, I was also dealing with large and small shards of broken glass which was stuck on the glue.

As of today I ordered a new screen from ebay which appears to be an exact replacement right down to the numbers (approx. $400 + tax). Should be here in a few days. I'm hoping the other unit (approx $250) will be able to be returned to the original vendor (China of course).

1664123374473.png

After getting all the glue off the OEM unit, there are a fair number of scratches and such. I don't think they were avoidable. Chances are it would still work, but I don't know if those scratches would be visible. You can order new digitizer screens for $ 18-40 so I'm going to keep it as an emergency backup.

1664123328552.png

In summary, I like to think I'm an avid "fix it guy" but this was a little more involved than I expected. The adhesive part was the worst. I apologize if this was already covered in other posts. I didn't read them all. I'll update this when the new (hopefully last) unit comes in.
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
So I joined the ghost touch screen club earlier this spring. Perused the threads on here, and youtube vids, and decided to order a replacement screen after DodgeCares apparently didn't care. Dealer quoted me over $ 1K to do the replacement. Short story long, my ebay replacement screen came in early June and I just now got the time to do the swap.

View attachment 502888

I opened the package when it first came in and at first glance, I guess it looked like what I was after. It was only after I got the OEM unit out that I discovered it was close.......but no quite close enough.

Back of OEM unit:

View attachment 502889

Back or replacement:


View attachment 502890

About the only thing similar was the overall width and height. That being said (after panick ensued) I decided to try the re-work of the digitizer screen. There was a decent video on youtube showing removal of the digitizer glass, removal of the glue, and re-setting with a double sided tape spacer.

In the vid he used a small plastic bondo applicator, which I happened to have, to wedge between the layers and separate the face. Mine popped (cracked) within the first 15 seconds. Getting that glass off was about a 2 + hour chore. Let me forewarn anyone who gets to this point. That glue was apparently developed, and produced, in hell by the devil himself. Shy of 2 part epoxy I don't think I have ever come across anything quite this sticky. I used denatured alcohol and some lacquer thinner to SLOWLY break it down and remove it. At this point, I was also dealing with large and small shards of broken glass which was stuck on the glue.

As of today I ordered a new screen from ebay which appears to be an exact replacement right down to the numbers (approx. $400 + tax). Should be here in a few days. I'm hoping the other unit (approx $250) will be able to be returned to the original vendor (China of course).

View attachment 502892

After getting all the glue off the OEM unit, there are a fair number of scratches and such. I don't think they were avoidable. Chances are it would still work, but I don't know if those scratches would be visible. You can order new digitizer screens for $ 18-40 so I'm going to keep it as an emergency backup.

View attachment 502891

In summary, I like to think I'm an avid "fix it guy" but this was a little more involved than I expected. The adhesive part was the worst. I apologize if this was already covered in other posts. I didn't read them all. I'll update this when the new (hopefully last) unit comes in.
I used fishing line to cut through the adhesive and ALOT of Goo Gone.
 

LeeD

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Joined
May 14, 2020
Posts
191
Reaction score
177
Location
Humble, TX United States
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7 Hemi
I used the fishing line and denatured alcohol. That seemed to work out but I pulled the ribbon cable off of the digitizer so I had to buy another. I’m not happy with the new digitizer. It has one area that only works when you first start the truck and then goes dead. Of course it’s where the channels are!
 
Top