02 eddie bauer

In my wife's explorer, the clock, equalizer, and preset display light  up once in a while.  They are off most of the time.  Everything else works.  The Ford dealer wanted $500 to pull it out and send it in.  Not covered under extended war.ford owner

I am not familiar with that particular vehicle. I can tell you that in most cases anyone with basic mechanicle knowledge and a little patience can take off peices off the dash to access the wires behind there. My advice would be to see if you can get behind the units that are causing you problems. Peek around back there, looking for loose wires. Since they are cutting completly on and off be sure to check power wires and or grounds. I am assuming that these three things are all in close proxemity to each other. If they located seperatly you may have a bigger issue.

If you're trying to pull the radio out, grab yourself some ford keys and it's cake to pull out the radio.  Or you can use coat hangers as well.  This was taken from a focus web site ( http://www.focushacks.com/index.php?modid=11) but will apply to your radio as well:

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1. You will need to purchase a 2-pronged radio removal tool. Most stores such as Walmart and audio stores carry them. If not, Crutchfield includes a pair in your order. If you can't find a tool like this, a bent coat hanger works almost as well.

2. Insert the tool/coathanger into the two holes on either side. As you insert the tool, you will feel the prongs that keep the radio inside the dash.3. Push the tools to the opposite sides (left towards the right; right towards the left).4. Gently pull the radio out and disconnect the connectors on the back side.

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As far as the unit itself is concerned, I'm not sure what could be wrong but it may be something internally that's messed up.  Obviously check all the wiring plugs to make sure no wires are loose or anything like that.  But at least now you know how to remove the radio, so if you do go for a stock replacement you won't have to pay the dealer to have it reinstalled.

www.Carstereohelp.com does a lot of factory radio repairs and they said this about some of the 96-00 ford radios:

"No or intermittent display, volume control erratic or intermittent, $125. If display problem is not attended to circuit boards can burn/fry then require replacement, $175-200."