So this started a few weeks ago but it only happened when it was boiling hot in the car and would go back to normal after having the AC on for a while driving with the windows down (basically cool down the inside of the car). Now however it is permanently messed up regardless of how hot or cold it is. The display just goes crazy. Video attached shows what it is doing. Everything works fine, radio, cd player and AC. Any thoughts on what it might be?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsSO6JoSQYQ

 

I have the same problem. When the car was left in a hot place, It would get all deranged. I still have an extended warrany so I am getting the console replaced. One time it did'nt come back after cooling off. I disconnected the battery and cleared the computer.

 

I answered another post about this recently push the little half moon faceplate part that is piano black right under the cd in portion and see if it changes...

 

So I unplugged the battery for a while and it fixed the problem but then it came back so i pushed the half moon and it fixed it but now its back again and i can take a hammer to that half moon n it wouldnt fix anything... im stuck unplugging the battery everytime i turn the car off its annoying.

 

My car did that matrix stuff when I had an outdated version of my Metra Radio kit software. Not sure that you guys upgraded your head unit and are using the Metra kit, but if you are, you need to update the software for it. If your car is stock, a different problem is at hand.

From the video, your particular stereo is stock, so that's not your problem.. perhaps one of the other ppl with the problem have a metra kit installed..

 

Saw this a few times with I was dicking with the wires inside the harness that goes to the display when making my GOODbox (other thread). Maybe try reseating that harness? It has 2 places where it connect, one on the back of the HU, one near the front.

 

I know I'm a thread revivalist but this happened to me last week. It started when I tried to play a cd-rw and then after with a cd-r made on the same pc. With just the cd-r it would freeze with what display was there when the car started and within 5 min go back to normal. Once I took it out it was still doing it but not stop all together unless I started the car without the cd in.

So is it possible you think the car thought it was an update cd or something?

 

Don't waste your time trying to fix it yourself.
This happened to my 2004 when I first got it. It took the dealer 2 or 3 tries, but they finally found the part that was doing it.. I believe its a bad board behind the half moon thing that needed to be replaced. The issue came back the following year, once summer hit, and I had them replace it again. It hasn't done it now since then, which is now several years.

 

It would figure since I'm trying to sell the car now. My wife said taking our daughter to school this morning that it did it again.

 

Make sure the face plate is connected to the head unit fully. Mine did this often as the little screws are stripped, super glue fixed it for me.

 

Interesting. I just posted about this in another thread and just found this one. My situation:

I installed an AFE short throw shifter and drove it for a week with no issues. Then one very cold night (cold for AZ), I parked it somewhere for about an hour and when I started it back up the power steering was dead. The next time that I tried starting the car, it barely had any power--not enough to start. I got a jump and brought my 1.5 year old yellow top to Autozone to test and they replaced it for me. That fixed the starting issue and returned the power steering, but the next day after a few minutes of driving I started getting that Matrix code for a couple of minutes. So I got worried that maybe the alternator was the problem and not the battery, so I turned the headlights off down to running lights only, and turned the wipers off. That returned the display to normal. I drove for 20 minutes more okay, then driving over a rough metal grate threw it back into Matrix mode. So it appears to be a loose connection in the electrical system. If it starts raining today I'll reseat the battery mount, and if that doesn't fix the problem I'll check to see if perhaps I loosened a connection by accident when installing the short shifter.

 

This happened to me about a month ago and went on for 24 hours then I think when I hit a bump it went back to normal. It happened again tonight (it was cold out and the car was parked outside in Massachusetts in the winter - usually it is in a garage. I saw the advice about pushing in on the half moon below the CD changer and it fixed the problem (for now at least).

Thanks a lot for the advice - probably saved me quite a few $$

 

is there any fix for this other than going to the dealer? How much did the dealer charge for this fix?

 

also would an aem double din radio with a metra kit fix it?