Pontiac Montana Forum : “1999 pontiac montana- radio works but cant see radio and compass display lightin...”

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mine does the same thing too. i am wondering if maybe it just has a short backlight life or something.

I have experienced similar issues with our '99 Montana.

One caveat is...is this occuring ALL the time or only when your headlights are on? If it's only when your headlights are on, check your dimmer switch to the left of the steering wheel and make sure it isn't turn all the way to the left (which is effectively OFF).

Try pushing hard on the overhead information display. On ours, most of the time, the display comes back to life which tells me there is a grounding problem and/or connection problem with the display.

Separate but possibly related is the ground connection for the radio which (now correct me if I'm wrong...anybody else reading this post) is linked to the antenna connector on the back of the radio. I took the center trim off and the 2 screws holding the radio on and by wiggling the antenna connection wire, the radio display went back to normal, rather than they hyroglyphics I was seeing before. Overhead display also seems to be behaving itself (for how).