My Kenwood KDC-W6141Y has been acting up since yesterday. The screen is completely black, but the music still plays through the speakers. The power supply seems to be fine. Can I fix this myself or is the device done for?
With your KDC-W6141Y, it might be that just the display backlight has gone out - try turning up the brightness (usually with a dial or buttons) to check if there's still anything to see.
If that doesn't help, the display cables could be loose or the circuit board might have a bad connection, but that's more of a job for a professional.
The good news is that your music is still playing - that suggests it's not a complete electronics failure.
Before you give up on it completely, you could try removing the unit and reinstalling it so the connectors sit properly - sometimes a reset helps too, if your model has a reset function.
Keep your hands off the internal components if you don't know what you're doing - those things are fiddly to install and you need special tools to swap the display. Better to approach this methodically.
The previous answer had the right idea about brightness, but I'd take it further: switch the radio completely off, cut the power (so turn off the ignition and wait a minute), then plug it back in. Sometimes the display electronics get stuck and just need a reset. While you're at it, pay attention to whether the buttons on the front still light up faintly or if there's a tiny LED glowing weakly somewhere - that tells you if power is actually reaching the display. If nothing's glowing and you're turning the brightness all the way up with full force, the backlight is probably dead (usually a CCFL tube on older models like yours), and then you need a replacement.
One thing a lot of people don't know: try the contrast setting if your radio has one - sometimes it's hidden in the menu under display options. If it's gotten stuck (like at 0), you won't see anything even though the backlight works. If none of that helps and the music still plays normally, it's almost certainly just the display that's broken, but the unit itself is still usable. Then you've got two options: either hunt for a used display module for your model, or give the radio as-is to someone who only cares about the music (there really are people who don't mind the black screen at all).
The display itself is probably still intact, but there are a few things you should check before diving into the electronics. Try completely shutting off the car radio - unplug the power connection for about a minute and then plug it back in. That resets the device and can sometimes fix a black-screen problem. When you turn it back on and still see nothing, look for the contrast dial or brightness buttons - they're often pretty hidden on Kenwoods, but if the brightness is set to 0, you won't see anything on the display even though it's working.
An important thing people often miss: check whether the power cable is really sitting properly in the ISO socket. On older car radios, the contacts tend to loosen up from vibrations pretty easily, and then the display gets minimal power (that's why the music still plays), but not enough to turn on the LCD. Try pushing down firmly on it or unplug it and plug it back in.
If none of that helps and the display really is broken, I'll be honest with you: repairing it yourself is a pain. On this model, the display is basically glued in, and if you start trying to get to the circuit board, you'll need special tools and a lot of patience. A professional shop can do it way faster, and for an older radio like yours, a replacement display won't be outrageously expensive afterwards.
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