I replaced all the light bulbs on my stock radio face because a bunch of them were burnt out. However, I did this before coming across this helpful guide and, unlike the guide, I did not cover the steel face with tape to prevent shorts. So, of course, I touched the back of the PCB to the steel face and caused probably multiple shorts when I was checking to see if the new bulbs were working. Now all the new bulbs I installed are working, but nothing else on the radio seems to work - the clock/display won't light up at all and the radio doesn't seem to turn on (other than the lights on the face).

Anyone have any idea what I may have done? Or how to go about troubleshooting? Any help is appreciated.

Ouch! Sorry.

Maybe others here will know of electronics specialists that can do this type of troubleshooting.

The easiest, least frustrating, and least expensive path for you will probably be to find a replacement from a donor car, install it, then pay a dealer to synch it with your VIN.

Depending on what area of the PCB was shorted will determine the severity of the issue. You would need a scope to find out. You will likely do best with replacing it.

It was probably the pins of the new bulbs that shorted because I hadn't cut them too short yet, but I can't really say for sure. The ribbon cable appears to have been a little fried and melted a little bit.

Melty ribbon cable
So, like I said, pins on the back of this PCB touched the metal face of the radio. Do you think I could just replace this board, or am I going to have to replace the whole radio?

You may have zapped the power supply that feeds the board.

If you dont have an uplevel radio already I would just get another they arent expensive then you have parts possibly .lol

I don't see logic on that board, just lights, buttons, and the display. It is possible that you shorted something to ground and fried just that board. If you can swap another one in, it might work and you can avoid re-VINning. I wouldn't put all of your eggs in that basket though.

The cable looks like it might just be melted and fried looking just by having been in a hot car for a couple of decades. Do you know if it looked any better than that prior to now?

Would the lights still light up if this were the case?
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​​​​​​​I'm 99% sure the cable was totally fine before.

You don't know what it needs to be fixed and it would likely cost more for an electronics repair to do it that to replace it. Not sure you could find a place to repair it.

The lights are probably fed from a different source. They are controlled by the dash lights dimmer and if I remember correctly they turn off when the parking lights are off.