There may come a day for all Zumo 450 and 550 owners when the touch-screen will act weird and start selecting things on its own, selecting something other than what you want, or won't work at all. This is likely a problem with the digitizer that fits on top the LCD screen, and when mine started acting weird I Googled and found quite a bit of info. I also discovered that there's a thriving market for new digitizers and LCD/digitizer combos on Ebay and elsewhere, which leads me to believe this is a common problem and that three years is about the average lifespan for digitizers.

As I see it there are three options for fixing your ailing digitizer:

1. Send your Zumo 550 to Garmin for a blanket $150 repair, which amounts to exchanging your unit for a refurb. This may open a can of worms if you bought the lifetime maps service when you try to load a new map on a device you didn't own when originally purchased. If you have a 450 like I do you're SOL, as Garmin stopped repair services for this model. I guess these expensive GPS's are throwaways in Garmin's eyes, and after three years when they start giving trouble I guess we're supposed to throw them in the trash, try to find a third-party repair service, or...

2. Buy a digitizer for about $10-15 (shipped) on Ebay or elsewhere and fix it yourself. Doing this requires you to separate the digitizer from the LCD screen, and this photo I grabbed from another site shows the general idea. You will probably break the glass of the digitizer when removing, but it doesn't matter since it's fubar anyway.



3. Buy an LCD/digitizer combo for about $28 (shipped), which spares you the chore of separating the digitizer from your original LCD screen as well as cleaning and re-sealing. I selected this option and bought the combo from Keeping Touch, and I got mine in about 10 days shipped via slow boat from China. They also sell the digitizer alone as well as repair products for phones and other GPS models.

Warning: There are two screen sizes for the Zumo 450/550, one being 2-3mm smaller than the other. Mine was the larger (around 79x64mm), so measure first before ordering! The link for Keeping Touch above shows the larger screen.

Okay, you've received your replacement screen/digitizer and you're ready to go to work. You'll need a Torx 6 bit to open the case and a small Phillips to separate the screen from the frame. I didn't have a Torx this small and bought a Precision Screwdriver Kit from Harbor Freight Tools for about $8.

Step 1: Pop the top cover plate off and remove the eight Torx screws from the back of the unit. Some will not come out but will fall out when you don't want them to, so be careful, as I doubt if you'll find replacements locally. You don't need to remove the battery or the bottom spring-loaded plate.

Step 2: Swing the bottom spring-loaded plate out of the way (see bottom of Photo #6) and separate the display assembly from the GPS body carefully, as there are two small ribbon cables connecting the LCD and digitizer to the motherboard. In photo #3 notice the beige strip that holds the ribbon cable to the connector, shown in its open state (photo #4 is closed). You must flip this strip upward with your fingernail to remove the cable. Do the same with the smaller digitizer connector (photo #5). It helps to limit caffeine consumption prior to this part of the job, as it is a bit tedious getting the two cables lined up straight and closing the tiny clips.

Step 3: Remove the LCD/digitizer assembly from the display section of the Zumo by removing four small Phillips screws holding it to the metal frame. I didn't take a photo of this since it is self-explanatory. There is a rubber gasket that fits between the LCD/digitizer assembly and the Zumo display section, so make a note of its original position. I forgot to include either the frame or gasket in the group photo #2. Install the new assembly and make sure the rubber gasket is not pinched or protruding anywhere.

Step 4: Once the cables are connected you can turn the unit on for its first "smoke test." If smoke doesn't billow from the unit and the screen lights up it passes this test. See the power switch on the motherboard shown with the arrow in photo #6. It corresponds with the sealed rubber switch on the bottom-right of the unit once the GPS is completely re-assembled. Make sure the unit works as expected before buttoning it up.

Step 5: Tighten the eight body screws and you're done. The job took me maybe 15 minutes to complete, and for $28 the Zumo works like new (so far).

05/28/12 update: Follow through on this thread as there may be a good case for buying only the digitizer. See post #9 and 10 below.

 

Great write up and completely true. I believe there are even step by step videos on YouTube.

 

mine went in november it was a 450 they were still refurbin and they upgraded to a 550,they may have already stopped the 450 .it was also about 3 years old. friends went last year also 3 years old.once again good info.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I purchased a refurbished 450 around 3 years ago and as I was riding thru a slight drizzle, it did what you described. I thought weatherproof my ***! I will order the new setup as soon as I stay in one place long enough to wait its arrival. As an old school rider, I remove all gauges and turn signals. But, I have to admit I relied on my 450 to get me to the correct destinations and find services the more direct way. Thank you again. The next time I"m in your area, the drinks/meal is on me. Keep the faith and the rubber side down.

 

Nice job and write up. The pictures are really helpful too.

 

I made a special effort to get close-ups of the ribbon-cable clips, as that wasn't self-explanatory at all in the other write-ups I've seen. Once you get the idea behind those it isn't too hard if your hands are small enough.

It's probably not related to the drizzle and you're likely due for a new digitizer. If you change yours out please post a reply here with the results.

It was weird not having the GPS for that short length of time. I'm used to looking at it, even if I know where I'm going, and I use the MP3 player 99% of the time when riding.

 

Excellent write up.
No problems for me yet, but I will remember this.

 

Great write up! Wish I would have had this two weeks ago when I did this repair for a friends 550. Although I was able to find enough info already out there on the net, everything in one post like yours would have made it nice.

 

I just completed this repair on my Zumo 550 last week. I paid the extra money for the new lcd and digitizer screen so i wouldn't have to cut and screw something up. But it worked perfect and only took 10 minutes to fix. The only thing i am worried about is the zumo is known for being able to see it in the sun and this new screen doesn't work as well as the original.

 

I've noticed the same thing after doing some riding today, and what's odd is that the two LCD screens have the same part number. I did some tests with a photographic spot meter and found that the original LCD is brighter by about one f-stop, which is noticeable in sunlight. The LCD screens on the combo packages I described are not new but "refurbished" Garmin screens while the digitizers are new. You would think like part numbers would translate in like performance, but maybe not. It's interesting that in another write-up the author said his replacement screen/digitizer combo from the same vendor was brighter than the original.

Only an hour ago I decided to try separating the digitizer from the original LCD screen and it wasn't a big deal. You just need an Exacto knife and insert it between the glass digitizer and the LCD screen, running it around the periphery until the digitizer separates from the adhesive. There is a plastic gasket that protects the screen so if you're careful you can separate the two without damaging the screen. The digitizer will break, but that's no loss since it's the part that needs replacing anyway. I used naphtha to clean the glue off the plastic frame of the screen.

I then ordered a digitizer from an Ebay vendor with good feedback for $13 shipped, and I will try that next. Based on your feedback and my second-thoughts about buying the LCD/digitizer combo, I think I would now recommend buying only the digitizer and reuse the original screen. The new digitizers have double-stick tape on them that should be a matter of tacking it onto the LCD and re-assembling everything. I'll report back when I finish this next phase. So far I'm in this for maybe $40, so even though I'm in the learning process I'm still not out much in costs, and since I have a Zumo 450 I don't have much choice since Garmin won't service them anymore anyway. If they did it'd cost $150 to repair, so if this fixes the GPS I'm in great shape, as the only other alternative would be to find a third-party repair station or throw it away and spend $600+ for a new GPS.