Sportster back light problem

I had the same issue with my Sportster Replay SR2. The backlight was usually out, but would flicker on, especially when I would apply pressure to the back.

The unit only has two screws at the bottom, which I removed. I couldn't seem to remove the back cover and was afraid I might break it, so I snugly put the screws back in and decided to give up until I could find some more information on how to remove the back.

Voila! After putting the unit back into its cradle in my car, the back light worked! I believe that the screws had simply loosened over time, and the connections for the backlight simply were not making contact.

I'm not sure how long this fix will last, but so far so good. So before doing any soldering or monkeying with the connections, just try tightening the screws first to see if it fixes the problem as it did for me.

I had the same problem. I had to open it up for a easy fix but try this first.

1) Turn the sirius on. try squeezing the 2 bottom corners of the unit and see if the lights flicker or turn on. If they do then go to step 2. If not, try lightly twisting the unit itself while the power is on to see if you can get any response from the lights. If it still doesn't light up then you have a bigger problem.

2) In each of the bottom 2 corners (inside the unit) there is a metal pressure connection. You will have to open up the unit (take the 4 screws out and there are 2 clips on either side of the connector on the bottom of the unit) careful with the clips, they are pretty strong clips but if you force it too much any type of plastic clip will break. Now, once you have it open you can see what I mean with the connector on each side of the unit. Just bend the metal piece so that it connects with more pressure.

I am basing this solution on how I fixed the lights going out on my Sportser 4. I hope this works for you!

Thanks to the leads provided in the other answers, this is how I put it all together for the Sportster Replay SP-R2 (the original Sportster). After trying the "screw tightening" solution, I realized that it wasn't enough. I could get the back lighting to work intermittently, so I continued and it lead me to realize the problem was most likely inside the unit.
First, remove the two screws located at the bottom of the rear of the unit. Use the words of warning well, the tabs are small, but firm. Using a very small flat-head screwdriver, carefully separate the unit near the tabs across the top of the unit (2) and the tabs on the upper sides (1 on each side). It helps to have two small screwdrivers to keep one side separated while working the other one.
Once the parts are separated, carefully remove the FRONT of the unit by slowly separating and sliding UP the front of the unit from the back (the plug at the bottom of the unit needs to slide up and out of the back slot); conversely you could slide the back down off the unit.
Remove the front cover & rubber buttons from the circuit board. Without touching the screen, you will most likely see one of the solder joints at each bottom corner of the screen has broken. This break is why squeezing the screen works - the solder holds until some vibration causes it to "break" free again.
Solder the connection(s) that is loose below the screen (it's helpful to have a sharp, clean tip & a lighted, magnifying arm ring). Lastly, because it helps to have a third arm holding the unit when soldering, see if you can devise something to hold the unit up at an angle while soldering (like propping it up or having someone hold it).
The whole soldering process should take about 10 seconds for each connection needed. Give it about 3-5 minutes to harden. After rehardened, while it's apart, you can double check the antenna solder points on the back of the unit to see if they are loose.
Before putting it all back together, put the circuit board, rubber buttons and face place together and carefully put the head unit back into the cradle to make sure the solder has solved the problem.
Once it turns on and the back light is steady, congratulations! Success!! Put it all back together (the bottom of the back unit must be slid back over the mounting square). It make require a "little" snap/force to pop the bottom back into the unit's back. Then snap it all back together, put in a few screws and it's ready to go for another few years! (Lifetime subscription keeps me working on the unit) :)

I have fixed this problem on two Sportster 2 units so it may only be useful for that model. The flickering backlight can be caused by a cold solder joint on this model. Remove the back cover by removing the two screws. Then carefully release the 4 plastic latches that hold the cover in place. Two latches are along the top and the third one is near the top left side and the fourth is near the top right side looking from the back.

Resolder the two connections where the lower circuits connect to the circuit board that you see when the back is removed.

One is located in the lower right corner just above capacitor C521. The other is located just left of center on the board below the metal shield box and is just above capacitor C102.

You must have a soldering tool with a low profile and the proper skill to solder these connections as you could do damage to nearby components if you are not careful.

Having a similar problem (sportser sp-sr2) the backlight will not work when in the car cradle or the home radio - but if i squeeze the top of the sportser the backlight comes on and sometimes stays on for a period of time. trying to take the back off having removed the 2 screws but apparently there are a couple of catches inside the case that i need to figure out without damaging the unit

Opened up my Sportster, found that one of the terminals to the LDC backlight was loose at the lower corner as described, a pin of solder and I am back in business.