Diagnosis
Yeah, this one's common. The control board is temporarily locked up or has lost power, often after a brief power surge or outage. It's not a hardware failure, just a glitch.
How to Fix It
You need to do a full system reset. Unplug the microwave from the wall outlet. Don't just turn off the breaker—physically pull the plug. Wait a full 60 seconds. While it's unplugged, press and hold the 'Stop/Clear' button on the control panel for about 5 seconds to drain any residual charge. Then plug it back in. The display should go blank for a moment and then return to normal, showing the time.
If That Didn't Work
If the '88:88' persists after the reset, there might be a short in the touchpad or a more serious control board issue. Try the reset one more time, ensuring it's unplugged for at least two minutes. If it still fails, the main PCB likely needs replacement.
Heads Up
This microwave doesn't have a backup battery for the clock. Any power interruption will cause it to lose the time and default to '88:88' on restoration, which is normal. The reset fixes it when it gets stuck in that state.