CD changer not doing anything and tapes are clicking!

[11justsomekid]

In my Vehicross, the stock radio/cassette player and CD changer are still in there. The radio functions, and the tape player worked fine last month. However the CD player doesn't turn on at all, I don't think. It's supposed to have its own manual, but I can't find it so I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I tried every button, but nothing on it works. Was it disconnected or what?

Giving up, I just decided to shove a tape in. In began to play fine, but created a HORRIBLE clicking noise, from both the speakers and the player itself, with the music being distorted as well. I clicked it to play the other side, and didn't make the noise, but introduced more wow and flutter than it did before. It was working just fine like a month ago, so what gives?

Sooner or later my radio will probably go out, and no music for me, I guess. Anybody have any solutions for these problems?

[Nikad92397]

Most OEM radios and CD players haven't made it as long as yours has.. Time to upgrade !!

[ipd]

I'm with Nikad. One thing great about the VX is that it's old enough that you don't have a super giant pain in the tuckas trying to swap for aftermarket. Newer cars (eg. those with on-star) make it a colossal PITA to swap to aftermarket.

I was quite fortunate mine came with an AM head unit. Not the most modern/flashy, but the USB input is GOLD. I've mentioned it before, but it completely changes how you listen to music.

I plug one of these into it and forget about ever changing out music.

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-128GB-Flash-Drive/dp/B01BGTG2A0/ref=pd_sim_147_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01BGTG2A0&pd_rd_r=TTTMGN3W9QDMN0XY4NV6&pd_rd_w=Na9hc&pd_rd_wg=TKZTR&psc=1&refRID=TTTMGN3W9QDMN0XY4NV6

And the great thing about it is that I don't have to worry about draining the charge out of my smartphone so i can listen to tunes in the car.

If you're a purist (as I am) then make sure your AM head unit comes with a loom or you can get a loom for it. That way you don't have to cut the stock plug out of the car. This has 2 advantages. It allows you to put a stock unit back in if you so choose, and it also allows you to do the wiring a bit easier, since you don't have to be stuck at the dash to do it. All you need is the loom to make the wiring connections to the AM unit. Once that's wired, it's plug/play into the dash (minus actually mounting the unit, of course).

[Nikad92397]

If your on a budget.. I'm sure a few people here have OEM units just sitting around that might help you out..

[Thelgord]

@ipd Totally agree about the loom. At least one of the previous owners of my VX didn’t do that. The OEM plug is still there, but wires are cut everywhere. Made it a real PITA to install an aftermarket head unit.