Help - Is my CD changer dying?

[TexVeX]

The cd changer that was orinally in my VX still worked great when I got mine this past May. I have apparently worn it out quickly. Even new CD's are skipping and several CD's have been scratched by the player in a weird pattern - three parentheses shaped marks near the center. Do you think my player is dying like the factory ones so often do? Or could there be something stuck inside that does not belong?

Sorry if this is a question that has been dealt with a lot in the past. I tried doing a search but was having to dig too deep to find just what I needed.

[SkidPlate]

I found after having two changers replaced under warranty that if you do not put a CD in the last (#6) position the player works much smoother. Whenever I had a CD scratch or jam it was always #6. ymmv.

[TexVeX]

My number two did it as well and right now all I have in are two really old Cd's in slots 3 and 4. My player thinks "skippity do da" Is way of life and not just a song.

[SlowPro48]

The metal separator plates in your CD changer are raised up and down by brass screws. The screws are turned by small plastic gears. These plastic gears are held in place by metal tabs with two screws on ONE end only. When there is too much resistance (e.g., two CDs in one slot - especially at the top or bottom of the stack - #1 or #6 positions) the metal tabs holding the gears in place can flex allowing the small driven gears to rise above the large drive gear that turns them. When this happens you'll hear the crunching noise of teeth being skipped. I guess if ALL of the small gears did this to the same degree and skipped the same number of teeth on the drive gear it would be OK since the changer seems to run through an "I gotta find out where everything is and calibrate myself" routine everytime you key the ignition BUT what usually happens is one gear skips and the others stay meshed - so the platters get out of kilter. That's when CDs start hanging and getting scratched and if it's bad enough for some reason they skip or sometimes won't play at all. I never did figure that one out because it seems if the platters were working well enough to deliver the CD to the laser, the CD would play. How would the player section know everything above and below it is kapakahi?

Anyway, you can take the changer apart and fix it but it takes a while to get everything in synch again. But the more you use it, the looser it gets and the more easily it gets whacked out. Believe me, you will get tired of taking it apart, spinning the gears to get it lined up and putting it all back together. I finally replaced the OEM head unit with a Sony CD player that has a USB port and yanked out the POS CD changer and put it a Ford Taurus cup/coin holder. A ten dollar flash drive holds WAY more music than the changer ever did and there are no moving parts. It won't play DRM protected files but I get around that by using a first gen iPod Shuffle. Cheap on eBay! Plug it into the USB port and run its output to the auxillary in which is a standard 3.5mm stereo jack like you see on headphones - then you have the option of reading straight off the iPod via USB or if you want to play a DRM file, switch to AUX and play it with the iPod. I don't have many DRM files though so mostly use a 2GB micro SD card loaded with wmas. That way I can play them in the VX and also with my cell phone when I'm out of the VX. It's funny how a sliver of silicon smaller than my fingernail has replaced a whole stack of CDs, which a few years ago replaced ten times their weight in vinyl. Wonder what will be next? If it gets much smaller I'll need tweezers! Now where have I heard that phrase before....? Anyway... dragging and dropping files is so much quicker and easier than burning CDs too. Wish I'd made the swap years ago but for some reason I wanted to keep the VX "original". The hell with that. Your CD changer is going to give you nothing but trouble from here on out so my advice is to yank that cassette playing, CD jamming system out of there and replace it with a big fuzzy hole and a single CD head unit that has a USB port and a 3.5mm auxilliary port so you can play files instead of CDs. I guarantee you will not regret it! C'mon, tell me - when's the last time you played a cassette...? ;>

[WILLY]

O MY

[TexVeX]

Thanks bunches for the detailed reply. It is better to understand what is going on with my player than to be in the dark.

C'mon, tell me - when's the last time you played a cassette...? ;>


A week ago actually. But not in the VX. The cassette player was already busted when I got the VX. I'm years behind everyone else in technology. I didn't get my first CD player till '99 right before everyone else began getting Ipods and whatever. Never had a CD player in a vehicle till the VX. I might be able to switch over to the new tecnology someday, but I doubt it will happen just yet. Unfortunately I don't even understand a lot of your second paragragh. heheh. I know what a USB is but I will have to go google DRM and some of that other other stuff.

I used to be good at taking apart cassette players and radios and fixing minor problems so maybe till I learn about all this stuff and have the finances to change over I can see how bad I am at taking this CD player apart to fix what you described.

Again, thanks a bunch.

[Y33TREKker]

....Wish I'd made the swap years ago but for some reason I wanted to keep the VX "original"....

I imagine that's why a lot of people hesitate about going aftermarket. I know it's been my reasoning for quite awhile now. Now that I revisit the subject though, I think I'd be better off swapping the OEM unit out while it's still working so I don't have to worry about finding a replacement in the future if I do want to go back to an all-original VX. I have an extra mp3 capable player waiting in the wings anyway, and just one of those disks would easily take the place of the six in the stocker. The nano with FM transmitter adapter has also proven itself very reliable, and it too stores just a few more songs than six regular cd's.

SlowPro: Do you have any pics of the Taurus cubby hole?

[SlowPro48]

Thanks bunches for the detailed reply. It is better to understand what is going on with my player than to be in the dark.

Ha! Yeah, sorry for the level of detail. It was pointed out to me a while back that I am long-winded so I severely curtailed the posting around here. I guess I could have said the same thing in the preferred three sentences or less. Here, I'll try:

Your CD player is dying. You can fix it, but probably only temporarily. Get a new one that plays files, preferably one with a USB port and a stereo mini plug "AUX in" on the front.

There, I did it!!!!!

A caveat - I don't know FOR SURE what's going on in your CD changer. Only you can find out by taking it apart. Who knows - maybe it's just a paper clip jammed in there or something. I've gone through three of them and it was the same problem with every one though. That brings up another bit of advice - don't bother buying one off ebay or one that was pulled out of a junkyard Isuzu because it will probably have as much play time as the one that's crapping out on you.

Unfortunately I don't even understand a lot of your second paragragh. heheh. I know what a USB is but I will have to go google DRM and some of that other other stuff.

Well don't feel like the Lone Ranger - I didn't know what DRM was either until I bought some songs off iTunes, copied them to a flash drive and then discovered they wouldn't play. DRM is Digital Rights Management - some sort of copyright protection scheme. My nephew says there's free software that will "unlock" the files but I'm not tech savvy enough to have found it yet. Haven't really looked hard though because like I said - it's easy enough to circumvent with a few inches of copper wire. I'm stupid like that...

I used to be good at taking apart cassette players and radios and fixing minor problems so maybe till I learn about all this stuff and have the finances to change over I can see how bad I am at taking this CD player apart to fix what you described.

It's not difficult to fix, but it's time consuming. I don't know how much your time is worth - guess that depends on how much longer you expect to live - who knows, maybe you're young and healthy and have time to burn. Go for it! I can tell you I wish I'd gone ahead and spent the $150 on the Sony a lot sooner instead of messing with the OEM unit. When I bought the Sony I noticed there was a Dual on the Crutchfield website that had the same features plus an HD radio tuner for the same price but it was a new item and wasn't available at the time. It might be by now though.

If you do decide to repair the CD changer, be aware that it's powered up even with the key out - and that's not a bad thing - it has to be energized with the cover off at some point anyway because you'll be doing a lot of testing. The danger here is that the front circuit board (with CD select buttons and LEDs - you will be removing it) is powered too of course and has ribbon cables that will fry WAY before a fuse will blow. It's been a while since I've done this but if I remember right, there's a two conductor connector on the left side of that board that supplies the power. Disconnect that as soon as you get in. You might want to disconnect the battery and give the system a minute or two for capacitors to bleed down the very first time you crack it open that way you can see where NOT to get sloppy with metal objects such as covers, screws and screwdrivers.

Well enough long winded-ness. If you need any parts, let me know!

[SlowPro48]

SlowPro: Do you have any pics of the Taurus cubby hole?

Yeah - taken tonight with flash so not very good quality but I'll try to post them - as soon as I figure out how to do it...

[SlowPro48]

Well, I uploaded the pictures of the cup/coin holder and confirmed they're in my gallery but I have no idea how to incorporate them in a message. I think you can look at them in my gallery but if someone wants to post them in a message, feel free to do so. I tried the little "insert image" button but when I preview, the pic isn't there, just the URL as text. Now you see why I prefer copper wire rather than software to circumvent that DRM crap. I'm an old dog and this is new trix...

[etlsport]

the caption from the last photo... Shot from the side showing the clearance problem. The cupholder does not extend enough causing interference from the ashtray. Bottles won't fit, fast food cups won't fit and, as you can see, regular sized cans barely fit. My advice is drink Red Bull...