CD changer not playing but it's sucking the battery dry

[Woob]

Greetings all and welcome to my latest story of woe.

I bought Poopsie a CD changer to put in the 1999 DeVille (a bit late for Valentine's day but, she was still pretty excited). It came yesterday and all was going well.

I plugged in the wire in the trunk and heard the changer kick into gear checking out the CDs. I moved to the driver seat and hit the source button and there is was... it had recognized the CD changer with no problem. I knew things were going too good to be true.

The CDs would not play. I took the magazine out and re-inserted it several times to no avail. I pulled the plug and reconnected it to the changer about a half dozen times. All to the same result.

I could see the CD icon flashing on the radio head unit. I'd wait for it to stop and try playing. I'd try playing while flashing. Nothing worked.

On my last attempt I was watching the CD icon flash and I noticed that the lights on the radio began to dim and the music on the radio started to fade away. OUCH!!

It seems the CD changer had sucked quite a bit of juice out of my battery and the car would not even turn over. Just lots of clicking.

So I dug out the battery charger and was able to rescue the battery. All is well with it now BUT.........

What do I do about this CD changer issue? Why won't it play? Why is it so power hungry? Am I SOL?

Thanks to all for any help you can offer. I am continuing to search the forums for some enlightenment. I know you guys can do it.

[MWA]

After the CD changer is plugged in, the CD icon appears on the dash green screen, all of the changer noise should cease. Check the changer "magazine" and see if the CD's are all installed face down in their respective magazine slots. When you put the magazine slowly into the changer with the arrow on the magazine toward the unit and close the door, it should go through a series set up that takes a few minutes which preps each cd. Then all should stop and each CD is available for play. Once in awhile, my golf clubs jar the changer door open slightly, but the green read out on the dash states: "chek cd door" (even if it is open only slightly) After closing the changer door, all is well. If you put the CD's into the changer face up, you get an ERR message on the green screen when attempting to play them. If you get the CD logo on the green screen, it sounds like the unit is being recognized.

My pigtail in the trunk had a jumper wire that I had to remove, before connecting the changer. I am not certain of any GM changes that would have been made between 98 and 99, nor am I aware of any tech bulletins on the problem that you are experiencing. I would double check the pigtail connection carefully, as well as assembly of the cd's in the magazine and eliminate the simple before proceeding toward the complex. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Woob]

CDs are definately all face down. And I can hear it cycle through the 12 CDs. I can count as it seems to check out each CD. After the 12, it does make some other noises but I'll have to check tonight to give more of a description of them. There is no problem with the changer door.

Also, when I get home tonight, I'll check out that wire. Could this be part of the battery draining issue?

[CadillacSTS2003]

if its been d/c for a long time the lens may be pretty dirty
try getting a lens cleaner disc into it

[weister42]

May I ask what kind of CD changer did you put in, a factory one or one of those add-on aftermarket ones? A CD changer alone cannot draw nearly enough power to drain a car battery, and if it does it would of start on fire or melted. I would check your wiring to make sure everything is correct.

[Woob]

I bought a GM OEM unit off of eBay. Here is a link to it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...2332590&rd=1,1

I haven't had a chance to check anything tonight. Poopsie is working late. Maybe tomorrow.

I emailed the guy I bought it off of to see if he had any ideas but have not heard back from him yet.

Hey ETC. You're back. I thought you ran out on me. What's d/c?

Weister, when you say check the wiring, what exactly do you mean? I've had no electrical problems until I put in the changer.

Thanks everyone! Keep it coming!

[CadillacSTS2003]

disconnected
sry been busy with school
if it hasnt been run for awhile then it may be dusty
put in a lens cleaner to fix it

[Woob]

OIC.

I'll give it a shot.

[MWA]

Woob, your ebay image appears to be the same unit as the one I installed in my 98 Eldo. If it is recognized by the main dash unit....cd logo on the green screen..... problem is likely either in the unit or wiring. CD lens cleaning may clear it. Your comments about continuation of noise in the unit after CD ID process is not what I have experienced. After checking all suggestions above, I would take it to a reputable audio shop for a bench check.

[Woob]

Tried using a lens cleaner but that was no good. Since the changer will not play, the cleaner can not do it's job.

To get around the battery problem I let the car run while I was messing with the changer. That's OK for now. I'll worry about that once I get the changer playing (if I do).

The unit is still being recognized and the CD logo flashes while the changer cycles through the CDs. But when I hit the source button and go to CD, nothing happens. I even put a CD in upside down just to see what would happen. I did not get an error message like many people have indicated. It just cycled through the CDs as usual. This leads me to believe that the changer isn't reading the CDs at all. Not a good sign, huh?

Update on noises coming from changer: When I insert the magazine I hear what sounds like the changer cycling through the CDs. Thing is I only hear what sounds like going to the next CD 7 times. I would think I would hear it 12 times.

Things just are not looking good.

[Woob]

Here's what could be the final word on this changer. I took the cover off and it turns out I was right about 7 CDs in the previous post. It looks at 7 of the 12 and then stops. The problem seems to be that the CDs are not spinning.

I put in 1 CD (instead of loading up the full 12) and watched closely what happened. The changer pulled the CD in as if to check it out but, as I said before, the CD did not spin. Thus the CDs are not being read.

Anyone have any ideas on what the problem may be? I called a repair shop that deals with GM warranty stuff and they want $250 to fix it. I'm going to look around and see if there is someone who might be able to give the changer a checkup and get it going much cheaper.

In the mean time the seller on eBay is going to happily refund my money. All we can figure is something got knocked out of whack during shipping.

[CadillacSTS2003]

laser is not reading the existence of the disc therefore it will not start to spin
try cleanin the lens

[Woob]

Nope. That ain't it.

[mike.nite]

Hello,

Could you already solve your problem?

In my seville exactly the same happened. Try to check
the connector on the cd changer - is there a gree wire?

[Woob]

Haven't solved the issue and now the changer collects dust in the garage. Maybe someday?