I this is Bigal. I recently purchased my 3rd Cadillac. my '99 Cadillac Deville is a beautiful car inside and out. It has a CD changer mounted in the trunk on the right side. It worked great for awhile, but now it doesn't seem to be getting any power to it. Tried ejecting the main cartridge, but it won't do a thing. Is there a reset button or blown fuse I am not aware of? I did notice that the two screws toward the front of the car were loose. Not sure if it bounced around enough before I noticed the problem. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this problem?

my manual says the comfort use in the trunk

best and easiest is to replace your headunit with a cass cd radio like this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/98-99-00-01-02-Deville-Seville-Factory-CD-Cass-Radio_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38640QQitemZ80307 67827QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Isn't there a problem with replacing the stereos in our Devilles? Specifically, isn't there some kind of code programmed into them which makes replacing them difficult?

There is no problem with replacing the stereo, the link above shows a nice unit but its a Bose stereo, I am not sure, but if you don't have the Bose speakers with their built on amplifiers, then you would not be able to swap them. If you just get the unit without the Bose label, then all you would need is the Vin number of the Vehicle that the non Bose came out of, then take it to the dealer and they will punch in that number and then wipe the radio clean, after its plugged in to your car, your cars computer will then fill in the 'blanks' with your Vin. Seems a very involved process for a simple job.

Does the dealer usually charge to "wipe clean" the new radio?

If you take into account that he would probably have to take his car into the dealer so they can check the cd changer for a $100 an hour labor charge and then most likely have to replace the changer for over $500 easily for another factory cd changer.

It is simpler and easier to just go ahead and replace the factory unit he can win one on ebay for less than a $100 have it reprogrammed in a few minutes.

Afterwards he will never have to bother with loading cds in the trunk area and now he can do it from inside the car at any moment he wishes to. It is simple for me however I cannot guarantee how simple it would be for others.

Thats what I was thinking about doing myself. I never understood why GM installed them in the trunk. My '94 Seville had a similiar CD changer , but the only difference was that it would hold 10 instead of the six I have now. I don't understand why there would be so many problems with their stereo systems. I think I may have to yank the old one out and have a new one installed if they want to charge an arm and a leg to fix the old one.

I don't think I have the Bose setup in my deville. Do you have any suggestions as to what systems are better than others? I'm not that knowledgeable on CD changers as I should.

Are there any special wiring harnesses I guy might need to switch over to something like that? Or are they universal on Cadillacs?

If I were to buy a stereo off of ebay and had the VIN from the original vehicle, how much would a dealer charges to "reprogram" it so I could use it in my car?

Sort of on the same subject. I hav the head unit shown in the link above. Has anyone found an iPod interface unit for this radio? I've seen units for later model Cadillacs that work via the CD changer controls.

That I'm not sure of. I spoke to the service manager and he simply figured it is easier just to buy a universal unit that can be used on a fm frequency is easier to do. That way it wouldn't require any special programming at the dealership. Also keep in mind they send off only factory installed units. After market ones they won't touch with a 10' pole. I did some research of about 26 pages on ebay for cd changers. You also have to find a unit that has the complete kit. Some only offer the unit, but as far as price goes, it doesn't look too hard to find the one you like for a descent price. I'm waiting to here back from a Sony dealer that sells CD changers to find out what would work best for Cadillac Devilles. I'll let u know when I hear back from them.

I wonder if the Sony brand I was looking at could be that way? I do know its a universal set-up that works off a FM frequency like my 94 Seville had. That might not be a bad idea. I notice anytime it rains, you pop open the trunk, water hits my unit. I wonder if that was the problem to begin with. Thats pretty much all its done where I live for the past month. I had the Cadillac dealer check it out for me. The power leads and ground are all active , but it has an obvious internal problem that they wouldn't even send off because it wasn't a factory installed unit. I thought it was, but without all the original paperwork...not much I can do anyway.

I've seen units that were capable and others that can't. Maybe check with a local car stereo store and see what you could do. Some people had to get rid of some units because it didn't have the proper internal hardware.

The only only problem with aftermarket system is the increased likelihood of having it stolen.

No one will bother stealing a deville stock stereo.