I have a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country. It has the combination radio/CD player. Just yesterday I put a CD in, but instead of it switching automatically from the radio to the CD, the radio just kept playing, there is no symbol on the display showing there is a CD inside, and it won't eject. HELP! How do I get the CD out? Also, I just had the car in for an oil change service the day before. Could the dealer have done something?

I am also having one other electrical problem which I also just noticed in the last few days. When I have the headlights on there is no indicator shown on the dashboard display. The headlights still work though. This also seems to have started after going to the dealer for the oil change. Everything else seems OK. Could these 2 problems be related?

 

Hi Carol,

It seems highly unlikely that anything the Dealer has done when servicing the car would affect how your CD player functions. Look in your radio User Manual for info on how to operate CD player - it may have a troubleshooting page.

For the headlight indication, on the right hand side of the dash (UK cars), just below steering wheel height and close to the headlight switch there is a vertical disc that is used to control the instrument cluster brightness. It also switches on/off the courtesy lamps inside the vehicle. Try moving that up and down and see if your headlight indication works then.

 

Hi Munro,

Thanks for answering. Actually we got the CD working again, by accident. My husband first tried somebody's suggestion of trying to use two credit cards as tweezers to pull out the CD unsuccessfully. Then he just held in the "CD Eject" button and mysteriously -- the CD ejected! A little later we reinserted the same CD and it works fine. All I can figure is the CD was somehow misaligned and the credit cards/tweezer must have re-aligned it.

Regarding the headlight indicator, I spoke to the dealer and he said the same thing as you. I'll try that tomorrow. The dealer also said it might just be a burnt-out bulb. I didn't ask but I imagine that's something that's not easy and rather expensive to fix -- something I can't do myself. Anyway, the headlights still work.

Carol

 

I am writing again because while a CD has not gotten "totally stuck" on the last 10 hour drive we took a few days ago, the CD almost got stuck and acted "flaky" a couple of times. I think the warning bells are sounding and I should replace this player before a CD really gets stuck.

My questions are: 1. What specs do I need to look for in a replacement unit? (for instance while looking on eBay I noticed a unit from a 2003 vehicle for sale for about $67 and others for $174 (also used?)) To me, it seems stupid to replace a 2005 part with a 2003 part -- that would just be asking for rapid failure. The only info shown on the unit are the words "Compact disc, digital audio" on the CD faceplate and the words "Dolby & NR, Auto Metal, RDS" on the cassette door.

2. How difficult is it to remove and replace the CD/radio/cassette player? Are there any directions/diagrams available on the internet? Do I need any special tools or wire connectors, etc. to do this job?

3. Instead of going to eBay for a used unit, what about going to a local salvage yard for a possibly newer model? Only problem with this is I live in FL and problems with these CD player combo units is probably exacerbated from the cars sitting in driveways in the hot 95 degree sun so I might be better off with a used unit from up north where it's not so hot!!

I'd appreciate any advice you guys can offer, thanks.

 

Advice re. CD unit:--

You might find it easier to fix the existing CD player before going to the long-winded trouble of fitting one that is different, not to mention the cost.

See if you can get the CD player out of its location (you'll have to do this anyhow) so you may inspect it, partic. the area around the drawer/slot. Look esp. for any leaf-spring electrical contacts. These if fitted will open and close as the drawer goes in and out. If you can have the unit working on your knee, so much the better, then you can see exactly what is happening as the drawer/carrier goes in and out. There's a 90% chance the problem is mechanical rather than electrical..

If you feel some lubrication is needed, use only silicon oil if you can get it, as the mineral types can attack plastic sometimes. Use the minerals such as WD40 as a last resort. Be careful where you spray it -- better to spray onto a cloth and wipe IF poss.

If you find leaf-spring contacts that seem suspicious, get some of the finest grit wet-and-dry paper as used by car spray painters for rubbing down, cut some into a strip and insert between the contacts so you can rub-off subtle corrosion. Turn the paper strip the other way round to do the other contact. Hold the contacts open slightly and blow out any dust from the operation after you've done. However, there may be no such contacts at all as there are other ways of doing the job such as opto-couplers and shutters.

If you think you have success, don't put the unit back until you've tested it the next day a few times. Gadgets in cars have a nasty habit of fooling you into thinking they are fixed when they are not, almost as if there is an evil gremlin in there bent on frustrating your repair attempts.

At any rate, if you can't fix it, no money or time has been wasted.

Leedsman.

p.s., be careful about fitting another unit which APPEARS to be identical, as manufacturers often make alterations to the spec. during production runs to either fix problems or save money.