After having to live with the crappy stock CD changer cutting in and out randomly for weeks ("Magazine Empty") I finally decided to do something about it. So I actually went out to the car this morning and to my suprise its very simple to remove the mechanism. I could feel the wires underneath so i had to get the unit up and out to inspect what the real problem was.
There are two phillips screws just under the rear shelf carpet (it should fold easy, left side is a flap). Undo those two screws and the unit slides right up. After inspecting the bottom i found just two small plugs, thats it. I Also realized that the plugs were loose. Well i cleaned them off and plugged them back in. Becuase the plugs mount upwards vertically i guess over time going over speed bumps and etc the plugs eventually get loose (the clip mechanism is very weak so it doesn't take much). Also in order to prevent skips i also put down a set of corn pads (yes those tiny little pads that you put on your feet if you have corns, oval shaped with hole punch in the center). The corn pads come in a pack of 15 for $2.99 @ Albertsons or any grocery store. This extra padding between the mount and the trunk floor helps absorb any vibrations further preventing skips. infact the CD player skips less now. If you are paranoid you can double stack them. These pads are also fantastic for padding the stock interior panel clips (prevents plastic on plastic clicking).
Anyways, FINALLY the problem is cured and all it took was a few pads (which weren't even really necessary, just a nice addition to improve skippage). Anyways hope that helps boys.
Just did this to mine today. So far no "magazine empty" but its only been a few hours and that message was always coming and going every couple of days so I don't know if it fixed it permanatly or not.
Make sure you puch the magazine in all the way so it fully engauges.
Also, get one of those CD lens cleaners and put it in the CD6 slot and use it to clean the lens, that will also prevent CDs from skipping (clean once every few months). Also the biggest difference is using high quality blank CDR's versus the super cheap ones. Memorex and fuji-film have given me much better than those super cheapo brands. hope that helps.
Hey guys. well today the CD changer was working great but started acting up again. I got to check the plug again, and of course its loosy goosy. However i went from 0% playable (magazine empty all the time) to not a single magazine emtpy sign today. Occasionally it will pause on track 10 regardless of CD (may be dust). I am also gonna add another layer of corn pads to help absorb more shock. i think i have figured out a new solution and will post my findings once I try it out. I will also take pics so you guys can see what im talking about more clearly (probably wont' be able to do it till tomorrow).
Last edited by omeyhomey : 02-08-2007 at 04:09 PM.
I pushed the plug back in today and used some black electrical tape to secure it in place. I also used my CD lens cleaner today and now the player works perfect, it no longer hangs up on track 10 and it plays cleanly all the way through. Pretty amazing. I went from hopelessly 100% "magazine empty" to playing perfectly for only the cost of the CD lens cleaner kit (usually about $10 from best buy). Anyways hope that helps boys.
dont recall which model changer you have but many folks dont realize that there
may be a switch which should be set based on the orientation/position of the
changer. some folks, having purchased the changer used, may find that the
switch was set for previous configuration. after toggling the switch it works even
better....even with bunyon pads. anyhoo, worth a look. it just adjusts the
suspension of the changer bit more optimally
I didn't see any switch, where is it located exactly?
anyhoo, worth a look. it just adjusts the
Linear Mode
