Can I get my CD's back?

[Slateyman]

Last Thursday, prior to a trip to Lincolnshire, I loaded 6 CD's into my Bolero unit.  As it happens we didn't play any until Sunday on teh way home.  One played fine, clicked to the next one and started satisfactorily.  switched off when we got home, restarted on Monday morning OK.  Restarted on tuesday OK. 

 

When I switched from radio to Media on Thursday afternoon, it told me "No media available".  Selected eject/load button and tells me "NO CD" in each of six slots.  Selected each slot in turn, and tells me there is a "function error".

 

Now I know there are six (quite precious to me) CD's in the unit.  How do get them out?  And more to the point, how do I get the thing to work properly again.  The radio is fine, although I have noticed that if I'm listening to an AM station, it quietly bleeps at me every so often, but I can live with that.

 

Previous suggestions for CD problems involve removing a fuse for a short while, which I will try, but it seems odd that the radio is OK, if that was a problem.

 

Any other suggestions (apart from a hammer and crowbar) would be appreciated.

[varooom]

There are a few different threads on here for this fault.

 

Option one was fuse removal or battery off car for a bit, and it started working.

 

Other someone ripped the unit apart, naturally it looked like a grenade had gone off inside.

 

Link and top was capturing the CD's between 2 old credit cards and "pulling" them out as a sandwich.

 

Pick one that suits you, and report back for more options if needed.

 

 

[Slateyman]

First off, I'll try the fuse trick.

 

There is no sign that the unit is even trying to eject the CD's, it seems to have died completely.  Wonder if it could be something to do with the heat yesterday as I burned my hand on the steering wheel it was so hot inside?

[varooom]

Try listening in close to hear if there's any noises, some also mentioned a little "persuasion" aka hit the bugger a bit to make it fear for its life I presume and cough up your prized CD collection.

 

Best of luck with fuse, and let's hope it does the trick.

[Slateyman]

No, pulling the fuse made no difference, and it is completely silent when I try to eject the CD's - not a tickle!  Trying it again, I noticed the message when switching from radio to Media was "No medium available" (not media).

 

I will try the time honoured method of dealing with recalcitrant electrical items -i.e. a good thump.  usually works on TV's and things!

 

Otherwise, looks like I'll be watching Youtube to see how to get the darn thing out, and replace it.  Just after spending a fortune having the aircon compressor replaced too!

 

Hey Ho!

[Slateyman]

Tried the "big bang" theory.  Made no difference.  I will engage the services of the attractive lady next door who is much younger than me and understands modern technology, but I don't hold out much hope!

 

Have already ordered some Prytools in order to extract the unit!  Fortunately removal looks relatively easy.  Then it's a question of new or used replacement, I fear.

 

Thanks for the advice so far.

[Slateyman]

A week on and there has been some progress, although not in the direction I would have wanted.

 

Having extracted the Bolero unit from the dashboard, I carefully removed the top panel, and then released the CD changer unit by undoing the four screws at the side.  As I lifted it out of the main carcass, I was left with a ribbon cable connector flapping in the breeze.  Could it have already disconnected itself (hence no power to the changer) or had I just pulled a bit too hard?  No way of knowing!

 

I could see the CD's neatly held in the unit, but could find absolutely no way to get inside the changer to release them.  Lots of tiny screws around the outside, but none apparently holding the frame together, only holding the works in place.  Discretion being the better part of valour, I put it all back together, plugging the ribbon lead back in, and replaced it in the car.  Fortunately, the unit doesn't appear to have ever been coded, so the radio worked OK.  Still no action on the CD front, so I scanned ebay and found a replacement (used) unit, and also replacements for my CD's (fortunately still obtainable).

 

The new changer duly arrived, so I fitted it immediately, and everything worked well.  I also seem to have lost the intermittent "bleep" on AM stations, so that's a bonus.  I would still like to get my CD's out, but it would appear that I may need an angle grinder or similar, unless anyone here has knowledge of these things and how to dismantle them properly?

 

It did also occur to me that if the ribbon cable HAD disconnected itself, I could have replaced it the wrong way round, which would also cause it to not function.  However, I don't think I want to investigate that any further.  I'm just pleased to have some sounds back in the car.

 

Thanks to Varoom for the advice anyway.  Much appreciated.

[varooom]

Glad you made some progress, I am sure you can dismantle the unit without an angle grinder to cooked your CD's with heat and white hot sparks of metal.

 

I love pulling things apart, so no doubt you will be able to get in with some effort and time.

[Bexhillian]

Pleased that your CD issues mostly solved.

 

However, I am sure that I'm with many others who were waiting for news of your engagement with the services of the attractive young lady living next door.

[Urrell]

7 hours ago, Slateyman said:

Fortunately, the unit doesn't appear to have ever been coded, so the radio worked OK. 

The radio code is stored in the cars ECU so if original unit put back it will not need the code entered. .