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Okay, I realize this is a stretch, but maybe somebody has some helpful insights. I've got a JVC CH-X350 12-disc CD changer in my car that has worked flawlessly for more than 10 years. This is actually the fourth car I've put it into.

A few days ago, it quit working. It tries to load a disc, gives up, then tries to load the next one. It'll just keep going through all 12 discs if I let it. When I watch it load, it appears the disc doesn't move all the way to the right from the magazine side to the player side. Any suggestions of how to fix the unit or is it time to retire it?

Well, it was a difficult decision, but I've decided to retire my CD changer. I got a replacement unit on eBay last night for next to nothing. It's also a JVC, so I should just be able to swap out the player itself and leave the existing controller and RF modulator in place for a very easy installation.

There's an old saying that nothing is ever easy, and that certainly seems to apply to many aspects of my life. When the replacement CD changer arrived, the CD magazine was stuck in the changer, making it useless. The seller took it back and refunded my money, but I had to pay return postage. That was $13 for nothing, but better than eating the whole $37 I had paid. But here's the good news:

After that transaction was concluded, I looked again on eBay and found another one that was essentially new old stock. The seller said he had bought it a few years ago and never installed it. I got the thing for a whopping $12.50 plus shipping and it was as good as the seller claimed. I was a little worried at first because the magazine was in the player and two of the CD carriers had become dislodged. I was able to slip my pocket knife in there and pop them back into the magazine, after which it came out easily.

Installation was a snap. Because the RF modulator and all the cabling were already in place, it was just a matter of swapping out the changer itself. It took more time to pull all the crap out of my trunk to get to it than it did to actually swap the unit. But now, I'm once again rockin' down the highway.

I know CD changers are now considered to be obsolete, but I absolutely love mine. Having 12 discs at your fingertips is tough to beat.

Glad you got it worked out!

Quite true. I've also got an RF modulator for my iPod, but I find the iPod to be more cumbersome to use while driving. For me, the CD changer borders on being a safety device.

1993TransAm wrote:I know CD changers are now considered to be obsolete, but I absolutely love mine. Having 12 discs at your fingertips is tough to beat.

Glad you got it worked out!

Nice. I'm on my second Changer in my 03, as my first one wouldn't eject the magazine. I had to 100% disassemble it to get it out. New one was $140 from a salvage yard...

I got great service out of the JVC. I bought it in the spring of 2000 and it never gave a minute's trouble until it quit reading discs a few weeks ago. I transferred it to every car I owned for the next 11 years except for my Cadillac, because it had a factory unit in it. I found the Delco changer in the Cadillac to be a bit less reliable than the JVC. Its most annoying habit was ejecting the magazine on its own whenever its door slid open.

I'm looking forward to getting another decade out of my new JVC.

I have a CD changer that I got from my brother-in-law. Its a Sony, it work great for awhile then it pop the fuse. So I took it out. thinking about putting it back in but not sure way the fuse pop. Also the factory radio volumn knob is mess up. If you try and turn the music down it goes up. I want to take it out but concern about the security code thing. How to avoide locking the radio out.

Is the "TheftLock" LED on the lower left corner of the radio face lit? If so, you need to disarm TheftLock before you take the radio out. If it is not lit, that feature isn't activated and you have no worries about removing the radio. In my experience, TheftLock is most often not activated.

Dads Toy wrote:I have a CD changer that I got from my brother-in-law. Its a Sony, it work great for awhile then it pop the fuse. So I took it out. thinking about putting it back in but not sure way the fuse pop. Also the factory radio volumn knob is mess up. If you try and turn the music down it goes up. I want to take it out but concern about the security code thing. How to avoide locking the radio out.