CD player in my 2005 Accord is defective

[sr17]

My cd player has suddenly stopped working (single disc cd player). Radio and the clock are still working.

Anyone else have this experience with their Accord? How do I get it fixed?

 

[AcuraTech]

Factory CD players tend to not last nearly as long as the rest of the car. Two options:

-Get an aftermarket stereo
-Send it out to a company that repairs factory radios

Both will cost about the same amount. No amount of prying, punching, verbally polluting, or praying will get it working again once it gives up.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

I have a client who tends to wear out the laser on his CD players. They are extremely expensive to repair, much cheaper to replace.

 

[aquariuscsm]

The "Blows" Bose factory cd changer in my car did that very same thing........it just quit playing while cruising down the highway one night. I had the head unit from my last car that I`d bought (I put the old oem unit back in when I sold the car). I went to Walmart and bought the Scosche faceplate and wiring harness and spent every bit of 10 min replacing it.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Look on the front of the cd unit for a very small reset button. It may or may not have one. If it is on the front press it with a toothpick or similar tool. If there is no reset button you could remove the unit and see if there is a reset button on the back of the unit. If not, you can either remove the radio fuse, disconnect the battery or unplug the radio and CD unit to disconnect power for a few minutes to see if maybe that will reset the cd. If you disconnect power be sure you have the security code for the radio available before you do it or else the radio itself will lock up and it won't work either. If you don't have the security code, Honda sometimes hides the radio code in the car too. Look for a sticker on the bottom of the ashtray if the car has one, or on the bottom of the little coin pocket on the driver's side of the dash. It should be a white sticker with a 6 digit number and there should be directions how to enter it in the owner's manual.

If none of the reset procedures work, the cd unit is probably defective. Contact a good car audio shop in your area. They should have the ability to repair it for you. If possible find a shop that charges a flat rate plus parts. That will get you the best price on the repair. You can also save money by removing the cd unit and reinstalling it yourself after the repair is done.

You could also check for a blown fuse. If there is no fuse for the CD unit in either one of the fuse panels, there might be a fuse for it in the back of the CD unit itself. Chances are though that if there is a blown fuse, there is some kind of internal damage or short circuit in the CD that caused the blown fuse. Replacing the fuse may not fix the CD unit. If there is no dedicated fuse for the CD itself then it shares the same circuit with the radio and the fuse is not the solution.

I retired from car audio in 2000, but I think that due the integrated design of the radio into the dash of the 05 Accord, aftermarket units will probably not be an aesthetic possibility in your car. I think they make an installation kit for an 05 Accord that allows you to leave the OEM radio in the dash and install an afetrmarket unit in the top of the storage pocket in front of the gear shifter. I have seen a picture of it done that way before. To be honest it was pretty ugly, but it's a way to add aftermarket sound if you want. The car audio store will know more about that option.

Check out some car audio shops in your area. Repairing the CD may cost less than an aftermarket unit in your case.

 

[01rangerxl]

Your best bet is to go aftermarket.

My truck's factory CD player stopped ejecting CDs. I thought about getting a used one, but I decided instead to just put in a $150 Alpine head unit. The Alpine has much better sound quality than the stock CD player, and it has an aux input, USB port, etc.

So far my only complaint with going aftermarket is that the dash kit for the new radio squeaks a little when it is very cold outside.

 

[TallPaul]

Another option: You can get a cheap MP3 player for about $20 that runs off an AAA battery and plug it into the back of the radio if the radio has RCA plugs on the back. I bought an adapter that has two RCA leads and the other end has a headphone jack that plugs into the MP3 player. I have over 300 favorite songs on shuffle. I don't worry about trying to find a particular piece of music as I don't want distraction on the road.

 

[brianl703]

It's very unlikely that a factory radio will have RCA plugs in the back. If it has any sort of aux-input back there, it's going to be a proprietary connector.

 

[Jimmy9190]

There may be an adapter available in the aftermarket to interface an Ipod or other MP3 player to the original factory radio. Take a look at this website:

http://pac-audio.com/productSearch.aspx?...5&YearId=16

Check around at local independent car audio stores for more info on what you need for your car if you decide to go the MP3 player route. If you wanted to do it without spending much money you could use an FM modulator to convert the MP3 signal to an FM signal and play the Mp3 through the radio.

These interfaces all came out long after I got out of the car audio business. I don't know much about them or their applications but you can find out more if you shop around and look online.

 

[Schmoe]

Getting that stereo out of the Accord will be a PITA.
http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9837

 

[TallPaul]

I bypassed my factory radio and ran the mp3 player direct to a 100 watt amp which I hooked to the factory speakers. Really kicks out nicely. Only I miss a tone control. Supposedly some of the newer factory units or better units have the RCAs on back. Don't some actually have a USB slot you can hook into?

 

[sr17]

the link in your post seems to refer to a problem with the 2003-04 model radio display being dim or dark. Mine is a 2005 and the display is fine and radio works - it is just the cd that is not working.

The whole think stopped working though, but a new fuse restored the radio and display, but not the cd. This is probably important information that I failed to mention in my original post.

 

[Jimmy9190]

If it's the unit that has the radio and cd both together in one chassis and the radio works but not the cd, the cd definitely has some internal problem. I thought you had the separate cd unit from the am-fm tuner. Even so if you look on the pac-peripheral website, or on www/stinger-aamp.com, or even google "2005 Honda MP3 interface" you will find the listing of parts to add MP3 to your OEM radio. Or better yet just ask about it at a local car audio shop. You may want to call a shop anyway, the cd player will need to be repaired unless you either go aftermarket or add an Ipod or some other MP3 player. Be prepared that it may be an expensive repair too, especially if you have the 6 disc indash changer unit.

 

[dkryan]

Jimmy9190:

good info!

But, please define ".....an expensive repair too, ......if you have the 6 disc indash changer unit."

Just in case the one in my 2005 Accord bites the dust.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Oh, what I meant is that the indash changer is a complicated unit, internally. There is a lot going on in the CD transport mechanism, there is a lot of moving parts and electronics to it. I am a bit of a purist and having too many moving parts is one of the reasons I don't especially care for indash changers, power windows, electric door locks and power moonroofs, and other things like that. They are just one more thing that can break, IMHO. A car or truck is a hostile and harsh enough environment as it is without adding a bunch of sensitive electronics to it. That being said, I guess modern electronics have come a long way since 1990's technology. My girlfriend has a 2003 Accord with the indash 6 disc changer and it is still working fine. But she had the driver's window regulator replaced about 2 years ago - before I met her, and I recently replaced the master power lock and window switch and the driver's door lock actuator for her.

If the indash 6 disc unit breaks, I imagine it would cost a lot more to fix it than to fix a single disc unit. I remember way back in the 1990's when Alpine came out with the indash 3 disc changer that had this funky Z-mechanism to load the CD's. It was kind of an installer's nightmare and they didn't sell very well either. The separate 6 disc changer that went in the trunk or behind the seat did very well though. Back when I was in the car audio business that was the big thing, to interface a changer to the factory radio. A lot of suppliers made interfaces for the 6 disc Alpine changer to the OEM radio. When I retired from car audio the big thing was to interface the steering wheel controls with an aftermarket radio. The suppliers were going nuts with that right about the time I quit the car audio business.

I am too old to be much of an installer now but I still keep up with the car audio world to a degree, and have continued to do my own systems and alarms, plus I have done it for a friend or two. It takes me a lot longer now than it did then and I am sore the next day, but I still get a kick out of it.

 

[sr17]

mine is just a plain single disc cd player