Bought a Used OEM CD Stereo, CDs Must Be Pristine to Play

[kcac]

Question for those of you with the factory stereo in you car. Are the factory stereos very particular about the condition of the CD you try to play in them?

 

I bought a used Oldsmoblie AM?FM CD/cassette for my 1995 Cutlass. The stereo was made the same year as the car. It plays fine, but I find that it is not very forgiving if the CD is scratched or marred even just slightly. The audio keeps skipping as it plays.

 

The same "scratched" CD plays fine in a 1 year old Kenwood car CD player. I assumed the Kenwood can handle the scratched disk due to improvements in CD player technology since the '95 stereo was made.

 

Anyway, if you've got the original stereo from a mid '90's car, I'd like to know if your stereo skips or errors when playing anything other than pretty much a perfect CD.

 

Thanks

[godofthunder]

i never had problems with mine, cept if the CD was left in there on humd and cold night...to foggy.

 

Actually..i take that back. I had some brand new CDs it didnt wanan play sometimes, but they had a scrath right on the inside of the disk almost.

 

jon

[Dirty Rockstar]

Damn factory CD decks.. LOL.. I have a Pontiac one, that when you put a CD in, you need to shake the deck somehow.. Or, it needs to be HOT!! I'm talkin, SKIN burn here.. lol.. What the hell is wrong with it?

[91oldscutlass]

Thats why I have Pioneers i all my cars...and back up stereos

[Brian P]

the CD cassette in my '95 hasnt given a care about scratched discs yet

[digitaloutsider]

Have you run a cleaning disc through it? The liquid kind, not the crappy dry brush type.

[kcac]

I did use a brush cleaner. It reduced but didn't eliminate the skipping. If the liquid is better I'll give that a shot. Couldn't hurt.

[93CutlassSupreme]

my clarion is pretty picky, espically when it is hot

[Dannymik]

can you honestly say that the liquid is better than the brush? I've never tried either of them and wan to clean my Alpine.

[Dirty Rockstar]

I ran the brush one through mine.. It cured one problem I was having w/ track advancing.. Will Liquid cleaner solve my problem? At least help it? Hmmm... I think a run to WALMART is in order!

[digitaloutsider]

The Montana would get to where it would barely work at all. It would get an E23 on a track advance and then spit ou the disc. If it wasn't ejecting discs, it would skip. These were on brand-new CD's mind you. I ran a dry-brush cleaner through a couple of times. It fixed the track-advance, but still skipped. I finally gave up and bought a liquid brush cleaner. I'm now happy to say my Montana CD player works beautifully. No scratches, or E23's.

[Dirty Rockstar]

Hmmm... Ill be gettin me one then!! LOL

[LukeZ34]

Steve, your problem is the same that my Lumina's CD Player had.. Turned out to be a failing CD Mechanism.

[Dirty Rockstar]

Steve, your problem is the same that my Lumina's CD Player had.. Turned out to be a failing CD Mechanism.

 

Even though once it gets going, it plays with no problem?! Hmm.. Damn these Delco POSs!! lol

[LukeZ34]

Yes.. Mine would only play when hot, and when it would play, it was just fine. But any cold day, or cool morning, it wouldn't even take in the CD.

[Dirty Rockstar]

Sweet! Good to know.. Now, does anyone have a CD mechanism they're not using? lol

[Dannymik]

I went to a Target store today to look at the cd cleaners and they were all the dry brush type...so i walked out with nothing. I checked Ebay for a liquid lens cleaner package and the only ones that came with a solution were out of the country(GB and AUS). I'll keep checking!

[Brian P]

Get in there with a Q tip and some rubbing alcohol, then use the dry cleaner

[digitaloutsider]

I went to a Target store today to look at the cd cleaners and they were all the dry brush type...so i walked out with nothing. I checked Ebay for a liquid lens cleaner package and the only ones that came with a solution were out of the country(GB and AUS). I'll keep checking!

 

These things are still discs, keep in mind. They just have one additional brush and come with a small container of Cleaning Solution (aka Isopropyl Alcohol)

[Dannymik]

I went to a Target store today to look at the cd cleaners and they were all the dry brush type...so i walked out with nothing. I checked Ebay for a liquid lens cleaner package and the only ones that came with a solution were out of the country(GB and AUS). I'll keep checking!

 

These things are still discs, keep in mind. They just have one additional brush and come with a small container of Cleaning Solution (aka Isopropyl Alcohol)

 

Isopropyl alcohol...at my work we call it IPA and I know it leaves a white residue behind if you dont swipe behind it with a clean/lintless cloth. thanks

[digitaloutsider]

Yes, you're right. The Liquid cleaning discs have a second brush that comes along and dries the lens, removing the alcohol.

[MaroonRegal]

My '96 stock head unit is problematic, but it's not about CD condition for mine, it seems arbitrary. Sometimes it'll play any CD, sometimes it won't play a CD no matter what. Also, sometimes when you try to eject a CD, it'll give an error code and keep your CD, spitting it out hours later. It's just a fucked up CD player. Maybe it's an advanced condition of what's happening to yours, I don't know. Good luck.

[GnatGoSplat]

Sounds like a weak laser. I haven't played with a factory CD player, but older Sony decks (and other brands that use Sony lasers) have this problem a lot. If cleaning the lens with a Q-tip and alcohol doesn't work, sometimes cranking up the laser power will. Replacing the laser is the best fix, but when you crank up the laser power, that'll squeeze a bit more life out of that old tired laser.

[no1kicker]

Now how would one crank up the laser power? Smaller resistor?

[GnatGoSplat]

Now how would one crank up the laser power? Smaller resistor?

 

There is a tiny little trimpot on the laser assembly itself. Usually on the bottom of it is a little circuit board. I usually take a fine tip felt pen and mark the original position, then turn clockwise a little bit till it works (usually clockwise increases laser power on every CD laser I've seen).