slider2828

Hey Everyone:

Well I got tired of listening to the radio and finally fixed my CD Changer... Here is the the step by step guide. Hopefully the Mods will sticky this.

Time = 3 Hours (Taking into account you guys never done this)

Tools =

Dealer Radio Security Code (If you don't have this, look for it or ask the dealer, otherwise don't bother with this repair at all.)
Flat Head screwdriver (One small, one larger for prying)
Philips screwdriver (one small, one larger)
Needle nose tweezers

Step 1

a. Put your car in park and engage foot break. (DO THIS, You will understand later)

b. Remove the consult obd2 port cover just by pulling. This cover is located between the two seat warmer buttons.

c. Screw off the shift knob counter close wise like a screw

Step 2 (Hardest Part of Entire Repair)



a. You can get to how the picture looks, by literally pulling off the side "L Moldings" on each side of the center console.

b. After pulling off the side "L" panels where it is a charcoal or wooden trim, this will expose more screws to remove the side plastic center console kick covers. Remove all associated screws so the side plastic. (This is the hardest part I think)

(Note there are screws all throughout the center console and below. Remove ALL the screws.

On the driver side of the side plastic black center console kick panel is also attached to the steering column cover in which you can only take off if you remove the fuse cover. There are also screws where the seats are in the way. Move the seat down as much as possible and lean the back part of the seat as much as possible to get to the screws. You can reach these screws in where the seat belts come up.

On the passenger side of the side plastic black center console kick panel, it is just one screw next to the glove box. You DO NOT need to remove the glove box. There are also screws where the seats are in the way. Move the seat down as much as possible and lean the back part of the seat as much as possible to get to the screws. You can reach these screws in where the seat belts come up from the side.)

c. Remove cup holders, by just pulling the center of the two cup holders forward and up.

d. Remove center console trap doors. Here is the prying. You have to pry with the long screw driver in between the black shifter black panel and the trap door panel. You can see they have super LONG tabs. Pull this part out, its VERY tough, but you can do it. Once the front tabs are out of the slots, you can remove the WHOLE trap door panel in one piece. Now trim off most of the 3 LONG tabs (Leave a little), this will not affect the look or anything of how the panels will fit.

Step 3 (Now the easy stuff)

a. Remove the little plastic oval shift lock cover. By prying it off with your smaller flat head.

b. Stick the flat head down the shifter lock hole and shift the shifter to as show in the picture.



c. There are screws exposed now all the way up and down the sides where the "L" trims used to be. Remove all of them now, even the small black ones.

d. When you removed the console port cover, you see two philips screws way in the back. Remove them now.

e. The seat warmer rocker switches can be removed by pushing them up from the sides of the console or from where the console port cover used to be. Each has a plug in them and you can remove these plugs once the rockers switches are out of the black center console.

(Tip: Once the plugs are removed from the back of the rocker switches using a small flat head to slowly pry them out of the switches, you can remove the enter switch by pulling lightly up and towards you.)

f. SLOWLY roll the piece out now like in the picture and you will see plugs in the back, remove the cigarette light adapter plug out and the console will be free. PLUS its also a good time to fix that loose cigarette light adapter by just holding the front part firmly and screwing the back metal cylinder into it.

Almost Done!



Step 4

Since you removed all the screws where the "L" Trims used to be, you can no remove the FACE of the radio. (Note: Pull a little forward and the face will detach from the actually deck. Watch for the 3 little posts that hold it to the AC Controls, but it will just come out, there areno cables behind the face.



Step 5:

Remove the AC Panel now. Watch out when you pull it forward as it DOES have a plug for it in the back. This pane when you re-assemble the everyone, goes in together with the actual CD Player as one unit.

Step 6:
Now REMOVE the ENTIRE CD player and the tape player TOGETHER. It is screw together as 1 Unit.

Step 7:
In this picture, this is WHY your player is erroring out. Notice the top 2 trays are propped up and all the other trays are misaligned.



Closer inspection (Left Side)


Closer inspection (Right Side)


Step 8:
Fix the trays and put all the trays through the left post and everything will line up. Be VERY VERY VERY careful of the springs in the FRONT next to the posts especially the left one. Don't pull the grey trays too high, just enough to clear the post, hence use the tweezers if you have fat fingers. Stretchy these little springs will really ruin the performance of your player.

(Note: You can try to "improve" the cd players by shortening up the springs that hold the grey plastic tras, but this is very risky if you aren't good at small springs that can fly everywhere. I tried other things such as putting a stopper at the very top of the posts to stop them from flying out and it did NOT work because the tolerance between ejecting the top tray and post is so close, that any stopper would inhibit the trays from moving into the correct position.)


Post install instructions:

Put all the screws back in the right place.

The trap door section might be the hardest to put back and that is why I just TRIMMED the 3 LONG tabs to fit it in easier. I tried all possible ways, to not trim these tabs but it will NOT fit as acura are so stupid to make these panels nearly impossible to remove without removing the arm rest and the WHOLE entire area in between the seat. TRIM IT and save yourself, while installing it will look like it doesn't line up but it will.

(Secret of aligning this trap door, the kick panels. Get them in the right order and the gap WILL be eliminated.)

The black kick panels have tabs to the back part of the black rear passenger kick panels, so just slide them in and take your time.


Email me at kenyu (at) hotmail (dot) com if you have any questions as I don't post too often on this forum.

Good luck!!!

PPower

This is the only semi walkthrough of FIXING the problem. It turned out the camera I had no battery, so I wasn't able to take pictures. So I'll try to just post a few additions/corrections to the instructions

Tennozan

Excellent info folks, thanks in advance.
A quick question to those who have pulled the unit: can you see the actual laser's optical surface? PPower mentions getting to the sled rail to move the laser assembly, so perhaps there is access to the laser surface with a Q-tip (NO cleaner or liquid needed or advised!) It is a good idea to clean this surface before you put the unit back. Since it sits horizontally it has a tendency to pick up dust / debris and lower the actual output to the D>A converters.

spl1011

Once the laser assembly is stowed, its pretty well hidden I believe. You can clean it, but carefully. Digital is digital and I dont believe in cleaning the lense. You wont hear better bass or whatever... thats just not how it works (its not a record!). So unless the thing is really skipping or not working, dont waste your time and risk it.

Tennozan

If an old oil filter will still pass oil - why change it?

Actually, I know how it works - exactly and completely.
Nowhere do I write nor infer a sound quality difference, simply an increase of light (and thus signal strength in the form of voltage) received from the discs surface from the lasers optical lens (the beam travels through the optical lens 2x, and dust / dirt / debris WILL affect this path.)
Once a set voltage is achieved, the whole system works. At lower output voltages, the error correction circuits are the first to suffer and then skip skip skip skip skip as the signal buffers recycle (sorta like a record.)

Digital is digital, and a belief is not as beneficial as basic maintenance. If you don't use emery cloth or a nail file, there is no risk to the laser. Q-tip, no liquid. If I wanted to really get into it, I would have mentioned cleaning all the crap that sticks to the sled rail, causing the laser assembly's sled motor to occasionally bind up. Without the proper lubricant, there is an opportunity to do more harm than good - so I left it out of my original post.
Electronics exude a natural magnetic property that causes all the FO's (foreign objects) inside a car to gravitate to places where they shouldn't go. Like dropping a wrench, where does it go, in front of you - or into the fenderwell?

grip

interesting....instead of trying to use something at the top of the post's as a over travel stopper, couldn't i just use a soldering iron to slightly melt, or mushroom the tip of that post to eliminate over travel?

ill take mine apart next time i feel like taking out my head unit, and give this a shot.

PPower

It might be differing opinion on the root cause, or it could be that each case is different. For mine, the travel wasn't the issue. I really wish I had a battery charger for the camera last night, because it was helpful to see the posts sticking out the sides of each tray and the little guides they fit into. FWIW, I believe that doing this is a better fix than just going to buy a new cd unit if the other non-invasive methods quit working.

slider2828

***Fixed Pictures *** Sorry everyone

Hey Everyone:

Well I got tired of listening to the radio and finally fixed my CD Changer... Here is the the step by step guide. Hopefully the Mods will sticky this.

Time = 3 Hours (Taking into account you guys never done this)

Tools =

Dealer Radio Security Code (If you don't have this, look for it or ask the dealer, otherwise don't bother with this repair at all.)
Flat Head screwdriver (One small, one larger for prying)
Philips screwdriver (one small, one larger)
Needle nose tweezers

Step 1

a. Put your car in park and engage foot break. (DO THIS, You will understand later)

b. Remove the consult obd2 port cover just by pulling. This cover is located between the two seat warmer buttons.

c. Screw off the shift knob counter close wise like a screw

Step 2 (Hardest Part of Entire Repair)



a. You can get to how the picture looks, by literally pulling off the side "L Moldings" on each side of the center console.

b. After pulling off the side "L" panels where it is a charcoal or wooden trim, this will expose more screws to remove the side plastic center console kick covers. Remove all associated screws so the side plastic. (This is the hardest part I think)

(Note there are screws all throughout the center console and below. Remove ALL the screws.

On the driver side of the side plastic black center console kick panel is also attached to the steering column cover in which you can only take off if you remove the fuse cover. There are also screws where the seats are in the way. Move the seat down as much as possible and lean the back part of the seat as much as possible to get to the screws. You can reach these screws in where the seat belts come up.

On the passenger side of the side plastic black center console kick panel, it is just one screw next to the glove box. You DO NOT need to remove the glove box. There are also screws where the seats are in the way. Move the seat down as much as possible and lean the back part of the seat as much as possible to get to the screws. You can reach these screws in where the seat belts come up from the side.)

c. Remove cup holders, by just pulling the center of the two cup holders forward and up.

d. Remove center console trap doors. Here is the prying. You have to pry with the long screw driver in between the black shifter black panel and the trap door panel. You can see they have super LONG tabs. Pull this part out, its VERY tough, but you can do it. Once the front tabs are out of the slots, you can remove the WHOLE trap door panel in one piece. Now trim off most of the 3 LONG tabs (Leave a little), this will not affect the look or anything of how the panels will fit.

Step 3 (Now the easy stuff)

a. Remove the little plastic oval shift lock cover. By prying it off with your smaller flat head.

b. Stick the flat head down the shifter lock hole and shift the shifter to as show in the picture.



c. There are screws exposed now all the way up and down the sides where the "L" trims used to be. Remove all of them now, even the small black ones.

d. When you removed the console port cover, you see two philips screws way in the back. Remove them now.

e. The seat warmer rocker switches can be removed by pushing them up from the sides of the console or from where the console port cover used to be. Each has a plug in them and you can remove these plugs once the rockers switches are out of the black center console.

(Tip: Once the plugs are removed from the back of the rocker switches using a small flat head to slowly pry them out of the switches, you can remove the enter switch by pulling lightly up and towards you.)

f. SLOWLY roll the piece out now like in the picture and you will see plugs in the back, remove the cigarette light adapter plug out and the console will be free. PLUS its also a good time to fix that loose cigarette light adapter by just holding the front part firmly and screwing the back metal cylinder into it.

Almost Done!



Step 4

Since you removed all the screws where the "L" Trims used to be, you can no remove the FACE of the radio. (Note: Pull a little forward and the face will detach from the actually deck. Watch for the 3 little posts that hold it to the AC Controls, but it will just come out, there areno cables behind the face.



Step 5:

Remove the AC Panel now. Watch out when you pull it forward as it DOES have a plug for it in the back. This pane when you re-assemble the everyone, goes in together with the actual CD Player as one unit.

Step 6:
Now REMOVE the ENTIRE CD player and the tape player TOGETHER. It is screw together as 1 Unit.

Step 7:
In this picture, this is WHY your player is erroring out. Notice the top 2 trays are propped up and all the other trays are misaligned.



Closer inspection (Left Side)


Closer inspection (Right Side)


Step 8:
Fix the trays and put all the trays through the left post and everything will line up. Be VERY VERY VERY careful of the springs in the FRONT next to the posts especially the left one. Don't pull the grey trays too high, just enough to clear the post, hence use the tweezers if you have fat fingers. Stretchy these little springs will really ruin the performance of your player.

(Note: You can try to "improve" the cd players by shortening up the springs that hold the grey plastic tras, but this is very risky if you aren't good at small springs that can fly everywhere. I tried other things such as putting a stopper at the very top of the posts to stop them from flying out and it did NOT work because the tolerance between ejecting the top tray and post is so close, that any stopper would inhibit the trays from moving into the correct position.)


Post install instructions:

Put all the screws back in the right place.

The trap door section might be the hardest to put back and that is why I just TRIMMED the 3 LONG tabs to fit it in easier. I tried all possible ways, to not trim these tabs but it will NOT fit as acura are so stupid to make these panels nearly impossible to remove without removing the arm rest and the WHOLE entire area in between the seat. TRIM IT and save yourself, while installing it will look like it doesn't line up but it will.

(Secret of aligning this trap door, the kick panels. Get them in the right order and the gap WILL be eliminated.)

The black kick panels have tabs to the back part of the black rear passenger kick panels, so just slide them in and take your time.


Email me at kenyu (at) hotmail (dot) com if you have any questions as I don't post too often on this forum.

Good luck!!!

combat mediC

iTrader: (1)

to much work.

slider2828

Its easier than it looks. With the instructions and the reply with the aditions, its pretty easy

9932

iTrader: (1)

i cant wait to get off work and try this. i've got a 6disk sitting in the closet that i bought of a Aziner that never worked(and i never got my money back). if this works....

JM604

If this works for you, awesome. If it doesn't, try simply running your finger in and across the CD slit, applying light, but firm, pressure back and forth when you change from CD 1 to 2 for example.

My 6-disc acts up every so often when shifting to another disc, and when I get the Er-E1 code, or whatever it displays, I quickly run my finger in the slot back and forth and 9 times out of 10 it'll get things..... aligned?.... and the CD loads without a problem. If it doesn't work the first time, I just select the disc # I want again, and before anything comes up on the display, I start doing it again. Usually it doesn't take more than one try for me....

I know this may seem stupid, but it works for me.

slider2828

LOL at this thread, I made the inital post like a year ago almost and really no one else responded. Please read the 2nd post after my OP and there are some better instructions, I just reposted because the picture links were changed. But anyways, the red additional instructions make everything much easier.

This is really a case by case fix, but I think it will fix 90% of the problems.... After 1 year, I still don't have any problems....

(Personally, I believe what happens is that the springs which hold the stack of plastic cartridges wear out over time and just doesn't keep enough tension.... I shortened by front springs a little and made them fit..... But eh I dunno how much it truly helps, its just speculation.... Its more pain in the ass then its worth....)

JM604

Hence, the method I use..

PPower

Slider, seriously a big thank you for starting the thread. I couldn't figure out why the ONLY thread to fix the root of such a common problem didn't have a single reply, but it gave me the gonads to crack open my unit. See guys, the "search" button works. With the above instructions, we have taken the stress out of dismantling the car.

9932

iTrader: (1)

hey PPOWER. how did this go for you? is your 6disk up and running now?

PPower

I've actually sold the TL, but "my" fix did work on mine just fine. I've now have a 2004 TL.

akad3m1kz

So here's my deal. I got this error code about 9 months ago. Went to Acura, told me I had to get a new one. Did a research on here, did about just anything, except actually taking it apart. Anyways, I've moved on, got me an iPod and a tape adaptor. This past week something amazing happened to me. My battery had died, and was replaced. I turned my car on, and next thing you know, the CD player had spat out one of the CD's. So I continued to press the eject button and one by one, each CD came out. I finally put the Radio Code and little did I know, my CD player was working again. There I go and pressed the load button, put a CD and it read and played. This was a definite life saver and a pocket saver.

Had this happened to anyone else other than me??

jaMezBOI

iTrader: (3)

My CD player had/has that error.

To fix it, just hit the side of it fairly hard acouple times and it will fix itself :P

MIYAKUZA

^ The old hit the side method only goes so far.

Took it apart and was not able to put the trays in order.

I'm now trying to get a double din dash monitor because of this stupid terribly made headunit.

jaMezBOI

iTrader: (3)

Going on 8 months and still strong.

Rarely need to do it because I never let it rotate through discs.

MIYAKUZA

Hopefully your luck doesn't fail you!

slider2828

SOB... stupid photobucket is failure!!!

slider2828

PHOTOBUCKET YOU FAIL!!!! 3rd time I had to relink cause they moved my galleries.....

TouringLow

very good information. 4 years on this site and i cant believe i never saw this.

ive been through 4 radios with the same recurring problem.

MODS PLEASE STICKY!

slider2828

Ergh, notice the original post date of.... April 08 LOL!!!

I dunno they don't sticky stuff.... and a member was searching and said, man do you have pictures, so I had to quote and then redo the pictures.... Oh wellz.... hopefully now you can fix it yourself!!

MIYAKUZA

This didn't get me nowhere. I took it apart, lined up all the trays but it wont read the cd trays. SMH. Oh well, new double-din headunit is going to be soon.

slider2828

you sure it the trays are still in order? Can you see the cd's sideways? Or does the tray mechnism work and just won't read the cds? It all depends on "what" is the problem. You can try this and see if you can save yourself money or just go ahead and buy something new. Nothing wrong with that.....

MIYAKUZA

I took it all apart and tried to re-align the trays. The tray mechanism would try to skim the cd tray, but it would not read it. It still reads the ER-E1 whenever I turn on my car. I just gave up because I didn't know how to fix it, lol.

slider2828

Yeah what happens is something probably throws the laser calibration off after awhile. I did pretty much soon after I caught it and never turned on the cd any more... But I wouldn't doubt that the misaligned trays and can ruin the track of the laser.....

Oh wellz.... CD Players are very fragile, more so than tap players LOL.

BuddyC

iTrader: (6)

It's strange because I'm getting this error now as well. I disconnected the battery for some work on my car, and the AM/FM works but the cd player gives that error. Might try and disconnect battery one more time, if not I may have to do this myself.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

I first got this error code months ago. I posted, asking for help and I was told to hit the side of the player. It worked, but now it's getting worse.

The problem is that it's extremely intermittent. Just about the only major variable that seems to affect the frequency of the problem is heat/humidity.

I can't believe that I had never seen this thread before. I searched when I first got the code. I will try this method. Maybe it will work, maybe not, but it's worth a try. It's embarrassing to have my friends in a supposedly premium brand car, then they see me banging on the side of the console to get my CD player to work.

BuddyC

iTrader: (6)

I only started getting this error this week after I disconnected the battery to try and clear some lights on my dash. Perhaps I didn't disconnect the battery long enough. I'll be trying it again today, if not it looks like I'll be ripping the console apart tomorrow.

Papa_Sean

I'd try this but my radio code never works. Dealer says they always have a problem with 02/03's so EVERYTIME I disconnect my battery I have to bring it to the dealer to get it working again but at least they dont charge me for it.

BuddyC

iTrader: (6)

So I spent the morning inspecting my radio. Many of the tracks were out of place, so I adjusted that, and a few other minor things. The door wasn't opening for some reason, so I adjusted that as well.

Got everything in order from what it seemed, but when I load discs I get an error message still. I think the optical eye may have died perhaps? Mechanically things look ok. Any thoughts?

spoolint78

BuddyC

My door isn't opening as well.

How did you go about adjusting it to make it fit?

BuddyC

iTrader: (6)

I took my radio out of the console completely and took the face off of it. THere are some tracks on the sides that need to line up. When you hit the eject button, a piece goes back and hits the button to open to door. It looked like that sliding piece was getting caught up on things, so I sanded it lightly.

slider2828

IE decides to f...ing crash on me so I don't feel like typing eveyrthing out again....

1. banging of the side of the cd player is temp solution, ultimately it will disalign your laser and your done.

2. If you take it apart, you might as well try and send it to a cd repair shop, usually they can fix misaligned lasers pretty chep.

3. DEALERSHIP cheating you... Unlock codes should be entered witht he antenna disconnected. Once you disconnect the antenna and enter the code, it should work. That is the correct "dealership" way to do it. Some people don't need to do this some do....

4. Do yourself a favor, most cheap cd's suck. Memorex and Sony just plain suck.... do your cd player a favor and use verbatim disks.... a little more expensive but works a LOT better....

5. Disconnecting the battery should have no bearing on the er1 errors, its mechanical usually. If disconnect works maybe something is loose in the back and check plugs...

6. If you taken everything apart, see if the tray of the laser is to the side.... Lasers move side to side, at least the motor part... You can very gently slide the laser back to its resting position... This might help

Been like 3-4 years since I posted this and I still have a working cd player, problem never came back.

browngus

First of all, thanks to all who have posted, very helpful with the pictures and detailed instructions.

I'd just pulled the dash & replaced the clock light and was feeling like the CD player was next, but in Wal-Mart I happened across CRC QD Electronic Cleaner (red can with the usual 4" little tube to spray with) and gave a nice shot in the CD door. Presto, it worked for a day until I showed my wife how I could fix thangs, and bingo back to the errror code - she laughed herself silly (I did too). Next day blasted a bunch more into the door (took all 6 cd's out first) and now it's going on 3 days of working like new.

This is a good sounding system! I bought this TL new in late 2003, and just mounted new Yokahama's which are dang good tires. Around 140,000 miles and thanks to this forum, I can see the clock at night & hear sweet music again!

staple1

reach around and bang the right side of the center console next to the player "HARD", before you go taking the whole f#$%#$g thing apart, it worked for me!!!!!!!