pluntd

Hello, and welcome everyone on this great forum. Few days ago i bought a used 2005 RL.
I have an issue with the CD PLAYER. The button on the dashboard for the CD does not work (no action). The same goes with the EJECT button and LOAD. All of the buttons are obviously related to the CD, and i was wondering what might be the cause of it and the best possible solution. The "Mode" button on the wheel does not direct to the CD player either. Its like as if there was no CD player at all.

Did anyone experienced similar issue?
What would be the best solution to fix this.
The car is not on a warranty anymore.
What would be the price estimate to "fix" this issue?

Thank you for all the responses

larrynimmo

for what its worth...working with trying to get Navigation on my non-tech RL, I bought a defective DVD Nav unit off of ebay. I did some research and found that if I packed it up and sent it to Alpine they would fix it for $150 + $12 second day air freight.

I don't know about the CD/radio unit. It's called a Bose unit, but lots of people have said it is made by Clarion. I would call these places and see if there is a direct service arrangement. It may actually be more affordable to change the unit out with a low cost replacement purchased from a wrecked vehicle. Fellow Acurazine member "2007AcuraRL" has one sitting in his garage...you may want to send him a pm.

2007AcuraRL

Yeah, I've got a spare radio unit for the RL if you want to change out your defective one. It came from a car totalled with only 7 miles on it and I've already checked it out to confirm it works fully. (I got it as part of an entire NAV unit pulled from an RL that was wrecked before delivery to a customer)
PM me and we can chat price. Installation is pretty easy and coincidently I actually posted full instructions how to get to the radio in the dash on another message thread. If you go here you will see how easy it is to get to it. The thread dealt with how to get out the coin pocket under the radio, but the screws for the radio are also accessed the same way. https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...?t=5291&page=2

neuronbob

pluntd, welcome to AZ! Whenever there's an electrical glitch like this, the first thing to consider is whether the car needs to be "rebooted". There is a good way and also a "incorrect" way to do this.

The "incorrect" way is to detach the battery, then reattach. This reboots everything. The dealer will tell you that you are at risk for frying something doing this. I don't buy it, myself, but I am not a car mechanic so I can't tell you either way.

The "correct" way is to take the car to the dealer. They hook up a computer to your car and do a proper reboot.

If neither of these methods works, then you likely require a new head unit?

If I'm explaining this incorrectly, please help me out, guys!

Chas2

Bob,

Based on the experiences I have read about on this forum, you have explained it perfectly. However, let me say that I have never rebooted the car, nor disconnected the battery, so I only have the experiences I have read about here to rely on, but I can also say that this is a very high quality forum, one of the best I have been on.

ssim3

You may also try pulling the fuse for the stereo/nav system. It is located in the fuse box in the driver's footwell.

pluntd

Thank You for all the responses.

Im planning on detaching the battery and re-attaching again. I personally think I am not at risk of "frying" anything as neuronbob member mentioned above (HOPEFULLY!) If this doesnt work, then i will check the fuses. If neither of this works, i will probably take a trip to a dealer to check this out.

Question: If the problem lies with the CD audio unit itself, shouldn't dealer replace just the CD unit and not the entire system? Any estimates on how much it will cost at the dealer to check/replace the CD unit? I bought this car a week ago with 104k miles on it, and besides the CD unit, im perfectly satisfied with the car. The Dealer where i bought the car from knocked off 1k when i mentioned to him that the CD unit doesnt play (after long negotiation). I bought this car from Ebay and this issue was not listed on the description.

Another question: If i disconnect battery, and reconnect again, obviously, system will rest itself. I know that i will have to enter the codes for the radion (which i have). What about XM-Radio? Because i have a subscription from the previous owner, and i was wondering if i detach batteries, will i need to enter anything in the XM settings to get my stations back up

Thank You

ssim3

I have reset mine several times just pulling the fuse, you will need to input the nav code & radio code after pulling the fuse in the drivers footwell, your manual will tell you which fuse number to pull, this will keep you from frying any other electronics.

larrynimmo

if it doesnt work after the reset, and you plan to take it to the dealer, they should give you a flat rate. Realize they will yank it, and send it back to the mfg to have it repaired. Then they will send it back. The dealer will charge you for the mechanics labor and over 100% markup on the factory charge. Evaluate this price and compare it with the price you get from 2007AcuraRL. You may find it easier and cheaper to change out the entire head unit.

No dealership is set up to repair audio units

pluntd

I assume i would have to take our the radio fuse (number 5 on the driver side fuse box), because there are no other fuses for CD Player and such. Is Radio considered to be part of Navigation/CD Player/Radio lone fuse? I dont see a seperate fuse for navigation or Cd player. Please confirm. If all three are controlled by one fuse, then i assume its not blown because radio and navigation works. Please confirm

ssim3

That would be the correct fuse.

pluntd

ok, so i took the matter in my own hands:

1. removed the fuse (it was good), placed it back. no results
2. disconnected battery, connected again. no results.
3. i took the radio out, fixed the cables and such, no results.

while i performing number 3 above, there were times where i saw CD light blink few times (red), and on few occasions green as well, but at this time, the radio was shutting off while clicking on either of the three buttons (eject, load, or cd).

i think i did everything i could myself, to no avail.