[cmeisenzahl]

Our DCC minivan is almost 4 years old and has the factory stereo w/ CD player. I'll state up front that I'm not an audiophile and that we are more than happy with the factory system.

Starting a few months ago it started skipping once in a while. I figured it was due to the scratched discs that are manhandled and bounce all over the van. In the last few weeks it has gotten progressively worse. It even skips with some new discs. And I made a disc in iTunes that causes the display on the van's CD player to just read "ERROR". it has played iTunescreated discs in ther past w/ no trouble.

What's the recommended course of action here? Does it just need to be cleaned or adjusted? Is is toast?

Would repair cost more than a new CD player?

All advice appreciated, thanks in advance!

Chris

[Dork.]

DCC = Chrysler?

I think your CD player may be toast. You can try cleaning it -- maybe there's just a lot of dirt and stuff on the lens -- but then again, maybe the lens is out of alignment. All they'll probably do if you bring it in for repair is clean the heads, then if that doesn't work, recommend you get a new unit. I don't think any moderm CD player is servicable.

I've been looking into stereo head units that you can plug an iPod into, but generally looking at all of them as well. If all you want is something that plays CD's, and you don't care about audiophile sound quality or other features, you can get one for about $100. If you want an aux input for an iPod, or a player that also plays MP3's, you could go up to $150 or $200 for the cheapest option. Some places do installation for free, others charge $30-$40. All can be had cheaper on the Internet if you know where to look. (crutchfield.com has low-end units for $80, cardomain.com is another good site.)

From what I've read, the installation process consists of connecting the new radio to a wire harness specifically for your car, yanking the old radio out, plugging the new radio in, and mounting it in the hole in the dash. If you trust yourself with wires, you could install it yourself. The tricky part is making sure that the new radio fits in the hole left by the old one. For most American cars, I don't think this is a problem.

[cmeisenzahl]

Originally Posted by Dork.

DCC = Chrysler?

I think your CD player may be toast. You can try cleaning it -- maybe there's just a lot of dirt and stuff on the lens -- but then again, maybe the lens is out of alignment. All they'll probably do if you bring it in for repair is clean the heads, then if that doesn't work, recommend you get a new unit. I don't think any moderm CD player is servicable.

...

From what I've read, the installation process consists of connecting the new radio to a wire harness specifically for your car, yanking the old radio out, plugging the new radio in, and mounting it in the hole in the dash. If you trust yourself with wires, you could install it yourself. The tricky part is making sure that the new radio fits in the hole left by the old one. For most American cars, I don't think this is a problem.

Cool, thanks! I'm in Rochester, too. ;-)

[hickey]

yeah replacing a dead radio with a new one isnt hard. I did it a lot at the car dealership I used to work at when all the techs were busy doing more intensive stuff.