CD Player - Won't eject

[Sam Smalley]

For the first time I placed a lable on a cd I burned and when I loaded the cd an error msg came up. Now I can't eject or load. Any suggestions? My car is a 2006 Solara with a JBL CD/Tape AM/FM Radio factory system.

[Gadgetjq]

Originally Posted by Sam Smalley

For the first time I placed a lable on a cd I burned and when I loaded the cd an error msg came up. Now I can't eject or load.

Hey Sam,

Looks like you've learned the hard way you should NEVER use a paper label on a CD that'll be used in a car (or any machine that has an ejection mechanism). The labels get wrinkled or an edge lifts and you're toast. In the future use a magic marker or buy one of the newer CD burners that will actually burn a label into the top of the disk.

Now, for your more immediate problem. You're probably going to have to remove the entire head unit, open it up and dig until you can extract the CD manually. This photo shows what the unit looks like out of the car. Pop the top off, extract the offending CD and re-install. Then make copies of any other paper labeled disks you have for use in the car.

Cheers

[Sam Smalley]

Thanks for the photo. Can this be done without removing the unit from the dash? Does the front pop off separately? I'm not comfortable with removing the whole system at this point.

[Gadgetjq]

Originally Posted by Sam Smalley

Thanks for the photo. Can this be done without removing the unit from the dash? Does the front pop off separately? I'm not comfortable with removing the whole system at this point.

Well, never say never but I doubt you can pop the front off easily without removing the unit and it'd be impossible (without breaking something) if you don't remove all the surrounding plastic. Once that stuff is out of the way you're just down to a final couple of bolts holding the unit in anyway.

Most of the dash panels just snap off, it's merely a matter of doing it in the right order. Pick up a Chiltons or Haynes manual for the car (Amazon has them if you can't find one locally) and it'll become a simple step by step process.

Meanwhile, consider plugging your MP3 player into the aux audio outlet and forget about the stuck CD till you get around to it. If your car didn't come from the factory with an aux plug (in the center storage box) add your own. Here's how I did it on my '04: http://www.gadgetjq.com/solara/audio_aux.htm

Cheers