No disk changer....

Hello there! My 996 C4S has a new strange problem. The CD Changer which is located under the front bonnet is 'unavailable' according to my well informed factory head unit. Before the snow it all worked well. Before I strip the front down is there anything I should check? It also seems very damp under the hood but all the rubbers and seals seem fine. Shes a 2004, with 27k on the clock.

Do you park your car outside? Did you leave your bonnet not fully pressed down and locked? It shouldn't be damp in there at all. Water must have gotten in. I'd try a cd lens cleaner in your magazine first, but I think if it remains damp you'll keep getting this problem.

Yes outside but with an outdoor fitted cover on. No always shut but seems to get moisture in there. It can't even find the changer attached. Very odd.

Start by trying a system reset - press the 1, 4 and 8 buttons at the same time. Then check the fuses, and then the connections on the CDC itself - particularly the optical connector, which is the one with two orange fibre optic cables.

CDs !! havnt used them in years pressed the wrong button the other day and an old CD came on - gave me quite a shock

Chris, email sent [ ]

In terms of not jumping playing mp3 tracks are arguably going to be the best, but personally I would not like to clutter up my 996 by having wires dangling around

Hi, Had much the same problem with my CD changer last year (C2 Coupe 03) and came close to looking on e-bay for a replacement changer. All I had done was change the CDs in the cartridge and it would not recognise the unit. I tried everything I could think of, including the CD lens cleaner, system re-sets, reloaded the software and removing/re-inserting the cartridge many times all to no avail. I had just about given up when it started working again. All I had done was take out the spare wheel to get at the tools and put it back again. Perhaps the wheel securing bolt was too tight and distorting the bulkhead slightly where the changer sits. Had no problems since but I always now make sure the spare wheel is secure but not overtight. Probably totally unconnected but I could not rationally explain it otherwise. Best of luck.

Hi, did yours say this? The disk changer loads the cds and works so it can't be a fuse. The head unit works, radio etc and sat nav. It worked before the battery ran flat a few times in the cold snap, now... its stil not working. May strip the bonnet out is the next step I guess.

Based on the message that I got when I disconnected the fibre optic cable from my cd changer, which inclluded the cd unavailable phrase, it seems likely that you have somehow lost communication between the changer and the head unit, and the simplest thing to do is a system reset, see Richard Hamiltons reply a few posts back for how to do this, but having credited Richard with the know how, you press 1, 4 and 8 simultaneously. If this doesn't work, and I have to admit that first time aorund it didn't work for me, check the fibre optic and electrcal connections. It is the work of about ten minutes to remove five self tapping screws and a couple of "dzus" fasteners to remove the covers and reveal the mounting for the cd changer. On mine the connections are underneath. When I examined the fible optic plug, (two orange fibre optic cables) the was a steady red on one and no visible signal on the other. Inside the socket was a flashing red and no visibe signal. Fibre optics can be set up in a number of ways so I was not concerned about the absence of visible signals I just took it to mean that that was how it was designed to work. I plugged the fibre optic back in an did another system reset. When I did this after the disconnection, the system reset and gave the message load magazine, after a few seconds I was able to select "cd list" and am now able to lisren to cds; however it is proving to be a bit temperamental. On the trip up to Droitwich, I had all 6 cds, then cd 5 dropped off the list, so I swapped some around in the magazine then I could only access cd 1, and after several maagazine ejections I can access 1 and 3; I am going to do a system reset and see what happens.

Hi, From memory that is the message I got less the 'system error' element. The next post about checking the connections to the box and then a system re-set seems sensible. Why mine started working again, and has remained OK since, I cannot say. It may be that loosening my spare wheel slightly was pure coincidence - there again? However worth persevering before splashing out on a replacement. Sorry cannot be more helpful. [ ]