1996 Avalon 3 CD Changer

[wtscl]

Stuck CD Cartrige
I just bought this 1996 AVALON and put some CD's into the changer cartrige. Went to have the unit change to another CD and the mechanism came out and stayed out. It is stuck out with E-01 on the display. How do I get it unstuck??

[Diamond_Jim]

Originally Posted by wtscl

Stuck CD Cartrige
I just bought this 1996 AVALON and put some CD's into the changer cartrige. Went to have the unit change to another CD and the mechanism came out and stayed out. It is stuck out with E-01 on the display. How do I get it unstuck??

I also have a '96 Avalon that did the same thing. I just left the damn thing sticking out for a good three weeks, and one day I pressed the eject button, and it retracted! "Cool!" I thought. No. As soon as I pressed eject again, it stuck out again.

So, I left it sticking out for about three more weeks. Until one day while waiting to pick my wife up, I got bored and REALLY started investigating. I took a long ratcheting tie wrap and slid it along the right side of the mechanism (I honestly don't remember if it was on top or underneath) and managed to release the 3 disk cartridge and leave the mechanism still sticking out. The cardridge had all three disks in it.

Then all I had to do was reach in with my finger and "trick" the player into thinking the cartridge was still there, pressed eject, and it retracted "empty handed". I popped open the little door and looked inside, and guess what? There was a disk still in there! I pulled it out with a pair of hemostats, and ejected the mechanism, and now it works like a charm!

I think what happed to cause the problem was the changer (for whatever reason) ejected and left a disk in the changer. Someone put another disk in the cardridge to fill the empty slot, and when they inserted it, the player still had a disk inside and it got "confused" and locked up.

WARNING WARNING WARNING
Please not that I did NOT force the cartridge out of the mechanism while it was sticking out of the dash. If you try this, I don't think good things would happen. The manual SPECIFICALLY says NOT to EVER FORCE the cardridge out.

I can't specifically tell you what I did to pop out the cartridge. All I know was I was sliding the zip-tie in and out along the edge of the cartridge and it released the cartridge. I hope this helps anyone else who has experienced this problem.

[wtscl]

To fix my problem so it would not come back, I installed a new stereo that I purchased from Crutchfield. That was the best experience yet. The stereo came with instructions on how to disassemble the dash. The one thing it did not come with was the fact that I had to by-pass the amp that is installed behind the glove box. I had a schematic from Toyota that showed the amp wiring, but that didn't help much. I finally called Crutchfield back, and the rep told me that I would have to tap into the wiring at the amp and told me where the amp was located. He also e-mailed me a document that showed me what wires I needed to tap into. My original stereo didn't sound very good and I thought it might have been the speakers. That was not the case. It sounds great with the new radio.

[DArealPERCH]

[quote=Diamond_Jim]

So, I left it sticking out for about three more weeks. Until one day while waiting to pick my wife up, I got bored and REALLY started investigating. I took a long ratcheting tie wrap and slid it along the right side of the mechanism (I honestly don't remember if it was on top or underneath) and managed to release the 3 disk cartridge and leave the mechanism still sticking out. The cardridge had all three disks in it.

Then all I had to do was reach in with my finger and "trick" the player into thinking the cartridge was still there, pressed eject, and it retracted "empty handed". I popped open the little door and looked inside, and guess what? There was a disk still in there! I pulled it out with a pair of hemostats, and ejected the mechanism, and now it works like a charm!

Thanks for the idea. I had the same problem and now it is fixed. I put my factory deck back in and took out the kenwood that I put there because I thought the original was "kaput". Thanks again, for your inquisitiveness has solved my problem.

[Diamond_Jim]

Originally Posted by DArealPERCH

Thanks for the idea. I had the same problem and now it is fixed. I put my factory deck back in and took out the kenwood that I put there because I thought the original was "kaput". Thanks again, for your inquisitiveness has solved my problem.

Glad my suggestion was able to help someone else!

[Chaspam]

Hi to Diamond_JIM

I have the same jammed 3 disc CD player problem. I tried using a six inch wire tie up the right side as you suggested, but with no luck!

Can you elaborate a bit more for me how and where to fish the wire the wire tie to release the cartridge? I think there is a fourth CD stuck inside the player?

Thanks

[pkavalon97]

Originally Posted by Diamond_Jim

I also have a '96 Avalon that did the same thing. I just left the damn thing sticking out for a good three weeks, and one day I pressed the eject button, and it retracted! "Cool!" I thought. No. As soon as I pressed eject again, it stuck out again.

So, I left it sticking out for about three more weeks. Until one day while waiting to pick my wife up, I got bored and REALLY started investigating. I took a long ratcheting tie wrap and slid it along the right side of the mechanism (I honestly don't remember if it was on top or underneath) and managed to release the 3 disk cartridge and leave the mechanism still sticking out. The cardridge had all three disks in it.

Then all I had to do was reach in with my finger and "trick" the player into thinking the cartridge was still there, pressed eject, and it retracted "empty handed". I popped open the little door and looked inside, and guess what? There was a disk still in there! I pulled it out with a pair of hemostats, and ejected the mechanism, and now it works like a charm!

I think what happed to cause the problem was the changer (for whatever reason) ejected and left a disk in the changer. Someone put another disk in the cardridge to fill the empty slot, and when they inserted it, the player still had a disk inside and it got "confused" and locked up.

WARNING WARNING WARNING
Please not that I did NOT force the cartridge out of the mechanism while it was sticking out of the dash. If you try this, I don't think good things would happen. The manual SPECIFICALLY says NOT to EVER FORCE the cardridge out.

I can't specifically tell you what I did to pop out the cartridge. All I know was I was sliding the zip-tie in and out along the edge of the cartridge and it released the cartridge. I hope this helps anyone else who has experienced this problem.

" I hope this helps anyone else who has experienced this problem."

Wow, thanks for this one.
Worked like a charm, I was thinking about pulling the whole unit out of the dash to fix this problem.
I'm not even sure at what point the zip-tie caused the release of the unit but all of a sudden it was loose.
I never would have thought of this.
Diamond Jim, if you are still out there, thanks a lot.

ETA: After the unit was free I did this a little differently.
I took the 3 disks out of the cartridge (is that what it's called?) and put it back in empty.
Then I pushed eject and the disk that was in the player came out no sweat.