Bose CD/Radio keeps rejecting CDs

flowa · Post by **flowa** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:24 pm

Hi there,

I've got a '98 Eunos VS in BRG, got him in June 06. He came with the factory supplied Bose single CD AM/FM stereo with a band expander attached to the aerial.

About 3 months ago the cd player started spitting out my cd's from time to time and it has progressively got worse to the point I'm at now which is that it rejects all cds in the main but on very rare occassions it will play. Sadly though, as soon as I turn the car off I'm back to square one and have to play the game of inserting the cd ?70? times before I'll get another play out of it.

I have tried to clean the lens but the cleaning cd was dispatched out of the system as all others are.

The thing is that I can hear (and feel) the relay clicking (to the right of the steering wheel at the top of the foot well) when I put the cd in and again when it rejects the cd. When the system was working properly I never heard the relay click. Also, on the rare occassions that it does play there is no click.

So my questions are:
Have you solved this problem before or heard of anyone who has?
Could it be a faulty relay rather than a problem with the cd player?
If it is the player that's gone wrong, is it fixable?
It it isn't fixable do you know where I can get my hands on a non-Japanese version of the Bose (this aspect I am very 'girly' on because I really like the aesthetics of the unit in the fascia - flat fronted and black.... nice).

Thanks for your time reading this and I look forward to any feedback you have to help me work this out.

jamesg · Post by **jamesg** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:37 pm

Hi,
I am sorry but I cannot offer a solution, but can say that I have the exact same problem with my 1998 NB with Bose system - including the clicking near the steering wheel.

I gave up on CD's and got a Belkin FM transmitter/cradle for my iPod nano. I would be interested in any solution as it would be nice to be able to play a CD. And I have read that the Bose CD player has a Bose amp and special Bose speakers and any one will not work correctly without the other 2 (from what I have found on the web anyway).

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:48 am

I didn't like the sound from the Bose system in mine (and I hate band
expanders!) so replaced mine with an a JVC radio / cd with MP3 capability.
Replaced the Bose door speakers and disconnected the Bose amplifier. I now
have a radio that works properly and sounds much better than the Bose
system. I have kept the radio for when the car is eventually sold (when I
eventually upgrade) so the new owner can reinstall if required.
The Bose amplifier has all sorts of equalisation in it and the speakers are
very low impedance to get a lot of power from the amp. The equalisation is
supposed to compensate for the poor bass response of typical vehicle
installations. All it did in my opinion was produce indistinct midrange and
very 'muddy' sounding bass. The amp also has a balanced input so you need
special matching arrangement from an aftermarket radio to drive it. Best
answer is get rid of it!
Not the answer you want but it works for me. I have a good radio and 10
hours of music on a single cd without losing space to a cd stacker mounted
somewhere, plus improved sound.

Grant.

[Posted via External Email]

flowa · Post by **flowa** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:13 am

Hey guys, thanks for your responses to my query. Even though they don't advance my desired outcome they do give me hope that I'm not nuts.

Grant, I wish you were in the UK so that I could try out your 'spare'. Oh well.

I still think it's the relay. Any electrics specialists around????

flowa · Post by **flowa** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:17 am

it's great to see that you're an active community. I've been fishing around the UK and US sites for a while and pretty much got nowhere.

So, thanks again.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:30 pm

Have a look here:
http://www.madracki.com/miata/images/wiring/99sys.pdf

This is the USA wiring diagram for the 1999 (1998 in Japan) NB.
Might help you figure out what's happening. Not quite the same as the
Japanese car but cloe.

Grant.

[Posted via External Email]

spotz · Post by **spotz** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:33 pm

Sound to me like it might have an aignment problem. Causing the laser to miss finding the CD.

flowa · Post by **flowa** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 7:40 am

Cheers, Grant. I'll have a look.

Hi David, thanks for this thought. It's a good point. If you're right, any ideas about what I can do? Do you think a garage would be able to help?

spotz · Post by **spotz** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:17 pm

A garage? They fix cars. If they were to "fix" it, they'd only send it away to a specialist & charge you ( through the nose! ) for the privilage. A car stereo shop would be the best place to ask who can repair it. Preferably one that sells Bose.

flowa · Post by **flowa** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:19 am

ah, a Mazda dealer then. Cheers.

Post by **zorruno** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:14 am

on 25/09/2006 9:19 a.m. flowa wrote:

ah, a Mazda dealer then. Cheers.

Hi Flowa,

Actually, an auto-electrician would be my first stop - or an electronics
hobbiest with too much time on their hands. If you can remove it from
the car yourself first, you'll save some time and cash.

In saying that however, I think you will find that most Dealers/
Auto-electricians etc will regard any factory radio as a disposable
product.

A dealer could probably find someone to fix it, but it would cost a lot
once the 5 different layers of companies all put their margins on.

You might also be lucky and find someone who knows a lot about the
Mazda/Bose units (as it could be a simple fix for someone in the know),
but most will say - "...sorry, can't be fixed. A new Bassshaker(TM)
double din head unit with flashy blue LEDs and 600 channel graphic
equaliser is only a few hundy though...".

It might be an easier bet to track down a second hand replacement
(wreckers? mx5mart.co.nz? Japanese importer?), but then again it may
give you the same problems in a few months. Otherwise, a replacement
head unit (either double DIN or single with a surrounding piece or
insert tray) is the only other answer. There are some nice, not too
flashy head units around these days if you look hard enough, e.g. some
of the blaupunkt euro models are quite plain and of good quality.

Finally, there is a very knowledgeable MX5 stereo person in the US
(Washington DC I think) called Jeff Anderson. Maybe you could try
emailing him and see if he still is interested in Miata Stereo issues.
There should be lots of references to him around on the Net. There may
even be some suggestions on the net as to how to fix this exact issue
(but I assume you've already googled...?)

HTH
cheers

[Posted via External Email]

suburban_ennui · Post by **suburban_ennui** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:45 am

my understanding of CD players in general is that the laser lens which reads the disc has a limited life. I had a Clarion in my old Mazda Lantis which lasted about four years and started rejecting the odd CD, then most, then basically all. Again, if I persevered and inserted the CD about 20 times it _might_ eventually pick up and and start playing. It got very frustrating. I talked to a friend to is something of an auto-electrics whizz, and he told me that the lens was probably dying, and that fitting a new stereo would be a cheaper option than getting it taken out, cleaned, checked etc.

Post by **zorruno** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:12 am

on 27/09/2006 9:45 a.m. suburban_ennui wrote:

my understanding of CD players in general is that the laser lens which
reads the disc has a limited life.

IANAAG*, but it is more likely alignment of the laser causing this
problem, which is generally fixable by someone who knows the unit (or
has a circuit diagram), but is likely to more expensive than buying
another stereo.

The lenses can't die (they are just a piece of glass). I suppose the
lasers that point through the lenses could decrease output over time
(driver components could degrade). And I guess the laser and lens is
all-in-one so it amounts to the same thing...

cheers

*I am not an audio guru...

[Posted via External Email]

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:32 pm

Lasers sometimes can lose output. This normally shows up initially as a reluctance to read burned discs while still being able to accept pressed ones. A common cause of problems though is dirt on the lens. In a car, especially an open one there is a lot of dirt floating around! A cleaner disc won't always remove the dirt. In this case a manuals clean can fix it.
This requires dismantling the cd player and cleaning the lens. You need a cleaning fluid that won't attack plastics and you need to be gentle with the delicate focusing mechanism. Difficult as you need to rub the lens with some soft lint free cloth or cleaning stick. Does work sometimes but takes a lot of time to strip, clean and reassemble.