Evo 8/9 stock headunit won't play CD's (even after swapping in another HU)
 

So the stock headunit (non-SSL) on my Evo 8 was getting finniky about playing cds. Radio works fine. But it would have trouble starting to play a cd unless I skipped forward a few tracks to move the laser. Then it would play.

And randomly it will also takes maybe a minute before I get any sound. Not always, but most times I just need to start driving the car and then the sound will come on when it's ready. :(

I thought the cd-playing issue was the headunit but I just swapped in another oem headunit (mine was june 2003, the new one has a 2006 date on it) and it's behaving the exact same way. 2 different stock HU's are working identically. The CD player says "E CD 03" or something like that...my impression was that this was the last time it worked and then failed on track 3. But I'm not sure any more.

So it's not the headunit itself. It has power and the radio works fine. It just won't read CD's and even the motor to insert/eject discs doesn't sound or feel as strong as it should be.

I have unplugged my battery to try to reset...I dunno, something...and no change.

Any advice on where to look? Wiring looks fine from what I can tell on the HU harness itself. Do I need to start jiggling under the glovebox? Or can someone point me to a specific fuse or wire to look for? :helpme:

Thanks very much.

I would guess both headunits are bad. I found that E 03 means the cd mechanism isn't working properly.

It's all but impossible for the radio to work fine and not the cd player and have the problem be external to the unit itself.

Grrr. Thanks for the post.

I have this problem now with my stock headunit but my error is 05, not 03.

Will an aftermarket HU solve this? I'm REALLY hoping so.

See, I was hoping that by swapping in a different stock HU that would resolve it. But it didn't. To me that makes me think there's a loose cable or wire in the harness or something. But maybe an aftermarket player would make a difference.

Or both HUs you tried were fried :confused: It could happen lol

I'm kind of hesitant now about buying a new HU to fix this issue. Everything else works but that and the cig lighter.

There's nothing in the wiring that the cd portion uses that the radio doesn't also use.

I couldn't find anything for an e05. Yes an aftermarket cd player would solve your problem. Error codes generally mean that there's something wrong internally in the unit.

Are these burned CD's?

Fearing the worst the current cd stuck in the new player is burned, yes. But I can't even eject it at this point so I dunno if that matters. I don't think it does.

I got E03 just now with a legit, store-bought CD. I was just remembering the error wrong. It tries to read the CD, spits it out halfway a few times, then throws it out and goes to radio and displays the error.

I've had the problem with both burned and authentic cd's. With the 2nd HU it seemed to accept CD's and eject them fine for like 6 times. And then now I can't get it to give me back my cd. The CD mechanism doesn't appear to even try any more.

I think I'm gonna just hit up Best Buy and if they have the Mitsu harness in stock I'll grab some cheapie HU. I don't need anything fancy, I just need to play CD's.

I got a stock head unit sitting in my basement, was in working condition when I pulled it out of the car, you pay shipping and its yours.

Thanks man, I appreciate that. Very nice of you.

I went to Crutchfield.com yesterday and ordered a new JVC hu. Should have it tomorrow and will report back if that fixes this.

I would just upgrade to an aftermarket unit. Way better and they look great. I would say both where shot. If the radio works, then all the wiring is good and there is no problem, just the HU's you got are gone

Installed aftermarket headunit last night. All is well.

I still don't know what the issue was but now that I don't have to listen to the radio I'm stoked.