UKC

Hoping the UKC collective wisdom comes up trumps as ever.

A CD is stuck in my card CD player and it won't eject, it gives a mechanical repetitive grinding sound of badness. Any idea how I can get it out without damaging the CD or the player or the dashboard fascia? It's a Saab. Thanks.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

What CD is it?

In reply to FactorXXX:

A compilation one I was given.

I don't see how to get it out without damaging it and the player.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

>... it gives a mechanical repetitive grinding sound of badness.

Are you absolutely sure that it isn't a Coldplay album?

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

Seem to be a bunch of solutions here: http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=180577

I'd suggest getting a torch and a plastic ruler, and trying to wiggle the cd around a bit. Its probably caught on something as per the posts on that forum. Otherwise taking a head unit out is normally pretty easy once you commit to pulling dash panels off.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

When this happened on my wife's Merc, i.e. not a Saab so YMMV, it was a known fix to locate the fuse for the CD player and remove/replace. Out popped the cd.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

There is normally a small hole on the front of the player, it's a manual eject. Try putting something in it before sticking anything in the CD slot.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

Speed bumps at the speed limit seem to work!

In reply to Dax H:

Don't try this in a DB5.

In reply to johncook:


Yes this happened to me a few years back. The CD got stuck in the player and no amount of poking and prodding with bent hooks, rulers etc would free it, so in the end I just gave up and accepted that I couldn't use the player again unless I was prepared to fork out a bomb at the main dealers to have it sorted by them (Audi).

Then about two months later I bumped through a pot hole which I hadn't seen in time, and out popped the CD!

In reply to Clauso:

Beat me to it!

Definitely just unscrew the fascia and unravel the electrics...you'll be able to cram it all back in no probs! PS. You in London this w/e mucker?

In reply to James Gordon:

This used to happen in my old saab 93 especially in hot weather once the player had been on for a while - I think the rollers that ejected the CD were a bit greasy.

If you imagine the mechanism on insertion slides the disk in then lowers it a tad to drop it onto the spndle, the eject is the reverse but the rollers sliding it out can't grip (or the slider grips too much). If you look carefully through the slit you can probably see the edge of the CD.

A couple of things that worked:

Then the cd off and press the cd back using the edge of a bank card - it is fiddly and quite stiff but if you get it back it should pop back down on the spindle. Then turning the cd on and ejecting might work (especially if it has cooled down).

Repeatedly pressing eject while fiddling with the CD using a card or pair of card to "grip" the CD and assist the rollers - I'm not sure I ever "pulled" a CD out, more that by waggling it I helped it unsnag or grip the rollers better.

I planned to clean the mechanism but in the end scrapped the car due to rust. If you want to do this or dismantle the CD player it is easiest to get a stereo removal tool but you can get the player out using four nails of the right diameter inserted in the 4 holes around the edge. Try not to disconnect the wires otherwise you might upset the connection to the SID.

In reply to Clauso:

Quality!

I used to listen to Coldplay, then the strangulated dirges they belt out began to grind my gears!