This is now the second time this has happened to me. I have a 2007 Honda Fit Sport. It is less than one year old, with about 6k miles on it.

The first time it happened, I went to pop in a CD and the CD player would not accept the CD. I noticed the little green light that indicates a CD is in the player was lit, so I hit "eject". It spun and grumbled, spun and grumbled, repeat half a dozen times. Then it said "BAD DISC. PRESS EJECT". I pressed "eject" again, same routine.

I took it to my dealer, who verified there was not a disc in the drive and ordered me a whole new radio, which they installed under warranty. I got a new anti-theft radio code and everything. They visually inspected all my CDs to be sure I wasn't using paper labels on them (I don't). They also tore the hell out of one of the center console panels, requiring that I go back and show them the damage so they could do a warranty repair, but that's another story. My dealer is horrible.

Tonight, I was in my car and the vehicle was off. The key wasn't even in the ignition. I was adjusting a new GPS mount near the center console when I must have accidentally hit the "eject" button. The CD in the player ejected. I was a bit surprised, and went to put it back in. The player would not accept the disc. Then, on its own, the player went through an extended cycle of spinning and grinding before quieting down.

I turned on the car and, sure enough, the green light that indicates a CD is in the player was lit, even though I knew for a fact the player was empty because I was holding the CD it previously contained in my hand. Pressing "eject" does the spinning and grinding routine several times, followed by a "BAD DISC. PRESS EJECT" error message.

I find it appalling that this has happened to me twice! I don't drive the car that much, and I only listen to music via audio and mp3 CD.

I'm going to go to a different dealer this time, one that hopefully won't gouge the hell out of my car with screwdrivers and prybars.

Has anyone else had their CD player die on them?

 

Haven't had any problems like yours - although once in awhile it will eject a perfectly fine CD and say "bad disc" - I try again and it usually accepts. Knock on wood.

 

Hey Sibyl - were the CD's that you had burned or copies of the original CD? Just curious if this happened with a burned one or the original.

Thanks,
Cat :X

 

My CDs are all burned. Most of them are mp3 CDs, and a few are copies of my favorite audio CDs. Some are burned on 700 MB (80 minute) Memorex "Black" CD-Rs. (These are weird in that the underside looks smoky black and not "clear"). Others are recorded on Verbatim 700MB (80 minute) CD-Rs where the top of the discs and the jewel cases were in an assortment of matching colors (disc undersides are "clear"). All were labeled with a permanent marker, no adhesive labels used.

I don't like to leave my original CDs in the car where they might tempt theft, which is why I use copies. The CD drive never had any problem spinning these CDs up quickly. I'm baffled as to why it would decide there is a CD in the drive when there is not.

 

Had it been really cold?

The one time something similar happened to me it had been a really, really cold night. I took one CD out of the player right after I started the car and when I tried to put in another one it wouldn't accept it. Said bad disc and spit it out. The disc I was trying to put in had been in the car overnight as well. Then for the next hour the player kept spinning and saying there was either an error or a bad disc. The next day after I warmed up the car before doing anything with the CD player that I thought was broken, it was fine. I haven't tried to change discs in almost subzero temps since and things have been fine.

 

Honda buys these radio's from Alpine. Like any other manufacturer they will build some defective products due to manufacturing defects in the parts they buy from suppliers, or defects in their assembly line. Honda has been using Alpine radios for a long time. Honda is very good about replacing anything on the car that may be defective for the entire three years or 36,000 miles of the warrantee. I have even had them replace a leather seat cushion which had some frayed seam threads in the last month of the warrantee on my 2000 Accord Coupe

My 2000 Accord has an Alpine radio/CD player. The CD player occasionally will skip when it gets near the end of a CD and doesn't handle home made CDs very well. If I listened to a lot of CDs, I think it would be cheaper to replace the entire head unit with a new model then to repair the old one. Honda has used this unit has been in their Accords from 1997 until 2001 when they upgraded the car. Not too many people were burning their own CDs in 1997 so I can't really fault the CD player.

 

This is an interesting line of thought. It was extremely cold the other night. I will have to warm the car up (and let it dehumidify) before trying to use the CD player again. Thank you for the idea!

 

Ok!

I tried the CD player again today (33F, woo) and it let me load a CD and play it as if nothing had ever happened.

I wonder if Honda is aware that their CD player malfunctions seriously in sub-freezing temperatures? I don't always turn the heat on, because I'm bundled up against the cold anyway.

I wonder what happens? Does the player get a bit of condensation in it that freezes on a delicate sensor? I saw another person in this forum mention that their climate control system caused a lot of condensation right around the radio area.