I bought an aftermarket 6CD changer (OEM) for my 99 C-230K and plugged it in in five minutes. It worked great for a month. One day while playing, it just up and stopped working. The head unit reads NO CD CHANGER. Now and again it would work for a few minutes and after a week, never again. Thinking it was the changer, I sent the old one back, still under warranty, but the new one isn't recognized either. The unit powers OK (the cartridge eject mechanism works), and there are no obvious kinks or breaks in the fiber optic cable.

Any idea of what could be wrong here? Does the head unit need to be reset in any way?

Glenn

For something that began intermittently, I'd think it was simply a bad connection somewhere. I'd go through all connections before I went further. Good luck!

__________________
"If God had meant for us to walk, why did he give us feet that fit car pedals?" Sir Sterling Moss

Michael
2014 E63S Estate
2006 SLK55
1995 E500
1986 Porsche 944 turbo

I gave the connections a wiggle and even opened the fiber optic end to see if the fibers were seated right. As I noted, the unit gets power and after the fiber optic leaves the unit, I have no idea if or where it could get crushed or broken.

I'd like to get MB to look into it, but it will probably cost me as much as a new changer. Looks like I may be out of luck..


Glenn

Does your CD Changer magazine have 6 CD's in it? On the Becker aftermarket CD Changer if there aren't six disks in the magazine,in most cases, the head unit will not recognize the changer.

Yup. 6 disks in.

OK, six disks in the changer illiminates that issue, so here is another thing to check... If you disconnect the two fiber leads from the changer and take the leads out of the connector clip. Part the two lead ends slightly and shine a flashlight into one end of the fiber cable. You should see light comming out of the other end of the fiber cable. If you don't see the light (no pun intended), then you may have a kink in the line. Some of the MB cars with fiber have a fiber cable splitter up front behind the head unit. If you don't see the light comming through, this may be another reason for the CD Changer disconnect. The splitter up front may have come loose, causing a disconnect. I can get you the instructions for getting to the front splitter if you need them. Let me know how you make out. Good luck.

My wife's 2000 C-280 also will occasionally go "off". It will read "no CD" and the changer is full. I called the dealer and he said to turn off the car, wait a few minutes, and then start up and try again. Well, this DID work. I phoned him back to inform him, and he said he would look into it. That was yesterday, Thursday. I will give him a few days and the re-inquire. The CD changer was ordered with the car, and came factory installed.

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Dale, R129
W202

Is your head unit version coded correctly. The radio must be properly version coded (programmed) as to what is in the fiber optic loop and the order in which they are looped in. For example:

Radio, sound system(bose), Cd changer, telephone.

Improper coding can lead to the problems you're having. Dealer shouldn't charge more than an hour to slap the laptop on it and check/perform the coding. Not sure about your aftmkt CD changer though. Good Luck.

Bill
91 300E