Electrical problem impairs CD player
By Doug McAllister
Q. I am seeking your advice as to what to tell our mechanic when we bring our 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee in to solve the mystery of a CD player not working properly. It changes CDs when the car is turned off or the door opens.
We recently had the Jeep in for a "check engine" light. The code indicated the exhaust sensors were bad, so we had them all replaced. It required our mechanic to do a software update to the computer. (We had a similar problem a little over a year ago. This required micro-welding of the catalytic converter system and a sensors change, as well. I do not remember if any software had to be updated then.)
After all this work was completed, we then had a starting issue tied to corrosion on the battery cable.
Since all this work has been completed, the CD player will go into change mode for a couple of minutes when the engine is turned off and when the door is opened. Prior to this work, the CD player operated properly.
Since all this work has been completed, we have not been able to use the CD player (I believe it is a three CD changer).
So we are not sure what to ask for to correct this issue. Our fear is if the CD player keeps operating after the car is turned off on a cold day, the battery will be drained. The battery is around 3 years old. Hopefully, I adequately explained our dilemma. Any help would be appreciated as to what to look for next.
A. I am a little confused between the two events you shared here. However, it sounds like the CD player may have gone bad. Before you replace it, I would try disconnecting power to it in order to give it a reboot.
As you know, sometimes electronic components can just get confused and rebooting them can work miracles. The best way would be to disconnect power at the CD player. The easiest way would be to disconnect the battery cable for a while. If you disconnect the battery cables, understand that you will be resetting the computer and all the monitors will reset.
If you are due for an emissions test, you would not want to do this before going in because the testing facility won't have any data to be able to pass the car.
Good luck.
• Douglas Automotive is at 417 W. Main St., Barrington; 123 Virginia Road, Crystal Lake; and 416 Northwest Hwy., Fox River Grove. For information, visit douglasautomotive.com. Send questions to underthehood@dailyherald.com.