CD stuck in car stereo

Factual Questions
1

I put in my Ben Folds CD and everything was fine–then the CD player simply stopped working and the stereo turned itself off. I got it to start back up when I re-started the car and the radio works completely fine. However, the stereo doesn’t recognize that the CD is still in there and it won’t eject the CD or play it.

Not sure it will help but my car is an '05 Chevy Malibu Maxx.

Any suggestions for getting the CD out?

2

I take it you are not using an aftermarket radio? That would make things much easier…

There MIGHT be a little hole somewhere that you would poke a safety pin or sewing needle through that would manually move the mechanism that pushes the CD out. It’s probably there, but you may have to take off a cover or two to access it.

3

After you free your CD, I suggest you throw your CD player away and install a new one. IME, once your CD player starts getting liberal about how long to keep your CDs, there’s no convincing it that you’re the boss.

4

First, you take a screwdriver with a thin, but flat, blade. Stick it in the opening between the tray and the faceplace and twist. After the front breaks off, take some pliers and pull out the tray or tear it enough you can reach in to get the disc.

Then junk the player and get a new one. If it did this once, it will do it again, as Hostile Dialect says, so it’s not worth saving.

5

Step 1: Disconnect the player from the power supply and let it sit at least a half hour. Plug back in and try again.

Step 2: There’s some general info spread throughout the S.E.R faq. Here’s a section that mentions some tips for resetting some car players.

6

I don’t think that there is a tray in a car CD player.

7

Probably so; I was thinking of a desktop computer, where this tactic has proved useful. Still, there must be some way of destroying it in a satisfying way.

8

This happened to my '06 Wrangler, but I had a 6-disc magazine and they were all stuck. I took it to a Jeep dealer and they replaced the CD player, and a couple of weeks later, they mailed back all 6 CDs that were in the magazine, in the same condition. It didn’t cost me anything since it was under warranty. Otherwise it probably costs as much as buying the new factory radio and a little labor.

Lousy American factory parts!

9

I’ve got a cd player that likes to keep CDs in it. I take a CD I don’t care about and I press the eject button as I wiggle the CD up and down in there. Works every time.

10

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. This is the stock version of the CD player–so I’m not sure about any type of removal of the player itself–at least not by me. I haven’t had a chance to get it out yet–but I’ll check back in with the results soon.

11

There will almost certainly be a pin-hole for manual CD ejection on there somewhere.

12

Yep, I had a CD stuck and I pushed a looooong thin needle in the hole and cleared it

13

I see GM’s stock CD players haven’t improved much since my experience with my CD player in my 98 Pontiac Sunfire. I got an after-market one after the third one from GM crapped out on me. I was still in grad school when I got the after-market CD player, so it would have been within two years of buying the car.

14

Alright, there is no pin-hole for manual ejection. I don’t have to remove the face to get to that do I? I tried sliding another CD in there as well and hitting the eject button–but I get the same old message “No Disc”.

I’m guessing it might be time to just remove the whole thing and get another player? I can always get another CD of course.

15

Be happy, for RNATB hath solved thy problem, and yea made delicious cookies also. Your antitheft device has decided that you disconnected the battery or did something else suspicious.

The below are quotes from another MB that I won’t link to because the mods frowny face at that or something:
**Q: **

A:

16

You are the man! Thanks so much for the solution, and I hope those cookies are the best you’ve ever had.

17

I take it that means it worked?

You’re very welcome.