scola888

I just bought a 1997 SC400 a week ago and the 12 disc changer keeps giving me the ERR message and skips alot. I called the lexus dealer and they want 550.00 for a refurbished one. Does anyone know where I can get one cheaper or where I can find an adapter. I want to use my Nakamichi head unit to control the changer. HELP

wolfy187

sup, I have the same problem with my cd changer. And am in the same dilema. If you find a solution don't forget to come back and post. I posted the same thing in a early post.

Arthur

scola888

I did find a lexus dealer in Virginia who said they would do a refurbished one for 350.00 still high but better. I called everywhere but no one has them. I spoke to someone at a company called blitzsafe who makes adapters for about everycar on the planet but lexus and they said their working on it but it could be about 6 mos.

The Ikon

GUYS, I HAVE A 92 SC 400 WITH THE SAME PROBLEM IF ANYONE HAVE ANY INFO LET ME KNOW TOO.

JBrady

Is the SC changer in the glove box like the LS? I have a 96 LS400 and need a changer also. The standard head unit supposably has Pioneer internals. I had the same response from stereo dealers. It really pisses me off because you can buy CD changers all day long for $200. This is one of the few things about Lexus that sucks.

VQT

I just bought my 93 SC400 2 weeks ago, and the CD changer has problem like your. I check with Lexus dealer near Princeton, NJ they want $700 for a rebuild changer and take 3-4 weeks ($1200 for a new one) this price is just for part no labor charge yet. I am talking just the changer price.

$350 is half of the price in NJ. Please keep us post on where and the price so we can fix our changer also.

At this rate, $700 for a rebuild and $1200 for new one, I rather buy a whole new after market system for less than $1500 and will sound better than the Nakamichi in the car.

VQT

The Ikon

I contacted a lexus dealer in memphis, tn and dallas, tx. i was told that the 12 disc changer in the coupe were supplied by pioneer and panasonic. i also checked my service records and in 97' (i've only had the car 3yrs)my records indicated that my changer was a panasonic supplied unit. i've only heard about pioneer suppliers never the other.

i agree with the rest of you guys. i may ditch the entire system and spend the $$$ lexus is asking for a new unit on an entire after market system... if i can't find any reasonable changers at a fair price...

hellasboy

So far there are 5 people (including myself) that seem like they would be interested in an oem to aftermarket cd changer adapter kit. Since you talked to them allready scola888, maybe you can convince them to speed up their development of such an adapter. Something like "There is an astonishing high rate of failure for the CD-changers in the SC and many SC owners would be interested in purchasing or testing your product as soon as it's available."

I'm sure that there are other SC owners that haven't went the entire aftermarket solution yet and would be interested in such a product.

If that doesn't work, we could all email the company. Would anyone happen to have the email address? Personally, i'd like to get my hands on one of these as soon as possible.

JBrady

It seems incredible that Pioneer, or any manuf for that, would build a system with TOTALLY unigue programming. The head unit adapts to the player via an electrical connector, this connector carries the commands from the head unit, and the sound from the changer. There has to be a way to "match" these signals to a LEAST another Pioneer changer. Anyone know any electronic guru that could/would take on this challenge? An adapter could be made for a few dollars and sell for an easy $50, should be able to sell thousands to the various stereo shops as all told me they get constant requests for Lexus cars.

scola888

Just some more info on the cd changer issue for anyone interested. The dealer who sells them for 350.00 is Lindsay Lexus in Alexandria Va. Phone is 703-931-3000 ask for John Overend he is the parts manager and the one who gave me the info. They also have a website. The other company is Blitzsafe who makes adapters for just about everycar but LExus and they also have a website if anyone wants to bug them like me to make one. They do have plans to make one but not for a couple of months, maybe they need realize the demand. Thanks for all of the responses, this is a great website.

Anthracite SC

I took the 12 disc changer to an aftermarket stereo
shop and they looked at it for awhile.

The Lexus stereos just show age. Nakamichi or not.
after about 4 years, things just don't run as smooth
as before.

The 12 disc changer of mine continued to jam, and even when it wasn't jamming, it was notoriously slow.

550 bucks is WAY TOO MUCH for a refurbished one.
My answer was to get aftermarket products for the car.
MUCH better quality, sounds a whole lot better, much
faster and not that much more expensive.

If you opt to have the changer fixed every time, it will
work for the short term, but is only delaying the inevitable, for from my experience, it just james again shortly thereafter.

If you choose to keep the changer, my suggestion is to use it as a 6 disc changer and put a disc in EVERY OTHER slot. That will help. My stereo friend suggested it and it worked for me, but I still wanted a 12 disc.

Hope this helps

Anthracite SC

hellasboy

I just emailed blitzsafe@blitzsafe.com. I reccomend that everyone interested in a Lexus CD Adapter to email that address also. Hopefully, the more emails they receive (1 per person should suffice, we don't want to mail bomb them ) will then push up the release date of such a product.

Is your email program open yet?

JBrady

I just emailed them and looked through their website. Curriously, they list applications for 98+ Toyota's? I would think Lexus and Toyota would be compatible. They list adapter for nearly every car maker EXCEPT Lexus, waas-up-wid-dat?

scola888

You'd think they would on such a popular carmaker. And I hope something gives because the thing has downgraded to not working at all. Called the dealership and they told me to bring it in this weekend so hopefully they will do something.

Jazzbo

I have a stock 92 SC400 with the 12 disk changer mounted in the trunk. The symptoms I get are an "OPEN" message on the dash display, and CD's that will not fully retract into the magazine. I saw an earlier post mention changing the 12 slot magazine into a 6 slot by using every other slot. I can see how this would work, as it would reduce the force needed to insert each disk slightly.

I tried a different approach that seems to work pretty well. The reason the CD's are getting stuck 80% of the way into the magazine is that the two rubber pinch rollers that do most of the pushing and pulling are drying up. When new, they're nice and grippy, but over time they harden up and don't grip as well. When the CD is just exiting the magazine, only the middle inch or so of the rollers actually touch the CD, and there isn't enough grip to pull it in.

What I did was to simply rub the rollers with my fingers. This gets all the surface dust off, and the oil from my skin was sufficient to soften up the surface of the rubber. The rollers seem to grip now, and the magazine works in all 12 positions.

There are other ways to do this. You could use a very pure silicone spray (NOT WD-40!!) to clean and restore the tackiness of the rubber. I would recommend that you put a very small amount on a paper towel first, then lightly rub the rollers with the towel. I used to use this technique on old tape deck pinch rollers, but I can't guarantee that the rubber used in the CD player's rollers will not react badly to the silicone.

Do not use alcohol, it will just dry up the rubber more. Do not use other chemical cleaners, since these may eat the rubber away. There is a special chemical that tape machine manufacturers use to clean and condition pinch rollers, but I can't remember what it's called. Heck, Radio Shack may have it, take a look there if you really want to. I just used my fingers and it's working fine .

Luck,

Jaz