I just purchased a 2001 LS430 and the in-dash CD changer is not working. I have the Levinson stereo with navigation. It will not accept discs - when I press LOAD the navigation reads CD ERROR. I took some tweezers and opened the cover (which would normally happen when you hit load) but no luck.

Any help or estimates of repair costs would be appreciated.

 

Pretty expensive for these units...google radio repair and call some shops for an idea of whether they have done this before. You probably find a couple shops who know how to fix this and will have you mail in the unit, fix it, and mail it back. Just spend a little bit extra and get it insured during shipment because if it goes missing, you're in for some big bucks! Good luck.

 

I had that issue the last time I took apart my radio and reassembled it. I was trying to figure out if I could remove the CD changer altogether. When I reassembled it i kept getting the "CD Error". i took apart the radio again and it was a matter of the ribbon that connects the cd changer to the radio wasn't seated correctly.

 

So if it was the ribbon that conncected the changer to the radio, that sounds like it was a fairly easy fix, correct (after you got to the back of the unit). Were you successful in your repair? Thanks for the feedback.

 

He created the issue there, It's doubtful that's what you have since it happened without yours being disassembled. Get it to a good radio repair shop....Google time!

 

I didn't disassemble the cd changer from the radio nor did I touch the ribbon while I was double checking dimensions and seeing if the cd changer was separate or part of the main radio unit . I technically meant that I disassembled/removed everything from the center console. During this removal I didn't go in and mess with the ribbon. It's inside the radio case and it's not accessible unless you take apart the whole radio, which I didn't do. It happened sometime during the removal of the whole radio or when I put it back into the console. Apparently while the unit was out and I was tossing it around, the ribbon became unseated due to it just having a little plastic flap that has to be pushed down 90 degrees that holds it in place.



My point is , the "CD error' occurs when the radio isn't communicating with the cd changer. Check the ribbon and if it's not that then go to the next step which may be to either send the unit out or replace the cd changer altogether.

Just so you know the cd changer can be separated from the radio and can be removed without effecting the radio/navi.

 

Thanks - it sounds like I will be swapping the unit out with a Lexus new or refurbished unit. First estimate I got was $365 all in to take it out and replace it. Does anyone know if you can replace the player with one which will play MP3's? Keep in mind this is a 2001 unit - I don't know if it is the CD player or the head unit which actually controls that.