MadChef

iTrader: (1)

Hey all, if you ever need to take apart your Bost head unit, check out this doc I wrote up.

Your display doesn't work? or Your CD player reads "CD Err"? Mine too.

Long story short, I determined that a single board was causing the display to not function in one unit, and the CD player not to function in another. (swapping the boards swapped the problems)

If I can find someplace selling these boards (like a radio repair shop), then this would be a cheap fix to a lot of people's problems with the Bose unit.

http://madchef.5u.com/maxima/bose/bose.html

I took part everything so you could also use this doc if you want to take apart the face plate...maybe change the color or something =)

MadChef

iTrader: (1)

currently looking for somewhere else to host this.....geocities stinks...

... ok new url

http://madchef.5u.com/maxima/bose/bose.html

nadir_s

dude, that's awesome! i'm really interested in your CD player/LCD fix. I took apart my bose headunit to see if it was dirty or something... no luck. Lemme know how you fix it!!!!

thanks!

MadChef

iTrader: (1)

Thanks! I found a radio repair guy who will sell me two of the boards....just negotiating the price with him (prob $30 a piece)

Once I get them, I'll install em and see if it works. Which, of course, it will...

95bluse

iTrader: (1)

Like Nadir said..would be awesome to find the component on that vertical board that causes these problems, especially that CD ERR.

I took apart mine also, even installed a new laser assembly that I bought from Pacific Coast parts (had to get my cousin to bring it to Toronto). Talk about a waste of time and money! I did this cause some guy said that's how the repair store fixed his. Then I tore mine apart as you did and resoldered every part I could find....no dice. I remember that board and I'm pretty sure it's related to power distribution. This would explain the weird problems that occurred before the CD dies i.e sudden shut off of radio and switch to CD (even though no CD is in unit), flickering CD activity led etc.

Let's know what you find out. I was about to buy a second hand unit and do the same, but most guys want top dollar for their used Bose. I'm not willing to do that, might as well go aftermarket.

Anyway keep up the good work & check pacific coast parts website for parts for the unit. Just select Clarion & 2083D and they'll list the parts they have (how about $131 for the CD assembly )

95bluse

iTrader: (1)

Just a follow up that this board affects only the display & cd....weird. My tape player & radio have worked flawlessly and the same with a lot of other folks. I'm thinking if this board is related to power distribution ( are the rear connectors the harness connectors i.e where power comes into the unit?), then it should affect everything. Unless the display & CD require some funky voltages that are not needed by the tape & radio

foetray

Any ideas on what could cause the board to go bad?(besides old age) My brother has gone through two bose units with the same CD error problem.

95bluse

iTrader: (1)

It's an epidemic I tell ya!. Clarion made these units on a shoe-string budget i'm sure. I'll take mine apart and have a look at that board again this weekend.

foetray

Thanks. One of those units was mine. I had no probs out of mine but he plays alot of burnt cd's. Do you think that could attribute to the problem at all? Maybe the cheap laser in the unit isn't able to read those cd's and killing something on the board to where it won't read any cd?

95bluse

iTrader: (1)

I heard the same about burnt CD's but there's no conclusive proof. On mine, I've played both burnt and original cd's equally so I'm not sure.

That board looks to be part of the power distribution to the whole unit i.e radio/tape/cd/front panel. You can see that the factory harness plugs into it, bringing the battery 12V supply needed. I think (not sure), that there is a capacitor and a maybe a voltage rectifier (to step down the 12V to 5V) on this board. Maybe it also supplies a negative voltage or such to the cd player, if this dies so does the cd. Not sure at all. I posted a link in the 4th gen forum to ask any techie guys to look at this post as it seems Madchef "has left the building"

MadChef

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been replying!

Well the friggen guy who was selling the boards is giving me the runaround now. My mistake was asking him if the boards came from a working unit

I did get a bunch of usefull replies (from a few people who have actually worked on this board) with some suggestions. Words like "oh yeah, the problem with those boards is usually..." are music to my ears. I will be trying those suggestions out this weekend. (nothing spectacular)

Ouch! I was thinking along similar lines for the CD Err one (aka thought I could just replace the CD player) and I bought a second unit off of eBay...waste of time and money.

Hmmm, that's an interesting theory about the tape and radio, but I'm not sure. First of all, yes the board handles the power. Why it only affects the CD player and Display could be a microprocessor problem...maybe power not getting to one of the chips?

Well, any number of things could have gone bad, but I guess most would be related to age. Vibrations over time could have shook some
of the connections loose, and thats why I am checking the friggen solder joints again.

I don't think CD-R's are the culrpit here

Well....I did a lot of checking on the "problem" boards I have....there are no obvious cold solder joints, and the caps came up with a reasonable value on my ESR meter. As for other causes, I'm not willing to guess yet until I have a working board to compare to

Phew...ok, I'll let you know how my weekend exploits go!

95bluse

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the update we're all awaiting your findings. I'm buying a Bose from a local memeber that has a '96 I30. It was taken out and replaced by an aftermarket unit and he's never had issue with the CD player. Probably cause it's an Infiniti Anyway, I'll get it early next week, swap it out and have another look at mine. There just isn't a lot of stuff on that board to go wrong...only thing I remember seeing that half of the label on the capacitor was missing...heat?
Anyway..good luck!

95bluse

iTrader: (1)

Any updates on this? I have replaced my Bose with one from a '96 I30, which is an exact match. I've gotten maybe 2 "CD ERR" already on this one. One was on a burnt CD, the other from a store bought item. So I'm already a little worried. I plan on taking apart my original and see if I can troubleshoot that one board or even take it to a shop & let them fix it.

MadChef

iTrader: (1)

Well, good news!!

I fixed my Display error headunit!!!
I ended up re-soldering everything on the power board. One part inparticular fell right off when I tried to re-solder it, so that gave me hope that it was the problem. Low and behold it works now.
http://madchef.5u.com/maxima/bose/fix/problem-big.jpg

I'll update the info so you can ID it, but it is to the right in the picture. (I wrote it all down, but I can't find it)

No updates on the CD Err problem yet, but I am pretty sure it is the same solution. I will try fixing my other Bose unit (with the CD Err problem) after the holiday's.

Christmas comes early to my Maxima! lol

95bluse

iTrader: (1)

Gee..'bout time j/k..great news! Let's know what happens withthe cd err..I'llt ry to look at mine after the holidays too.
BTW...
http://madchef.5u.com/maxima/bose/fix/problem-big.jpg
is dead

nadir_s

copy/paste the link in a new browser

! I am goin to take apart my bose and solder that one peice that you showed in the picture you took. thanks!

BrentK7

Hey guys. I was having the CD err problem and just thought I would give another success story. My brother and I took the radio out on Christmas Eve, took it apart, found the "cd err" causing resistor and resoldered it (we didn't actually detatch it, just reflowed the solder). Put it back in and worked like it was brand new. Plays Burns and Bought CDs perfectly.

MadChef

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear you fixed it! =)

Can you identify the exact resistor? Or did you just do a batch of em?

HomerMAC

iTrader: (5)

ye amy 98 unit crappe don me.. so i jsut went and go ta 99 unit ... which in my opinion looks sweet...

Maersk33

I found a fix for reseting the radio with these no CD/Radio functions. My head unit also went caput! And I was exploring what could be done before using MADCHEFS post. I called my buddy at the Nissan dealer and he recommended I unplug the two cables that go into th positive lead of the battery for 15 sec. This apparently resets the radio and all electricals in the car. Once i did this all worked fine. Hope this helps!!

MadChef

iTrader: (1)

Interesting that it worked. I assume the same could be accomplished just by taking the headunit out of the car for 15 seconds.

With that in mind, I've had several "CD ERR" units out of the car for more than 15 seconds, and it hasn't fixed those yet.

But hey, it's probabaly worth a shot just in case it fixes yours. Just keep in mind it will reset your ECU.

fiddyonefiddy

tried this and didnt work but was very usefull in taking the h/u apart

HomerMAC

iTrader: (5)

ebay u can get a 99 hu for 45$ thats what io did heh

davedat

Thank you so much MadChef...your tutorial led me right to my trouble. My (new to me) 1995 Maxima's Bose had no display at all and the CD was dead except the "disc" led was lit after my wife mashed a disc in (to see what would happen) . I ended up resoldering all the similar surface mount resistors on the PSPCB. Turns out though that 4 of them looked particularly suspicious: R510, R519, R529 and R508, that last one fell out like yours did when I first touched it with the iron. You can see the poor solder easily with a magnifier...obviously an inadequate manufacturing issue.
Works like a champ. Thank you again!
Dave

mikeg75

I followed the same instructions recently and fixed my display issue, but I think my CD error issue is still going on. I tried resoldering those resisters as well, but it was pretty hard to get to them, without melting the plastic. I am going to try putting a CD player cleaner in there to see if that fixes the problem.

Before I did the solder work, I couldn't see the display, except once in a blue moon. At least now I see the display 100% of the time, and if I want to fix the CD problem, I can at least see the error. I'll probably pick up a CD player cleaner soon to see whether I'm still having the problem.

I also added an AUX switch per some other instructions I found online (and in this site), but I'm not too confident that the speaker connections I soldered on are working, as my wife's digital music player didn't work properly with the connection I installed. The connection is intermittent right now. I am too busy to take apart the radio again and re-solder it, but maybe I'll try it one more time to try to fix it. If nothing else, it was worth learning how to do solder work...