Car Cd Player V Potholes

[chrissa1]

I bought a "newer" car on Saturday. It's a super little car, a Kia Picanto, 06 reg with 40K on the clock. I have three months warranty.

I have noticed when I drive over potholes or raised manholes, the CD player jumps and stops playing for about a second or so.

Is this a warranty problem and also can it be fixed? Thanks

[gingejbee]

I doubt that the warranty covers this problem because it's not really a fault....CD players vary in how well they deal with major "vibrations"....some cope very well and others (yours included) not at all well. The cheaper the car, the cheaper the CD player fitted and the poorer the performance, in general.

[chrissa1]

Can I, do anything about it? Use a piece of cardboard? :)

[gingejbee]

I doubt that you can improve things, other than having the CD player replaced...not always easy when they are built-in. Oh and try to avoid potholes and raised manhole covers...not easy, I grant you!

[chrissa1]

I wouldn't call £9765 new, a cheap car, ginge.

[gingejbee]

By "cheap" I really meant at the lower end of the manufacturers range...the pricier the car, the better the sound system fitted. Also, don't forget it's had eleven years possible use...all the moving parts will have worn and become "looser".

[chrissa1]

Fair enough, ginge. :(

[bhg481]

It's worth a mention to the garage you got it from - they might offer to swap it for you. I've done 160,000 miles in my car (Volvo V70); I use CDs which I've created myself with MP3 tracks and never have a problem with skipping or pausing. Car CD players need a suspension system in them to allow for road shocks and also have an electronic buffer to try to minimise the effect of shocks. In other words the disc is read and several seconds of the music is put into the buffer before it starts playing then, when you hit a bump and the laser reading the disc loses its place, it plays from the buffer until the laser can find its place and fill the buffer again.

[tonyav]

The only thing I can think of that may help is remove the cd player from the dash, remove the top of the cd player ( usually held on by metal tabs that you can prise with a screwdriver ) and give the laser a clean with surgical spirit or such like.

[bhg481]

That's a good idea, Tonyav; if the lens is dirty it maight be struggling to read the disc and the buffer could be on its limit. It might be simpler to use one of the cleaning discs that you can buy for a few pounds, rather than take it apart.

[chrissa1]

Thanks, guys. I think I'll give the garage a ring tomorrow and enquire. He's a decent fellow and might help. Cheers.

[tonyav]

I have done it before ( some years ago ), bhg481, used to have a Vauxhall Carlton that had a CD player that skipped and jumped now and again. I removed the top cleaned the laser and it wworked fine after that.
However as you suggest one of those cleaning discs may fix it.

[Cloverjo]

It might be worth asking about a repair. My car had a 3 year warranty, and a fault was found in that the radio wouldn't switch off. I wasn't bothered, but the car shop fixed it under the terms of the warranty.

[chrissa1]

I've got one of those cleaner discs. I'll give it a spin.