Why does my car CD player skip when it's cold?

January 27, 2005 6:16 AM

My car CD player is driving me out of my mind! It skips like mad, but only when it is very very cold out. Today it is six degrees out and I couldn't get a single track to play straight through. It doesn't matter what the CD is, it doesn't seem to matter if the car is cold or warmed up, and the road condition doesn't seem to have an impact, as it does it while I'm at red lights, too. Is there a logical reason why this happens when it is at least ten degrees below freezing? More important, is there anything I can do about it?

Please don't ask me to get a new one, my car's ten years old with well over 100,000 miles. I have an Aiwa in there now, thanks to the previous owner. I could neither afford nor justify putting something even half as nice in a car worth less than $3,000. It works like a dream in all other respects, and even has an aux jack for the mp3 player I dream of.

posted by Kellydamnit to Technology (10 answers total)

Are the CDs kept in the car overnight? Try bringing in a CD from the house and see if that helps. Maybe the plastic does something weird when it is cold.

Not that I know anything about cold weather. The coldest weather I've ever been in is 17f.
posted by birdherder at 6:26 AM on January 27, 2005

What birdherder said. They are probably fogging up from the temperature change. Warm the car up, then try one that has been in the house. I've had the same problem before.
posted by bh at 6:44 AM on January 27, 2005

Perhaps it's something to do with the lens transport mechanism - if there rubber belts parts there they could become inflexible, any lube associated with the worm drive/motor could become real sticky, etc. If it skips with both cold, left-in-the-car cds, and toasty warm just-out-of-the-house cds, it could well be the player rather than the cds.
posted by carter at 6:50 AM on January 27, 2005

belts/parts
posted by carter at 6:50 AM on January 27, 2005

Best answer: Two things: Many CD players have a shock absorption device that is liquid based, it's possible that the ext ream cold is affecting the viscosity of the liquid and not absorbing the shocks as it would warmed up. Also the lens of the cd player might be fogging up, same as your windshield fogs when you get into the car, start breathing, and turn on the heat. If you have had moisture issues in your car before this would exacerbate the issue.
posted by dirtylittlemonkey at 7:35 AM on January 27, 2005

Probably condensation on the disc and/or lens.
posted by rocket88 at 8:08 AM on January 27, 2005

Mine has done the same thing, and we live int he same area, . Warm up the car and bring the CDs in at night.
posted by oflinkey at 8:44 AM on January 27, 2005

If the aforementioned suggestions don't work:, many car stereos are very removable. If yours can just pop in and out without wiring, consider bringing it in, too.
posted by ori at 9:04 AM on January 27, 2005

I've had more than one head unit that became hot to the touch when I ran the heater for too long. I don't recall that it ever caused a problem with CD playback, but my memory is kind of incomplete. And I'm guessing that when it's extremely cold outside, you run your heater at higher temperatures and for a longer period of time. So, something to consider.
posted by Clay201 at 11:07 AM on January 27, 2005

Don't know if it helps, but I thought I had a problem exactly like yours until I noticed it was happening when things got warmer too. Turns out I was on the wrong voltage setting on my cigarette lighter adapter and less juice was getting to the CD player. Doesn't fit all of your symptoms, but just in case...
posted by ontic at 12:06 PM on January 27, 2005