Hi again -

This past week my wife informed me that the cd changer in the 03 Avalon was
not working, (which thrilled me to the core...or maybe "chilled" is a better
word.).
So with the help of a couple of websites telling me how to dismantle the
dashboard, I took off some components - most were easy but the air vent
assembly above the radio is a bear to remove - and when I was able to take
off the four 10mm bolts fixing it to the dash, and separating it from the
ventilation system module below it (easy in both cases) I removed it from
the dash by removing the antenna connections and the power/speaker harness.
This can be tricky, since you're supposed to remove the negative battery
cable to remove the electrical connection, which I didn't. However, no
short circuits ensued. I was lucky.
When I got the radio out, I pried off the top and immediately found the
problem. I had thought there was one CD in the radio, but there were two,
and they were jammed together in the player. I carefully pushed them out
through the front slot, and then reattached the power harness, turned on the
radio and loaded one CD into it.
Success!
I haven't yet had the guts to load more than one CD into the changer and
play it, but at least it didn't require fixing anything electronic. If
you have such a problem, with the CD changer refusing to play, to load in
another CD or to remove the CD that's in there, try taking a peek inside to
see if your problem is as mine was, with two CDs stuck together in the top,
unable to move. As I said above, the only thing that is difficult about
this is removing the air vent assembly, which has to come straight back out
of its nest in the dash, and is attached with clips that are almost
impossible to get to. Be cautious and don't bend the plastic bezel too
much.