Audio Systems: 2003 VW Passat Monsoon car stereo, microscopic particles, vw passat

Question
I have a 2003 VW Passat with a Monsoon car stereo, and I get an Error Code 1 when I put a CD into the player. What does this mean.

Answer
It merely means there is a problem with the cd player. It is either a weak laser diode/optical pickup, bad digital decoder IC chip, dirty lense over the pickup head. Any or all of the above.

The first thing to do is clean off the discs you are using. Then clean off the laser lense (you may have to pull the unit out of the dash and open up the cover to see inside where the mechanism is.  Using a q-tip, flick th lens a few times to knock off the microscopic particles that may be attached).

Also, sometimes on a humid day early in the morning when their is a lot of dew in the air it will not play.  Wait until the unit dries out and the moisture on the internal parts dry out and it should play again.

If all the above do not solve the problem you may need repairs done to the internal electronics.  The cost could be quite high; sometimes it is cheaper to just replace the head unit with a new one.  You will have to check it out.

Good Luck,
cleggsan