so I've got it out.
popped the top (also noticed the scribbles on the top which read:

CQ-JH8160Z and 39100-S0X-A500

so, after reading EVErY result Google could cough up, I've found the
following:
1. Matsushitzu or whoever manuf's these
2. it's not exactly an overly abundant OEM part or used part
3. You have to crap gold bricks to buy a new replacement.
4. Honda has a refurb program
5. EVERYTHING says take it to the dealer
6. Calling dealerships is st00pid - they all say it's a friggin' fatty
CD or sticky label that came off inside. (it's not, trust me, I've had
it laying ALL over my kitchen table, there are ZERO CDs in this thing)

the problem is these two metal tabs stickin up so that I can not
manage to get a CD even 1/5 of the way into the slot load!
GRRRRRRRRRR! Anyone experienced this sorta insanity? I can hit CD and
it will flash DISC @ me. OR I can hit eject and hear a GRINDING noise.
I can tell it's only one of two gear sets, as there are only TWO gear
sets in the whole drive...but i've got NO idea how or WHY those tabs
got there...or HOW to remove them!

HELP!

On Sep 19, 11:25 pm, Tanner <christan... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
I have had a couple of car stereo/cd players have problems and had
little luck tearing them apart to fix them. Usually something gets
bent and the whole mechanism gets out of time and unless you know how
it is supposed to work you are usually stuck. I have used the people
on the attached link. They are not too expensive for repair and have
not let me down yet.
http://www.videoservicestop.com/radiorepairs/honda.htm

On Sep 20, 8:20 am, maumee <maumee... (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:



Maumee, thanks a lot for the linkage. you're right - reverse
engineering this cd mechanism is pretty tough for me. I've done what I
THOUGHT would work, and it hasn't...so once the service manual
arrives, I might peek @ it abit, but that place looks REALLY
reasonable! Thanks!

Tanner wrote:

Maumee is right, but sometimes eBay is the quicker / cheaper answer.
Just be sure you get a machine with the correct colored backlight (ie:
most CR-V is orange).

'Curly'