Jaguar XJ (X350) CD Changer Not Working, CDC Error
Before blaming the changer, check its supply at the boot fuse box: damp there scorches the feed wires, and a second changer showing the same CDC Error points the same way. The other common fault is a jammed magazine, which usually comes out with a thin blade.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive — only the changer is affected
The changer sits on the same fibre-optic ring as the radio and amplifier, so don't just unplug it and drive on: a gap in the ring can silence the whole system.
Which one applies to yours depends on your symptoms, your model year and what has already been done to it.
Likely causes, most common first
Read the check cost before the odds: a free check that rules a cause out beats a likely guess that costs money.
Wet or scorched supply at the boot fuse box
The changer is fed from the rear fuse box in the boot. Damp corrodes the connector, the joint heats under load and the wires scorch. An unplugged lead still reads 12 V — a bad joint only fails once current flows.
The changer is completely dead — no whirr, no eject — and so is a replacement. Damp in the boot floor or behind the right-hand boot trim. With the changer dead, the radio and every other source can go silent too — they share one ring.
If the magazine won't eject, go to the rear fuse box: fuse F27 (10 A, rear CD) and the connector where the changer loom enters it. Measure feed and earth at the changer plug with the changer connected and switched on, not open-circuit.
Cut back the scorched wires, fit new crimp terminals and clean the connector.
A jammed magazine or a sticky drive gear
The mechanism runs on small plastic gears and a worm drive. With age the grease stiffens and the worm gear binds; the changer stops with CDC Error, often holding the magazine in.
CDC Error and the magazine stays in, but you can hear the changer try — it has power.
Slide a thin, stiff blade under the magazine and wiggle it gently while pressing eject. If it comes out, wipe the magazine and refit.
Worth trying the blade first. If the error returns, the changer has to come out: clean and adjust the worm gear, lightly grease the plastic gears. Freeing it this way may not work forever.
Changer removed, fibre ring left open
Changer, radio, amplifier, navigation and rear DVD share one fibre-optic ring, and the car keeps a list of which units should be there. Take one out without a fibre bridge and a configuration change, and the others complain.
No changer in the boot, or a short fibre lead in its place; the rear DVD says disc error or the CDC button does nothing.
Look for a fibre bridge at the changer position. A workshop with the dealer tool can delete the changer from the configuration — or add it, if you are fitting one.
Close the ring with a bridge and reprogramme the car. Adding a changer needs the X350 unit, the fibre lead, the bracket and the same configuration change — a changer from the older XJ will not work at all. The boot is normally pre-wired for power, but the fibre lead is specific to this car and the changer must be programmed to the head unit; the X350 changer is C2C 18740, superseded by 38055.
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Jagaux Bluetooth adapter for the XJ8, X-Type and S-Type
Bluetooth music on the factory audio system, without a new head unit. Check which system you have: press Mode on the radio — a 'Sub' setting means Premium Alpine.
later S-Type, X-Type and X350 XJ, Standard or Premium Alpine audio
The order to check them in
The point of the order is money: each step either rules a cause out or makes the next one worth doing. Green is free, amber costs a little, red is the one to arrive at last.
Try a thin blade under the magazine
Hold eject and wiggle a thin, stiff blade under it. Often that is all it needs.
freeCheck fuse F27 in the boot
F27, 10 A, rear CD, in the rear fuse box. Look for green corrosion or browned plastic at the connector. A magazine that won't eject points here first.
freeMeasure the supply under load
Changer plugged in, radio on: measure feed and earth at the changer. Voltage on an unplugged lead proves little.
freeRead the audio fault codes
A scan shows whether the changer is seen and whether the car expects one. B2477 and B2403 can appear; their meaning on this car is unconfirmed.
a diagnostic sessionOnly then a used changer
It must be the X350 fibre-optic type — C2C 18740, superseded by 38055. If it shows the same error, stop buying changers and go back to the wiring.
used unitThe fuses named above — where they sit
The highlighted position is the one the procedure talks about. Pulling a fuse is a stop-gap, never a repair: check what the circuit feeds before you pull it.
Circuit descriptions from the Jaguar handbook, p. 186, 187, 188, 189. Drawing by jagaux.com from the factory electrical guide. Fuse layouts change between model years — read the legend on the lid of your own box before pulling anything.
Circuit descriptions from the Jaguar handbook, p. 183, 184, 185. Drawing by jagaux.com from the factory electrical guide. Fuse layouts change between model years — read the legend on the lid of your own box before pulling anything.
What it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
If none of this finds it:
On jagaux.com
- Jaguar XJ (X350) Radio No SoundThe changer is one link in that ring; if everything went silent, start there.
- XJ (X350) fuse boxes and full fuse list
- XJ (X350) radio pinout and wire colours
- Jaguar radio code generatorFree. For the XJ factory radio, if it asks for its code after the battery has been off.
- Jaguar VIN decoderConfirm your exact model year, engine and factory options before ordering parts — free.
Ratings, fuse numbers and torque figures vary by model year and market. Read the legend on your own car before pulling anything, and use the figures in the manual for your car, not the ones in a video.
Check your VIN: exactly which car you have and which bulletins apply to it.