Alright, here it goes...it may or not work for everyone but it sure worked for me. I am on my third blose headunit and it acting up again. The left channel cuts in and out when playing CD's, a common problem on these cars. Replacing is costly, repairing is still almost $200, and banging the left side of the stereo just gets too many weird looks. I'm finding new ways to fix all kinds of things now since I got engaged and am saving up for our wedding!
I ripped apart(delicately) the radio to get to the (2) ribbons to measure and replace them since this is usually the issue. Most repair guys wont tell you what it is and make it sound like it's some secret and repaired with mystical parts that they can only charge you for. My fix is about as cheap as it gets, free. What I did was get the radio out (lots of links on this forum on how to do that), pull the radio out of its cage, and take off the side and bottom plates of the headunit. This will give you access to the ribbons and tabs to pull them out. (The front has a lift piece on the ribbon connector so don't just yank.) Here's the fix, I trimmed about 2-3mm off each end of the ribbon on both sides equally, this way they'll fit back into the connectors without a hitch but will give you new contact points. You can clean the contacts/connectors if you want also with some contact cleaner, and add some hot glue to under the front ribbon cable to hold it to the cage if you want too. Put back together (remember the connector with the lift lock) and back into the car. Enjoy! A few pics of the ribbons bellow................




MOD EDIT:
The ribbon cable is part# 816-2550-00.
A new ribbon cable can be ordered from here for about $8 shipped. (Definitely can't say they've got it in-stock, but they're the only place I see listing it) - Wrathernaut
http://www.pacparts.com/part.cfm?sku=930583922777

 

Awesome post gizsf, and contratulations on the wedding too.

So to clarify, the dark grey spots on the "gold" contacts on the ribbon cable are where it was contacting before, you trimmed a small amount off the end of the cable so that some of the "gold" contact towards the center of the cable would be touching where the dark grey used to, correct?

Oh, and did using the contact cleaner on the ribbon cable have any effect on the dark spots?

I suppose it's put back together, but if you have any more pics, I wouldn't complain.

 

willing to do this for me?

 

The contact is made on about the lower 1/3 of the gold contacts, this way you give a fresh contact point on the ribbon. Contact cleaner didn't do anything noticeable but I figured it wouldn't hurt. I'll update if anything changes.

If anyone needs help with this let me know. If you pull the stereo and bring it to me, I can fix it in about 1/2 an hour. I don't accept cash... Only beer or booze!

 

i can bring you mine. pm me your schedule. im free most weekends

 

Just wanted to update... Fix works perfectly, not one channel has cut out since. Also, this method only cuts a small portion off the ribbon so if the issue comes back a few years later, you can get another 2 cuts more if needed. I think the drop of hot glue should fix it permanently though.

 

Just did this fix today! Works perfectly! Thank you, thank you!

 

why does it look like the end of the ribbon in the first picture is a thicker peice of metal? im not understanding how this gets cut

 

Having seen this fix performed today, the picture is a bit misleading. The "thicker piece of metal" is simply a part of the ribbon - no worries. If you are having troubles, take your unit apart...its really clear.

 

Sorry for not being super detailed on the write up, but like Brwn5454 said, once you get to it, it'll be obvious what it is and what to do.

 

just got done with this and as far as i can tell its fixed. but i havnt driven the car yet so once i can do that i should know for sure

 

This doesn't cure the cd error message does it?

 

^ haha, GL W/ that...

 

^I replaced it but was curious. lol

 

I may try this when I have the time very good write up