home Fix label Navigation label_important Satellite Navigation category Honda

honda crv sat nav dvd problem?

Please can anyone help me with my sat nav on my 2004 honda crv, it says dvd error and I have tried a friends dvd disk in there but it has the same problem. I have tried going to the force download screen but nothing happens and on the diags screen it says everything is ok. Are there anymore reset procedures and also is the unit easy to take out of dash to inspect. Thanks.

Colin, February 2008

home Fix label Navigation label_important Satellite Navigation category Hondadone

I can repair your Honda crv. accord.civic type r When it says disc is reading an error. mobile service i come to you in about one hour your sat nav will be working fine again. I also do a postal service aswell. Also if you are having problems with the ENTER BUTTON i can fit a new one. Call Andy On O7765846880. If i don't answer leave a message and i will call you back

Andy, May 2022

Andy, June 2021

Andy, December 2020

Andy fixed my Sat Nav showing " disc reading error" which was frequently coming up on the screen. I went to him (near M25 Gatwick turn off). Nice guy, knows his stuff, fixed in an hour, reasonable price.

Nick, November 2020

Andy, March 2020

Andy, May 2019

Andy., September 2018

Andy., July 2018

Andy, March 2018

I met Andy near the M25 as I was from the West of Oxford. He not only fixed the Sat Nav in my CR-V but also the enter button which was a bit wayward. Very reasonable charge too. Well done Andy

Gary, December 2017

OK so I have done the butter knife lens clean, the take it apart lens clean and attempted to do a forced download. It starts download process and then after a few seconds says error reading disk again. But it isn't the disk as I tried another disk from a working navigation unit in another car. ANy ideas?

Sleep deprived father of 2, December 2017

Andy, August 2017

Just bought a 2005 Crv 2.2 with this exact problem
Cleaned the disc and thin knife and a baby wipe , took me 5 mins and now all working !
Thank you for this post

Jane, July 2017

Andy, July 2017

See Andy's posts - he comes to us. Fixed my disc read error couple of years ago and no problems since. I actually came back to this forum because I lost his number and need another one fixing :-)

Nickthesafe, January 2017

Andy, January 2017

Andy., October 2016

Tried the wipe and ruler trick over and over no joy. Then tried the down zoom & menu reboot. Got to the menu messed about a little, cleared the sram, found the 'Force Download' button, hit it something downloaded, few minutes later unit working perfectly. If I wasn't in the car I would have done a somersault. Second only to a Euromillions win. Can now do everything on the Satnav and stereo. Just bought the 2005 2.2 Exec as a banger for the dogs but have fallen in love with it. Good luck to you all.

Scott, October 2016

Seriously people I can kiss you all just now ha ha. Honda Jazz I have and was giving a dvd read error. Called up Honda for a replacement disk when they almost gave me a heart attack £179!!!! Wtf I thought. So thought buy disk head cleaning kit. Didn't make a difference. Started thinking if it was a disk error. At the last moment, chanced upon this thread. You rock stars with your butter knife and wet wipes lol. Tried first time didn't work. 2nd time something happened. After a delay error appeared. That gave me confidence. Switched off the car and cleaned it again gently. And the 3rd time...worked like magic. Love you all the butter knifers n the wet wipers.

JP, September 2016

Andy, August 2016

Andy, July 2016

Andy, April 2016

Andy, January 2016

I did the forced shut down and it worked, now have a fully functioning unit. thanks for the help.

Gary, December 2015

Andy, September 2015

Andy, May 2015

Hi tried all the suggestions on this page including dismantle and clean , force download.
Still getting error . Did notice in diagnostics I have no satellite signal ,crv is in open space.
on first diagnostic schematic all connections seem fine . Also checked connections ok.
Any suggestions
Thanks Edcot

Edcot CRV 05 cdti, May 2015

Andy, March 2015

Just done aforce down load press the down arrow on the zoom button whilst holding in the menu button at the same time keep pressing next until you get to the system s part then press on the different items until force download appears at the bottom press it and everything will go blank then drive off after about 2 mins it started to load up keep driving until it reboots. worked a treat

mouserine, February 2015

I used Andy's services for my 2004 Honda at the beginning of this week and he was excellent. He arrived the same day and had the unit returned to me quite late (after 9pm) the next evening due to my arriving home late from work. I recommend using him for any issues you might be having with the unit.

Stuart., November 2014

cd door wont close i press the close door and all i get is a blip while the door is open i put in a cd it work and eject no problem

mick, October 2014

i can repair your honda crv. civic type r. accord. sat nav when it says disc error. mobile service i come to you i will have your sat nav working in 1 hour. i cover the whole and just outside the M25.. call Andy on o7765846880 if i dont answer leave a mesage i will call you back.

Andy, October 2014

I used a glasses clean cloth and a knife - it took three attempts to get the knife & cloth far enough back but my Sat Nav is back up and running - hurrah!! Thank you all for the different ideas and saving me dosh!!

Suzy, October 2014

Hi nick its Andy yes i can come to you to repair your sat nav in kent give me a call.

Andy., October 2014

What area do you cover Andy? - am in North Kent looking for CR-V nav DVD read error repair.

Nick, October 2014

Andy, June 2014

Same problem as most with DVD reading disc error. Tried new disc and tried rebooting system but neither worked.

Have just attached a flash kitchen wipe to a little ruler and waggled around (carefully) in the DVD slot. Put disc back in and it's now working for the first time in two years! Then put in the new disc (from eBay) not genuine Honda disc and it's updated it straight away.

Thanks for the solution, the message on the screen was driving me mad!

Ted, May 2014

Following an exhaustive test drive trying to trick the system, I can report it's never worked so quickly, especially when I deviated from the route.
What used to take a minute is now a couple of seconds!
I'm a very happy bunny!
Thanks again Bartley!

grazzer, April 2014

Thanks to Bartley who described how to clear the SRAM (Dec 2011 below).
Disk loaded faster than before, all I need to do is test it!
If that fails I'll strip it down and clean the lenses...

CR-V 2006

grazzer, April 2014

HI, I live in NZ and have a Japanese inport 2003 Honda Accord Euro. I replaced the battery and the nav needed a reboot. I tried inserting the Honda disk and I got the check disk error message. I've taken it apart and attempted to clean the lens but to no avail.

Andy, I guess you are in the states but any chance you can tell me what you do to get this thing back up and running? It also controls the air con system so it's really annoying...

Thanks and look forward to your feedback.

Joash, April 2014

thanks a loot ....i've tried with cleaning dvd.... zero effects
also.... i was very skeptic about the knife method .... but i've tried and only the knife helped me!!!

vasea, October 2013

Andy, August 2013

I tried all the suggestions here, thank you all that contributed - sadly nothing worked so I called Andy whose details are on this blog and he got it working in about an hour. Saved me £350 on the PX of our CRV!

Damien, May 2013

Andy mobile stereo., April 2013

Andy, January 2013

I can repair your honda crv. civic type r. accord. sat nav when it says disc error. mobile service i come to you i will have your sat nav working in 1 hour. i cover the whole and just outside the M25. also i have 2010 discs aswell buy the same disc from your honda dealer it will cost £175. call Andy on o7765846880 if i dont answer leave a mesage i will call you back.

Andy, November 2012

Yes it works. Brilliant
Difficult to get at the eye, but when you clean it the error no longer returns

The Honda Honky, October 2012

Thanks whitescorpion, butler knife some spirit and a screen cleaner sorted out the problem for me. Just bought the car and got a discounted price because of the dvd error message - what a bargain

ish, October 2012

instructions following Menu and Zoom min

Owen J C, October 2012

The Ruler trick worked a treat thank you so much.

Melissa, September 2012

so called honda expert doing a force download wont fix a disc reading error you dont know what you are talking about.

mobilestereo, July 2012

i cleand my lens with a butter knife and a zeis camera lens cloth and it works perfectly. normal costs here in belgium where around 400 euro's but now it only cost me 0.20 cents haha thanks guys for the tips

whitescorpion, July 2012

Hey Andy,

I live in the Netherlands and are looking for the device you replaced. Can you tell me where you bought it??

DV36T02C...

THNXS!!

Arnoud, May 2012

Yay!!!
After dismantling the DVD unit, giving the lens a wipe with a cotton bud and eventually putting it all back together (no screws left over......BONUS) I tried it again. Didn't work. Just about to give up and I read that you need to be away from buildings when starting the unit back up. Did this, and hey presto it worked!!!!

I now have a fully functioning, up to date sat nav.

Tonto, April 2012

Good day to you all,

I own a 2006 CR-V II in the Netherlands and equiped it with my 2004 Sat Nav (original Honda Alpine) that I recovered from my first CR-V, a 2003 that went total loss on a tree... Black Ice with 35 km/h...

It worked well for almost 3 years until it started with the disc error message when the winter started. I did the mentioned repair and cleaning as described here!! Easy complete opening and closing. Appears that everything is ok but the DVD won't spin up.

Can anyone tell me if there is a sensor that reads that the disk is loaded??

Thnxs in advance!!

Arnoud, April 2012

April 2012 - 2006 Honda with the same problem as everyone else 'DVD error'. Tried the 'butter knife' and 'wet wipes' approach. Removed a lot of dirt from the cd lens but to no avail. Then re-read the comments of others and persisted - carefully! Then realised that the cd lens faces upwards and therefore repeated the cleaning but with a little more downward pressure - hey presto. Sorted. Did this a few months ago and been fine ever since. My suggestion - persevere with cleaning but carefully. It probably took be 4 or 5 attempts before it worked. The re-boot instructions offered by others were easy to follow and did the trick. Thanks to all who posted. I almost took the car to a garage!

Pete, April 2012

I have a similar issue. I have purchased a 2011 disc for my 05 CRV only for the 'disc error' message to appear. I have tried the 'wet wipe and ruler' method still no joy. What confuses me though is that when I put the original disc in it works, so the laser cant be that dirty. I have tried the force download, but the screen just goes black and eventually comes back on in the same state 'disc error'.
Am I doing something wrong, or does it need a more thorough clean?
Much appreciated.

Tonto, April 2012

Is there anyone in the Northamptonshire area that can help with a repair re my error fault on the DVD/Sat nav system ?

Martin F, April 2012

Try a DVD player head cleaner disc (the type with small brushes on). I had the same problem but it took quite a few uses of the cleaner to do the trick - the machine stops itself saying there is no disc! So just repeat the cleaning and persevere.
(I carry the cleaning disc in the car in case the problem recurs).

cr-v sat-nav, January 2012

I have a 2003 CRV. Same problem experienced when the DVD was removed - "DVD Disc Reading Error". On my car, if you press the menu button and zoom down button at the same time, the system diagnostic menue comes up. After some self checks, you will come up wit a screen where one of the choice is "clear backup". If you chose this, a message will appear that this will clear the SRAM (memory) and reset the system. Press OK and it will ask you for the language - chose UK English and hopefully it will then reset your system. I have done this successfully once.

Bartley, December 2011

Just a quick note to say Andy popped round to fix my Sat Nav the other day, excellent service and great value for £130. Fixed on site,took around 1 hour, required no involvement from me. Very efficient and polite. Would recommend, in fact I have passed his details to a major Honda dealership. John

John Willan, November 2011

same problem in France !
Thanks to all of you for trestimony and special mention to Craig : cleen up the lenses is THE way to solve the issue without spending a LOT of money with Honda...

Marc-Antoine, September 2011

You are all stars!! I thought "what the hell" so cleaned the disc with lens cleaner and stuck a dettol wipe on a knife in the disc slot and jiggled it about.Lots of black yuck but it worked first time.Brilliant!!

Tony C, August 2011

Tried Craig's method - couldn't really see where the lens was so just poked around with cotton buds - it worked! MAny thanks!

xero, August 2011

cotton bud with some cleaner on it just push it gently into the cd slot remembering to remove the cd move around it will feel quite tight the bud is long enough to do the job good luck

john d, June 2011

Andy does the job.... 1 hr and all up and running !!! honest guy.

Marcin, June 2011

Any at mobile stereo - can you let me know where you are based?

Many thanks,

Benn

Benn in Bromley, Kent, June 2011

If you live in or around East Herts then get in touch with Audio File in-car 01279 757218 located to Bishops Stortford CM23 2QE next door Bishop Stortford Rugby Club within easy access from M11
Brilliant service they can fix your CRV SAT NAV as they did for me for probably less then £200.00

grandadclive, May 2011

I was in serious danger of parting with £300 to have my satnav fixed....can't believe my luck that the "windowlene wipe and thin ruler method worked!!! Mine has been out of action for 2 years!!
When I wiggled the ruler about I accidently forced it over something..don't know what and thought that I had caused some damage. Also cleaned the DVD disc with the wipe.

I put the disc back in, waited for it to boot up, the dreaded "error message" didn't come up.....so I pressed "map" and it came up!!!!!!!!!! did a short route plan..........all ok.

Didn't even have to force the download. Can't believe my luck! Just hope it continues.

Don't waste your money on the DVD cleaner disc...I bought one and it didn't work....£15 wasted.

Maggie from Cleethorpes, March 2011

Had the same problem. Did as Craig suggested but still didn't work. The did the "forced download" as below, turned off then back on and it started working.

Gareth, February 2011

Please do not insert a knife or any other object into the disc slot.. The lens inside is VERY fragile and you could easily crack it, then you will have to replace the whole unit!!...
The unit needs stripping down professionally.

Anthony, January 2011

I can repair the Sat Nav "Disc Error" problem, If anyone lives in the North of England.
Do not take it to Honda you will get charged an absolute fortune!!
I charge £80 plus petrol if coming to you,or you can drop it off with me I'll have it fixed within 24hrs.
Anthony 07808765466 (leave a voicemail I'll get back to you)

Anthony, January 2011

Same problem re sat nav showing dvd error. Tried DVD cleaner and it did not work. Wrapped a glasses lense cleaner round a thin knife and inserted in DVD. Moved it around a bit and then took it out. Needed to press DVD eject button to return sat nav DVD. The sat nav fired up straightaway and is now working as it should do. Thanks to all for this tip.

Reevo, January 2011

Craigs solution worked for me too. No amount of DVD cleaning disks worked. Once I dismantled it and properly cleaned the lens it's working a treat. Thanks Craig, the process was made very easy following your explanation.

Bazza, November 2010

I have suffered the same issue wit my 03 but have resisted taking the thing apart so far. There seems to be some success with the baby wipe trick so will gve it a go.
Wish me luck.

Baz, September 2010

Craig - you are a star. Followed your instructions on taking the unit apart, cleaned the laser head with a cotton bud and all works well. Also quick tip - found my disc had quite a few small scratches (even though it had never been out of the slot). Used a small amount of toothpaste and lightly rubbed in with a cloth. Removed toothpaste, majority of scratches gone and disk / sat nav start up in record time.

Matt L, August 2010

wow, tried the dvd cleaner and it worked! thank you very much for your advice. you have saved me hundreds of pounds.

Alex Kuligowski, July 2010

I had same problem with 2005 SAT NAV in my CRV exec . Just went to Currys boght a dvd cleaner disc and it works perfectly now . Try this before you spend any money !!!!

veronica, July 2010

sat nav error honda crv2002
if I insert the CD navigation from the 2005 Honda Accord and there is a chance that nothing bad will happen?
whether it can help?

p.z., May 2010

I have the same problem
I want to use the cd laser cleaning whether this method works rather than dismantle the navigation?

joanna, May 2010

My '55 Honda CRV sat.nav problem "DVD reading an error" solved instantly by buying an Allsop Multimedia Laser Lens Cleaner from PC World for £15.99. This is a DVD, CD and Game Consol lens cleaner. It took about 20 seconds to clean the lens, and over a week on, have had no problems. This cleaning should be repeated on a weekly basis.

Geoff Thompson, May 2010

Message Reading "DVD Error" This has happened to me twice now. The first time the unit got sent to alpine who fixed it for £350! Today I have just followed some advise in this forum Re "force a download by pressing Zoom Down and Menu at the same time for a few seconds...the screens that appear, just keep selecting NEXT".Eventually the unit reboots and hey presto it works again! Thanks all!

N Reed, April 2010

Like many others here i ejected the DVD to check the version.

After puting it back in i got the dredded "Error Reading from Disk" (it was working fine on the way home as i had just purchased the CRV.

Tried the lens cleaner for 2 Days (No Joy)
Tried a wipe wrapped around a ruler (No Joy)

Eventually bit the bullet and removed the unit following the directions in this forum from Craig and Pol101.

Cleaned out a fair bit of grime using a cotton bud soaked in windowline.

Polished the lens with a couple of clean dry fresh cotton buds.

Have reassembled and reinserted in to the dash and powered it up but i dont have sat coverage here where i live, so it cant do the setup. So i dont know if its been fully sucesfull or not.

ONE THING TO ANYONE THINKING OF ATTEMTING THIS PROCESS.
------BE SURE TO HAVE YOUR RADIO CODE BEFORE YOU START-----

I diddnt and i spent 2 hours looking for it..! Bevntually finding it in the service history manual

paul, March 2010

Very many thanks to all, especially Tim!! I at last managed to remove the trim, extricate the "box", stripped it down and then spent an hour looking for the laser! Eventually I located it, did the lens cleaner on cotton bud trick, re-assembled eveything and now all is well.

Bren McCartney, March 2010

I had this problem and saw help on another forum which has worked a treat!
Screen wipe sellotaped well to a flat thin ruler - poke it in the dvd slot and swish it around for while. Then put the disc back in (if it won't go in press the eject button again as the ruler may have made it think it has a disc) once the disc is in, force a download by pressing Zoom Down and Menu at the same time for a few seconds...the screens that appear, just keep selecting NEXT. Then switch it all off...hopefully then when you switch it all back on, the lady is back!! I am so thankful for this information it's saved a lot of hassle and a lot of money! good luck!

NikkiJane, March 2010

Bren, lift it up from the bottom, and there are two catches at the top, they just unlatch/pull out... Did mine about an hour ago!

Tim - Reading, UK, February 2010

Greg's solution worked for me too!! Although I didn't remove the small screws... I just moved the laser up to the corner [you'll see a gear wheel/screw], by hand, and used a bay wipe on the end of a cotton bud, and just poked around!!!

Many thanks... Greg!

Tim - Reading, UK, February 2010

OK... but how does one actually remove the SatNav unit please? I removed the two screws underneath the air vents but cannot see how to get the trim off. I tried to lever it out - gently but still damaged it - and pulled in every direction but it won't move. Is there something I'm missing, please?

Bren McCartney, February 2010

Just want to thank those who suggested the "butter knife and baby wipe" option (or "bkbw" procedure) for the "error reading navigation dvd disc" problem on my CRV. Works fine now and managed to save expensive repair bill ! Thanks again

Pedro, January 2010

I had the same problem with "dvd disc is reading an error" on my 2005 CR-V. I tried many things (DVD cleaners, service guy, another version of DVD map) but nothing worked.
And one day, looking on the internet for this, I saw Graig's post. And I said... why not! With a lot of patience, I followed the instructions exactly (it took like 3h) and now it works perfectly. It was just dust on the lens inside the DVD Player.

So, thank you Craig!!! And for the others with the same problem... IT WORKS!
...Craig, you have another beer from me if you come to Romania!

Virgil, December 2009

honda crv sat nav dvd problem?
Honda CRV sat nav 2004 - it says dvd error - what can I do?

elzbieta, November 2009

Does CRV 2003, 03 reg, Auto Sports, have a DVD player(one you can use to play other DVDs) or its just there for SatNav DVD? Mine gives me errors when I insert any other DVD.

November, November 2009

hi there does anyone know the version of the program used?

Dino, November 2009

I tried a few things (read on as there is deep joy at the end!);

1 - the dvd head cleaner didn't work, in fact it made the problem worse as the unit came up with the 'DVD disc error' message constantly rather than (increasingly) intermittently!!!

2 - butter knife with a lens cloth and compressed air can shoved in the unit yielded no results for me - however I don't think I really knew where the head was located so it was touch and go. The head on my unit was at the back right as discovered in 3!

3 - armed with a print out of Craig's (December 2008) instructions a couple of screw drivers I spent a good hour going through the steps and IT WORKED! One thing to add is to make sure you eject the disc before you take the unit out, also don't expect to be able to follow the instructions exactly.

CRAIG - thank you, if you are ever in South West London I'd like to buy you a Beer or two!

BTW my crv is a 2004 model

Martin, October 2009

Can't thank you all enough. Been having 'DVD disc error' message for months, then it works, then not. Just tried wipe with plastic knife and seems perfect. A lot of dirt on wipe. Hope it's fixed.

Sad CRV sat nav, September 2009

i have had the sat nav displaying dvd error for over a year tried new discs ,after reading this blog i went out to it wrapped a wet wipe around a butter knife jiggled it about in the drive & forced a download & hey presto its working ,thanks guys it really does work

gav, September 2009

My 2002 CRv satnav gave up the ghost. I bought a cheap dvd cleaning disdc from Tesco and it worked fine after that for 6 months. It then stopped working again.

This afternoon I removed the unit, followed Craig's instructions in an earlier post (December 2008) , cleaned the laser with some glass cleaner on a miracle cloth, and it works fine again.

Stephen, July 2009

I did the baby wipe on a butter knife idea thinking hey what have I got to lose, and what do you know it works. the odd occasion it takes a while to kick in, usually find if you start engine and dont move for a while it picks up quicker than on the move. once it has started first thing in the day, no problems rest of the day. so hey get a knife babywipe and give it ago.

mark, July 2009

scotty how much 4 sat nav

denis, June 2009

My sat nav was experiencing all the problems listed. I then bought a re-usable 2-way DVD lens cleaner from Comet cost £15 followed the instructions and cleaned the lens. I re-inserted the sat nav disc and the unit rebooted up correctly first time and continues to work correctly and appears to be a lot faster.
hope this helps.
regards
Keith

Keith Browne, June 2009

Can someone please post a link to Derek's February article as I cannot find it !

My Honda CRV SatNav unit was showing the dreaded "DVD Disc Is Reading An Error" message so I dis-mantled the unit (as per instructions on this page) and cleaned the laser head with some lens cleaner and a cotton bud.

The DVD Error message has now disappeared and the radio works but the unit will not budge from the start-up safety screen. Usually after about a minute, OK is displayed on the bottom left of the screen and, after pressing the Enter button, the current location map is displayed. However, OK is not now displayed on my unit but there are no error messages stating NO DVD Disc in drive or DVD Disc error. The DVD disc loads and ejects without a problem but it seems as though maybe the drive is not turning.

Does anyone please have any ideas ?

Thank You

technojunkie, May 2009

laser gets dirty and can eventualy fail.
Anyone know where to buy new dvd player that is compatable?

simon, April 2009

I had the same problems on my 03 CRV. I followed Derek's article (in Feb) and dismantled the unit. Its easy so long as you're careful. The laser is located at 1 o'clock if you take the lcd screen as 6 o'clock. The key is that the laser cover is concave rather then convex. Therefore it collects dirt and resists cleaning disks. I cleaned all interior with cotton buds and glass cleaner. It was amazing how much dirt was in there. Re-assembled and worked perfectly. Good luck.

Richard, April 2009

Mine has worked intermittently for months, with the periods of not working getting longer & longer. Finally stopped working altogether 6 weeks ago. I have just wrapped a butter knife with a baby wipe and stuck it into the DVD slot and moved it around. I wiped the DVD as well,but when I went to put the DVD back in the machine would not accept it so I pressed eject again & it made lots of whirring noises. When it finished it accepted the disk & I am amazed to tell you all that it worked!!! I was about to buy a tom tom so figured it did not matter if I damaged this beyond repair. I will be amazed if it continues to work!

Trina, March 2009

we have only had our crv for just over a year when sat nav went on the blink with message disc error on screen. honda have quoted us £3500 for a new alpine sat nav (including fitting!!). I am pretty disgusted with this as I have driven Hondas for years and liked their reliability.

bosscat, February 2009

Had the same problem with my 52 Reg . It started about 6 weeks ago with error reading disc message. I read all the reports on this site (wasn't brave enough to try some of them). Used a dvd cleaning disc several times and did a force download every day sometimes up to 10 times a day. No luck with this but I kept trying. Finally I rang Honda and arranged to go and have them take it out and send it away for repair after my holiday at a cost of £250.
This weekend we went on a mini cruise to Holland and as I had to drive to King George Dock in Hull I borrowed a friends Tom Tom and put this on the dash just above my own sat nav. Drove to Hull and left my car on the top floor of the car park at the docks. It was there for 3 days. When I returned and started to set the Tom Tom for my return journey I noticed that my Honda sat nav was now working, set my home address and it has worked ever since. Can't understand how but it has. Could it have anything to do with the Tom Tom passing any kind of signal or any of the equipment around at the Dock. Don't know but if it happens again I am of for a drive to Hull. (Good excuse for another weekend away)

Sue (manchester), February 2009

Scotty. Do you still have the old one? I will buy it.

Derek., February 2009

Finally got round to looking at the same problem on our 2005 CRV. Removed the unit, two screws up under the air vents. Pull out trim and then four bolts retaining the unit. Pull out unit and remove several plugs.

Remove mounting plates on sides of unit and large black box hanging on these and plugged into back of unit. Removed the rear cover (about 10, screws didn't count) then lifted top off. Removed the screen, 4 screws. Seperated DVD from CD (another four screws I think). Then I may have started removing unecessary parts and you may see a better way for the next steps. Took the circuit board off the top of the DVD but this is held to the unit by ribbon cable that can't be detached. Then removed plate on back of DVD held with very small screws and springs. Did not detach springs just gently moved plate up. Then by shining a tourch in the back I could see the laser through gaps in the top of the unit (with previosly mentioned circuit board held to one side). Once the laser was found it was simple to put some cleaner on a cotton bud and reach it through the open back of the unit.

Reassemble. Then wonder why you have two screws left. Take apart again and then realise you miss counted and they were the ones that held the top on.

Any way it works perfectly now.

Craig, December 2008

"Hi,
I had the same problem with my 2002 model (error reading disc).
Reading on forums I've noticed it is a common problem.
Many people replace it or took it to repair and payed over £250.00
In my case I had to drive abroad with work for about 4weeks so I had no time to do anything about it.
I left the dvd inside the whole time.
One day towards the end of my trip the sat nav started to work again.
Just like that.
I guess it could be luck but it is worth to try.
Best of luck.

Laurentiu
July 2008"

LAURENTIU,
I NEED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU...
PLEASE EMAIL ME - ALBERTINO32001@YAHOO.CA

ALBERTINO, November 2008

My 4 year old CRV was also showing this error message. I tried cleaning disks which didn't work. I took it to my local dealer who removed the Sat Nav and sent back to Alpine for repair. I was quoted £250.00 to repair which is shocking for a car of this age. I phoned Honda customer services to complain and they offered to foot the bill. If you have this problem try phoning Honda customer services.

Fie, October 2008

i have just had my 2003 CRV sat nav back from the main dealers FIXED ! it too showed DVD disc read error
i tried the force re set but it did not work as the laser had given up the ghost, so I chose to get it fixed at Brindley Honda in Cannock
BE CAREFULL it cost me 200.00 + VAT total 235.00 and im NOT HAPPY ! the disc that came back with the unit was version 2.00 and i sent 2.03 and the door/flap on the front does not open unless you press the open button and pull on the volume knob to access the cd player IT'S GOING BACK AFTER 13 DAYS AWAY !!!!!!!!!!!

Matt Dj., September 2008

Mine went pear shaped as well. Tried all the usual, dvd cleaners as well. Nothing worked. Then when cleaning my glasses with Boots Lens Cleaner, I thought why not? Nothing to loose. So I cleaned the dvd with the lens cleaner, then sprayed the cleaner onto the glasses cloth, got a plastic spoon and put it on the handle. Slowly and carefully, I placed it in the crv dvd aperture, wiggled it about back and forth, left and right several times. Another spray and repeated. Then I put the dvd in and it loaded! I did a force download and it is now back to normal, better than it was in the first place. Not sure how long it will last though - and I still prefer my tomtom, but at least I have the proper display on my CRV now as it was, rather than that stupid bl**dy message dvd error which was really getting to me. Has to be worth a go if nothing else works. I think the motto for this cr*ppy satnav system has to be Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati.

Rumrat, September 2008

just fixed ours. dvd error kept coming up. Went through the process of forcing the dvd to download again, holding menu and zoom button for two seconds and going through the sequence as per instructions I found on another forum. Eventually, a combination of reloading again and again, opening and closing the front when error message appeared and ejecting and reloading the disc did the trick. Has been fine for a while now and is working perfectly, although, I think a garmin or tomtom far superior.

Persevere, preferable to paying £200 which is the price of a new dvd rom and it is not a software problem, I think it is something to do with the way the front of the system opens and closes because dvd error came up even when the door was wide open.

cris, August 2008

Oh-yes remove disc first.

Carl, August 2008

Got a marks Spencer plastic spoon put a wet one on it and put it in slot with a wiggle around for a few min whilst wife shopping problem gone

Carl, August 2008

I've just got mine taken out and replaced it with a normal head unit and bought a TomTom, which is a 100% better than the Honda version!
Anyone want to by an Alpine SatNav fits most Honda CR-V's!!!
hehe

Scotty, July 2008

Hi

We sent ours to a company called Maple Audio in Bath UK for repair, cost about £200. It worked a dream!

wills, July 2008

Hi,
I had the same problem with my 2002 model (error reading disc).
Reading on forums I've noticed it is a common problem.
Many people replace it or took it to repair and payed over £250.00
In my case I had to drive abroad with work for about 4weeks so I had no time to do anything about it.
I left the dvd inside the whole time.
One day towards the end of my trip the sat nav started to work again.
Just like that.
I guess it could be luck but it is worth to try.
Best of luck.

Laurentiu, July 2008

There is a problem with all Alpine nav, and back up is poor, we have also lost nav in same type honda crv, Honda say for a for a small sum of £350.00 they can send for repair.not bad when we only paid £1500 for it to be put in, Oh the power of dreams

Carl, July 2008

Honda's are great cars shame their put in alpine sat navs all the problems i've seen or heard of are known problems.

pog, June 2008

I bought one of those disc,s from e-bay and I get that (error reading disc) but after about half hour and restart it works ok, this happens every time ,,but if i put my original disc in it works ok first time as nothing wrong, so I think it is disc problem,. hope this helps. Bmac

Brian, April 2008

Hi Colin, I had the same trouble. In the end my CRV went to the local dealer and had the Sat Nav removed and DVD replaced which cost £175 although I have heard on other websites that you can actually get newer versions off Ebay for just £20.

Vanessa, April 2008

this is probably a dirty laser im not sure how difficult it is to remove unit from vehicle but once out as long as ur careful and very handy with a screwdriver u can clean the laser lense with a cotton bud and a propierty lens cleaner

Pitbull, April 2008

link Click here to see other fixes for Honda.