Care Of Your Cassette Tape Player - Chevrolet 1997 Malibu Owner's Manual

Care of Your Cassette Tape Player
A tape player that is not cleaned regularly can cause
reduced sound quality, ruined cassettes or a damaged
mechanism. Cassette tapes should be stored in their
cases away from contaminants, direct sunlight and
extreme heat. If they aren't, they may not operate
properly or may cause failure of the tape player.
Your tape player should be cleaned regularly after
every 50 hours of use. Your radio may display CLN
to indicate that you have used your tape player for
50 hours without resetting the tape clean timer. If this
message appears on the display, your cassette tape
player needs to be cleaned. It will still play tapes, but
you should clean it as soon as possible to prevent
damage to your tapes and player. If you notice a
reduction in sound quality, try a known good cassette
to see if it is the tape or the tape player at fault. If this
other cassette has no improvement in sound quality,
clean
the
tape player.
Cleaning may be done with a scrubbing action,
non-abrasive cleaning cassette with pads which scrub
the tape head as the hubs of the cleaner cassette turn.
A scrubbing action cleaning cassette is available through
your dealership. When using a cleaning cassette, it is
normal for the cassette to eject while cleaning because
your unit is equipped with a cut tape detection feature
and some cleaning cassettes may appear as a broken
tape. If the cleaning cassette is ejected immediately
from the tape player, you will need to override the cut
tape feature.
To temporarily override this feature (for one insertion),
follow these steps:
1. Turn the ignition on.
2. Turn the radio off.
3. Press and hold TAPE AUX until the tape symbol
flashes on the display. (For vehicles without
Automatic Tone Control, press both SEEK arrows.)
4. Insert the cleaning cassette. (Insert the cassette at
least three times to ensure thorough cleaning.)
5. Eject the cleaning cassette.
When the cleaning cassette has been ejected, the broken
tape detection feature is active again.
After you clean the player, press and hold EJECT for
five seconds to reset the CLN indicator. The radio will
display
---
to show the indicator was reset.
Cassettes are subject to wear and the sound quality
may degrade over time. Always make sure the cassette
tape is in good condition before you have your tape
player serviced.
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