I just created this account to share the solution I found to this common issue.
I just recently bought a 2002 Lincoln LS with the Alpine audio. One of the issues I ran into was that the got the infamous "CD Error" and could not load or eject CDs. It said that the slots were full. I searched all around and saw several suggestions about pulling a fuse, going into diags by pressing 3 and 6, banging on it and mostly just replacing it with an aftermarket head unit. But I'm stubborn and handy both mechanically and electronically so I decided to see if I could salvage the unit or at least confirm it couldn't be fixed.
When I removed the unit I could hear something rattling around inside and looking through one of the openings I saw a little white plastic worm gear laying inside. I pulled that out with a pair of needle now pliers and proceeded to open up the unit. I won't go into how to remove the unit but it has to be separated from the AC/heater controls. The CD and radio are separate units with the Cd on top. The faceplate needs to be removed - 4 torx screws T-10 I think, one small cable unplugged (also there are 2 connectors that unplug when you separate the faceplate). There are 2 torx screws (T-15) on each side of the CD case. Remove those and then you can pull the CD out the top of the bracket. Then there are a bunch of small phillips screws to remove the top cover of the CD case, all have an arrow pointing to them. There was a ribbon cable connecting the CD to the radio and you have to pull the clamp around it up to be able to remove it from either end. I suggest removing the end on the CD.
I looked all over to see where that plastic piece went. I assumed it had snapped off from something but didn't see anything. Looking at the piece closer it looked like it fit over a rod or maybe the end of a motor shaft. I located all the motors inside, 1 at the front corner for the load/eject rollers, the CD spin motor, and 1 on the same bracket as the CD motor most likely to raise/lower that. Those all looked good.
There were also 2 motors on the left hand side. I couldn't see much of those but looking from the bottom there was a cutout in the bottom case and through that there was a round hole directly below the front motor (towards front of the car) that looked like there was a motor shaft behind it. I could see a gear there close to the shaft. I looked under the bottom case through that same cutout towards the rear motor and there was another round hole there with what looked like the same type of white plastic worm gear sticking out.
I took the worm gear that I had found loose in the case and used a pair if needle nose pliers to insert it over the shaft of the easily accessible front motor. It fit perfectly and meshed with the gear near it. After I pushed it on it was slightly below the surface of the round hole but the one on the other motor was sticking above it a bit. I thought maybe I pushed it on too far but it looked right and I also used a small screw driver to push that one back on the motor shaft further.
I then put the cover back on and reassembled it to the radio (insert the ribbon cable and then push down the clamp) and faceplate (plug in small connector and carefully align the two plugs). I then took it to the car and plugged everything it to test. On power up it went through it's startup cycles and afterwards it showed all CD slots as empty (it previously showed them as all full). I hit the load button, select slot 1 and after it brought the slot 1 up the loading slot opened and I was able to load a CD. And it STARTED playing!!!! I was able to eject and also was able to load, play and eject on other slots!
So it appears that the issue is simply that those worm gears on the end of those 2 motors eventually slip off. If I had thought about it I would have tried to put a drop of thread locker (Loctite) on the shaft before I put it back on. The one that fell off for me I had a straight shot to reinsert it but if the other one that is more inaccessible comes off you can probably use some tweezers to get it started on the shaft and then use a small screwdriver to push it on the rest of the way. I think this affects not only the Lincoln LS but other Lincolns and Fords. I hope this helps someone else who is as stubborn as I am.
I just recently bought a 2002 Lincoln LS with the Alpine audio. One of the issues I ran into was that the got the infamous "CD Error" and could not load or eject CDs. It said that the slots were full. I searched all around and saw several suggestions about pulling a fuse, going into diags by pressing 3 and 6, banging on it and mostly just replacing it with an aftermarket head unit. But I'm stubborn and handy both mechanically and electronically so I decided to see if I could salvage the unit or at least confirm it couldn't be fixed.
When I removed the unit I could hear something rattling around inside and looking through one of the openings I saw a little white plastic worm gear laying inside. I pulled that out with a pair of needle now pliers and proceeded to open up the unit. I won't go into how to remove the unit but it has to be separated from the AC/heater controls. The CD and radio are separate units with the Cd on top. The faceplate needs to be removed - 4 torx screws T-10 I think, one small cable unplugged (also there are 2 connectors that unplug when you separate the faceplate). There are 2 torx screws (T-15) on each side of the CD case. Remove those and then you can pull the CD out the top of the bracket. Then there are a bunch of small phillips screws to remove the top cover of the CD case, all have an arrow pointing to them. There was a ribbon cable connecting the CD to the radio and you have to pull the clamp around it up to be able to remove it from either end. I suggest removing the end on the CD.
I looked all over to see where that plastic piece went. I assumed it had snapped off from something but didn't see anything. Looking at the piece closer it looked like it fit over a rod or maybe the end of a motor shaft. I located all the motors inside, 1 at the front corner for the load/eject rollers, the CD spin motor, and 1 on the same bracket as the CD motor most likely to raise/lower that. Those all looked good.
There were also 2 motors on the left hand side. I couldn't see much of those but looking from the bottom there was a cutout in the bottom case and through that there was a round hole directly below the front motor (towards front of the car) that looked like there was a motor shaft behind it. I could see a gear there close to the shaft. I looked under the bottom case through that same cutout towards the rear motor and there was another round hole there with what looked like the same type of white plastic worm gear sticking out.
I took the worm gear that I had found loose in the case and used a pair if needle nose pliers to insert it over the shaft of the easily accessible front motor. It fit perfectly and meshed with the gear near it. After I pushed it on it was slightly below the surface of the round hole but the one on the other motor was sticking above it a bit. I thought maybe I pushed it on too far but it looked right and I also used a small screw driver to push that one back on the motor shaft further.
I then put the cover back on and reassembled it to the radio (insert the ribbon cable and then push down the clamp) and faceplate (plug in small connector and carefully align the two plugs). I then took it to the car and plugged everything it to test. On power up it went through it's startup cycles and afterwards it showed all CD slots as empty (it previously showed them as all full). I hit the load button, select slot 1 and after it brought the slot 1 up the loading slot opened and I was able to load a CD. And it STARTED playing!!!! I was able to eject and also was able to load, play and eject on other slots!
So it appears that the issue is simply that those worm gears on the end of those 2 motors eventually slip off. If I had thought about it I would have tried to put a drop of thread locker (Loctite) on the shaft before I put it back on. The one that fell off for me I had a straight shot to reinsert it but if the other one that is more inaccessible comes off you can probably use some tweezers to get it started on the shaft and then use a small screwdriver to push it on the rest of the way. I think this affects not only the Lincoln LS but other Lincolns and Fords. I hope this helps someone else who is as stubborn as I am.