Cassette adapter problems

So I finally broke down and bought a cassette adapter so I can play my ipod in the '96 miata.

For some reason the Miata does not like the adapter, it ejects it about 5-6 seconds after the adapter is inserted. The tape deck in the car is stock, and it plays tapes fine. I have also found that the adapter works fine in other cars... so what gives?

Has anybody else experienced this? is there an easy fix?

What's a cassette?

No, seriously, I had that problem in a car years ago. I couldn't work around it.

ive had about a 50% success rate with the cassette adapters, and about the same with the fm transmitters. one day they'll work fine, the next, the deck is spitting out the adapter or the fm tuner wont transmit strong enough for the radio to pick up.. all are a pita. if your hellbent on keeping the old radio, the only way to go is to find and inline antenna modulator that plugs in between the radio and radio antenna line.

For $99.99 at Breast Bribe you could have had a Kenwood CD/WMA/MP3 with 1/8" input.

Kick around CL or e-bay, might find something even cheaper. Pawnshops too.

Try to make sure that you actually have music coming out of the Ipod too, before you insert the cassette. In my friends Passat, if there isn't music playing, the cassette ejects.

This cost me $9.00 at fry's If I cant get it to work I am not too worried about it though it would be nice to have the ipod work...

I have tried it with music coming out of the ipod before I inserted the tape, with no luck. I did a little google search and I did see one suggestion that involved breaking off the sprocket teeth on the adapter...

Stupid answer = "You did try to flip the tape right?"

You could also split the cassette adapter and pull out the wheels that the deck turns. That might do the trick...

Just a thought....
On my 1990's aftermarket Eclipse head unit in my Miata there is a feature called AMS (Automatic Music Search) which fast forwards the tape to the next song. Could a feature like this be in effect if it thinks it is not hearing music? I have not tried the Eclipse with an adapter but for audio tapes this feature can be turned off.

What about an auto reverse feature? Can this be turned off?

Some tape decks don't like the wire that goes to the cassette and can't position the cassette properly so they'll spit it out again. Another favourite is that the fake cassette offers too much or too little resistance...

I'd stick a H/U with iPod control or at least an AUX-in into the car if listening to the iPod is important to you.

I like cassette adapters. Better sound and less annoying than an FM modulator and they work in multiple cars. Heck, I'm using one in the M5. It's a whole lot easier than replacing the head unit in every single car I own, especially given that at least two of them have non-DIN designs.

I think it's got to do with the resistance of the wheels, as Tim mentioned. I have a Philips adapter that can be disassembled to loosen or tighten it up. If it's too tight, the auto-reverse deck keeps flipping over and over and over and over.

I have used them for years with no issues. Seems odd that the stock radio in the miata is smart enough to know that is not a real cassette.

Do you have any old eaten cassettes you can rip the tape out of and try as a bare shell?

The adaptor has some kind of cam in it that only allows the tape to turn in one direction. I wonder what would happen if I took it out...

1996 called, they want their cassette adapter back.

your comment makes me think of this:

ok,, that is scary

I had one that didn't want to work. I traced the issue to the position of the wire that comes out of the cassette. Most of those adapters allow you to take apart the two halves and reposition the wire. Try it.

I took it back to the store and exchanged it for a different model. The new one works like a charm. I cant see a functional difference between the two... oh well I have tunes now...

problem solved.. wish they were all that easy

I bought a VR3 head unit at Walmart for $80 and it has aux in, usd, cd and sd card reader. It works fairly well.

I has a cassette adapter that I used in my Subaru for my iPod. It worked well, until the copper wire broke down inside the insulation (which seems to happen to all of my headphones, too). I had to wiggle or hold the wire a certain way to hear my music. Eventually it stopped working altogether. It never worked in my FC; it would keep auto-reversing. The reception on the stock stereo sucked ass, too, so I bought a mount kit from Mazdax605 and a Sony AM/FM/CD/AUX/USB head unit at Circuit City before it closed. Front USB port FTW.