New to using forums, so excuse any formalities.
I too recently picked up a CLD-D503 player, but have a different issue.

When I play a Laserdisc it will play a scene and then play it again in loop.
I can advance to other scenes or fast forward via the dial, but it looks like it doesn't want to advance on it's own.

If I play a CD it will play the first track for about 15-20 seconds before the music trails off and then a new track starts playing mid track before it also trails off and the player stops.
I've not messed around with centering the laser assembly, but any does anyone have any suggestions or know what's up?
I've tried other Laserdiscs, lubing up the rails for the laser assembly, cleaning the laser with some rubbing alcohol, but still no improvement.

I also have an issue with the right audio channel(it's all garbled), but I haven't tried another set of audio cables yet.
The left channel sounds fine.

Clean and replace the white lithium grease with new. You will not be able to do so thoroughly on some spots such as the cam gear without disassembly, which I would recommend avoiding. Additionally, there are ball bearings in the clamper assembly that can be regreased.


Does this happen on side B as well?


If you are playing the analog tracks of an AC-3 disc in stereo, this is normal.

The first thing that comes to mind is the drive gear on the pickup. The gear track the pickup uses is elevated - meaning there are two springs which push the track up from underneath to engage the slider drive gear. If those springs are missing, you can get this behavior. Try pushing down slightly on the track and see if it springs back up. This can also manifest itself as gears slipping when trying to change sides. Does Side B play correctly?

For the audio, bypass the cables on the back and plug in a pair of earphones. Verify the audio is good there. Switch between digital and analog audio with the remote to see if there is any audio change.