iPod touch iPod touch headphone jack suddenly stopped working!

Is it possible that it got wet? My iPt's headphone jack stopped working when it got wet. It started wotking again once I let it dry.

This happened to one of my iPod Videos. When you plug and unplug things in the headphones jack it causes the metal plates in it to flatten out, thats why you can only get sound by moving it around. Best take it in and have it looked at for a possible replacement.

My itouch is doing the same thing! I had a nice pair of Sony headphones that stopped working with my itouch so I switched to the standard ipod buds they have worked for a couple of days but now they seem to not work either. I'll try wiggling the jack around but I kinda doubt that'll work. The itouch has got quite a few annoying scratches on the screen and it randomly shuts off and wont come back on again until I do a hard reset, so maybe trading it in for a new one wouldn't be such a bad idea. It has to be the quirkiest iTouch ever!

you know what, I remember this same thing happening on my 4th gen ipod turned out the port just got dirty. I just cleaned it out with a Q tip and it worked fine ever since. Guess I'll give it a try.

my headphone jack went bad on one of my iPod touch units (i've had 6, the first 5 were defective). in my case, audio stopped coming out of one channel.

unfortunately, you'll likely have to get it replaced (with a refurb). (if it stops working again)

Sorry for the bump but this might help others who come by this thread later on: apple will replace your iPod with a loose jack. This happened to me and I got a brand new iPod in less than a week

headphone jack problem, but out of warranty!

What happens if my touch is out of warranty with this problem? I have to jiggle the headphone cord for it to come out both speakers (I've tried with several different cords, so its definitely the jack) and it does it again if the cord moves at all! The Apple store in Orlando told me that it'd probably cost about as much as a new one to fix it on the phone. It's like 2 months out of warranty! Can anybody tell me something good here? Pleas help.

stw1530 said:

What happens if my touch is out of warranty with this problem? I have to jiggle the headphone cord for it to come out both speakers (I've tried with several different cords, so its definitely the jack) and it does it again if the cord moves at all! The Apple store in Orlando told me that it'd probably cost about as much as a new one to fix it on the phone. It's like 2 months out of warranty! Can anybody tell me something good here? Pleas help.

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No luck if it's out of warranty. Some people HAVE had luck with getting things out of warranty being replaced/repaired by Apple for free by taking them into an Apple Store, but two months over seems like too much of a stretch.

I'd say you'd have to either pay for it to be repaired or for a new iPod.

Clean Headphone Port

There is a chance something sticky was on one of your headphone jacks and the port is dirty, and the connectors inside the port can't make a firm connection. IF IT IS OUT OF WARRANTY, get a Q tip, rip most of the cotton off the end then twist the remaining cotton fibers around the end (not a point) to the size where it will fit in the port. With the Touch turned OFF, get a bottle of 93-98% rubbing alchohol (less water, will evaporate more quickly and completely with less chance of corrosion), wet the stripped end and then slowly, gently twirl it into the jack going the same direction as the fibers are wrapped so that you dont sheer off fibers inside the jack. Twirl it into the port as far as it will go with a little pressure. Remove it and examine it for signs (color change) of dirt or junk. You may need to repeat this step several times. Wait about 10 minutes for the alchohol to dry completely (you can blow at (not in) the port or use a hair dryer with the heat turned off). Check the headphone jacks for dirt or sticky substance while you wait for the alchohol to dry. Once there is no longer the strong aroma of alcohol at the port, you can try turning the Touch back on, and plugging in one of your clean jacks.

alg123 said:

There is a chance something sticky was on one of your headphone jacks and the port is dirty, and the connectors inside the port can't make a firm connection. IF IT IS OUT OF WARRANTY, get a Q tip, rip most of the cotton off the end then twist the remaining cotton fibers around the end (not a point) to the size where it will fit in the port. With the Touch turned OFF, get a bottle of 93-98% rubbing alchohol (less water, will evaporate more quickly and completely with less chance of corrosion), wet the stripped end and then slowly, gently twirl it into the jack going the same direction as the fibers are wrapped so that you dont sheer off fibers inside the jack. Twirl it into the port as far as it will go with a little pressure. Remove it and examine it for signs (color change) of dirt or junk. You may need to repeat this step several times. Wait about 10 minutes for the alchohol to dry completely (you can blow at (not in) the port or use a hair dryer with the heat turned off). Check the headphone jacks for dirt or sticky substance while you wait for the alchohol to dry. Once there is no longer the strong aroma of alcohol at the port, you can try turning the Touch back on, and plugging in one of your clean jacks.

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YOU ARE THE MOFO MAN! I REGISTERED JUST TO SAY THANK YOU!

There is a chance something sticky was on one of your headphone jacks and the port is dirty, and the connectors inside the port can't make a firm connection. IF IT IS OUT OF WARRANTY, get a Q tip, rip most of the cotton off the end then twist the remaining cotton fibers around the end (not a point) to the size where it will fit in the port. With the Touch turned OFF, get a bottle of 93-98% rubbing alchohol (less water, will evaporate more quickly and completely with less chance of corrosion), wet the stripped end and then slowly, gently twirl it into the jack going the same direction as the fibers are wrapped so that you dont sheer off fibers inside the jack. Twirl it into the port as far as it will go with a little pressure. Remove it and examine it for signs (color change) of dirt or junk. You may need to repeat this step several times. Wait about 10 minutes for the alchohol to dry completely (you can blow at (not in) the port or use a hair dryer with the heat turned off). Check the headphone jacks for dirt or sticky substance while you wait for the alchohol to dry. Once there is no longer the strong aroma of alcohol at the port, you can try turning the Touch back on, and plugging in one of your clean jacks.

Click to expand...

I'm same as poster above. I came across this info after doing a search and it completely solved my problem. My iPod was bordering on useless. I thought it was because I was mistreating my headphones and a wire had come lose.

I dipped q-tips in rubbing alcohol and cleaned the port about 4 times, turned the thing on and the sound flows like its brand spanking new. The only problem is that I think I may have used too much alcohol as there's some cloudyness in the screen, but that's fine as I only ever look at the thing to change songs, so I'm happy. Just a word of advice to anyone trying this that cares about the display, go easy on the alcohol and make sure you're not harming the display. Other than that, thanks a million!

Headphone Jack workaround

I too have had headphone jack problems with two 32G iPod Touches. The Q-Tip and alcohol solution did not work for me. The genius at the Apple Store offered to give me a $100 discount on a refurbished Touch - but I passed. Instead I bought an in-line iPod controller that jacks into the docking port. The controller has a headphone jack output which works just fine - and now I can control the Touch via the controller (pause, play, skip, etc.). I bought the Geffin "Navagator" controller - but there may be others available as well.
Good luck! :

mjv said:

I bought the Geffin "Navagator" controller - but there may be others available as well.
Good luck! :

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Put me on the list as another who's been having a problem with the audio jack.

I believe you were referring to "griffin" and the link is here:

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/navigate

Thanks to all who responded with helpful suggestions. This problem has been a bummer.

IT'S a software glitch

Turn it off an on again will work fine if still doesn't reset it happens to me from time to time I just turn it off and on again!

Thanks everyone, gonna give the q-tip a shot!

ACK! forgot to power it down...thought i was ruined this morning when my ipod wouldn't turn on. got it to work finally using this trick: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=9805726#post9805726

thanks again, for anyone else DONT FORGET TO POWER DOWN!!!

It actually Worked!!!!!

alg123 said:

There is a chance something sticky was on one of your headphone jacks and the port is dirty, and the connectors inside the port can't make a firm connection. IF IT IS OUT OF WARRANTY, get a Q tip, rip most of the cotton off the end then twist the remaining cotton fibers around the end (not a point) to the size where it will fit in the port. With the Touch turned OFF, get a bottle of 93-98% rubbing alchohol (less water, will evaporate more quickly and completely with less chance of corrosion), wet the stripped end and then slowly, gently twirl it into the jack going the same direction as the fibers are wrapped so that you dont sheer off fibers inside the jack. Twirl it into the port as far as it will go with a little pressure. Remove it and examine it for signs (color change) of dirt or junk. You may need to repeat this step several times. Wait about 10 minutes for the alchohol to dry completely (you can blow at (not in) the port or use a hair dryer with the heat turned off). Check the headphone jacks for dirt or sticky substance while you wait for the alchohol to dry. Once there is no longer the strong aroma of alcohol at the port, you can try turning the Touch back on, and plugging in one of your clean jacks.

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it works now and im so happy that i can listen to my music now!
i didnt even have alchohol just qtips and it worked!

nevermind same problem again, sigh

Same issue

I have had the same exact issue with the first person, I bought the most recent iPod touch (the 32gb) back in November. This issue seems to happen in all 32gb, hah. What caused this issue? For mr it all started when my iPod was plugged into a head unit in my car so I was allowed to listen to my music while driving, then all of a sudden the music would fade in and out every now and then. Whenever I would touch the end of the cable that was hooked into my itouch, it would happen, also the sound would once an while fade to one side of my car, then though it was an issue with my car. It did the same thing when I plugged my headphones into it. Can this be fixed!?

Yours is still under warranty, just take it in.

Firmware corrupted?

I had the same problem, my ipod stopped playing music via the headphone port. I tried cleaning my headphone port as is described in this thread, but no luck. I recalled that I had recently upgraded the firmware to version 1.3, so I reset the factory settings on the IPOD and transferred all my music back to it and lo and behold, the headphones work fine now. I'm still running version 1.3 of the firmware so I don't think its a problem with the software itself.

I'll keep the Q-Tip trick in mind (copied it to word). Thanks.

Firmware and headphone jack problems

jstrathern said:

I had the same problem, my ipod stopped playing music via the headphone port. I tried cleaning my headphone port as is described in this thread, but no luck. I recalled that I had recently upgraded the firmware to version 1.3, so I reset the factory settings on the IPOD and transferred all my music back to it and lo and behold, the headphones work fine now. I'm still running version 1.3 of the firmware so I don't think its a problem with the software itself.

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Spoke too soon - my ipod worked fine for a few hours, then crackled and the headphone jack stopped working. I'll try and get an older version of the firmware.