door lock remote doesn't work after stereo upgrade

After upgrading the stereo system in our 97 Civic HX, the remote door
lock control will not work. There was two parts to the original stereo
system. One was up by the heater controls and the CD player was down by
the cup holder. I have checked the fuses, under the dash, but they are
all okay. Any reason why this would happen? Any suggestions on what to
check? Everything worked before the install so I'm a little lost right now.

 

In certain model years of Honda Civics, Accords, and Preludes, the keyless
entry was tied into the Stereo head unit. The easiest solution was to keep
factory stereo in the dash and mount the new head unit in it's place. I
think there is a box you can buy to "act" like the old head unit, and still
use the harness for the speakers.

Check with your dealer to be sure.

now.

 

In the 1996 - 1998 Civic, the receiver for the keyless remote was
integrated into the factory stereo. If you replace your stereo with an
identical Honda unit, you will have to reprogram it to match your keys,
if you replace it with an after-market unit (or a Honda unit that does
not have the receiver in it) your keyless remote will not work. Your
dome light probably stopped coming on when you open the doors? It is
wired through the stereo as well.

There are several work around:

1. You can wire the new and the old stereo up at the same time and hide
the factory stereo behind the dash / center console (yes, it will fit!).
See http://tinyurl.com/4zbuc (leads to http://www.installdr.com) If you
do this, the factory stereo gets all connections except the speaker
wires, the new stereo gets all the wires except the keyless entry wires.
Do a search for "Civic Relocation harness" and you will find
ready made harnesses that will allow you to do this. I know Scosche
makes them. Remember to keep the front panel from the factory stereo;
You will need it if you ever need to reprogram the keyless entry
receiver.

2. You can install a new after market keyless entry system like
http://tinyurl.com/3eb77. (Part number 330-145 from
http://www.partsexpress.com). This is a complete keyless entry system
for $40. You will have to use the new key chain transmitters that come
with the unit, the original Honda key fobs will not work (try it anyway,
there is a small chance you can program the BW850 unit to receive the
Honda keyfob signal). This system
does everything the original factory system does, including priority
unlock (driver's door only on first press, all doors on second press,
feature can be programmed on or off) and dome light control (need an
additional relay, e.g. http://tinyurl.com/34457 at $1.19). It is easy to
install, as all the wires you need are available on the plug that went
into the factory stereo. If you go this route, post a real e-mail
address, and I can send you a wiring diagram. I have installed two of
these before.


=======================================================
A very modest collection of Honda tech info can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/ng_randolph

 

Randolph,

Thanks so much for the link! It's just what I needed. I will probably
keep the original radio for now. It really seems strange that the
remote is tied into the radio. I'll let you know if I decide to go with
the aftermarket keyless entry.
Thanks again for all your help!

Mike

 

Hi there, maybe you can help me figure out what’s going on in my
situation: I bought a used 97 civic LX with an aftermarket stereo.
Then bought a stereo from a 96 LX and the Y-harness to supply power to
the Honda stereo and the aftermarket one. Plugged in power harness
and the green "keyless/security" harness into the Honda stereo.
Dome light function is restored, but when i go to program the keyless
remote and press the "valet" button, nothing happens (the
instructions say that the locks should "cycle"). Is there any way
you know of to test the output of the Honda radio, or the wires to see
if the green harness got messed up somehow or if the radio just isn’t
working? Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the keyless entry
connector (green 16-pin) or the radio?

THanks,
m