EM2 Rookie

When i bought my car it came with an outdated jvc deck so i went ahead and bought a kenwood one that has what i want on it, but idk if i need the jvc keys or not but i searched and i couldnt find an ex that has an aftermarket deck, so please help.

HLC

pull the trim piece between the center console and the dash console. the one with the cig lighter in it. theres 2 screws under there that go up into the dash console piece (it's a metal crossmember). you need 8mm sockets if i remember correctly. then the console just pulls out from the clips and unplug the ac controls and other stuff. its really easy.

EM2 Rookie

so i could just shimmy in a flathead and pop it off from the top or side cause i know theres 3 clips one on the left, the right and on top

EM2 Rookie

aight i took the panel that has the fogs and cig lighter but the metal cross member has no bolts on it, and the deck wont budge one bit.

HLC

u have to look up underneath there. there should be a metal piece with the screws going upward.

unTuned

no, dont shimmy or wedge anything anywhere. you will just damage or ruin your dash, and it will **** you off every single day for the rest of the time you own your car everytime you look at it.

1) put your hand in that compartment that is just below the cig lighter power source, and get a grip and pull that whole piece off. it will come out easily. when it is out, just unclip the cig lighter harness and put it aside.

2) once you have that undone and have the opening, you need to lean your head right down to see in there, because those two screws inside there are screwed in upside down, and you have to undo them from underneath/inside. once you have them undone, you can lean your arm in and push your entire console out towards you with your hand.

3) once the dash is wiggling, pull it towards slightly and undo the clips from the back (climate control, radio harness, antenna, etc) and you will have your whole dash in one big piece in your hand.

you should easily be able to remove your deck.

unTuned

once you do this once, you will do it everytime after this in about 2 minutes or less. very easy.

EM2 Rookie

alright ima try right now

EM2 Rookie

ok theres two black bolts at the bottom that conect the black consle to the metal fram
below where the fog/cig lighter consle was
are those the two bolts your talking about??
there like about 8mm

EM2 Rookie

alright i poped off the consle that holds the ac and the deck can i disconnect the wiring harness that way i can pop the whole thing out

HLC

yea. just disconnect all the harness and you can pull the whole thing out and replace the deck.

EM2 Rookie

alright i took it all apart got the new deck in and the old deck out but now i just have to wire it back up, and plug everything back together
but... when i pulled the old one out there were a few wires NOT connected does any1 have a key/diagram of the wires with color codes to reconnect it the right way and not f*** it up?

HLC

well the new deck you got should tell you which wire is for which speaker or whatever. best buy i know sells harnesses that go into the factory harness and then you can wire the 2 ends together (harness and stereo harness).

Awjvail

You should get one of the aftermarket harnesses so you don't have to cut any of the wires.

EM2 Rookie

well i have the jvc wiring color codes im just gonna cross refrence with the kennwood that would work if im not mistaken

HLC

was the jvc unit wired directly into the car or was it wired into an aftermarket harness that plugs into the factory harness?

unTuned

first of all, do you have an aftermarket harness? you can get an aftermarket harness that plugs into your factory harness. you plug the aftermarket harness wires into your kenwood wires. it looks like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/02-03-04-05-HOND...item4a9f3bdb7b


there should be some wires that are not connected.

for harness to harness connections you should have:

8 wires that connect for the speakers (2 purple/2 green/2 grey/2 white)
1 wire that connects the power constant (yellow)
1 wire that connects the power ignition (red)
1 wire that connects to the power antenna (blue)

*the black wire coming from the aftermarket harness needs to be taped off, and the black wire from your deck needs to be connected directly to a chassis point of the vehicle to get a good ground.

*all wires with orange should just be taped off and ignored. you dont need any of them, they will just damage your cluster or dash lighting if you screw around with them.

*if you have an amp, the blue remote wire needs to be connected into the power ignition (red) connection.

EM2 Rookie

ok i have an aftermarket harness and re-wired everything today during auto tech, i sauterd the wires together and used heat shrink around them but the blue power antenna wire didnt have a wire to connect to so i used liquid electric tape to seal it and the kenwood deck has an remote wire that i used to connect my amp for the two 12" in the back and i sealed off the orange wires with liquid electric, it works fine today. But whats the blue power antenna wire, like wut does it do???

unTuned

i think the blue power antenna wire gives better reception but im not too sure. i dont have mine connected right now, but my reception isnt that great. i remember seeing a post a while back about how reception improved when the power antenna wire was connected.

im going to try it, but im not sure if you connect it to a power source or where to...

geeeeearbox... ? haha

pjb3

I believe the blue power antenna wire is if you have a power antenna, the type that raises up when you turn the radio on and retracts when you turn it off.

EM2 Rookie

yes exactly what my teacher told me today, it acts as a remote to turn a relay on that controlls the "Power Antenna" motor, kinda like the remote wire that you connect to an amplifier to turn it on. dosent affect the reception of the radio.
btw where is our antenna located??
02 ex

Awjvail

antenna is located in the rear windshield.
So be kind to your rear windshield... they are expensive.



lolno. The power antenna wire makes it so that the signal and range of the reception is boosted. Without the powered antenna, we would hardly get any signal at all. It has nothing to do with raising/lowering the antenna.

unTuned

hmm, like i was saying, the reception in my car is not all that great, but i couldnt figure out why. do i need to connect the power antenna wire? right now its just taped off and not connected. if i connect it, will the reception get better for sure?

also, what does it connect with?

EM2 Rookie

i would assume power to provide power to "BOOST" the reception, cause it would probaly have its own ground im assuming all of this so dont go by my word DONT!

Awjvail

As far as I know, the coupes require the power wire to be connected to get reception. Sedans don't. Not sure why, but that's how it works.

EM2 Rookie

so just connect it to the wire that has power from the battery?

unTuned

well they dont require it, because my power antenna wire isnt hooked up, its just taped off, and i still get full reception, just not 'perfect' reception.

i just want to know if it definitely will help, and if so, what does it connect to? something on the aftermarket harness? or spliced into the power ignition connection?

pjb3

It is my understanding that the coupes have a booster for the antenna located near the right rear window. You should still get a signal if the booster is not powered but obviously it should be better with the booster connected. Since Honda felt the need to install a booster, I think it would help. I have not done the HU on the Civic yet but I would recommend using the power antenna lead or another switched power supply. I did the HU in an Integra and used the power antenna lead for the power antenna. When the radio is turned on the antenna raises and when it is turned off the antenna lowers. Since you want the booster on whenever the radio is on this works nicely.

EM2 Rookie

so ignition or battry?? we are suppling power to it right, i mean it should have its own ground...

pjb3

I would say ignition. You want it switched so that it is not a constant drain on the battery. I realize that it draws few amps so the chances of a dead battery are slim, but if you connect it so it is switched by the ignition then the chance of it draining the battery is eliminated.