Aftermarket stereo & Keyless entry fiasco - help needed!

Ramshackle · 4 Weeks Ago

A couple of days ago I bought a 97 Civic EX to use on my commutes. The only thing I wanted to do to it was replace the existing aftermarket head unit with a more modern one that would allow me to hook up my iPod. I figured no big deal - got the great PDF from the Install Doctor on how to remove the stereo, and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Until....

I should back up and say that once I got the existing headunit out of the dash and disconnected it, I tested the keyless entry and it was working. Reading the PDF, I was aware that the original radio still must be hooked up, and I wanted to make sure I didn't mess up the keyless entry along the way. Sure enough, in the spot behind the cup holders, I could see the back of what looked like the original factory unit, with the green and white connectors plugged in. I could trace their wiring to a spliced junction between it and the aftermarket wiring. I should also note that the wiring looked professionally done and was very very clean.

So my next step was to wire in the new head unit. Nothing out of the ordinary here - all the colors matched up and I followed the Install Doctor's instructions on the order in which to connect each wire. Then, I plugged the wire bundle into the back of the new head unit and turned the key to power it on.

Nothing. No power to the stereo at all. Everything else seemed to be working fine, and I started the car normally, but still had no indication that the stereo was getting any juice.

At this point, I assumed I just had a bad connection someplace, maybe one of the two power wires. But just to make sure that things weren't messed up too badly, I disconnected the wires from the back of the head unit and then tried the keyless entry again.

Uh-oh. Not working!

So now I'm confused: I seem to be in the same state I was in when I had simply disconnected the previous aftermarket head unit, but now the keyless entry has stopped working.

The first thing that occurred to me was that I blew a fuse. I checked the fuse for the radio, but it was fine.

Knowing that the factory unit is responsible for the keyless entry, I turned my sights to that. I couldn't find anything obviously wrong - wiring looked solid, but after many minutes of futile poking around, I decided to take it out and examine it anyway.

Now I'm really confused. It definitely seems to be something like a factory deck, but it has no face! Where the face should be, it was just duct-taped over! (see pics) I verified that it is a factory unit of sorts because it has a part number on the top sticker of "39110-S01-A010-M1".

So now I have neither the keyless entry nor the new aftermarket deck working (I haven't tried re-wiring in the previous aftermarket unit).

I don't know if I have to re-enter a code to make the keyless entry work again, and if so, I'm screwed because there's no face to enter it on. But regardless, even if the keyless isn't working, that shouldn't keep the aftermarket head unit from working. So I'm thinking something different must be wrong that's keeping both of them from working.

I have tested the battery and ignition wires that run to the head unit with a multimeter and they do have voltage running to them.

Also, as near as I can tell, all the wiring looks solid.

So I guess the question now is what else can I try? It seems that I have two distinct problems: keyless entry and stereo. Not sure which one to tackle first.

Any help you can give would be much appreciated!

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gearbox · 4 Weeks Ago

are you sure you wired the new deck properly? wire colors are not always supposed to match up. you have to go by what the wire colors on the harness are and also the stereo wiring in the instructions. i dont think the factory stereos had any "code" back then, that started in 2001 i believe. they might have removed the face for more room in the dash. check all the fuse, it may be a different one you havent thought about like "backup" or "small lite" fuse.

TXSoldier90 · 3 Weeks Ago

idk if this pertains to the same year, but i bought a 09 si not too long ago and had the same problem. turns out, i blew a fuse under the hood. keyless entry, sunroof, and trunk did not work. check ur fuses under the hood. its prob the wiring in the back of the changer if u cut anything that have might have shorted something out.

Seabee · 2 Weeks Ago

I just went threw this with my 2005 si civic. the factory alarm and keyless entry is installed in the factory radio.....So you have to extend the oem wires and mount the stock hu under a seat or under the dash, then install the aftermarket radio using the metra harness from Best Buy.
hope this helps.

It's crazy to have two head units in one car!
And I was not going to spend $350.00 on a viper just to replace what my stock alarm did/does.

Bean