Honda stereo compatibility??

[greekguy7]

I have an 87 Accord LXi Hatchback with the original Honda AM/FM cassette.

I am looking to buy a similar one off ebay and was wondering what other year Honda stereos will fit without any plug or dash modifications.

Any ideas?? Thanks!

[88 Accord DX]

pretty much any cd player you get will fit without mods. why you wanna get another honda one?

[87DXHatch]

I'm pretty sure Honda used essentially the same wiring harnesses in almost all of their cars, except maybe the newer fancy ones.

My brother put a '97 Prelude's CD player in his 85 and 88 Prelude, so I'd bet that just about any pre-2000 (guessing) Honda radio would work.

[greekguy7]

The reason I wanna get another one is cause the original one is dying... a couple of the output channels dont work and it cuts out completely every so often. Used ones seem cheap on ebay and its so much easier to buy another honda one than to mess with wiring harness connectors to get an aftermarket to work.

[shepherd79]

you can buy wire adapter that will plug into stock factory harness and connect wires to aftermarket stereo and you don't have any problems.
i know you can find this adapter at walmart. plus walmart sells nice cheap cd players.
it will take you about 2hours to get a new aftermarket stereo in, and it is including that you have no electrical knowledge or never installed your own stereo.

[DBMaster]

Oh, geeze! I am sorry I didn't see your post before I listed this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3288&item=3007723688&rd=1

I have a 99 Oasis (Odyssey with Isuzu badge) and the factory stereo in it has iddentical dimensions and wiring harness as my 89 Accord.

Watch my auction item. I doubt very seriously it will go for over $10. It works like the day it was new.

If you are handy, you can remove your stereo from the dash, remove the front face of it and spary the heck out of the electrical contacts (especially the on/off volume control) with some tuner cleaner from Radio Shack. That shoud fix it right up. I was told by the shop that worked on the stereos for my local Honda dealer that they fix them that way 90% of the time. That's an $8 fix!

[Robs89EX-I]

I just bought a single CD player from a 1997 Honda Accord SE and everything was the same, right down to the colour codes of the wiring harness for both cars. Just get the code from the Honda Dealer and you shouldn't have any problems.

This is the CD player I bought from a wrecker

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2403435897&category=6774

[AccordEpicenter]

yeah but newer 98+ accords radios wont fit and wont plug in either.

[87DXHatch]

That accord CD player is the exact same one my brother has... from a '97 Prelude type SH... cool B-)

[DBMaster]

yeah but newer 98+ accords radios wont fit and wont plug in either.

That is quite possible. The 99 Oasis to which I referred is actually the same vehicle as the 98 Odyssey - old style. I used the identical wiring harness adapter as I used in the 89 Accord and both factory stereos had the same dimensions and mounting bolt locations.

[86hatchbackLXi]

why do u want do get another honda deck? car manufacturers are good for making cars, not stereos. buy an aftermarkey DIN cd player and buy a wiring harness to work with your accord, trust me you will be much happier. and also i reccomend changing the speakers since the ones in my 86' hatch had basically disintegrated over the years

[epic1400cs]

I need to buy a CD deck for my kids to play kids song in my car. :rolleyes: I totally understand you experts opinion to buy after market stereo. But here in UK that will be car theft magnet so I want to buy newer Honda/Acura CD HU. Mister AccordEpicenter wrote post 98 Accord OE deck wont fit to our car but is that true to HU from other cars like Civic or Integra? I thought most modern car share DIN (German Industrial Standard) for the size of the car stereo except the facia design.

I understand the wiring is different but if I buy DIN conversion cable and one OE harness from yard, I might be able to make one conversion cable. Any suggestion, advice will be welcomed as I need to play 'London Bridge is Falling Down' pretty soon. :D

[AccordEpicenter]

yeah if you get the plug and pinout you can use a newer radio if you can get it to fit, some of the newer accord radios are like dual din size... I think that the plugs are the same for civics/tegs to 00 or around that time, but im really not sure

[epic1400cs]

yeah if you get the plug and pinout you can use a newer radio if you can get it to fit, some of the newer accord radios are like dual din size... I think that the plugs are the same for civics/tegs to 00 or around that time, but im really not sure
Thanks! So if that is single DIN, it will fit....! I should try my self.

[TheWatcher]

epic1400cs,

If you get an aftermarket HU w/ a detachable face (they all have detachable face nowadays), it won't be a magnet for thieves. Just remember to take the detachable face into the house when you park, or in the trunk if you're gonna be gone for a while. My Kenwood Excelon has a code that need to be input after the power is cut, or it's dead. There are 9999 possible codes. If you register with Kenwood, and call your Kenwood repair center if it's stolen, the thieves are f***ed! Experienced car thieve know not to steal Kenwood HU's. But if the face is gone, the thieves don't know the make/model of the HU. So they are less likely to steal it, since it could be a Kenwood. I am sure Kenwood is not the only HU with a reset code (but I could be wrong).

If the thieves are dumb enough to show up at your local Kenwood repair center to get the HU reset, your call to the Kenwood repair center reporting it stolen, and the serial number not matching the thieve's name will show the HU as stolen. Then while the thieves wait for the HU to be reset, the cops show up and you get your HU back (maybe even your ride).

So seriously consider the aftermarket option, for the price you will pay to get a oem honda HU, you can buy a better aftermarket HU. Just get the kit for 1986-89 Honda Accord that plugs into your harness, install the HU in the DIN slot, screw in the back of the HU to a bracket (so it doesn't move, good idea, but optional), and you're done.

Peace.

[epic1400cs]

Thank you very much for the great useful information gents, yeah, after that I did some home work on both OE and aftermarket HU and I know what you mean now. Some of the aftermarket HU are not that expensive or may be the OE HU are too expensive I guess.

I am comparing OE HU from Honda S2000 (Pioneer CD/Radio HU) and Sony CDX-S2000. (I am not big fan of S2000, just coincident). Sony CDX-S2000 seems to be fairly popular in US, too. They are end of production hence very cheap now - say $96 brand new, $60 near new used. Whereas OE HU are like $100 near new used, dont come in box. The SONY cant play MP3 but does CD-R/RW plus 50W x4 seems to be good for my kids to play "The Best 100 of Babay Songs" CD. The OE HU, I cant find the detail so I dont know if it can play CD-R/RW.

The face off thing sounds great. I hope the system is well organized in UK like in US. Probably I will go for SONY with warranty. But I just wonder why do they make so much over designed HU? Its like gandma wearing fancy G string.... I prefer old good wool pants like discreet one.

Kenwood seems to be like religion in US. I have found the bottom of the range KDS3031G which is CD-R/RW capable and 180W out put. A bit more than SONY like $140 new but with that money I can buy SONY with MP-3. Mmmm, decisions, decisions. What do you think?

[TheWatcher]

epic1400cs,

I'm glad you are going aftermarket.

On your question about mp3, go with mp3 if possible. The reason is that if thieves break into your car, they only get the CDRs, which are cheap, rather than all your CDs (which are expensive).

Regarding Sony, go to any car audio forum and you will find Sony is universally condemned for making lousy HUs. But even Sony is MUCH better than the oem Honda HUs. So you are still making a better decision with an aftermarket unit. I would go with another brand, in your price range ($100-140???) Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine as the first tier. Clarion, JVC, Blaupunkt as the second tier.

Be aware that $150 US is the bottom tier HUs. Every $50 after $150 gets you a significant upgrade. I hope you enjoy your new HU.

Peace.

[Busted_Blue]

Well... back to the subject..

86+ up will PLUG in. But as far as fitting into in I believe only up to 98 will fit as the double din radios don't work too well. If you want to be lazy and keep your honda harness in there so you can plug into OEM HU again, here is the adatper to splice into harness on the aftermarket HU so it just plugs and play into the car's harness.

http://www.goodguys.com/adtemplate.asp?invky=254873&catky=207135

I'm sure you can find somewhere cheaper. =P

[carotman]

Ok fellas

I want this thread to stay clean. I had to do a little bit of cleanup and I don't want to do it again. If you like a brand name mor than another FINE... but don't argue on it.

FYI, Honda changed the plug design in 1998 but the wiring is pretty straightforward. If you get a 1998+ radio, just get a plug from the junkyard

[TheWatcher]

Thanks Carotman,

It was out of hand.

I want love 3geez and one bad thread won't change that.

Peace. :)

[Blaaz]

Greekguy7 - make any decisions about your HU? You are probably like me, where the stock HU is adequate. Also, you don't want your HU to attract attention and possible theft.

[Robs89LXi]

Sorry, but this one seemed about dead by now.

1. So any pre '98 Honda single DIN head unit (HU) will plug straight into my '89 LXi harness, right?
2. Does anyone know what pre '98 model/trim used steering wheel controls, and would it also be the same as an '89 SE-i control?

See what I'm trying to do here? I'd like to install a newer, Honda CD head unit in my LX-i that I've converted to SE-i steering wheel with stereo controls. Is it possible, and does anyone know FOR SURE? No guessing please.