Please help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJBDjokiYZw&NR=1

1) Takes my eyes off the road
2) It’s a reach
3) I haven’t seen a headunit that gives you full “just like the device” level of control. You can change tracks, turn shuffle on/off, etc, but you don’t get the full functionality in most 3rd party units.

The harman/kardon drive+play setup is really the ideal solution to me in terms of car integrations for a few reasons:

1) Provides hidden install options with *full* device control
2) Has a display that shows useful info and can be remotely mounted in a driver-preferred location for viewing (ie, the dashboard right next to the A pillar)
3) The controller provides full access to the device and mimics the iPod interface, and can be mounted in a driver-friendly location (center console by where the hand naturally falls off the armrest)

It does have a couple of downfalls that have led to me no longer using it:
1) Not compatible with 3G iPhone. Showstopper bug.
2) Twitchy voltage requirements – it wants a 12V feed, but on a cold day, the power system’s voltage drops just enough under load (blower running on HI + defroster on) that it flickers on and off

Short answer? I’m not biting.

Good job! Nice and clear instructions. Reading it through I was wondering if you would be interested in to see our iPod car tray concept called MediaBridge and share with us your opinion. You can find our blog about the MediaBridge concept at http://plds-mediabridge.blogspot.com/. We have prepared an in-vehicle demo of our concept and would love to hear back from guys like you who are looking for alternative solutions to connect and iPod to the car radio.

I got a 2003 Honda Civic LX Automatic recently from a private seller. I was initially disappointed that no AUX input exists but the deal was awesome so could not resist it.

I googled and found this article but found that the article photos did not match mine but gave an attempt at opening the lower console but it did not work. Spent more than 20 minutes and was afraid I might break it. One of the articles above that hinted and pointed me to http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/AI/AII24165.pdf. It provided how to install the lighter but as mentioned above by someone I did Step 7 only to remove the panel. This time it took about 10 minutes and was pretty confident.

Then I took the battery negative terminal off and then took the wire behind the 12V plug.

I bought the blitsafe from http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/HON_AUX_DMX_V1.html which was going at $43 and the PIE 3.5-RCA6MM adapter from http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/PIE_35RCA6MM.html. Ordered together and saved a bit.

I did not remove the top stereo part though I initially thought might have to. I pried around a little bit with my hand to feel the 14-pin and then plugged the blitzsafe adapter in 5 minutes. Thankfully the lower center console had a couple of opening that I could remove and passed the wire through it. Put everything back in 2 minutes and switched it on and boom it started working.

Thanks for everyone who helped with inputs. I have never done a fitting on the car all by myself as I am not a car techie. I never think that I would have done without seeing this post and all in all I would say it was impressive. Thank you so much.

My vehicle is a 2004 Honda 2-Door Civic VP with automatic transmission, center console/armrest & no cigarette lighter/ashtray with a single CD player AM/FM radio.

I printed and followed the installation instructions here:
http://limulus.net/files/misc/04cdcass.pdf
Note that it was NOT necessary to remove the center console (Step 8).

While I could feel the opening for the connector I was not able to reach up and plug the connector into the back of the radio, so I had to pull out the center panel. I used a putty knife to pry out the retaining clips while pushing from the rear of the center panel. Take your time, go for one clip at a time and you won’t damage anything.

I secured the adapter to the steel cross brace behind the dashboard center lower cover using some heavy duty plastic hook/loop tape (similar to Velcro) from Radio Shack.

I mounted a 1/8″ panel mount stereo jack in the dashboard center lower cover just to the right of the accessory power socket connector. I soldered pigtails from RCA male cables to the stereo jack so that I could easily unplug the connectors from the adapter if necessary.

I secured all the cables with tie wraps so that they won’t rattle around.

Everything in the console went back together smoothly and securely.

To operate the aux input, I push the CD/Tape button, the radio briefly displays CD1-99 then goes back to displaying the time of day. Push the CD/Tape button again to play a CD. Push the AM/FM button to listen to the radio.

Everything looks and sounds terrific. I only regret not doing this YEARS ago instead of compromising with the poor sound quality and interference problems of the FM radio transmitter I’ve been using.

Total installation time was ~1 hour.

Thanks to everyone in this forum for the tips and confidence building advice. I was hesitant to tear apart my console, but it was not nearly as challenging as I thought it would be. Just take your time, don’t force anything, be gentle and patient and you too will be enjoying your favorite tunes in you Civic!

alBERT in Orlando

I managed to get the panel where the 12-volt power socket resides off fairly easily, though a little piece of plastic from the panel did break off. It was ok since it’s a piece in behind and not visible at all. I then took the plastic cover from where the fog lights would be and installed the aux inoput into that just like Raj did (see his comment somewhere way above, and thanks for the idea!). I couldn’t get my big hand up under the climate control panel and so decided to take it out as well since I wanted to make sure I attached the grounding wire from the HON98-AUX unit somewhere securely, and this wire isn’t very long. I disconnected the battery first, of course, to avoid getting zapped. Taking the climate control and radio panel out was not super easy, but I didn’t need any tools either. I started from the top left and worked my way around to the right. One metal clip broke as it released, but I think that had nothing to do with what I was doing and simply was a matter of the metal being brittle. Once I had the thing removed it was easy as pie to hook everything up, secure the grounding wire to an existing screw in behind the dash, secure the HON98-AUX unit with a tie, and put everything back together.

It works like a charm! The next thing I want to do is to split the 12-volt socket in behind the dash and plug in the power adapter for my satellite radio behind the panel so it is nice and neat and so that I still have the socket in the front available for other things. I just have to decide where I’m going to mount the satellite radio so that I know where I need to run the power cord.

Thanks for the site and all the useful comments! This is a great little project that keeps the stock radio in your car and maintains the original look.