The car that I’m working on is a 1998 Honda Civic Si (I believe its the EX in the US) and, in anticipation of disconnecting the battery, I discovered
that I need a security code for the radio. Why? It goes a little something
like this.
I suppose, due to the frequency of car radio theft, car manufacturers began
putting security codes on their radios. Any time the radio loses power
(disconnected battery, the radio is removed, etc) it requires the code
before it works again. Good idea in theory, but not so much in practice.
I initially discovered this while reading the Repair Manual for my car. It
says, before disconnecting the battery or servicing the radio, note the
security code. I did some research online, finding hundreds of people on
various car forums, complaining that they had just replaced their battery
and now the radio refused to work. It just sat there with “CODE” on the
screen. I felt clever. I hadn’t blindly walked in to THAT situation. I was
doing my research.
Many of these forums suggested that most car dealers hide the code
somewhere: in the trunk, in the fuse box under the hood, under the little
change tray on the drivers side, etc. Nope, no such luck. The alternative
requires a bit of work, or, if you’re lazy, $114 and tax. You have to
remove the radio, retrieve the serial number from the back, and call the
dealer. The $114 comes in if you’d rather have the dealer remove it for
you.
Anyway, I removed it, retrieved the serial number, and feeling quite proud
of myself, called the dealership. The conversation goes something like:
Me: Hi, I own a 1998 Honda Civic that was purchased at your dealership. I’m
needing to replace the battery, and I read that there’s a security code for
the radio. Can you help me?
Lady: Sure, I can help you. You can bring in the car and we’ll get the
serial number for you.
Me: Actually, I already have the serial number. It’s XXXXXXX.
Lady: Sorry, it says invalid serial number.
What? Invalid serial number? I read off a couple of other numbers that I
found in various places on the radio (reference number, etc.) and nothing
works. What’s that all about? Now I’m baffled. She suggests I bring the
radio in and they’ll take a look at it to get the security code. Instead, I
go back to my research online, where I notice an interesting pattern:
<b>all</b> of the complaints come from people who own 2000 and later Honda
Civics. Is it possible they didn’t start the security code crap until 2000?
Going out on a limb, risking having to completely replace the radio if it
locks itself up, I pull it completely out and disconnect all of the wires.
I plug it back in, turn on the car… and what? The radio works? Wow, don’t
I feel like a dumbass. I pulled apart the entire lower dashboard to pull
out the radio for nothing.
Oh well, at least I know now that I don’t need to worry about a security
code when I disconnect the battery. Lesson learned. This whole thing takes
about three or four hours, given that its my first time ripping my interior
apart, but it all goes back together nicely, and the radio still works fine.