DIY: retrofit Hondalink to LX/Sport

[dktyson]

Final update: the new-to-me ebay brain showed up and i got the screen transferred to it from the old brain. Plugged in the provided vin from the donor car and bam! Suddenly I had android auto!!

Backup camera works, though its super grainy, and i got it tapped on the right teal wire first try. Played with some settings and just enjoyed it for a couple minutes. I think this is way better than the navifly m400, for what I want at least. Simple and OEM. Wanna thank @Zed again for the awesome harness and this thread for helping me along.

Learn from my mistake; make sure the guy selling you the hondalink 7 inch has the correct vin for it. Thanks guys!

 

[Crxej1]

Just got done installing the new stereo

but it wont stop flashing green, red & blue. What can i do to fix it?

i tried holding audo, brightness & menu button with no luck also disconnecting the battery

ty

 

[KYRGYZ]

Just got done installing the new stereo

but it wont stop flashing green, red & blue. What can i do to fix it?

i tried holding audo, brightness & menu button with no luck also disconnecting the battery

ty

Have you tried googling?

 

[Crxej1]

I got it working now, was missing a harness that goes in the back of the stereo

 

[Ric.png]

I bought the receiver but I’m so lost on how and where to get the wiring, I messaged @Zed but haven’t heard anything does anyone know where else I could get/make the wiring?

 

[jonny_d]

Just did this swap, thanks @fgr and everyone else in the thread that added super useful information about components, locations, and other tips!

 

[PHubb]

Greetings All; I now own my first Civic and am new to the forum. The information members provide is excellent and people seem helpful & friendly. I'm preparing to do this upgrade on my '17 Civic LX. With the excellent instructions/tips provided by @fgr @Ender @Zed @kotarou @Wisch I'm fairly confident It will succeed. This Civic has already had the AC condenser replaced under Honda extended 10 year warranty. Using hints I read on this forum I changed out the cheap OEM horn for a couple of Hella horns which sound much much better. While I had the front bumper cover off I added a set of fog lights as well.
My question is figuring out all of the different head/screen part numbers and what they mean. I know about the head units with built-in amp and ones that require the external amplifier. There's a third plug in the middle row of plugs on head units with external amp, but there are a lot of different part numbers. @fgr listed some which gives me a few clues, but what does TBA, TBC, and TGG mean in the part number? I suspect TBA is American, TBC is Canadian, but what is TGG? I also notice that some are made by Panasonic and some by Mitsubishi. The used Mitsubishi units seem to be most common for sale. I suspect that different manufacturers parts have different part numbers as well. I found the page where there's an excellent breakdown of the 17 digit Civic VIN, but it would be very cool to have a page that breaks down all the different part numbers on these radio heads and touch screens and which ones are compatible with which. I'm posting my question here because this seems to be a thread where members have a lot of knowledge on these radio heads and touch screens. Question: I have a #39101-TBA-A31 head unit. Can I match it with one of the screens with volume knob and buttons? Thanks - PHubb

 

[PHubb]

Greetings; I've completed the retrofit and I'm generally pleased. Again thanks @Zed for the plug n play harness - well worth it. Here's my write up of the process with pictures which I probably should've posted here, but posted on NEW V2 Updated Harness from @Zed.
https://www.civicx.com/forum/thread...ade-plug-and-play-wiring-harness.64732/page-7

Now that I've had a couple of days to live with it I've noticed a couple of minor issues.
1st: the dimming/brightness controls for the screen don't affect screen brightness. The function is there and you can move a slider left and right, but no change. Anyone any clues as to why?
I might have a clue. I have a tablet with buttons. The pigtail that came with it has a 4th wire (grey color) on the (infamous) 5 pin connector. According to wire diagram it's illumi+ and is from the tail/parking light relay. I wonder if it just backlights the buttons or could have something to do with dimming the screen?

 

[PHubb]

Here are photos of the completed swap in my 2018 LX hatchback:
FM/HD Radio:

SiriusXM:

Working vehicle integration:

Android Auto:

Reverse Camera:

Thanks to everyone that paved the way on this!

Next mod, variable wipers

Hello @Wisch ; I realize it's been a couple of years since you made this mod but I have a question about your Siriusxm setup. I've done the swap on my civic. Overall It worked out well so far. The receiver I got has Siriusxm but I can't use it due to no antenna. I'm wondering how you dealt with that on your LX? Did your LX already have a Sirius antenna installed from the factory or did you make a mod to install it?
Thanks
Paul

 

[medley]

Does anyone know if a AM/FM/XM tuner Module from a Type R will work instead of pn: 39800-TBA-A21 ?
Type R pn is: 39800-TBA-A211-M1 and they sell for less on ebay.

 

[PHubb]

Does anyone know if a AM/FM/XM tuner Module from a Type R will work instead of pn: 39800-TBA-A21 ?
Type R pn is: 39800-TBA-A211-M1 and they sell for less on ebay.

I don't see why it wouldn't work. I believe the type R has the external speaker amp with the high end speaker package, but I don't know how that would affect the AM/FM tuner module. As long as the connections are the same you should be good to go. BTW on mine SiriusXM is in the head unit. The two main differences with the tuners is HD radio - non HD radio. My tuner is 39800-TBA-A11 - no HD radio but I do have SiriusXM because my head unit has a black XM antenna connection on it next to the white tuner module communication connector. If your HU doesn't have that black antenna connection I don't think it has SiriusXM. And that black XM antenna connector is just about impossible to find and match up with an aftermarket antenna.

 

[PHubb]

Greetings all; 2017 Honda Civic

Testing Infotainment on bench How I did it.

I got lucky because my head unit came with a complete set of pigtails and

the special communication cable between HU and the tablet (screen).

I didn’t hook up an AM/FM receiver on the bench test and I

removed the head unit (HU) brackets (made bench work much easier).

1: Make a basic harness. Connect 16 pin harness to 5 pin tablet (screen)

connector. Power 12v audio+ (brown wire), ground (black wire), white wire (pin 4) to

tablet 5 pin connector (pins 1, 4, 5).

2: Add 24 pin power/speaker wire connector, power 12v + (brown wires), ground (black wire), ACC power 12v+ (red wire). These are pin outs A1, A3, A23. The ACC red wire has to be connected to 12v+ or the unit won’t start.

3: Connect tablet to head unit (HU). Connect special communication wire (grey connector at HU end, blue connector at tablet end).

4: Plug the 16 and 24 pin connectors into back of head unit (HU) and 5 pin connector into tablet.


5: Plug in a GPS antenna. Some units won’t get past ‘searching for GPS signal’ screen without it.

6: Connect ground to negative battery terminal. After you’ve double checked all of your connections, connect 12v + to positive battery terminal. If the HU and screen come to life with Honda logo, you’ve done it correctly. It may take 30+ seconds.

7: At this point you may be presented with an unlock code screen. Enter your code and the unit should activate.

Once it’s on you can start using it normally, although there will be no sound (speakers not hooked up), or vehicle info, but you can connect a blue tooth device (phone) and download your contact list, etc.

You can also get deep into all of the settings and watch a screen as GPS makes connections to satellites. At this point you should see the GPS signal update the date and time as well. You can also view all the specs including serial number, OS build number, etc.

8. If you’ve connected a USB cable to the grey connector (next to the green one) on the back of the head unit (HU), you can plug in an iPhone or Android phone and check out Car Play. You can play around with Google maps and pretend to play music from your song lists and play lists.

9: If the unit has built in NAV, you can pull it up and play around with the native maps and GPS.

10: Mine came with WIFI and a very basic web browser. I connected to my home wifi and was able to pull up a few websites.

I posted my actual install in the car on another page but here is SiriusXM radio

And Apple Car play

 

[PHubb]

Hi; Here's a group of photos of more of my bench test. Watching the GPS antenna connect to various satellites and update the time and date was interesting to me.

 

[PistolPete]

@PHubb have you had any chance to test the illumini input signal? I wired mine up and tested it with 12v and nothing happens… no change in brightness, no change in button backlighting, nothing. wondering if you’ve had any different results.
Oddly, I can’t seem to get into diag mode to see if the wire changes any variables.

 

[PHubb]

Nope. When I did my bench test I used the 5 pin tablet pigtail that came with my head unit (I used @Zed harness for in car install). I connected grey wire to 12v+ and nothing happened. I don't get it. The grey illumi+ wire is on the wiring diagram and came with my HU pigtail, but I had zero results - nothing. The HU came out of a 2020 EX. It's not like Honda to install something, wire it up and not use it. I'm more baffled now after we both had same negative results. I wouldn't have even started down this dead end, but it's clear in the wiring diagram. Maybe some day someone will figure it out. On another note I had quite a time getting my XM antenna set up. Honda uses a very unique black connector for that antenna socket on the back of the HU- impossible to find except on a used shark fin antenna for $100 on eBay. Luckily my HU came with that pigtail and I was able to by an antenna for $15. I had to cut the cord and solder them together.
I get a strong signal just placing the antenna next to windshield. SiriusXM radio is great - I like it.

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