Replace the Honda Accord 2000 Car Radio With a Bluetooth Capable System

You can easily replace the Add a Fake Factory Radio Faceplate to an Aftermarket Radio in a Honda Accord 2000 with an MP3, USB, and integrated Bluetooth system for hands-free phone usage. This article applies to Accords from 1998-2003.

Steps

  1. Check if the car has a standard or a double-wide radio. The double height radio has a square front (image on the left). If it is a double DIN you will need an adapter kit.
  2. Purchase a CD player with bluetooth capability and a bluetooth adapter for the specific radio. In addition, purchase a wiring harness adapter which connects the Honda radio plug to the new radio (Walmart, Target carry these in the US).
  3. Cut the wires in the Honda harness (not the wires in the car) by 6 inches (18cm) so that there won't be too much of a mess when you pack the radio in the car.
  4. Strip the wire ends on the cut Honda harness. The new radio harness already comes stripped. Slip on an inch length heat shrink tubing onto each wire of the new radio harness.
  5. Join wires of the same color code together after checking that the color code for the new radio and the Honda wiring harness are the same (check the wiring table on the Honda wiring harness packet). In this case, the Honda harness had two extra wires (orange and orange with stripe) that had no equivalent on the new radio. These orange wires were for dimming the radio lights.
  6. Twist together and solder the corresponding ends of the wires. The blue plug is the one that will connect with the wiring in the car and the black plug (to the right) will plug into the back of the new radio.
  7. Slide the heat-shrink tubing onto the soldered joint and shrink the heat-shrink tubing with a soldering iron. Electrical tape is not good enough.

    Optional: Cut the preamp plugs and cover the cut ends with heat-shrink tubing. In the installation shown below, the plugs were retained.
  8. Gain access to the old radio,by the central panel in the car having to be removed. The panel is held by three screws, two at the bottom of the panel and one hidden behind the digital clock.
  9. Remove the clock by gently prying it out with a thin screwdriver. The two wiring harness plugs that go into the clock module are disconnected. The plugs have a small tab that you squeeze to separate from the connector.
  10. Remove the clock and put it aside. Remove the screw behind the clock.
  11. Remove the two bottom screws. Gently pry out the panel. The panel is held by two clips on the top and two on the bottom. It does not take much pressure to pull this out.
  12. You do not need to unplug the wires attached to the back of the panel as they are long enough to let the panel be pulled out to the right. Unscrew the two screws on the left and two on the right and gently pull the radio and the bottom tray out as one piece.
  13. Unplug the antenna and the wiring connector from the back of the radio. The radio itself is removed from the whole assembly by unscrewing the two screws on the left and right side that attach the radio to the whole radio chassis.
  14. Slide the new radio in where the old radio was, align the holes in the radio with the old radio bracket and screw in the four replacement screws (short rounded heads) that came in with the radio.
  15. Plug the wiring harness into the Honda plug that you had removed from the back of the Honda radio. Make sure that you remove the two screws attached to the top of the radio - these were to lock the CD drive during shipping.
  16. Attach the other end of the wiring harness to the back of the new radio. Also attach the antenna cable and the bluetooth cable.
  17. Slide the whole chassis in while making sure that the bluetooth microphone comes out from the bottom.
  18. Screw the radio chassis back in with the original screws.
  19. Place the panel back in to place. Tap gently to make sure that the panel has clipped in properly. Attach the three screws that were removed in the beginning, two at the bottom of the panel and the one behind the clock to fasten the panel. Attach the two cables to the clock module and slide the clock module back in.
  20. Attach the bluetooth to the bottom of the radio with the provided velcro/sticky tape. Enjoy your new radio and hands-free mobile usage.

Tips

  • Having a USB connector too is extremely useful as you can use the radio as a charger for USB devices (cell phones, mp3 player, etc.).
  • Make sure that your new radio plays MP3s and WMA files and has an AUX connector for attaching a portable audio device.
  • If you connect the wiring harness to the car and the new radio does not turn on when you turn the key, check the antenna cable first. Most aftermarket radios will not turn on without the antenna cable plugged in.
  • You may also be able to connect USB drives and pocket hard drives to the radio to play audio files.

Warnings

  • Make sure that you disable the NEGATIVE battery before you start, leaving no chance for accidental shock.
  • DO NOT DISCONNECT THE POSITIVE (RED) WIRE.
  • Cars in the US have a negative chassis ground (meaning, the metal frame of the car is the negative ground) and therefore if you disconnect the positive and touch the metal frame of the car in any way--LARGE SPARKS WILL RESULT! Also, potentially damaging all electrical systems in the car.

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