[yhopkins]

Hey guys. First, I'd like to thank everyone who contributes to these forums. It definitely makes life easier when trying to make decisions on what to buy, how to install, etc... So, two weeks ago I bought a 2015 Accord Sport 6-speed. I absolutely love it! Well, except for the sound system. I scoured the forums looking to get everyone's opinion on replacing the stock HU, and decided I'd forego it and upgrade the speakers, add a sub and tweeters and see how I liked it. I still hate it. Mostly that I have to crank the volume nearly all the way up to get to a level that I like, and secondly, the FM radio is garbage. I'm going to install a double-din pioneer HU and I want to put the stock HU in the glove box or the lower pocket. I saw someone mention creating a bypass harness to extend the wires for the stock HU (hope I read that right), but I didn't see any info on how to do that. Hope I didn't overlook it. Anyway, what's involved with extending the harness/wires that I'll need in order to relocate the stock HU? Thanks for all you guys do. :smile

 

[yhopkins]

Awesome, thanks for the reply. I guess that's why most people prefer relocating the after market unit instead of the stock unit; to avoid cutting the factory wiring. I'll do some digging and see if I can find a way to avoid cutting. Maybe buy the factory harness and use vampire taps. Just thinking I'll loud. I'll post back if I end up doing something cool. Thanks again!

 

[yhopkins]

Did you add an amplifier for the front speakers? If you didn't, seems like that would fix your major complaint.



I think there are 7 connectors that plug into the back of the stock head unit.

The main 24-pin one has readily available parts for creating a bypass harness thats plug and play.

There's a 16-pin one used for bluetooth (not needed if you'll use an aftermarket head unit with bluetooth) and antenna that do not need to be plugged back into the stock head unit.

That leaves you with the iMID connector and a couple of other ones that I'm unsure what they do that would need to be cut and extended.

If you're going to try moving it to the lower pocket, you may not need to extend anything.

Good luck and in for pics.

Good call on the connectors reaching the lower pocket. Spent a few hours in the car today weighing my options and here's the route I think I'm gonna take:

- Factory HU won't fit in the lower pocket with the USB and 12V connectors there.
- I removed the ANC module to provide unobstructed access from the radio location to the lower pocket.
- the opening isn't quite big enough to sit the factory radio in so I'm gonna cut out some of the plastic and put it in through the radio opening from above the climate controls, through the opening I'm going to widen and rest it in the lower pocket.
- then I'm going to cut the back off of the pocket so I can put it back on to cover the stock radio.

The stock radio will have its connections facing up toward the aftermarket radio so they're easily accessible.

- I will have to make sure everything is programmed exactly the way I want it to be because to make any changes I will have to undo all of this and put the faceplate back on the stock radio.

I won't have the dash kit and wiring harness till Wednesday so if I'm successful I will post photos etc.

The only one issue I think this will create is the inability to adjust the clock without the faceplate, it'll just have to wrong during DST.

 

[yhopkins]

Ok, so I made a lot of progress today:

******DISCLAIMERS: Lower pocket was destroyed, but can be replaced if needed. Widening the opening above the lower pocket is irreversible, you're literally cutting and removing the plastic.

- ANC unit is out (I drove around with it disconnected for about a week and don't really see a need for it).
- I widened the opening above the lower pocket so the stock HU could be dropped down into the lower pocket space.
- Cut off the back of the lower pocket with a Dremel (had to to cut off the swing arm on one side of the pocket cover because the stock HU is too wide to fit between both arms.
- Dropped the HU down into the lower pocket space and verified that there is plenty of room to mount a double din unit.
- Lastly, took care of the potential DST issue. Once you widen the opening you can slide the stock HU in and out of the lower pocket (after removing the cover and the piece of plastic that sits between the pocket and USB/AUX connections) to reattach the faceplate if you need to change any settings. I attached pics.

Just waiting for my harnesses and dash kit to show up so I can install the aftermarket radio.

 

[yhopkins]

My plan as well but I don't want to modify my lower pocket.


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Modifying the lower pocket looks to be the best option for adding an aftermarket radio whether you use it to install a single din unit, or do what I've done here. I thought that extending all the harnesses to the glove box was a great idea until I actually took the stock HU out and started poking around. You can always replace the pocket if you change your mind about setup or want to sell the car down the road. Part number is: 77280-T2F-A01ZA. The plastic above the pocket that I actually cut out, can't be see unless you remove the lower pocket and literally look for it. I'm hoping to get everything in the mail today so I can get the rest wired wired up and finally clean up the huge mess in my car. My neighbors are starting to look at me like I'm crazy, like "What is this woman doing to her brand new car?!" Lol

 

[yhopkins]

This is turning into an awesome thread! Thanks for posting the pics. So if I understand you correctly, the cover on the lower pocket had to have one arm cut off. Guessing that affects how the cover swings open? Any impact on the space below the lower pocket (the one with the USB and 12V power outlet)?

Lastly, any thought about losing access to the dimmer button for the iMid? Up until a couple of days ago I would have thought I could live without it, but for some reason in the late afternoon the car is thinking it's actually darker than it really is and is auto-dimming my iMid display and I've had to use the button to kick it back to day mode.

Yeah basically, the only function my pocket has now is covering the stock HU. I left one arm on so it stayed connected to the frame of the pocket, which is what actually attaches it to the car. I also cut off the spring because it was too long to fit. There's really no room in there for anything anyway after you drop the radio into it. The only time I'd need to open the pocket would be to access the stock HU to make changes, but in that case I'd have to remove it anyway. So in short, there is not cosmetic loss as far as the pocket is concerned, but I'd consider the functionality of the pocket a total loss. The space below the pocket is untouched and still in tact.

I'm not sure about the dimmer yet. I'll be connecting the aftermarket unit today and I'll take it for a drive tonight and see what happens.

 

[yhopkins]

So is the stock head unit mounted to the vehicle or is it just sitting down in the dash?

Nice progress so far!

Yeah it's just sitting down in the pocket, but mine doesn't move once I put in the aftermarket radio. Not much play between the two units, so I guess the pressure holds in place.

Ok, I'm done (almost.. lol). I've got everything in, my iMid still works, backup cam works, and my aftermarket radio works with the steering wheel controls.

A couple of things I need to fix:

- Can't turn my hazards off with the button once I turn them on. I'm sure that has something to do with the way the button fits into the dash kit. I just won't use it till I feel like playing around with it (hopefully).

- The display button on my steering wheel doesn't work. I tried wiring up pins 22 and 23 directly from the car's harness to the the stock HU bypass harness, but no love. Pin 22 has to be connected to the steering wheel control module, so I'm not sure what I'm missing there. Any ideas?

Lastly, a strange discovery:

I was going to totally do away with the HandsFreeLink and give up the steering wheel phone controls because my iPhone needs to be paired to my aftermarket stereo for audio when I'm watching movies. BUT when I cranked up the car to test everything, my phone was paired to and working with both units. So I was able to play bluetooth audio on my aftermarket and still make a call on the factory hu. So I'm gonna play around with that and see the best way to handle calls. I've attached pics of the final product.

Anyone know how to connect audio out from the stock HU to the AUX in of the aftermarket radio?

 

[yhopkins]

I have mine wired:

Red to red
Black to ground
Red/gray to pin 22
Tapped 11 to ground

Everything works except display button. I'll try tapping 23 to ground and see what happens.

 

[yhopkins]

i used the SWI-JACK and my display button worked for the stock unit while my audio controls worked on the aftermarket radio.

you've probably already realized you cannot adjust the clock without the radio faceplate. you also cannot adjust vehicle preferences, use the text message feature, use the contacts feature, etc. but at least you get fuel economy and backup camera so the iMid is useful.

all one would need is a harness to jump between the stock radio faceplate pins to the head unit pins. then the factory faceplate could be used to adjust the clock and make vehicle adjustments.

i've disassembled the factory radio and am in the process of adding RCA outputs to the stock head unit for members. i bypass the internal amp and provide rear RCA for front and rear and also rear AUX input. without doing that, you can just use a LOC to snag the amplified front outputs into the AUX in on the aftermarket HU so you can hear BT. but honestly, if you have the aftermarket DD in the dash, just use its BT for calling so you get controls on-screen.

Thanks for the info, KHA! I don't really know why my display button doesn't work. I used the Axxess ASWC-1 and everything else works exactly as it should. Doesn't really bother me too much because I didn't use the fuel efficiency screens anyway. It's more of a nagging feeling that something doesn't work, when it should work.

When I dropped my stock unit down into the lower pocket I made the opening large enough so I could slide it out of there and pop on the faceplate to adjust settings, but a harness would make life so much easier. What type of harness do I need to get for that?

I used the LOC to route the audio into my aftermarket unit so I could use the iMid for calls, but I think I'm gonna go back in and disconnect it and try to program the buttons on the steering wheel for my aftermarket unit. the only advantage to using the iMid is that during the day, the sun washes out the screen of my DD unit and I can barely see it.

 

[yhopkins]

One thing that i can say that you did a freaking awesome job getting your aftermarket stereo ..I guess I wouldn't call it easy part but it worked out for you to hide honda stereo under because of your EX model. On EX-L we have touch screen to change the data source.

What's your thought on that, if you would have Ex-L model how would you set it up??

I actually have the Sport, not the EX. Send me a pic of your dash so I can see what exactly you're referring to. You're wanting to remove the touch screen?

 

[yhopkins]

Couple of follow-up questions.

From looking at the wiring diagram, it appears the Display button wire is in the same group as the steering wheel audio control. Is that possibly why your Display button no longer works? Do you need to separate that wire from the connector with the rest of the steering wheel control wires?

Also, do your call/hangup/talk steering wheel buttons work with your new HU? If so, how does the talk button (bottom of the three) interact with the HU?

Possibly. I'll have a look eventually. I just got so tired of pulling every out and putting it back that I just said forget it. The call and hang up buttons work, but you have to manually program the steering wheel control in order to get it working. My HU doesn't support PTT, so the Talk button does nothing, but when you manually program it, you can make the buttons to whatever you like. I was thinking of programming it as a mute or play/pause button the next time I'm in there for something (perhaps the display button lol).

 

[yhopkins]

Did you cut out the plastic beneath the climate controls and deemed the back off the lower pocket so you could drop the unit all the way down into the lower pocket? I have RCA connections also and I have plenty of room.

 

[yhopkins]

Sorry, deemed should say dremel.