How To Install The Honda Ipod Connector

pjr · 26th February 2008, 22:03

I installed the official Honda iPod adapter at the weekend, which I had bought from Holdcroft Honda for £129.99

To fit this into your Civic, you do need to dismantle quite a lot of the dashboard as the adapter unit box is mounted on the back of the glovebox (for cars without Nav) or on top of the glovebox (for cars with Nav)

My Civic doesn't have the navigation system so the following steps relate to a non-nav equipped car.

I have to say that the installation manual which came with the kit was pretty comprehensive, with sets of instructions for LHD & RHD cars and the different bit for nav/non-nav equipped cars.

I also referred to the previous how-tos in the following locations to help in stripping the dash, and to save repetition I won't go into all the minute details as these threads cover all the initial dismantling.

To help in removing the dash panels, I used a plastic gap spreader that I already had which was used in fitting a Brodit Proclip into my last car - basically a very thin wedge of plastic which could be pushed into the panel gaps and could be used to lever the panels off without damaging them.

[HOW TO] Get into the dash (Pottsy)

Weak Bass now sorted! Also, pics of the back of the radio (Roger Harris)

How to install an entire ICE system (Swindon Japster)

The following parts of the dashboard need removed before mounting the iPod unit.

Rear Centre console
Drivers Side end of dashboard
Lower panel of dashboard under steering wheel
Silver trim round gearlever
Lower centre console (Removel all covered in Pottsy's thread above)

Panel above radio/vents - I covered the radio/aircon display with duct tape to stop it getting scratched while removing this panel
Radio comes out with 3 screws at top, and two bolts at bottom (Covered in Roger Harris's thread)
There are also two harness clips, one for the hazard warning switch and another for one of the radio cables which need unclipped before the whole headunit can be removed.

Removal of complete glovebox - covered in Swindon Japster's thread.

Once all these bits have been removed (took me about an hour), the installation of the actual iPod kit can begin.

On the back of the glovebox are some fins which need cut off as per the photo below. The lighter grey lines are where the ribs used to be. The iPod adapter fits vertically between these fins. A couple of holes are drilled through the iPod adapter brackets into the glovebox and the adapter is held in place by bolts (covered with plastic caps) screwed through from the glovebox.
DSC00167.JPG

The following picture from the installation manual shows the location of the adapter, along with routing of the two cables along the top of the glovebox (held in place by sticky foam covered pads)
DSC00185.JPG

The glovebox is then refitted into place, with the cables run through into the space behind the radio (for the cable which plugs into the headunit) and into the space above the centre storage box (for the cable which plugs into the iPod)

The cables for the iPod adapter are cable tied at various locations to the existing wiring harness, just leaving enough cable to reach the back of the headunit and into the storage box compartment.

Next a hole needs made into the top of the centre storage box. The instructions say to use a 15mm holesaw and cut two adjacent circles towards the back left corner of the storage box as per the following photo.
I didn't use a holesaw, but drilled several smaller holes with a 6mm drill and cut & filed roughly the same shape out. This hole is not visible once the installation is complete, and is covered by a rubber grommet anyway.
Here is another picture from the installation manual showing the location of the holes which need drilled.

DSC00192.JPG

Next, the headunit is refitted, taking care to connect all the plugs back in, with the iPod cable being connected to the CD changer port. At this point, I plugged my iPod in (before securing the headunit in place) to check that everything was working. Once this test had been done, the radio was screwed back into place, the centre console was refitted and the panels under the steering wheel and across the end of the dashboard were put back.

In all, it took me about 3 - 3.5 hours to fit the whole kit, although I was taking my time particularly during the dismantling as I didn't want to damage any parts of the dashboard.

Vet_2010 · 26th February 2008, 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjr

I have to say that the installation manual which came with the kit was pretty comprehensive, with sets of instructions for LHD & RHD cars and the different bit for nav/non-nav equipped cars.

Is is actually compatible with sat-nav cars? When I was browsing Holdcroft on ebay I noticed all their i-pod items stated for non-satnav models only?

Yet I was offered it as an option when buying the car... maybe there are different versions of the kit?

Looks like a very helpful guide!

pjr · 26th February 2008, 22:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vet_2010

Is is actually compatible with sat-nav cars? When I was browsing Holdcroft on ebay I noticed all their i-pod items stated for non-satnav models only?

Yet I was offered it as an option when buying the car... maybe there are different versions of the kit?

Looks like a very helpful guide!

The same kit fits both satnav and non-satnav cars, BUT you need an extra bit of cable for the satnav cars which IIRC is about £90 from Honda. (maybe Holdcroft can do it cheaper ?)

csmcqueen · 27th February 2008, 16:32

Our instead of the riduculous Honda part get this one, and save £70

HON03-F/MM - PIE HON03-F/MM (08A31-0F1-000) 2003-Up Honda Y-Adapter Cable - Accessories - Precision Interface - Discount Car Stereo.com - Detail

Not this weekend but the next, Im going to fit mine in after buying this cable

Chalks · 23rd July 2008, 22:03

For the record I was quoted £29 + VAT for the official Honda Y-splitter by my local Honda dealer.

Dimplyred · 12th August 2008, 20:07

Thanks for the 'How to' pjr, I'll be trying it out this weekend. I'll let you know how I get on.

pjr · 12th August 2008, 20:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimplyred

Thanks for the 'How to' pjr, I'll be trying it out this weekend. I'll let you know how I get on.

You'll be fine. Just take your time dismantling the dash so you don't break or scratch anything. It goes back together much easier - honest

Dimplyred · 12th August 2008, 20:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjr

You'll be fine. Just take your time dismantling the dash so you don't break or scratch anything. It goes back together much easier - honest

All I need now is for it to stop raining

Dimplyred · 14th August 2008, 23:30

Ipod kit arrived today and I installed it this evening. Took about 3 hours.

Thanks Pottsy and pjr for the excellent 'How to', they were really useful. I have to say however the Honda supplier instructions were very clear and concise too.

pjr · 14th August 2008, 23:50

Good news - glad to be of assistance. Think it took me about the same length of time.

Dimplyred · 15th August 2008, 00:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjr

Good news - glad to be of assistance. Think it took me about the same length of time.

The interior does look very sad when you have it stripped. You do think 'Oh my God, what I am I doing???' when everything is out.

Thanks again.

alanwalne · 15th August 2008, 08:55

You lot are braver than me.....

hurricane · 15th August 2008, 10:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimplyred

Ipod kit arrived today and I installed it this evening. Took about 3 hours.

Thanks Pottsy and pjr for the excellent 'How to', they were really useful. I have to say however the Honda supplier instructions were very clear and concise too.

I have to say that the guides on here and Honda's own instructions really helped me to install mine the other day. It also took me 3 hours - that's spooky!

As for my dealer, when I originally asked how much it would be to fit the kit, they could'nt give me a price as they had never done one before! I quickly decided that they were not going to practice on mine!

Dimplyred · 15th August 2008, 10:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by hurricane

I have to say that the guides on here and Honda's own instructions really helped me to install mine the other day. It also took me 3 hours - that's spooky!

As for my dealer, when I originally asked how much it would be to fit the kit, they could'nt give me a price as they had never done one before! I quickly decided that they were not going to practice on mine!

Even if a Honda technician could do it in half the time, at the labour rates they charge, it would still be about £100.

So it was a worthwhile 3 hours I think.

pjr · 15th August 2008, 11:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimplyred

Even if a Honda technician could do it in half the time, at the labour rates they charge, it would still be about £100.

So it was a worthwhile 3 hours I think.

£100 would be about right - that, plus the £130/£140 for the kit comes pretty close to the £250 that Honda would charge for it fitted.

I took the view that my time was free, so however long it took was ok.

hurricane · 15th August 2008, 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjr

£100 would be about right - that, plus the £130/£140 for the kit comes pretty close to the £250 that Honda would charge for it fitted.

I took the view that my time was free, so however long it took was ok.

Well those nice chaps at Honda sent me the kit for free (along with another iPod Touch - still for sale if anyone wants)

so I figured that if it was going to be cheap to install I would pay for it, but as they didn't even know how to do it, that was a no brainer!

Looking back I enjoyed doing it myself - gives a nice "bonding" feeling when taking bits apart and putting them back together.

or am I just wierd?

Dimplyred · 16th August 2008, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by hurricane

Looking back I enjoyed doing it myself - gives a nice "bonding" feeling when taking bits apart and putting them back together.

or am I just wierd?

Weirdo!!!

No, I know what you mean, it is quite satisfying to know you installed it yourself and that you deprived the dealer of at least some of your money.

u05rdh · 16th August 2008, 18:48

Ipod kit arrived ok then dimplyred? Hope you had fun fitting it. Doing the footwell lights were bad enough.

Dimplyred · 16th August 2008, 19:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by u05rdh

Ipod kit arrived ok then dimplyred? Hope you had fun fitting it. Doing the footwell lights were bad enough.

Yes it did, thanks very much.

TBH I meant to pm you to tell you it had arrived safely, sorry.

Chalks · 25th August 2008, 16:45

Did mine yesterday - took 5.5 hours, with rain breaks. Had no screws left in the pot when I'd finished and inflicted no damage to the car. My hand suffered 2 cuts though. Very pleased with my efforts.

The problems I had were not really knowing how hard to pull or push things to get them off and back. It takes a leap of faith sometimes !

From my experience I would add two things to the knowledge base:

1) Mark the driver's seat and back position with duct tape on the base runner and doorframe so that you can get your perfected driving position back quickly on completion.

2) Don't bother to remove the gear knob - the boot is held to the cover with three easily removed screws. The boot can then be wrapped over the gear knob to protect it.

Sound quality is fabulous and that's the bottom line. No FM transmitter comes close.

26th February 2008, 22:03	#1 (permalink)
pjr We call him... The Stig Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 24th March 2007 Location: Scotland Posts: 459 Thanks: 8 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts iTrader: (0)	How To Install The Honda Ipod Connector I installed the official Honda iPod adapter at the weekend, which I had bought from Holdcroft Honda for £129.99 To fit this into your Civic, you do need to dismantle quite a lot of the dashboard as the adapter unit box is mounted on the back of the glovebox (for cars without Nav) or on top of the glovebox (for cars with Nav) My Civic doesn't have the navigation system so the following steps relate to a non-nav equipped car. I have to say that the installation manual which came with the kit was pretty comprehensive, with sets of instructions for LHD & RHD cars and the different bit for nav/non-nav equipped cars. I also referred to the previous how-tos in the following locations to help in stripping the dash, and to save repetition I won't go into all the minute details as these threads cover all the initial dismantling. To help in removing the dash panels, I used a plastic gap spreader that I already had which was used in fitting a Brodit Proclip into my last car - basically a very thin wedge of plastic which could be pushed into the panel gaps and could be used to lever the panels off without damaging them. [HOW TO] Get into the dash (Pottsy) Weak Bass now sorted! Also, pics of the back of the radio (Roger Harris) How to install an entire ICE system (Swindon Japster) The following parts of the dashboard need removed before mounting the iPod unit. Rear Centre console Drivers Side end of dashboard Lower panel of dashboard under steering wheel Silver trim round gearlever Lower centre console (Removel all covered in Pottsy's thread above) Panel above radio/vents - I covered the radio/aircon display with duct tape to stop it getting scratched while removing this panel Radio comes out with 3 screws at top, and two bolts at bottom (Covered in Roger Harris's thread) There are also two harness clips, one for the hazard warning switch and another for one of the radio cables which need unclipped before the whole headunit can be removed. Removal of complete glovebox - covered in Swindon Japster's thread. Once all these bits have been removed (took me about an hour), the installation of the actual iPod kit can begin. On the back of the glovebox are some fins which need cut off as per the photo below. The lighter grey lines are where the ribs used to be. The iPod adapter fits vertically between these fins. A couple of holes are drilled through the iPod adapter brackets into the glovebox and the adapter is held in place by bolts (covered with plastic caps) screwed through from the glovebox. DSC00167.JPG The following picture from the installation manual shows the location of the adapter, along with routing of the two cables along the top of the glovebox (held in place by sticky foam covered pads) DSC00185.JPG The glovebox is then refitted into place, with the cables run through into the space behind the radio (for the cable which plugs into the headunit) and into the space above the centre storage box (for the cable which plugs into the iPod) The cables for the iPod adapter are cable tied at various locations to the existing wiring harness, just leaving enough cable to reach the back of the headunit and into the storage box compartment. Next a hole needs made into the top of the centre storage box. The instructions say to use a 15mm holesaw and cut two adjacent circles towards the back left corner of the storage box as per the following photo. I didn't use a holesaw, but drilled several smaller holes with a 6mm drill and cut & filed roughly the same shape out. This hole is not visible once the installation is complete, and is covered by a rubber grommet anyway. Here is another picture from the installation manual showing the location of the holes which need drilled. DSC00192.JPG Next, the headunit is refitted, taking care to connect all the plugs back in, with the iPod cable being connected to the CD changer port. At this point, I plugged my iPod in (before securing the headunit in place) to check that everything was working. Once this test had been done, the radio was screwed back into place, the centre console was refitted and the panels under the steering wheel and across the end of the dashboard were put back. In all, it took me about 3 - 3.5 hours to fit the whole kit, although I was taking my time particularly during the dismantling as I didn't want to damage any parts of the dashboard.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode


This thread is about: How To Install The Honda Ipod Connector, it's in How To at the Honda Civic forum Civinfo; I installed the official Honda iPod adapter at the weekend, which I had bought from Holdcroft Honda for £129.99 To fit this into your Civic, ...

27th February 2008, 16:32	#4 (permalink)
csmcqueen Civic's got Big Booty ! Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 11th January 2008 Location: Corby, Northants, UK Posts: 154 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Our instead of the riduculous Honda part get this one, and save £70 HON03-F/MM - PIE HON03-F/MM (08A31-0F1-000) 2003-Up Honda Y-Adapter Cable - Accessories - Precision Interface - Discount Car Stereo.com - Detail Not this weekend but the next, Im going to fit mine in after buying this cable

23rd July 2008, 22:03	#5 (permalink)
Chalks Supporter Valve Cap Join Date: 9th June 2008 Location: Haslemere, UK Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	For the record I was quoted £29 + VAT for the official Honda Y-splitter by my local Honda dealer.

12th August 2008, 20:07	#6 (permalink)
Dimplyred Type R GT 09570 Civinfo guru Join Date: 24th August 2007 Location: Staffordshire Posts: 3,864 Thanks: 17 Thanked 81 Times in 80 Posts iTrader: (0)	Thanks for the 'How to' pjr, I'll be trying it out this weekend. I'll let you know how I get on.

14th August 2008, 23:30	#9 (permalink)
Dimplyred Type R GT 09570 Civinfo guru Join Date: 24th August 2007 Location: Staffordshire Posts: 3,864 Thanks: 17 Thanked 81 Times in 80 Posts iTrader: (0)	Ipod kit arrived today and I installed it this evening. Took about 3 hours. Thanks Pottsy and pjr for the excellent 'How to', they were really useful. I have to say however the Honda supplier instructions were very clear and concise too.

14th August 2008, 23:50	#10 (permalink)
pjr We call him... The Stig Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 24th March 2007 Location: Scotland Posts: 459 Thanks: 8 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts iTrader: (0)	Good news - glad to be of assistance. Think it took me about the same length of time.

15th August 2008, 08:55	#12 (permalink)
alanwalne Who needs a 4x4?? Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 11th June 2007 Location: Kent Posts: 991 Thanks: 4 Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts iTrader: (0)	You lot are braver than me.....

16th August 2008, 18:48	#18 (permalink)
u05rdh Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 7th January 2008 Location: Aberdeen Posts: 100 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (1)	Ipod kit arrived ok then dimplyred? Hope you had fun fitting it. Doing the footwell lights were bad enough.

25th August 2008, 16:45	#20 (permalink)
Chalks Supporter Valve Cap Join Date: 9th June 2008 Location: Haslemere, UK Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Did mine yesterday - took 5.5 hours, with rain breaks. Had no screws left in the pot when I'd finished and inflicted no damage to the car. My hand suffered 2 cuts though. Very pleased with my efforts. The problems I had were not really knowing how hard to pull or push things to get them off and back. It takes a leap of faith sometimes ! From my experience I would add two things to the knowledge base: 1) Mark the driver's seat and back position with duct tape on the base runner and doorframe so that you can get your perfected driving position back quickly on completion. 2) Don't bother to remove the gear knob - the boot is held to the cover with three easily removed screws. The boot can then be wrapped over the gear knob to protect it. Sound quality is fabulous and that's the bottom line. No FM transmitter comes close.