2003 Honda Accord Wiring problem

tgardner · Mar 25, 2005, 02:27 PM

My 2003 Honda Accord EX has a problem with the backlighting on the radio and the ac controls. All the lights have gone out, but everything else on it seems to work still. I have looked for a blown fuse but could not find one. Any suggestions?

Leper Man · Nov 5, 2006, 01:11 PM

The area is very tight to work in which is why I found it easiest to crush the resistor and then solder a jumper between the remaining two leads of the resistor.

jinz1 · Nov 8, 2006, 05:08 PM

honda will replace it for free, don't let a bad dealer scam you into paying.

same thing happened to me at 59,000 miles & out of warranty

i called honda service # from their website, and they opened a case # for me. they asked me to go to a dealer for checkup, and to call back if i'm not happy with their solution.

the honda dealer i went to was very nice, they told me most likely Honda will fix it for free. i just got the call today that everything's all set to go, the new stereo is in, and i don't have to pay a thing! i will be dropping off my car on friday.

i have to say that the service from both Honda Corp & the dealership has been great!

dealership: automall honda in Fremont, CA

JimmyPoor2004 · Nov 18, 2006, 07:08 AM

I had the backlight problem described in 04-027. This is how I got it taken care of.

1) Called Honda America and told the rep about the problem and service bulletin. The rep said there was nothing he can do and that I would just have to take the car to a dealer for repair if I wanted it fixed. I hung up.
2) Called Honda America right back and told the new rep (Liz) about the problem and service bulletin. Rep opened a case, gave me the #, and told me to call her back when I had taken it to a dealer for diagnostics. She said the dealer might charge for this.
3) Next day. Took it to a dealer (Brown Honda in Charlottesville, Va) and told them I had a case # from Honda America. He asked for it and on the work order put that the claim started with Honda America.
4) Same day as (3). Returned call to Rep Liz. She asked what dealer I took it to and told me to call back after I picked the car up and received a diagnosis.
5) Same day. Received a call from the dealer saying that Honda America approved them to do the work for free and that I could pick my car up. He also said he would call back when the replacement part was in so I knew when to bring the car in.
6) Picked car up
7) Next day, Rep Liz called and said that Honda America and the dealer had authorized the work under a goodwill something to try to get me to be a future honda customer and a Brown Honda customer in particular.
8) Two weeks later I still hadn't heard from the dealer so I called them. They had received the part "a while back" and had been waiting for me to bring the car in. Thanks for calling, jerks.
9) Two days later I took the car in in the morning and picked it up in the afternoon. It was fixed and everything was free.

vietsb · Nov 27, 2006, 11:38 PM

Fixed it thanks to folks on this board!

Props to mystified88 for the original diagnosis and verification of the fix. Thanks also to KirillS and espedid for the very helpful pics.

My story is the display backlight died suddenly on a 2003 Accord 4-door LX V6 w/ 45K miles. I read here about getting the dealership to request Honda perform a goodwill out-of-warranty repair. I called Honda America and they weren't completely helpful. They pretty much simply opened a case to track my satisfaction on how the dealership takes care of this situation.

Next call to the dealership resulted in a 7:15am appt for a quick "while I wait" diagnosis for ~$135 which is outrageous considering they'll look in the car, hear the radio, and say "you're right, the backlight is dead". What made things worse is I got to the dealership at 7:05am just to find out their real service techs don't come in till 8am. Why they scheduled me at 7:15am for a quick diagnosis is beyond me... The only good news is the person who booked this appt had heard of at least a dozen of these radio display defects and their best suggestion is the closer the car is to standard warranty expiration, the more likely Honda America would do most or all of the repair for free, but YMMV.

At that moment, I found out our (new to me) car was still covered under HondaCare extended warranty, so Honda wouldn't be performing any type of goodwill fix. Another factoid is there's a special provision in our particular HondaCare warranty stating if we don't use the warranty during the term, all initial warranty costs are refunded in full. For the above reasons, I decided to tackle the repair myself.

I'd only recommend radio removal for folks w/ prior experience since pulling a dash apart w/o damage isn't for everyone. Soldering skills are required here as well.

Here's what it looks like if you really want to pursue this path.

And next, here's the jumper soldered over R797.

Some things to note:
-Having the radio code during reinstall is a must. Before asking a dealership, check your car manual. We had it on a sticker showing a 5 digit number and radio S/N, plus the salesperson wrote it on the back page.
-There are numerous clips that will be a PITA to remove. Use care and patience.
-When removing the cigarette lighter/ashtray/coinholder carrier, try to lift straight up since there are two clips towards the front.
-To remove the center storage console, it needs to be pulled straight out towards the back of the car w/ the console door closed to clear the bottom "V" of the radio/climate controls.
-The air vent cover panel has 3 clips at the very front. 2 come loose via the side prying, but the center one may be difficult to release so don't yank too hard.
-As someone mentioned, the 3 clips on the bottom of the radio/climate controls aren't very fun. Again, you're pulling straight towards the back of the car. Use a screwdriver to pry a bit if you can feel the clips and do so w/o damage.
-The soldering job is in tight quarters so I unsoldered the heatsink/rectifier alignment plate and removed it temporarily (notice my picture), which made access tons easier.
-I jumpered it w/ single strand speaker wire core which worked fine. Just be sure it can't touch the heatsink components or anything else following re-assembly.

Good luck to those who get Honda to cover some/all of the costs, or decided to fix it on their own.

Shame on Honda for handling this manufacturing defect on a case-by-case basis, which gives us owners very little consistency to work off of and makes us feel "lucky" if they happen to compensate for some or all of their mistake.

The good news is boards like these let us share good info and take some of these matters in our own hands.

hondainhawaii · Nov 29, 2006, 12:21 AM

that's nuts that you actually let honda do that to you, even after all the success stories on this site. There are people w/over 80K Miles and they even got it fixed for free. Plus there was a link to the service bulletin w/the vehicle vin#'s that were affected. Wow, I guess if you got the skills to do it yourself, kudos on ya!

vietsb · Dec 1, 2006, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hondainhawaii

that's nuts that you actually let honda do that to you, even after all the success stories on this site. There are people w/over 80K Miles and they even got it fixed for free. Plus there was a link to the service bulletin w/the vehicle vin#'s that were affected. Wow, I guess if you got the skills to do it yourself, kudos on ya!

Tell you the truth, I was motivated by $$$. If we don't use or tap into the HondaCare warranty at all on this car, we get a full refund of the ~$1450 original warranty cost. So I'm banking on nothing major breaking on this car in the next 2yrs, otherwise, my car electronics work will have been for nothing.

Besides the warranty refund, I wasn't looking fwd to the major to minor hassle of getting the local dealership to have Honda do a goodwill repair, or pushing slightly harder to get the diagnosis fee covered as well. They told me they always charge the diagnosis because sometimes Honda America won't cover that for some odd reason.

grifbuddy · Dec 2, 2006, 04:26 PM

Wanted to let you know of my good experience with Honda. Using this site's advice, I called Honda America and described the radio/dashboard light problem I had on my 2003 Accord [59,000 mi] and mentioned the Service Bulletin that covered this problem. The Honda America rep was a little short with me and wanted me to know that the Service Bulletin was an internal Honda document - something that really didn't pertain to my inquiry. Said I would have to see my Honda dealer to get the problem diagnosed and resolved. Thought this was the start of a run around, but did ask him to open a Case Number, which he did.

Well, didn't have a chance to visit my Honda dealer that week. But wouldn't you know it, the dealer called me to see what the problem was and to set up a service appointment. The service rep thought they could probably get it fixed through Honda "good will". Turns out my car is not in the VIN range for the Service Bulletin. But they removed the radio assembly, reinstalled it, and voila, everything works fine [no charge for diagnosis]. So for now, I'm happy with my Honda dealer - Community Honda in Orland Park, IL.

gprentice · Jan 24, 2007, 09:12 PM

I too have the same radio problem (2003 Accord EX) - but Honda dealer in Canada says Honda CA will only warranty until 100k KMs. (We're at 107k - they quoted us $300CA)Instead of phoning Honda CA to complain, I too followed the instructions and repaired it myself.
It was successful, however it would have been nicer to know where the snaps were when the instructions said 'gently remove panel'. After a bit of searching online, I found http://www.handaaccessories.com/acco...UDIOATTACH.pdf which is a little more descriptive about the snap locations. I though I was going to break my wife's panels - especially the shifter cover! Then she'd be mad at both Honda and myself. All is fine now.

DrElec · Jan 31, 2007, 01:31 PM

First thanks to all before with information on this problem.

My 2003 accord ex with 55000 miles lost its backlight last night.

I googled this board and found many useful replies.

I called my dealer (Sunnyside Honda, Middleburg Hts. OH)and left a message, they got back to me in two hours and said it was covered under warranty at no cost to me and wanted to know if I could bring the car in tomorrow at 3:30 pm. I have made an appointment for Fri afternoon.

Thanks again for all who have blazed the trail!

DrElec · Feb 10, 2007, 01:38 PM

Update. I took my 2003 Honda Accord EX in for the repair. My dealer said Honda has extended the warranty on this problem to 100,000 miles/7 years.

To fix the backlight they replaced a circuit board in the radio (p/n 855422) which on the dealers paper work cost $68. They had listed 0.8 hours of labor for $46 for a total cost billed to Honda of about $114. Not too much to pay to keep customers happy!



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