[Leper Man]

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]

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]

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]

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. :D

[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 you!

[vietsb]

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]

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 voilà, everything works fine [no charge for diagnosis]. So for now, I'm happy with my Honda dealer - Community Honda in Orland Park, IL.

[JBadger]

Referred to a phon enumber that got the problem solved.

[subaie]

Excellent Thanks a lot Mr. Mystified88

[gprentice]

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]

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]

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!:)

[03accordcoupe]

Hey guys.to all the people with your 03+ accord radio wiring problem.honda just came out with new waranty for your radio that applies to your original or extendet waranty,witch means:you don't have to pay for fixing your radio if it doesn't light up.just take it to your dealer and tell them to fix it! that's all..

[RMG]

:D
I had the same issue with my 2003 Honda Accord, I called the 1-800-999-1009 and mentioned the #04-027 bulletin, they asked what Honda Dealership I will be going to.
I told them Avondale Honda in Arizona.
Avondale Honda Service Rep call me with in 48 hours to set up an appointment. I took
The car in and the bad board was replaced at no cost to me.

Thanks to everyone on this blog for all of the information.;)

[pele]

I'm located in Boucherville, Quebec. Called the local dealership and they refused to replace the radio. They wanted to charge me 800$. Called up Honda Canada, took my VIN, told me that my car was covered under this service bulletin. The dealership that refused to repair at first called me back for an replacement appointment at no cost.

It's done and it works - thanks to this forum I'm 800$ richer.

Honda de Boucherville is the dealership that got their hands twisted by Honda Canada to replace at no cost.

:)

[joefetters]

This problem just happened to my 2003 Accord EX V6 with 51000 miles on it. I called my local dealer in Durham, NC USA and they replaced some circuit board in the radio for free the next day, with no appointment needed! Problem solved, ZERO hassle.

Honda is aware of this problem, the warranty for this problem is now 7 years/100k miles (according to Honda America Customer Service). Call the dealer, they should replace/fix for FREE.

[JamesRay]

I just got my honda back from the dealer with the same issue. They replaced my head unit with a new one. I did not have to pay anything, They told me that honda was taking care of them. They told me that there had not been enough to have a recall but they fixed it, gave me a new radio. Just an FYI...

[MillardDJr]

My light went out about 18 months ago, right after the warranty expired. I went through all the hurdles of calling American Honda, then never got around to bringing it in for service. Brought it in finally today, and the dealership told me that the warranty had been extended on this part and would be replaced free of charge. Also, they no longer need to replace the entire system, just the card (which has been re-designed to prevent this issue).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but glad to see Honda did the right thing...

[StevenB]

I have had the same issue with my Honda. I called 1-800-999-1009 and mentioned the #04-027 bulletin and they asked what dealership I wanted to take it too. I had to get an estimate from the dealer and Honda is paying for the new circuit board. I have to pay $95.00 for labor.

During the same conversation with Honda I mentioned my transmission is starting to slip in 3rd or 4th gear. Since I have 112K miles on the car I figured I was on my own, but Honda agreed to pay for all parts and labor relating to the transmission.

That's why I didn't fight very hard for the $95.00.

[pakamat]

I have the same problem, my car is over 40 K miles and of course out of warranty.
Thank you to the people that started and then have provided input in this thread. I was so worried that I would have to spend a lot of money and keep go through hell to get the issue fixed. I just called the American Honda as sugessted in the beining of the hread by a few pepole and they right away told me that problem is covered as an extended warranty till 100 K miles or 10 yrs. So I can take it to any dealership and can get it fixed free of cost. HONDA IS GOOD. THANK yOU again everybody, I'm so relieved.. HAIL GOOGLE