Replacing the Head unit - 98 Civic EX

davidronolson

New Member
Hello everyone,

I've finally decided to replace the stock head unit in my car with a Bluetooth Head unit. I did some research and have decided on the Pioneer MVH-X370BT head unit. ($90 on amazon, has great reviews, and is great for the price... I'm a cheapo... haha) I really don't want to cut and splice wires, so I started looking around for a pigtail connector for the head unit. I came across a company called "Metra" who sells pigtail connectors for the stock wiring harness. I believe the Metra PN: 70-1720 connector is what I need, but would love some verification from someone who has done something of this nature before.

Now here's where I get a little lost...

The head unit is listed as a "Single-DIN" or "Full-DIN" head unit. To my understanding, this means the physical dimensions of the head unit is approximately 7" wide and 2" tall. So the head unit should fit into the open slot after removing the stock head unit. (Is this correct?) I would like a clean look to my center console, but I'm having trouble hunting down the correct dash faceplate/kit to give it that "clean" look.

Anyone have any suggestions? Questions? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks everyone!

Dave
 

davidronolson

New Member
Thanks buddy. You're right... the extra $10 includes the dash kit, wiring harness adapter, and instructions. You just saved me a lot of time. I always forget about crutchfield (even though I've bought stuff from them multiple times.)
 

Mr.Baker

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davidronolson said:
I really don't want to cut and splice wires, so I started looking around for a pigtail connector for the head unit. I came across a company called "Metra" who sells pigtail connectors for the stock wiring harness.



The head unit is listed as a "Single-DIN" or "Full-DIN" head unit. To my understanding, this means the physical dimensions of the head unit is approximately 7" wide and 2" tall. So the head unit should fit into the open slot after removing the stock head unit. (Is this correct?)
Click to expand...
Whenever you install a new audio head unit, as long as the factory harness is intact coming from the car, you should NEVER cut wires and not use an adapter harness.

As for the terminology, single DIN/Full DIN should fit the stock location.
Double DIN would be a larger unit and a different story.
 


HeX

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davidronolson said:
Thanks buddy. You're right... the extra $10 includes the dash kit, wiring harness adapter, and instructions. You just saved me a lot of time. I always forget about crutchfield (even though I've bought stuff from them multiple times.)
Click to expand...
Consider this before ordering from Crutchfield. The radio kit they include looks like this, below (American International Kit HON-K808)...




SonicElectronix.com offers the Scosche HA1570B kit pictured below, which allows use of the radios trim if you prefer that look. Sonic has the radio for the same price which includes the install kit and wiring harness for free, and if you break $100 then it all ships for free. I've ordered from them for years with no complaints and they ship fast. They also have some of the best prices for speakers, especially MB Quarts.

 
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davidronolson

New Member
Thanks for the suggestion. I don't notice much of a difference between sonicelectronix and crutchfield. I honestly think that the American International trim piece looks cleaner.

Here are a few things that I have now learned and have questions about...

1. Wire splicing is still required regardless of where I purchase it from. I'm not sure what pigtail adapter Sonicelectronix would provide me with, but I would imagine that it would be something equivelant to what crutchfield is going to supply me with. Crutchfield supplies you with the Metra 70-1720T adapter, and it needs to be spliced to the new head unit wiring harness. I chatted with one of their tech people who gave me the impression that it would be an adapter that goes directly from the existing wiring harness to the new head unit... This is very far from the truth. I'm not mad about this, nor will this stop me from replacing my head unit, I was just hoping that I would get to avoid having to solder wires together. (I don't like using wire nuts. I'd rather do it right the first time)

The thing that shocked me is that I will have to tuck the factory head unit back behind the dash (!!!) Is this common??? I've never done this before with any other car that I've owned. (87 Honda, 83 Buick, 93 BMW, 79 BMW, 93 Ford, 96 Ford, 01 Mitsubishi, 94 Toyota) What's the purpose of doing this? My first guess is that it has something to do with the keyless entry. Anyone have any tips on where or how to safely mount the stock head unit behind the dash? Is there even enough space to fit it back there?

Thanks everyone.
 

mc360

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Yes you will have to splice the two pigtails together but it can be done on a bench or in the house rather than hanging upside down under the dashboard like you would if you cut and spliced stock wiring to the radio pigtail. It's super simple anyways, the aftermarket factory adapter will have all the same colors as the stereo pigtail so it's just a matter of matching color to color, no need for solder butt connectors are the standard way of installing stereos.

Reason you tuck the stock head unit is for the keyless entry and the dome light, the dome light is an easy fix by making a jumper wire between two specific wires under the dash, keyless can be fixed by installing an aftermarket alarm which is good to do anyways. But your stock head unit will fit behind the dash, many people do it
 

Back4

New Member
I've done research looking for an after market plug and play security system to utilize the oem keyless entry and came up dry. I found a YouTube video that showed the jumper needed for the dome light


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

davidronolson

New Member
Thanks. Do you happen to have a link to that video? I see that the green wiring harness is for the keyless entry system, however, crutchfield did not supply any information about having to make a jumper for the dome light. My assumption would be that this function would also be utilized through the green wiring harness? And since I will be plugging it back into the stock head unit, there will be no need to make a jumper for the dome light?

The one other thing I noticed about the new head unit is that it does not have a dimming feature, so I have to cap off the orange wire on the wiring harness adapter.

Thanks guys. I'll take pictures while I'm doing the install for anyone who plans on updating their head unit.
 
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