Greetings,

My wifeMhas a 2016 Honda fit. The battery recently died overnight and when we jumped it in the AM I mistakenly hooked cables up wrong on my car. We realized after only a few seconds but the damage was done. The switch up popped a couple fuses which I have successfully replaced.

The remaining issue I am trying to solve is the radio. The screen and entertainment portion is not turning on. Lights turn on and the dimmer works brightening and dimming the buttons, but no screen or audio. The CD player will eject CDs, but will not play. I purchased a refurbished radio and went about installing it but have the same thing with it. That leads me to think it is not the internal components of the radio but something computer related.

I have tried disconnecting the battery and held down any number of different button combinations attempting to reset the radio, but nothing has changed.

Any help or things to try would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

Illogical problems like this can drive you crazy. Isn't there a code required for the radio?

 

There is a code. Go to Honda's site and look for where to enter your VIN. Unfortunately I don't recall the specific link or path. The code will be there.

 

Good to know.

Do you have a link to that site? I found this site, but after entering my VIN, I have to enter my phone number and agree to accept messages.

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I found this in my files.

"Here is how to get radio code. Go to the screen and hit the "info" selection, when that comes up Press the "menu" button then the “System Info” or settings button you see. That will give you the Device code. Record that then go to your Honda owners site online and find the retrieve radio code link. Put in your Vin and the device number and they will email you the code. You can then add it to your owners info online so you will always have it."

 

Google gave me this link.
https://mygarage.honda.com/s/radio-nav-code

 

Yep! And there are steps to follow after that.

 

The screen is black. No clock no code. I put in a refurbished radio with same issue.

 

Bring it to the dealer. For $3,500, it will probably work - for a while. 😁

 

Check the 12v wire going to the radio. If that has 12v, then it's a radio issue.

 

Basic Jump Starting 101.

Using a portable jump start or another car,

Make sure the cable jump cords are set correctly before jump starting.

Always say out loud;

Black Negative.

Red Positive.

Check again to be sure before jump starting.

 

i dont think there is a code anymore, i think the radio is tied to the ecu so you cant just swap it.

 

And that probably means buying a new car. Great security. 🤣

 

Bring a portable radio with you in your car.

 

Use a multimeter to continuity check, or just plain replace fuse 37 (7.5A) in the dash fuse box. It provides the accessory turn-on signal for the audio unit.

The relevant wire runs from dash fuse box connector E, pin 4 to Audio Unit connector A pin 23. It's a purple wire on non-navigation cars (there's also a purple speaker wire at audio unit A5), yellow (no other yellow wires on audio A connector) with navigation.

 

or install an aftermarket head unit,i think it is possible, yes a few things will be missing, but it sounds like you cooked the OEM radio and thats not ideal, like i said, just buying another IDENTICAL radio will not work from what i beleive

 

WHAT
Unless you mean "buying an identically-cooked radio"?

 

i mean,there is no "code" if he has a ...lets say.....2017 honda fit LX, going to the wreckers and buying a 2017 honda fit LX radio (uncooked) will not produce radio like results...i think it will just be BLANK or say some error message....i MIGHT be wrong, but initially i had a dream of changing the radio, but after some research i was scared...i have replaced the battery and it all fires up with no code, it does say connecting and a buncha crap, but no code

BOBSKI are you pulling me up on english and logic...lol

 

It does that after a hard reset. In your case, disconnecting the battery. Holding down the power button for long enough will make it do that too IIRC.

Wranderson connected the jumper cables backwards. This is pretty much the same as connecting the battery backwards. Small electronics like flashlights and TV remotes use an electronic component called a diode to protect the electronics if the battery is installed backwards. Diodes only let electricity flow in one direction, so connecting the battery backwards stops the flow of electricity. Diodes aren't perfect though - when electrical power is flowing the right way round, they use up a small amount of the available voltage (0.4-0.8 V is typical), called forward voltage drop. This is no big deal with small electronics, as they use tiny amounts of electrical current (amps). Volts (electrical push) * Amps (electrical flow) = Watts (rate of doing work or rate of heat produced). A basic TV remote might peak at 0.05 A when a button is pressed. 0.6 V drop across the diode * 0.05 A going through the diode = 0.03 W of heat produced by the diode. That's nothing - it would be hard to find a diode that can't handle that all day long.
Next consider an automotive device like the stereo. It has a 15 A fuse in the fuse box. If we do the same diode calculation for the stereo running full-tilt, it comes out at 9 W. You would need a diode with an aluminum heat sink (metal cooling fins) to keep it from burning out, and keep in mind it would just be sitting there wasting energy its whole life, waiting for someone to hook up the jumper cables or battery backwards. Instead, the engineers install the diode sort of next to the radio's power rails (positive and negative supplying the radio). Power flows freely on the rails instead of being forced to go through the diode. The diode is connected between the rails, but pointing the "wrong way" so it's blocking current flow 99.99+% of its life. No current (amps) flowing through it, means zero watts of heat produced. It just sits there quietly, waiting. When power is connected in reverse, the diode flips on and becomes a short-circuit between the power rails. This instantly clamps the reverse-voltage down to the diode's forward voltage drop, which protects the rest of the electronics in the radio. It also creates a huge current flow (maybe 50+ A?) that almost instantly blows the fuse. With any luck, the split second it takes to blow the fuse isn't long enough to heat-damage the diode, even with short-circuit current flowing through it.
/electricalEngineering

 

i ran that through Chat MRF.The results were:

After analyzing the input and outside sources , result is:

do not connect the battery backwards.

POSSIBLY the radio is not cooked, i would have expected the "refirbished unit" to show SOMETHING, first thoughts is ...is it getting 12V?

 

CORRECT.

Yes. Car audio systems typically have two positive wires and one negative (ground). The first positive wire is always-on power - fuses for fire protection but otherwise directly from the battery. You would think this is the backup power to keep the clock time and such, but it's actually the main power source. The second positive wire is switched power from the ignition's accessory (ACC) circuit, which mostly serves as a wake-up / power-on signal.
This second power wire (ACC) is the purple or yellow wire I described above. If the fuse is blown or power otherwise isn't making it to pin A23, the audio unit will just assume the ignition is switched off. It's still getting (always-on) main power, so it's doing a few convenience functions like ejecting discs, but "thinks" it's supposed to be off, so it stays off.