JayN

My battery discharged in my 2003 3.2 TL and I had to jump start the
car to revive the battery. Afterward, I discovered a very annoying
problem involving the Radio Code. I have the correct original code
for the radio from the original card, and confirmed this with Acura.
I confirmed the serial number is correct by powering it up with 1 and
6 pressed. However, no matter how many times I try to enter the code,
it doesn't enable the radio. (including if I pull the radio fuse and
reinstall it, in which I am then allowed another 10 tries). This
issue really annoyed me.

I spoke to the dealer and they told me that the antenna needs to be
disconnected from the radio in order for the code to work. My
understanding is this is a design flaw with this radio in which it
will reject the radio code if it is receiving a radio signal from the
antenna (which you can't avoid unless you take apart the interior
panels of the car and disconnect the antenna from the radio).

The person from the dealership initially wanted to charge me for this,
and told me that the radio was designed this way (requiring the
antenna to be disconnected) to prevent theft. (which made no sense to
me) I pointed out that the CODE is the anti-theft feature, and the
need for the antenna to be disconnected is a design flaw. (After all,
a thief WOULD disconnect the antenna, but the owner of the car should
not be made to.) I also pointed out that I feel I should not have to
be playing games to reactivate my own radio, and the person said, "if
this bothers you so much, then we'll do the work for no charge."

While it is nice that the dealer will be reactivating my radio for me
next week, I am stuck without a radio in the mean time. This is the
manufacturer's fault, and granted there are worse problems in
life.

Nevertheless, I still wonder, should I experience a dead or discharged
battery again, if I am going to have to beg the dealer to get this
done for no charge again should that happen.

I googled this issue, and I read somewhere that driving to an
underground parking garage and attempting to reactivate the radio will
work, but I don't think there are any in my area.

Are there any other solutions to prevent this radio code nonsense from
happening again in the future other than a new radio?

It would be nice to be able to fix this myself, but I would rather not
try to pry open the interior panels myself, as they don't appear to
want to come off easily, and I don't want to accidentally crack or
scratch them.

Is there another antenna plug inside the trunk that could be unplugged
as an alternative way of fixing this? If so, then where exactly is
this other plug?

Is there any way of jamming or blocking the radio signal besides
driving into an underground parking garage?

Thanks,

J.

News

JayN wrote:
> My battery discharged in my 2003 3.2 TL and I had to jump start the
> car to revive the battery. Afterward, I discovered a very annoying
> problem involving the Radio Code. I have the correct original code
> for the radio from the original card, and confirmed this with Acura.
> I confirmed the serial number is correct by powering it up with 1 and
> 6 pressed. However, no matter how many times I try to enter the code,
> it doesn't enable the radio. (including if I pull the radio fuse and
> reinstall it, in which I am then allowed another 10 tries). This
> issue really annoyed me.
>
> I spoke to the dealer and they told me that the antenna needs to be
> disconnected from the radio in order for the code to work. My
> understanding is this is a design flaw with this radio in which it
> will reject the radio code if it is receiving a radio signal from the
> antenna (which you can't avoid unless you take apart the interior
> panels of the car and disconnect the antenna from the radio).
>
> The person from the dealership initially wanted to charge me for this,
> and told me that the radio was designed this way (requiring the
> antenna to be disconnected) to prevent theft. (which made no sense to
> me) I pointed out that the CODE is the anti-theft feature, and the
> need for the antenna to be disconnected is a design flaw. (After all,
> a thief WOULD disconnect the antenna, but the owner of the car should
> not be made to.) I also pointed out that I feel I should not have to
> be playing games to reactivate my own radio, and the person said, "if
> this bothers you so much, then we'll do the work for no charge."
>
> While it is nice that the dealer will be reactivating my radio for me
> next week, I am stuck without a radio in the mean time. This is the
> manufacturer's fault, and granted there are worse problems in
> life.
>
> Nevertheless, I still wonder, should I experience a dead or discharged
> battery again, if I am going to have to beg the dealer to get this
> done for no charge again should that happen.
>
> I googled this issue, and I read somewhere that driving to an
> underground parking garage and attempting to reactivate the radio will
> work, but I don't think there are any in my area.
>
> Are there any other solutions to prevent this radio code nonsense from
> happening again in the future other than a new radio?
>
> It would be nice to be able to fix this myself, but I would rather not
> try to pry open the interior panels myself, as they don't appear to
> want to come off easily, and I don't want to accidentally crack or
> scratch them.
>
> Is there another antenna plug inside the trunk that could be unplugged
> as an alternative way of fixing this? If so, then where exactly is
> this other plug?
>
> Is there any way of jamming or blocking the radio signal besides
> driving into an underground parking garage?
>
> Thanks,
>
> J.

I don't know the TL, but how about disconnecting the external aerial?

JayN

The antenna appears to be in the rear window, but I don't see a way to
disconnect it in that area. I looked in the trunk, and I don't see a
connection.

>
> I don't know the TL, but how about disconnecting the external aerial?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

News

Your choices appear to be to disconnect the plug at the radio -or-
disconnect the glass antenna feed at the top/rear of the headliner.

See linked diagram for a road map:

http://hondapartsunlimited.com/scacu...itch=&hidIrno=


JayN wrote:
> The antenna appears to be in the rear window, but I don't see a way to
> disconnect it in that area. I looked in the trunk, and I don't see a
> connection.
>
>> I don't know the TL, but how about disconnecting the external aerial?- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>

JayN

I don't know how to remove the headliner, and I am afraid of
potentially damaging it. There is a round plug in the ceiling that
turns with a screwdriver but it doesn't appear to unscrew. I suppose
I could try prying that plug off, but I don't want to potentially
break it.

On Dec 31, 3:26 pm, News <N...@Group.name> wrote:
> Your choices appear to be to disconnect the plug at the radio -or-
> disconnect the glass antenna feed at the top/rear of the headliner.
>
> See linked diagram for a road map:
>
> http://hondapartsunlimited.com/scacu...sp?catcgry1=TL....
>
>
>
> JayN wrote:
> > The antenna appears to be in the rear window, but I don't see a way to
> > disconnect it in that area. I looked in the trunk, and I don't see a
> > connection.
>
> >> I don't know the TL, but how about disconnecting the external aerial?-Hide quoted text -
>
> >> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

News

A "round plug" is for freeing a jammed moonroof.

On the possibility that the antenna feed is at the top/right/front of
the trunk (as viewed from the rear bumper), look to see if the harness
is mounted there.



JayN wrote:
> I don't know how to remove the headliner, and I am afraid of
> potentially damaging it. There is a round plug in the ceiling that
> turns with a screwdriver but it doesn't appear to unscrew. I suppose
> I could try prying that plug off, but I don't want to potentially
> break it.
>
> On Dec 31, 3:26 pm, News <N...@Group.name> wrote:
>> Your choices appear to be to disconnect the plug at the radio -or-
>> disconnect the glass antenna feed at the top/rear of the headliner.
>>
>> See linked diagram for a road map:
>>
>> http://hondapartsunlimited.com/scacu...sp?catcgry1=TL...
>>
>>
>>
>> JayN wrote:
>>> The antenna appears to be in the rear window, but I don't see a way to
>>> disconnect it in that area. I looked in the trunk, and I don't see a
>>> connection.
>>>> I don't know the TL, but how about disconnecting the external aerial?- Hide quoted text -
>>>> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>> - Show quoted text -

JayN

Prolem Solved! I read the instructions in the link below, and fixed
it! Granted, I should not have to go through this, but it did work!

http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=700000

Howard Lester

"JayN" wrote

> Prolem Solved! I read the instructions in the link below, and fixed
> it! Granted, I should not have to go through this, but it did work!
>
> http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=700000

I wonder if you would have been able to get the radio to take the code by
simply tuning the radio to a spot on the dial where there is no station...
then enter the code. ?

JayN

> I wonder if you would have been able to get the radio to take the code by
> simply tuning the radio to a spot on the dial where there is no station....
> then enter the code. ?

No. The radio did not function at all, including tuning.

Elmo P. Shagnasty

In article
<2827e6d6-fc6a-4fdf-8a0a-acbb059b1f42@41g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>,
JayN <JReality@Hotmail.Com> wrote:

> Prolem Solved! I read the instructions in the link below, and fixed
> it! Granted, I should not have to go through this, but it did work!
>
> http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=700000

I have to say, if this was on a Honda-brand car and was a Honda
screwup--and I imagine it is--then the Honda dealer I use would no doubt
take care of this for me at no charge.

It helps to know how things are SUPPOSED to work, and to know that the
radio isn't SUPPOSED to behave this way.

Howard Lester

"JayN" wrote

> I wonder if you would have been able to get the radio to take the code by
> simply tuning the radio to a spot on the dial where there is no station...
> then enter the code. ?

No. The radio did not function at all, including tuning.

Yeah, you did say that the radio didn't work at all. Oops/duh. ;-) I guess
the radio, receiving any amount of voltage (through the antenna), prevents
setting the code.

Elmo P. Shagnasty

In article <rv6dnW6gcNCvvMHUnZ2dnUVZ_hednZ2d@posted.dakotacom ip>,
"Howard Lester" <heylester@dakotacom.net> wrote:

> "JayN" wrote
>
> > I wonder if you would have been able to get the radio to take the code by
> > simply tuning the radio to a spot on the dial where there is no station...
> > then enter the code. ?
>
> No. The radio did not function at all, including tuning.
>
> Yeah, you did say that the radio didn't work at all. Oops/duh. ;-) I guess
> the radio, receiving any amount of voltage (through the antenna), prevents
> setting the code.

According to one of the threads that was referenced earlier, simply
taking the car underground to where it can not receive any radio signals
solves the problem.

JayN

Yes, but I don't know of any underground garages in my area.

Granted it was nice that the dealer did offer to rivive the radio for
free (THIS TIME), and it was nice that it turend out that I was able
to get it done myself and so won't be needing the dealer's help, but I
just hope I don't run into this issue again since it is a hassle.
Clearly this radio has a design flaw.

Likely I won't be buying another Acura again unless they can prove to
me beforehand that the radio code actually works....and the navigation
code too if I get one that has built-in navigation.

And Acura damned well is going to be hearing about this radio code
problem EVERY time they telephone me for a survey. If they want me to
stop bitching about it they can either 1) offer to replace the radio
with one that doesn't have this problem or 2) offer to install some
kind of toggle switch for the antenna that can be accessed without
removing the plastic panels!

> According to one of the threads that was referenced earlier, simply
> taking the car underground to where it can not receive any radio signals
> solves the problem.

Elmo P. Shagnasty

In article
<77307939-5a67-4c63-ba4d-504a51701bd2@r40g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>,
JayN <JReality@Hotmail.Com> wrote:

> Granted it was nice that the dealer did offer to rivive the radio for
> free (THIS TIME), and it was nice that it turend out that I was able
> to get it done myself and so won't be needing the dealer's help, but I
> just hope I don't run into this issue again since it is a hassle.
> Clearly this radio has a design flaw.
>
> Likely I won't be buying another Acura again unless they can prove to
> me beforehand that the radio code actually works....and the navigation
> code too if I get one that has built-in navigation.

Funny, this has never been an issue with a Honda-branded car.

I think something went wrong with this particular design of radio.

Michael Pardee

"JayN" <JReality@Hotmail.Com> wrote in message
news:77307939-5a67-4c63-ba4d-504a51701bd2@r40g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...
> Clearly this radio has a design flaw.
>
I agree - it makes no sense to have to do that. At work we have a
multi-address radio system that has a similar flaw; the earlier models would
not open the diagnostic port if the receiver was picking up signal. Later
models fixed that flaw; let's hope Honda has done / will do the same.

Mike