DIY: DC5 headunit & speakers

[noodleman]

Parts
1. Wire harness, it is the same harness used in 1998 and newer Honda accord, and 1999 and newer Honda civic etc
2.(depending on deck) Small Trim Ring *see pics below*
Ok so to start off, what you will need to do is locate the center dash panel below the radio and directly above the cupholder/tray and on either side. There is one small area on either side where you can see an slot that you can use your tool of choice to help pop the panel out (seen here).




This is what it looks like off you can see all the clip locations as well as you will need to unplug the power outlet.



Then it gets a little tricky, only because it may require a special tool that some people might not have, either a right angle screwdriver(skewdriver) or a 8mm socket on a flexible extension to get them out, there are two.





After you remove both the lower screws position your hands behind the plastic *pocket* and push out evenly and the entire dash surrounding the radio will begin to pop out, being careful on the side where the hazard button is because there is less support and more risk of cracking the dash trying to pop the clips out of the dash

[noodleman]

Then just unplug the antenna and the hazard switch and radio and its out!



After that there are 4 screws holding the radio in that also are 8mm bolts, if you have an 8mm it will probably work better sometimes they are so tight you might strip the head with a regular phillips, but you can try and see what works for you



On the other side you will have to remove the 2 screws holding in the hazard button because it is blocking the forward screw holding in the deck but after that it will slide out to the front.



This next thing is optional but I just felt it looked better with this particular unit I had (alpine) to take care of any gaps around the stereo, its a small trim ring that goes between the stereo and the dash.

[IMG]hthttp://thanh-do.net/clubitr/HeadUnitInstall/headunit9.jpg[/IMG]

[noodleman]

With that in place I can go ahead and put the new unit back in place of the original and it will bolt back in like the old one came out. You can also opt to use the sleeve that comes with most radios its up to you at this point how you want to mount it.



Next is the wiring, you will want to use the adapter harness. Doing so will not cause you to cut any wires in the car, rather match up the wires you have to a plug and just plug it in. I twist the wires and then solder and tape them (as I did when I was an installer at a certain shop) but you can use whatever you want, but be sure to leave no wires uncovered even if your not using them, this can cause things to short out and can only cause more bad then good.



After solder and tape



At this point, your just about done. Basically reverse the process that you did by removing the stock stereo, go plug in the antenna and the new radio to the harness, and be sure to plug in the hazard switch. Then just pop the dash bezel back in place, and reinstall the two lower screws you took out at the very beginning. This is very important not only for security but for safety because if you were to just snap the dash back on and not screw it in, if you were to get into an accident that dash could come flying out at you and hurt you when you would have otherwise been just fine. Then, snap the lower dash cover back on, and your done!

[MrThanh]

one more thing, once you remove the 8mm bolts/screws, you can just push the unit out by putting your hand into the back and pushing the unit outwards. if you try and pry it out with screwdrivers etc u can damage the trim around it. (i learned the hard way)

[noodleman]

and test everything before solder/ tape/ heatshrink it all together....cos it'll be a pain if it all finished then relise you wired wrong.

also you can purchase wiring harness from ebay for like $15, makes life much easier since the working space behind the dash is so small for hte dc5

[MrThanh]

w00t. i found the pic i made a while ago RE wiring

[MrThanh]

Speaker Installation - Rear

OK, so the back speakers are almost ridiculously easy to replace. As most of you know the mounting holes are not going to line up, but it doesn't matter. To get to the back speakers all you have to do is pop off the grill cover. As usual there is a special space provided to start the grill removal.



Use whatever tool you find works for you to insert in that space and pry outward the grill will start to pop out, there are two clips at the top that come out, after they come out you pull upwards there are two tabs at the bottom.



Then just unscrew the three phillips screws and you will probably have to put something to the top of the speaker to get it to come out. Then just unplug it and your almost done.



Next is the wiring. What I recommend is cruise on down to circuit city or good guys or whatever and look for some of there speakers harness adapters they have they are about 5 bucks for a pack of 2. they will plug right into the stock harnesses and then into the aftermarket speaker. If you just want to go ahead and splice into the wires you can see in the pictures which is positive and negative but the harnesses will make it easier to keep the pos and neg correct in all the speakers (front/rear/right/left)



With that all I did was just plug and play, then I took a drill and carefully screwed the new speaker in the old hole but had to drill 3 new mounting holes in the plastic This works out just fine.



After that just reinstall the speaker cover and do the other side same way. The speaker size is a 6 1/2" and that is probably the maximum size you would be able to fit. Some speaker manufacturers do make an Oversized 6 1/2" speaker that will not fit this location so try and stay away from that.

[MrThanh]

Speaker Installation - Front

FRONT

The fronts are going be quite a bit more difficult then the rears were. I have taken pictures but its a lot harder to explain how a door panel comes off without actually showing you how. If you are not very confident in doing this yourself I suggest you don't.

There are a few main things you have to remove in order to take off the door panels.

1. There is a little plastic cover behind the inside door handle with a small tab in the bottom center that has to be removed to reveal 2 small screws



removed



To get it out, use a small object to push up on the small tab while pulling gently outwards and there are 2 tabs at the top of the thing that will pretty much hold it at the top. After you get it out the first few inches it will probably just fall off by itself.
The 2 screws behind it will be removed.

Once removed you will take out the handle, it will come out from front to back there is a tab to the back of the handle be careful not to break it off in the process. There is also one bronze colored screw you can see in the background behind the handle, this has to be removed as well.



Carefully unplug the lock switch and then you will have to VERY carefully remove the little yellow lock over the cable that attaches to the door handle.



Just turn it a quarter turn and pull the silver cable off, then the handle is off.



Only two more screws to come out and then your ready to remove this sucker. The last two screws are located below the arm rest, one to the back of it



and one to the front of it



Both are the same color and size as the bigger bronze one at the top of the door panel.

[MrThanh]

Speaker Installation - Front pt2

The next part was not easy to take pictures of, so you will be somewhat on your own but here goes...

There are a bunch of plastic"clips" or "snaps" that attach to the back side of the door panel that press into the door. If you have ever removed a door panel in any other car you probably know what I am talking about. In order to take off the door panel you have to *pry* the door panel away from the door where the snaps are as not to crack or split the plastic on the door. To do this you will probably want to obtain a panel removing tool or something similar. If not, just pull away it will probably come off!



They are located down the sides and across the bottom of the door, but not at the top.
If you have successfully popped the panel loose at this point, to remove it you have to pull upwards and backwards on the panel. Its hard to explain and I could not get a good picture while doing it myself one handed but its something like this



Where you pull upwards on the rear part of the panel where the door lock pull is, and back at the same time. Then the panel comes out over the top of the door that its more or less *hanging* on. Remember at this point the power window switch is probably still plugged it and not to pull to hard yet. Once the panel is off there will be less tension on the door handle where the window switch is you should be able to just pull it straight out. From front to back the front it held down my force fit clips that have felt on them, just pull upwards and it should come right out, then forwards there are tabs holding it in to the back. Then just unplug it.



With the panel off you are looking at the speakers. One thing you will notice is NO SCREWS! that's right, the speaker is clipped in the door. There is one clip at the top that you will press down on and the top part of the speaker will come free, then pull upwards and the speaker will come out. Unplug it.



The speaker is a 6 1/2" speaker from the factory, but the way it mounts and the fact that it has literally no depth makes it hard to replace it with an aftermarket speaker of the same size.
Just by coincidence the last car my g/f had had 5 1/4" separates in it, and the 5 1/4" speaker actually fit the hole pretty well. Aside from the fact that I had to drill into the door to mount the new speaker since the other one had no mounting points, it fit nicely and that was that. I forgot to get a picture of it in the car. Here is a pic of the wiring colors on the drivers side:



Now, reverse the process you did to take the door panel off and your set. Both sides come off the same way, the only difference on the drivers side is there are 2 window switches instead of one.

One thing that I am not going to go into but ill show you what I did is I actually replaced the door speaker as well as the dash tweeter with a component set. The speakers I used were Polk Audio 5 1/4" EX separates available from circuit city. The wiring is tricky and if your going do it there are a million ways it could be done, but here are pics on how to get the dash tweeter out and what mine looked like afterwards. To get the dash tweeter out, just like the rear speaker covers there is a notch taken out of it where you can use whatever tool works for you to pop it out.



It pops out from the front there is one clip.



This is what mine looked like after the new ones were installed.



Something like this I don't know if I would recommend doing yourself if you don't feel comfortable with stuff like this. If you are, this might help you along some.

[noodleman]

speakers that fit the dc5....6.5inch for front, with 10mm spacers, for some type you need to cut the door little, depending of the size of the magnet, Jl audio 6.5 XR series is one of them that need both spacers and trimming of the door to fit.

as for rear....5 3/4 and 6 inch fits fine with out major modifications

[MrThanh]

i've got focal 165V2 in the fronts and the door had to be cut. i used a dremel (dont use the cheap dremel knockoffs, the bits break very easily) you could also use an angle grinder if you wanted to, just make sure that you cover your car (seats etc) and use protective eyewear.

i've also got 6.5" in the rear, but I had to mount them BEHIND the plastic side moulding. pretty easy to do, and the holes still line up nicely.

[MrThanh]

full credits go to the original authors and clubrsx.

[jonnieR]

good work guys

[CL9R]

i've got focal 165V2 in the fronts and the door had to be cut. i used a dremel (dont use the cheap dremel knockoffs, the bits break very easily) you could also use an angle grinder if you wanted to, just make sure that you cover your car (seats etc) and use protective eyewear.

i've also got 6.5" in the rear, but I had to mount them BEHIND the plastic side moulding. pretty easy to do, and the holes still line up nicely.

I want to install the 6.5" in the rear as well, but i have no idea how to mount it to fit the position, can u post a pic about it? thx

[CK1]

just a quick questin... the headunit ive got doesnt come with the "illumination" lead..... i cant seem to get the thing working... everything else seems to be connected correctly.... any suggestions?? the model is CQ-C9800N