forbiddenera

[NOTE : This post will be edited and expanded on in the coming days, so check back. ]

If you saw my Civic Radio Install Writeup, you already know where this is coming from but if not..

I own my on mobile car audio/automotive electrician service business, I thought I'd do the radio writeup because I quite often see poor jobs and end up fixing them, though this rarely happens with starters as they're mostly professionally installed I still wanted to do this writeup for anyone considering doing this themselves or anyone who's curious about the process.

This guide is based off the install I'm doing right now on a clients 99 Civic Sedan EX. The system I'm installing doesn't actually have an alarm function but does have auxiliary outputs for door locks (keyless entry), trunk opening (unfortunately Civics don't do this electronically, so we won't be using this, though you could install your own solenoid and enable this feature), window defroster and more.

This is quite an involved job, especially without a T-harness. Bulldog apparently makes one for the 96-00 Civic (the car I'm doing this particular install on) I've never used it though I probably would have except I had expected to finish the job today and didn't want to wait to order one.

I didn't end up finishing the job today, partly I got started late, partly the deck install took extra time due to having to Dremel several parts to make things fit and partly because without a t-harness, you have to crawl under the dash with a service manual and figure out which wires you need, split them, solder them and shrink them.

If you're not going to get a T harness (and maybe even if you are), a good suggestion is to actually remove the driver seat. 4 quick bolts and a connector for the seat belt sensor and it's removed, then you can actually lay on the car floor under the dash, instead of kneeling and leaning over inside the car.

If you do have a T harness, figure out which plugs it will use and where they are, make notes of this. Then, using the wiring guide from your starter/alarm and your T harness, solder the wires/harnesses that connect the starters brain to their appropriate mate on the T harness.

If you don't have T harness, I recommend taking some time and sitting down with the Factory Service Manual and the wiring guide from your starter/alarm. Make notes on where each wire you'll need to tap is, and it's color.

I will be doing this myself over the weekend, and will post some of my notes/details to help other people venturing into this job, like which wires you'll need and the best place to tap them.

Make sure you disconnect the battery. We will be unplugging and working near SRS-related wires. Take caution, you don't want a ******* airbag in the face.

You'll then take apart the lower dash panel, remove the metal peice under it. You'll then probably want to unplug all the connectors from the fuse/relay box and remove it completely, this gives good access to all the wiring.

Find each wire you need then attach it to its mate on the starter/alarm/keyless entry harness.

There's a few ways to do this. There's tap connectors, there's a few kinds. I don't recommend using the kind that splits the wire for you but they do work, I saw a kind on YouTube yesterday that I'd probably use that don't split the wire for you but do look good, professional and have a tab-plug sticking out of it.

Ideally though, you'll use solder. There's two schools of thought on this, I'm in the first camp personally.

1. Cut wire, strip a bit off each end. Lay new wire parallel with one of the halfs and twist them together, slide heatshrink over them well past where you twisted them together. Flux that and the other half, solder the two halfs together, slide the heat shrink over it and shrink.

2. Don't cut the wire, but simply strip it back. Solder new wire to area you stripped back. This way is easier and quicker, but you'll have to use electrical tape instead of heat shrink to seal it.

People in camp 1 know how shitty electrical tape can be at times and don't trust it to seal important wires on your cars harness.
People in camp 2 don't think it's wise to cut wires in your cars or don't like spending a lot for time on it and think tape is just fine.

It's upto you to decide what's best for you, but, electrical tape, in my experience, doesn't last. It gets gummy and goopy over time and heat cycles and this can result in it coming loose. It must be stretched while taping in order to release adhesive and get a good stick, which can be especially difficult for the inexperienced and in tight places.

Once you've done that, you can go ahead and plug it all in, then you're basically done the install. Route the antenna to the top center of the windshield, tucking the wires and hiding them in the A pillar.

You'll then likely have to program the brain and remote, follow instructions that came with your starter.

forbiddenera

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