You are going to need what is called a “wiring harness” to go from your car’s wiring to the wiring on your stereo. This is a plug and play piece of equipment that will convert the wires to all the right connections to let your stereo work.

Do you have a Civic with an alarm system or keyless entry? If you do, the alarm and keyless entry are probably built in to the factory radio. For this reason, you have to keep the factory radio in the car WITH the new radio. This sounds funny, but you can buy a special harness specifically for this purpose that allows you to have both stereos plugged in at the same time.

Now what do I do with the original factory stereo, you ask? You hide it inside the dash, behind and below the new stereo. It is a tight fit, but on my 1998 Civic, there was just enough room to squeeze the old radio behind the dashboard and put in the new stereo. This way, I can still use keyless entry.

You will also need a “bezel” or piece of plastic that is specifically made to take up the space between your new stereo and any space left by removing your old stereo from the dash.

I have found that the best place to get all of these harnesses and bezels, etc. is Crutchfield.com. Here is a link directly to their “Car Stereo Installation” section of their web site. The great part about Crutchfield is that they send instructions on how to use the accessories and do weird things like hook up to stereos in one car.

http://www.crutchfield.com/m_750/Car-Stereo-Installation.html?tp=457

Good luck and if you need further help, post back to my web site your exact year, make and model of car as well as the exact make and model of stereo and I can try to help you out further.

-Dennis

This may be a dumb question, but I would like to replace a factory radio with an aftermarket in a 1998 honda civic, The harness has only one connector, but the back of the radio has two. What is the smaller connector for.

Thanks,

John

Hm… for some reason, I did not write that down! It would be the other left over cable in the harness, with black stripe going to negative and the solid color going to positive. Sorry I can not be more help.

-Dennis