Honda radio code madness....need help!

[gregk24]

I did a bunch of maintenance today on my 2012 Accord today which included a transmission fluid drain and refill. I got frisky and unplugged the negative cable on the battery to reset the TCU to relearn shifting on the new fluid. Upon restarting the car the radio requires a code to regain function of the radio. This is nothing I haven't done 10 times before without issue, but this time when putting the radio code in I am getting error messages. It allows 10 attempts before "locking you out" but all you have to do is unplug the negative cable and you can try again.

At any rate, I 100% have the right code. I have it in the owners manual and it is labeled in the car as well in a discrete location. I have tried unplugging the battery and unplugging the fuses. NO LUCK!

Does anyone have a fix for this? It is just too coincidental that it worked fine before unplugging the battery.

 

[Chris142]

I can't help you with it but I always hated that about Honda cars. Who is going to steal a stock Honda radio anyway?

 

[gregk24]

I can't help you with it but I always hated that about Honda cars. Who is going to steal a stock Honda radio anyway?

Exactly! I am afraid this will end up at a dealership spending way too much.

 

[Chris142]

Exactly! I am afraid this will end up at a dealership spending way too much.

If you take the registration they may help you for just the $100 diagnostic charge.

 

[CarLuver]

Honda Radio / Navigation Code Retrieval and Reset Instructions

The official Honda site-instructions for radio/navigation code retrieval. Learn how to find your unique code and reset your Honda audio and navi systems.

radio-navicode.honda.com

 

[B1974]

We had this problem with my kids 07 civic. The on line tool gave us ten or so codes to try, the second last one worked.

 

[Andrew1972]

I believe you shut off radio then turn on it asks for code then you press hold power button about 30-60 seconds then it shows unlocked . Works on a lot of 2011-2015 models including my Pilot. Good luck!

 

[gregk24]

I believe you shut off radio then turn on it asks for code then you press hold power button about 30-60 seconds then it shows unlocked . Works on a lot of 2011-2015 models including my Pilot. Good luck!

Maybe I’ll try that tomorrow. I held the power button for 30 seconds this evening, I’ll hold for a full minute next time.

 

[gregk24]

I believe you shut off radio then turn on it asks for code then you press hold power button about 30-60 seconds then it shows unlocked . Works on a lot of 2011-2015 models including my Pilot. Good luck!

Went ahead and held for a full minute, no luck.

 

[hrv]

Go to the Honda site online under owners section and they have the procedure to do it along with radio code if needed via your VIN....

 

[Andrew1972]

Went ahead and held for a full minute, no luck.

Try off then hold power on for two or three seconds too. My MDX differed from my Pilot in that way.