I had a battery replaced a few days ago in my 2001 Honda Accord and now my radio system is asking for a code?

Answer 1

This is an antitheft system on Hondas. Any time the radio loses power to it (ie: unhooking the battery) the radio asks for a code. This is done so that thieves cannot steal your radio and plug it into another car.

Hopefully you have the code somewhere. If you bought the car new, it was delivered to you with your manual. If it was a used car, check the glove box. What your looking for is a credit card sized plastic card with 'Radio Code' and the code printed on it. This card also comes with code 'stickers' and if you bought the car used, someone may have stuck one of these in the maual or the glove compartment. Check for that too.

If you can't find the code anywhere you need to go to a Honda dealer. Hopefully they can look up your code by VIN, but they may have to remove the radio to get at the serial #.

Good Luck!!

Answer 2

you need an 'anti-theft' code to reactivate the radio. whenever the electrical power to the radio is interrupted the system "thinks" that the radio has been stolen and it goes into anti-theft mode.

if you purchased the car new, then you might find a white card about the size of a credit card with the owners manual or papers you received when you bought it. that card would have the anti-theft code on it.

if you can't find the card, call the dealer you bought it from. they may have the code on file from when they sold the car. however, most dealers only keep records for 7 years and often in remote storage locations so don't count on them having the code.

if you don't have the card, look inside the glove box for a white label about 1" long and 1/2" high. It may have two rows of numbers or just one. If it has two rows, the 5 digit number on the top is your anti-theft code. if it has one row of numbers about 9 charactors long, it is the serial number for the radio.

if you have only the serial number for the radio, you can call any honda dealer, give it to them and ask them to look up the radio code on their honda system. each radio code is specific to the serial number of the radio; there is no 'universal' code.

if you can't find the tag in the glove box, look under the rear trunk lid. if the car has an ashtray, pull it out and look at the backside or underside of the ashtray. the dealers put the tags in a variety of places when they did the initial inspection on the car.

if you can't find the tags, then try this. with the key in the igntion switch and the key ON but the rado turned OFF, hold in the station select buttons number 1 & 6 with your right hand. then, while holding those buttons in, turn the radio ON with your other hand. You should see a series of 5 charactors on the display starting with the letter U and followed by 4 numbers. write them down. then the display will change to a second set of 5 charactors starting with the letter L and 4 numbers. write them down. then call the honda dealer and give them those numbers--those numbers are the serial number of the radio.

if all else fails, the radio will have to be removed to get the serial number off of the manufacturer plate on the back of the radio. dealerships will not charge to retrieve the code for you but will charge to remove the radio.

hope that gives you some direction. I think you'll be able to get the radio activated again. one note--you have 3 shots to enter the code correctly or you'll get an error message. if you get that, disconnect the negative battery cable and leave it off for 3 minutes to clear the error mode. then reconnect the cable and you can then enter the code.

hope that helps

Answer 3

I had the same problem last year. Since I bought the car used, the dealer did not have the code. I got lucky; the dealer was willing to contact the original dealership and get the code. If you can't do this, then you will need to take the car to a Honda dealership and have the service department pull the radio. They can then submit the serial number to Honda and get the code. It's very simple (for them). They get this a lot, so you won't have any explaining to do. Good luck!

Answer 4

The battery was left disconnected for too long a period without a keep alive being added as suggested, and the radio has lost the code (a security feature to render the radio useless if stolen). You will have to enter the code before it will work again, the specific code for your radio will be on the card in the radio section of the manual you got when you bought the vehicle.

Answer 5

Battery life depends on your usages and maintenance. On the average a standard battery is about 3 to 4 years, which is already very good. Open circuit test, a good battery should read 13.6 - 14 V Do check your charging system to ensure it is providing good charging to your battery when the engine is running. It can be a defective alternator or a wrongly adjusted voltage regulator that causing a weak battery! Properly charging rate - 16.5V Check it up with a voltmeter before you change the battery. Send the 4 year old battery for charging is waste of time and effort. Just change a new one - it save you all the troubles and other costs!! Just spend less over a few jug of Beers! Happy Driving

Answer 6

when power is cut to the radio, the radio goes into lock mode. someone steals your radio it wont work without the code. check your owners book for the code .

Answer 7

damn anti theft crap is more trouble to owners then a help..contact dealer...