I have so many little things wrong with the electrical that I'm thinking there has to be a common cause.
- HandsFreeLink doesn't work
- None of the interior lights that should turn on when you open the door or hit the switch do.
(Now I know those to are right next to each other, but the sunroof DOES operate)
- Key fob does not lock/unlock/panic, replaced battery and do get the transmitting light.
- Only the rear center speaker works
- CD/tape button on the radio (it's NAV) doesn't work, but XM, and AM/FM does, cassette loads, works and ejects, but the CD load does not.


The speaker functions may be unrelated, it looks like someone had a really nice system (huge monster cables in the trunk) but it's has long been removed.

 

Sounds like a fuse may be blown. Check your fuse panel inside the car in the drivers footwell.

 

Thank you!

Fuse did occur to me, but I checked the fuses under the hood and they were all good, didn't realize there was a second panel! The fuse was missing completely!

Interior lights now work!!!

I have front speakers (still not very loud though)!

HandsFreeLink sort of works,(that makes me happy, that module ain't cheap) the computer can now hear my voice and the radio mutes, but I can't hear hers.
Looking at the schematic in the shop manual, it looks like there are four wires that go between the HFL and the Audio unit, Blue/red, LtGreen/Black, Blue, and Pink, looks like the the last three are related to a coil, which takes me full circle to "What the heck did they do to the sound system, there's a lot of wires that go to nothing in the trunk!

 

^no wonder why you have gremlins!! those wires aint stock!!!

if it were me, I'd rip out all non-factory wires and start from there

 

I can see the ground wire not taped off and if the power wires arent taped off well, it could provide a spark, shorting something out.

 

I get the feeling that stripping down the interior and chasing wires is in my future... there's a (non-working) 30pin iPod Jack in the center console too.

Somebody at some time spent some bucks on a stereo system for this car, there are LED lights in the trunk to light up whatever they had back there.

 

^doesnt mean they spent big bucks....
means that they had work done( either DIY or from a shop) and makes your job much much harder chasing down wires

I would start by taking all that shit out of the trunk! there should be NO Wires in the spare tire well.

 

Great minds think alike. I've heard that the stock Acura system is really good. Even ground breaking for it's day. My hearing isn't good enough to really appreciate something really good, (too many years of helicopters, heavy metal, and guns), so I'll start with trying to get the stock working right and hopefully there aren't blown components (speakers, amps)...

I'm not going to have room in the trunk for huge bass anyway, I need all I can get for Dive gear!

 

I dont have the greatest hearing in the world and have been using the stock system for six years now. it does fine for my listening pleasures!

 

damn OP...


i see why people don't like electrical problems. It's so easy to fuck up.

 

Oh no worries about sparks, everything is "dead" there's a monster cable that used to be connected directly to the battery.

 

Yes, there are two fuse boxes-- underhood and underdash near the driver's left leg.
When your OP mentioned the Monster cable, I thought someone had added audio components and messed with the stereo system.

The Navi/Bluetooth HFL voice comes through the center dash speaker, so the prior owner may have disconnected it as part of the system install.

Do your remotes work properly now?

Welcome to AZ.

 

Kind of. The door lock and unlock energizes something and the security LED flashes, but the knobs don't move, I know the servo's are good because the lock/unlock inside the car works fine... I don't hear anything from the trunk button, and I haven't tried the panic button (I hate those things and think they should be outlawed).

Thanks for the tip on the center speaker! I was thinking it would hit all speakers, but if it's only that one, that narrows down troubleshooting considerably!

 

Try linking your remote fob to the car. Instructions are in the owner's manual, which can be viewed on-line at: Owner's Manual & Warranty | Acura | Acura Owners Site. Use the drop down menus to select year and model for the correct manual.
The instructions are in various parts of this forum too, FWIW.

Trunk access can be locked out via the valet switch in the glove box, but it's in the operating position if the car's trunk button on the dash works.

 

Thanks Will, That was it! Key fob now unlocks the trunk.

 

So yesterday I pulled the kick panel on the passengers side, sure enough the four wires that go the front speakers were cut and diverted to something else that was no longer there, I soldered them back together and wrapped them in heat shrink.

- Navigation voice commands are routed through the center speaker on the dash (buttons on the back side of the steering where)
- HandsFreeLink voice goes through the door speakers, once I had those reconnected and I could her the instructions pairing the phone was easy, without the voice to guide me I wasn't saying "yes" at a critical time.

The sound is 100% better, but still not what I would expect (3/4 volume is what I would consider "normal" listening level), and there's very little bass. With all the wiring at the amp restored to factory it looks like my next step is going to be to get at the back of the radio and see what was done there. I get the feeling that output to the rear center subwoofer was cut there and re-routed to an amp and a box in the trunk.