I made the mistake of unplugging my headunit BEFORE taking all the discs out.. so, I reconnect the HU, proceed to TRY and turn the radio on... need code.. searched glove box, owners manual, under fusebox lid, spare tire area... every place the dealership said it MIGHT be but... NOOOOOOO! It is not anywhere to be found. I bought this car as a dealer demo, so it was previously "used".

The dealership wants to charge me for a service call to get it for me... grrrrr.

I registered my car via Acura.com when I first got it but the site still has original owner as the one holding the radio code because phone number and zip code do no match mine!

You'd think this radio was made of gold!

BTW, the service person I spoke with about getting the code said "Why are you changing that beautiful radio? There is no after market unit better!".... cough.

Anywho... anyone out there have some advice? Call Acura customer ralations? I'll be screwed for the new install if I can't get this silly mistake straightened out.

 

hold the 1 and 6 buttons and you should get a serial number. Call up the dealership and tell them the serial, also there will be letters U and L somewhere in the beginning or at the end as the last/first one, do not give them that.

 

I would call Acura Corporate (customer relations). What choice do you have at this point?

 

I gave the dealership the info: VIN #, serial and model #'s of the radio.. they got my phon enumber, said they'd call back, when she called back, she said that she cannot locate the original dealership info... then she said she dig more and call me back but never did.. yeah, I am going to call Acura tomorrow but, no doubt they'll tell me that they cannot give that info out over the phone and to go to the delearship. It's pretty silly that no one put that sticker in one of the normal places or recorded that number anyplace I could find it.

 

Holding 1 & 6 at the same time.. did nothing!! The display only displays "ENTER CODE X"

I took the serial number off the radio itself but it only an 8 digit number, no letters.

 

when you digitally get it, it give out UXXXX and the XXXXL as the code.

also try out this website:
https://radio-navicode.acura.com/

 

I wish I could digially get it but I get nothing but that message on the screen...

Is there a lock out after so many wrong code tries? If so, how do I clear that? Leave radio/off for a set amount of time?

I tried that website but the previous owner's phone umber and zip code are locking me out after I enter the VIN..

 

CALL the prior owner- you have his number! Ask if he has the codes somewhere in the car or at home.
When you remove battery power to the radio it goes into security lock- so does the nav.
Radio is 5 digit code- nav is 4,,,based on my gen2
Remove the NEG battery cable for a minute and reconnect- now you can do the radio again

Look on the side edges of the glovebox door- sometimes its hand written there
If the original owner manual came with it- the selling dealers card is often inside and has the code hand written on it.
You checked ALL the fuse box covers under the hood?-and inside the car??
look for handwritten or small printed sticker
Since you know the old owners city, you can figure the local dealer made the sale and backtrack that way.

Normally- you remove the radio- get the serial number off the BACK end of it
Go to the Service Manager at Acura dealer who looks it up in the computer, may have to make a phone call and gives you the code. Since most do this free and it does take some time, I take popsicles when hot out, or donuts in the morning as a thank you
$5 gets you a lot of return Goodwill~

Having your car registration to prove you match the vin, and its all legit- just be prepared and you wont need anything beside the unit serial number.
If for some reason the radio was replaced under warranty- they often forget to write down the code and it takes several phone calls for acura to figure out. As happened on my nav.

For the website- call acura and see how you change owner of record- and register with them too- 1-800-382-2238 x5 gets you a human- not a top level acura person-
a phone ansering person who can look things up in books or online, and if a serious problem- they take a number and a real acura manager calls you back

The #800 has no record of the codes, BUT if they can get you into the acura.com account- since the guy was smart enough to have signed up- the codes may be there- it has a place just for that!!! Good Luck

 

Thanks for your response. I don't have the previous owners number since I bought it at a dealership. I checked the service book and it was some delearship I had never heard of. It just should not be this fricken hard!

I will go look under the hood again.. I'd love to get this behind me so I can get on with the new install. I have the glovebox out, I looked all over it for the number, even the console box... nada.

 

FYI for others in this boat:

To retreive the serial number via display:

Turn off radio, hold the 1 & 6 buttons, turn on radio and the code will be displayed.

The serial number for mine is the same as what is shown on the sticker on the top and back of the radio. 8 digits, no letters.

 

go to you acura dealer with the title/proof of ownership and with the serial number, and get it. They should give it to you for free since they don't need to remove the radio to get access. Also ask them if they could give you a new card or something for it too.

 

Not at the OP, but not for nothing either:

When *you* buy a car, keep the F'n shit the dealer gives you together and neat - Radio Code/Navi Code card, Owners Manual, Extra Key, Purchase Contract, Window Sticker, Delivery Checklist, Saleman's/Dealership's Business Card, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

I keep the vast majority of that stuff in the Owners Manual Book. It's *really* not that hard. Do it once, and put it up.

When you sell/trade the car give all the *non-personal* (i.e., your contract, etc) stuff to the new owner. Otherwise, they'll be on here one day calling you names.

 

I was lucky to get all of my stuff but the DVD demo disk and valet key...

 

hold 1 and 6 and press the power button as u hold 1 and 6....it'll give u the serial for the radio and then u go to the service manager at acura give him the serial and get ur code....they wont give u the code over the phone as a safety precaution in case the radio is stolen.

 

I got the code! I didn't use the dealership nor Acura's customer service. It cost me 28$ but I got it for a site called radio-code.com. I simply entered the serial number into their site and got it... A strange way to get it but.. it worked. I was able to retrieve my discs and then take out the head unit.

Now on to the real project!!

Remember that to get the code from the radio... turn key to acc, turn off the radio. hold buttons 1 & 6 and then turn on the radio while holding the buttons. You will get the serial number. I think that is only for the 04-08's though.

 

Write the code down for whoever buys that unit off you!!

 

www.radio-code.com Good to know.....thanks!! Glad you got your radio unlocked.

 

 

I did that.. wrote in the owners manual and stored online

 

I called the dealer and gave them the vin# of our MDX. They called my back and verified it was my vehicle, then gave me the code.

 

The dealer would not give me the code over the phone.. top sercret, ya know, need high lever security clearances. I guess everyone in the world wants these radios for their cars