radarguy1@earthlink.net wrote:
>
> I was just scaning ebay for a replacement radio should I not find the
> problem with mine and I have a question for you guys.
> I have a 94 Civic. Will a later model radio fit if I can change the
> connector. There is a dealer on ebay that has connectors for $2.99?

Do not under any circumstance change the connector. It is just about the
biggest f*ck-up you can do on a stereo replacement. What you do is use
an adapter. When you buy a new stereo, it will come with a plug with
wires attached (usually about 12" in length). The plug fits in the back
of the new stereo. You then need a plug that plugs into the factory
wiring harness. These are a few bucks at most, and usually come with
about 4" ow wire attached. You splice this harness to the one that came
with the stereo, and you have yourself an adapter to fit between the
factory wiring and the new stereo.

The '94 Civic has a standard DIN size opening, so you have plenty of
choice when it comes to replacement stereos. You can look at
http://www.crutchfield.com to see what fits in your car. Their prices
are good, but not rock-bottom. They have very good support, and they
include all adapters and trim kits you will need for your car. I have
bought stuff from them for over 15 years.

I have a '94 civic as well. The factory FM/Cassette was replaced with a
Blaupunkt FM/CD many years ago, and more recently with a Harman Kardon
TrafficPro navigation system. Never had any problems with the
installation.

On the practical side, the factory stereo has two power connections,
direct from the battery and switched through the ignition. Power to run
the factory stereo comes through the ignition switch, the direct from
battery wire is only used for battery backup of FM presets etc. That
wire is fused with a 7.5 amp fuse under the hood (fuse shared with clock
and ECU memory).

The after-market stereo will be different, it will draw all its power
from the wire that is always on and use the ignition switched one only
to sense if the ignition is on or off. In most cases installers don't
care, and use the factory always-on wire because it is easy to do. Most
of the time it works just fine, but if you are cranking up the volume a
bit, an after market stereo can easily blow the 7.5 amp fuse. (This is
more an inconvenience than a disaster; The car will still run just fine.
Clock will stop working and the ECU will relearn some settings etc.) If
you want to do it properly, pull a wire from the fuse box under the dash
(it has auxiliary outputs just for that sort of thing) over to the radio
for the always on connection. http://www.geocities.com/ng_randolph has
photos and descriptions of the fuse box connections.

A minor inconvenience is that the ignition switched wire in the factory
stereo harness goes dead while you are starting the car. This means if
you are playing the stereo with the engine off and then start the car,
your music will be interrupted for as long as it takes to start the
engine. No big deal at all, but if you are motivated you could find an
ignition switched wire that is live even while cranking the starter (the
power windows relay is fed with just such a signal).

> Any advice here would be appreciated. It would be nice to replace the
> plain radio/cassette with a CD.

Amen. I can't believe even high end vehicles still have that stupid
cassette player in them but many do.

--
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A very modest collection of Honda tech info can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/ng_randolph