After buying my car last year, I silently suffered through months of radio and a temperamental 6-disc CD changer before I’d finally had enough. It was time to fix the iPod issue, and bring my 80 GB world of music into my car’s stereo system. And because I have always lived by the mantra “Why pay somebody else to do what you can do yourself?” (read: since I am impatient and impulsive), I decided to try and figure out a way to install the iPod myself. I mean, how hard could it be?

(Just between us, I ask myself that question often, and the answer is almost always “very, very hard/bordering impossible.”)

I did a little online research and discovered that nobody on earth had ever successfully installed an iPod in a 2003 Accord with Navi and had lived to tell about it. Or blog about it. But several handy people had installed them in 2003 Accords without navi, so I decided to follow those instructions. Um, how different could it be? (See above answer to “how hard could it be?” Replace words “hard” and “impossible” with “different” and “the complete oppostite.”)

I decided to give it a shot. And since it was frustrating when I couldn’t find the info that I needed online, I have decided to blog about my experience so that the same thing doesn’t happen to the next person who decides to attempt it. You’re welcome.

So here are my step-by-step instructions on installing an iPod in a 2003-2006 Honda Accord with navigation… And by “instructions” I simply mean the play-by-play of how I did it myself. I am in no way encouraging you to do anything even remotely similar to this. Seriously. You shouldn’t. Instead, please contact a professional. Call the Geek Squad. Give up iPods for Lent. Professional driver, closed course. DO NOT ATTEMPT.

(Dear Lawyers of my blog readers: That is what I–and 9 out of 10 judges–refer to as a disclaimer.)

Now let’s get started.

THINGS I USED:

- Blitzsafe HON/AUX DMX V.2X (I got it here)
- RCA to 1/8″ Phono adapter cable (I got mine at Best Buy, but you can find it here)
- Flat head screwdriver
- Phillips Head screwdriver
- These Instructions

The first step is to use these instructions, complete with helpful photos, on the proper dismantling of your center console. You could print the instructions, or you could do what I did and read through them once, then go to your car and try to do everything from memory. Your call.

Proceed to dismantle the console according to the instructions. That should look a little something like this:

And this:

The passenger side floor is a fabulous place to put all the removed items. And the screws you take out can be kept safe in one of your car’s cup-holders. Responsibility is my middle name.

Note: If you have read my disclaimer and are proceeding with the iPod install anyway, please take extra care when disconnecting your seat warmer switch connections from the gearshift cover (pictured below). Your bottom will thank you in December. And please disregard the flecks of dirt and grass you see on the carpet of my car. This picture was taken mere moments before my daily obsessive vacuuming out of my vehicle. I am all about keeping my car clean and dirt-free. Ask anybody. Neat-Freak is my middle name.

Once you have successfully removed the entire center console, it will look something like this:

And here is where things will start to get dicey.

Take a deep breath. I’m here for you. We’ll get through this together.

At this point, the online instructions you’re following will tell you that the back of the factory radio is now accessible to you. Except it won’t be. Instead, you’ll look closely and realize that the back of the factory radio would only be accessible to you if you were similar in size to one of the Who’s that Horton heard.  Or one of the ants that lived in the backyard of one of the Who’s that Horton heard.

The picture in the instructions  won’t match, because the picture in the instructions is of a CD player in an Accord without Navi, and your car has a completely different CD player. In short, your car’s navigation system is in the way, and there is NO WAY you are getting to the back of the factory radio unless you can find instructions online for removing your entire dashboard. I couldn’t, so save yourself the search time. And instead…

Go ahead and cry for a while:

This isn’t exactly a 100% necessary step in the iPod installation procedure, unless (like me)  you have just managed to hold in a legion of curse words while simultaneously resisting the animal instinct to axe your car into a pile of leather and metal scraps. Such mental and emotional restraint will result in tears. There is simply no way around it. Let them flow. Then ask a neighbor whom you’ve never spoken to before to take a break from his mowing to hold you. And then go do something else. You know, walk away from the project for a while to clear your head.

It took around three weeks for my head to clear. Your head may vary.

Note: While taking your break, if for any reason you have to take your car in to the dealership for service, you may want to put the center console back together first. If you don’t, the following may occur:

a) The dealer will yell at you.
b) The dealer will ask you out on a date.
c) The shop foreman will offer you a job.
d) The mechanic will reinstall the center console incorrectly, with various edges jutting out unattractively, and you’ll have to take it apart again to put it back in the right way.
e) All of the above.

Once you’ve mentally rested for a while, and you get that fiery feeling of determination back, return to your center console. If, like mine, your console has been re-installed incorrectly by a mechanic, remove it once again. You won’t need to use the instructions this time. It’s like riding a bike.

Get back to this point:

And now, take a deep, deep breath. We’re going to get very, very technical here. If you’re not an engineer of some sort, this part may overwhelm you a bit. But I’m here for you. You can do this. I believe in you.

First of all, you will need an additional tool. It is called your hand. Firmly shove your right hand (or left, if you’re extremely flexible) into the gaping hole where your center console used to be located. Reach up into the upper left-hand side of the navigation system, on the back side of the CD player. Feel around in that space for a second or two and your hand should come across a bunch of wires and connectors that feel like they’ve been duct-taped together.

Now pull.

Yes, pull. You will have no idea what you’re pulling on, but pull anyway (after going over my disclaimer a few more times, that is). You will feel like you are irreparably damaging the inner workings of your car, and you probably are, but pull anyway.

After a few firm tugs, or twenty, you should at last see a wire harness connector that is not connected to anything. (!) At this point, the windows of heaven will open, angels will rejoice, and you will weep great tears of joy and relief.

Open up your Blitzsafe converter and plug in the RCA connectors. Then, plug in the Blitzsafe converter’s connector to the connector that you just yanked out of your center console. The converter has a “Y” wire harness, but you will only need to use one end of it, and one of the 14-pin connecters will remain empty.

Next, place the Blitzsafe converter somewhere on the floor of your center console where it will not interfere with the pieces you are about to put back in. You can use electrical tape or cable ties to make everything neat and tidy, or you can just shove it in there somewhere like I did. Before you begin to reassemble the center console, run the wire of the RCA connector from the Blitzsafe converter through the hole in your center console’s storage bin (that is where you will hold the RCA adapter to plug in your iPod).

At this point, you should plug the RCA adapter into the headphone jack on your iPod to test it. Turn on your car, turn on the iPod, and press the CD/Aux button on your car’s stereo. The radio should display “CD-C” or something like that. And when you press “play” on your iPod, you should hear beautiful music begin to play. Unless the volume on your car stereo is turned all the way down, in which case you will hear nothing, unless you turn it up.

Troubleshooting is my middle name.

Once it is established that your iPod does in fact play through your car’s stereo system, it would probably be a good idea to turn your car completely off. Alternatively, you could leave the battery running and listen to your iPod while you put your center console back together, have your battery die completely, pee your pants from the fear that you’ve just blown up your engine trying to install your own iPod converter, then force yourself to calm down and think rationally enough to call your brother to come over and give you a jumpstart. Not that I speak from personal experience or anything. I’m just giving you options here.

Once you have successfully put your center console back together, there is only one thing left to do.

It looks a little something like this: