'08 Sirius Install and how to take apart dash (2007-2009)

[Roberte]

Per my welcome thread, I'm going to take the time to share my Sirius installation into our '08 CRV...

Since we bought the EX model w/o NAV, our research told us that the factory radio is not XM capable. On that note, we purchased an EX-L radio off of ebay as the basis of our installation. We did this because we wanted the truck to have as close to a factory look inside and be able to keep the steering wheel controls. Here's where we started...

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/01.jpg

First thing to do is to pull fuse #34. This fuse is the first one located on the top row... Sorry about the fuzzy pic, you can just see it on this pic.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/03.jpg

Best way I found to get it out was using a curved needle nose pliers....

Next up is to start with the very top panel. There's a notch in the middile of the panel that you can put a small screw driver in.. use a soft rag to pry against so you dont damage the panel. Lift it up and place a larger screwdiver in it's place. Remove the smaller screwdriver and start moving to the side repeating the process. Eventually you'll get to the end where the clip is located, it should pop up on its own.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/04.jpg

Lift off that panel and start on the vents. Grab it directly in the back and pull toward you. It should pop out of its holder. Remove the wire that serves the hazard lights.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/05.jpg

The top two screws on the radio are exposed. Remove them.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/06.jpg

[Roberte]

Next up is the climate control. There's a notch on either side of the controls. Use a small screwdriver in the slot and use another screwdriver as a leverage tool to pry against. That way you won't have any damage to your dash..

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/07.jpg

I found that if you take the car out of park, you can rotate the climate control assembly out of your way. Put the vehicle back in park for safety (and to kill that silly chime).

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/08.jpg

Remove the two screws from the bottom of the radio and pull it straight out. It may take a little effort, but it's really only held in by 4 posts..

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/09.jpg

Remove the wiring from the back and remove the rest of the way.

Now for those of you with EX -Ls, you will be putting the same radio back in. All you're going to be doing is adding a wire.

Next up is the removal of the glove compartment. Two screws on the bottom and it should come right out.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/11.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/12.jpg

[Roberte]

Lots of room to run the controller wire from the back of the radio to the Sirius controller.

Take the kick panel off at this time too. You have to start with the threshhold panel first. Pull it straight up and it pops off. Pull the kick panel towards the center of the vehicle and it pops off too.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/13.jpg

The antenna was next. Since my wife seems to like using Washtub for her vehicles, we decided on an interior mounting location for the antenna. It's fairly small and unobtrusive (unlike the first gen trunk mount that I have on my car) so we went ahead and placed it on the dash... A little double sided tape and viola!!! Mounted!!

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/14.jpg

We ran the wire on the front side of the dash and its barely visible.

We wired up the HonSC1 controller/Sirius Radio SCC1 and put in the EX-L radio along with the controller wire. The dipswitches on the controller were put on "Scroll" and "16 Characters".

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/17.jpg

To keep from having to tear things back apart, this is the point where we backed the vehicle out in preparation of the activation process. Of course we had to enter the security code for the new radio and SID for the Sirius radio ready.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/15.jpg

Sucess!! Activation of the new radio was completed, so back into the garage to finish the installation.

Finish mounting the controller and Sirius radio.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/18.jpg

Be careful how you mount it so that the holes for tabs on the kick panel clear the wires...This clears, but barely!!

[Roberte]

Put everything back together and enjoy...

Here's proof of our effort.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/rellingson/sirius/19.jpg

All the factory controls work like they should.

My only question is that the original radio had the same connection on the back as did the XM radio....In the EX, that connection is not used. Hmmm, it might be worth someone's effort to try and use the original radio even though the kit says radios w/ XM/ SAT only.

Overall, the installation was fairly straight forward. No "special" tools were required, just a little patience. I would say that the average user should be able to complete this install in a couple of hours. (If you're wondering where the time display is, it was flashing during this pic and I simply caught it on an "off" cycle... it displays correctly now that it's set)

Hope this helps....:D