A moment with Chris Thompson

Are you having problems with your Acura or Honda DVD navigation system? When you drive, do you sometimes see a message that says, “DVD disc reading error“? When you start the car, is the “OK” button missing so that you can’t start the navigation system? If you said yes to either, then your DVD navigation system needs to be fixed, and this repair procedure is for you.

The OK button was missing when we turned the car on until we did this fix




I actually experienced both these errors on our 2006 Accord EX with navigation. The key is to not get frustrated and to systematically eliminate possible issues until the root cause is found. First, locate the DVD drive (for the Pilot it’s under the passenger seat, in the Accord it’s mounted in the center of the trunk area). Is the system getting power when the key is in the “on” position? Ours was, so then I ejected the disc to see what else I could find. The drive seemed to be working fine, but the disc had faint swirling scratches on it. I used some alcohol to clean the disc but after another day or two, the error had returned so a dirty disc was not the culprit.
Read the rest of this entry »

Our Sony multi-function remote was getting old, so we decided to try the Logitech Harmony 880 remote after reading good reviews (note the 880 design is a few years old however). I ordered the remote on eBay in a bulk shipment from China, new refurbished for around $95. It definitely had some quirks we had to work out, the biggest being it wouldn’t charge on its base.



The Fix:
Since we ordered this from China, I figured I should try to fix this myself before sending it back. The remote wouldn’t charge on the base, the connection was flaky and the remote would stop charging after one minute it seemed. Adding weight to the remote to help make the connection didn’t help either. First I tried opening the base up to see if I could raise the connectors. I didn’t get far, there’s no easy way to open the base. Read the rest of this entry »