98 civic radio revisited

I just bought a Civic EX. There is an aftermarket radio in it and the dome
light doesn't work (you can turn it on with the switch but not by opening
doors), didn't come with a remote either. I am assuming that the previous
owner screwed up the dome light and remote entry by replacing the factory
radio. I want to restore the car so the keyless entry and domelight work,
what are my options? Can I use later model factory radios with my '98? Are
there any wiring tricks when reinstalling a factory radio?

TIA

 

The factory radio had the keyless remote receiver built in. If the car
came with an OEM security system, that too was in the radio.

You can restore proper dome light operation by shorting together the
right couple of wires behind the radio. Specifically, there is a light
green wire with a black stripe (comes from the dome light) that needs to
be connected to a light green wire with a red stripe (comes from the
door switches).

To get keyless remote operation to work, you have several options:

1. Put the factory radio back in (I believe '96 through '98 would work
if it came from a car that had keyless entry) and buy a set of OEM
transmitters..

2. Some people wire up the factory radio in parallel with the
after-market one and hide the factory unit behind the dash (yes, it does
fit!).

3. Get an after market keyless entry system. You can get a whole system
for $40 (http://tinyurl.com/3eb77), which is probably cheaper than a set
of OEM remotes.

My choice would be #3, it is probably the cheapest and certainly the
most flexible. You can then put pretty much any stereo you want in
there. I have installed two of the above reference $40 units, and they
work great. All the wires you need to install it are available behind
the radio, and the receiver is small enough that it is easy to make it
fit.