Find a great repair shop to fix your Honda navigation DVD drive
The next step was locating a replacement drive and disc. Fortunately, I was able to find ShortCircuitRepair in San Jose. They specialize in Honda navigation system repair. They also do Acura system repairs so I highly recommend them. When you conduct your search, be sure to select a vendor that has an established business and website. They might charge a bit more but the peace of mind and additional communication is worth it in my opinion. After a phone call to address any worries I had, I sent the drive in for service. It was important I send them the drive, but also the disc and the navigation security code so they could completely troubleshoot the issue.
Originally I thought the shock absorbers in the drive failed, thus causing the disc scratching. However, the technician told me the “OK” button missing is actually due to a PCB board issue within the drive. I didn’t ask how or why the disc became scratched but that seems to be the reason the “DVD disc reading error” would sometimes come up.
It was about $375 for them to repair the drive and I also needed an updated navigation disc. A replacement disc on eBay was about $95 but the shop fixing my drive quoted me $98. I figured for the additional $3, I could bug them if I ran into any issues. In a few days and nearly $500 later, the refurbished drive and new navigation CD were in my hands.
Reinstall your fixed Honda DVD navigation drive and test
Reinstalling the drive was another five minute job (make sure you set aside the mounting screws in a safe place). After turning the car on, and entering the navigation security code, the navigation system came back to life and no issues with it since. It’s also nice to have the 2012 navigation disc that is up-to-date.
Keep your paperwork
Some additional advice I’d like to provide – save all your bills and paperwork related to this fix! Honda and Acura have a service bulletin open for this issue, but they stopped short of a full blown recall as of the writing of this article. In the future, Honda might recall certain models that are likely to experience this issue. If you already did the Honda navigation fix prior to a potential recall, Honda will only reimburse you if you can provide a receipt for the work done. This happened to my dad’s old 1991 Honda Civic for a bad ignition coil, fortunately he had all his paperwork and was reimbursed.
Some final thoughts
Another thing to consider, you will be able to use your radio, CD player (if equipped) and climate controls while the navigation drive is out, but the touchscreen will be completely dead until the navigation drive is hooked up again. Make sure you’re comfortable using the buttons for everything until your drive is fixed and reinstalled. That’s about it – if this Honda navigation fix article was helpful please comment below and share your experience. Alternatively, a Facebook like is also appreciated.
