A few years ago, Honda started using the MOST system in some of their vehicles. MOST stands for Media Oriented Systems Transport. It’s a particular design for communication between different components in the car, including the audio unit, gauge cluster, tuner and amplifier units, among others. Unfortunately, this system has had a lot of problems.

The most common problem with Honda MOST systems is that you get a loud popping or crackling noise from the speakers, which is caused by communication problems or disconnections. The cause of this is the type of wiring connectors used in the MOST system, which are called FAKRA connectors. “FAKRA” comes from the designer, Fachkreis Automobile.

What we’ve been told at the dealership is that these connectors don’t do well when there is any side-to-side stress on them. If the wiring harness is pulling on the connectors at all or there is a sharp bend leading to the connector, it will cause it to loosen and cause connection problems. The only fixes we’ve been given for this problem is to replace the standard connectors with weatherproof connectors because they’re a little more substantial, and to try to make sure the wires are coming straight into the connectors.

The problem with that is that most of these components are in the dashboard, and the way you install them is by shoving them into a hole and there’s no way to control whether the wires get bent when you shove it into that tight space. This means that as much as you can try to make sure there’s no side-to-side stresses on the connectors when you have the connected component out of the dashboard, when you put it back in you just have to hope it doesn’t cause problems and lead to more unhappy customers.

These FAKRA connectors were apparently designed specifically for use in cars, but with these problems I find it hard to believe that somebody thought they were a good idea. Maybe the designers didn’t expect them to be on the backside of components that get shoved blindly into openings in the dashboard. I’m tired of having to attempt to fix these problems, there had to have been a better way to do these connections.

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-Dan