How to set the clock time for a 2003 Honda Civic EX

The 2003 Honda Civic EX has a digital dashboard clock that also displays the radio station or CD track.  If you need to set the clock -- either because of Daylight Savings Time, or because it's just wrong -- the process is fairly simple.  (This article outlines the procedure for the EX model with an AM/FM tuner and CD player; other models may vary.)

There are only four buttons you need to use to set the time: the SCAN/RPT button (to the right of the digital display -- it says "CLOCK" underneath it) and the 4, 5, and 6 number buttons below the display.  In order to change the time, the radio and CD player (and cassette player, if you have one) must be off.

To change the time in hourly increments, hold in the SCAN/RPT button and press the 4 button (also labeled "NR") once for each hour you want to advance the time.  There is no a.m. or p.m. setting, so if you go too far, you only have to go forward 11 more hours, rather than 23.  You can hold the 4 button down to advance by multiple hours automatically.

To change the time minute by minute, hold in the SCAN/RPT button and press the 5 button (also labeled "DISC-") once for each minute.  The 5 button will only change the minutes, not the hours, so advancing the clock by a minute when it is at 10:59 will set it back to 10:00, rather than 11:00.  You can hold the 5 button in while you are pressing SCAN/RPT to advance by minutes automatically.

The Civic's clock also has the ability to round to the nearest hour.  Holding in the SCAN/RPT button and then pressing 6 (also labeled "DISC+") will round the clock either up or down, depending on the current time.  This function can be useful if you are changing the minutes and you don't feel like holding the 5 button down for a long time.

As stated earlier, the clock doesn't denote a.m. or p.m., and it only displays the time in a 12-hour format, not 24-hour, so there is no way to differentiate between 4:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  The time can be changed while the car is idling or in gear, but it can also be changed when it's just running off the battery.

(Originally published on Helium.com, August 2010)