I recently purchased a 97 RL which had not been driven regularly for many months. Needed struts and new battery so have gotten that done.

Now the odometer is no longer lit. All the gauges and lights in the gauge cluster/dash appear to be working fine. If you press the Reset button for the trip odometer it does beep as though it is being reset.

Is there perhaps a fuse for the electronic odometer somewhere or is there any other suggestion as to what may be the cause?

I am hopeful there is an easy solution here that does not require replacing the gauge cluster.

I look forward to any and all replies.

 

My odometer is out too after I replace the bulbs to LEDs. I think it could be the resistor for the odometer or the LCD is bad. I've planned to send the cluster to get it fix.

 

This just happened to me over the weekend at 206k miles. Keep me posted as to what you find out.

I called Acura and they quoted me a bulb, but said it might be an $800 sending board. Then my independent mechanic didn't believe there was a bulb for that, so he called, and it sounds like he is right, so the only option is the $800 board. My car would fetch $3000 at best, so I am going to forego and just live with it.

I like this car overall, but the electronics have been awful. I cannot believe they would allow something like this. RETURN TO MECHANICAL ODOMETERS!!!

 

Yea, the cluster is very expensive, you can just an look for an old cluster. If you don't want to replace whole unit, you can just swap out the LCD for the odometer alone, I think it's $200 just for the LCD. Or if you willing to ship your cluster you might want to check out powlspeedometer. I told them the problem of my odometer and they said they can fix it. I haven't fixed my odometer yet because I'm driving the car every day. So if you want to fix your odometer really bad, then you might want to email them and tell them your situation. I don't plan to get my odometer fix soon because i need to get other stuff done first like EGR and coilover. This is how I keep track of my mileages and know when to get an oil change... I recorded 240miles every time i filled up the gas, it's not 100% correct but at least I have an estimate of the mileages. Hope that helps.

 

Well, I talked to my parts guy again today, who made sure I understood that he is much more reliable in the post-noon hours; not a morning person.

He confirms now that the little Odometer board is $276 (the speedometer was $800), but he is says it is compatible with the 2002, which is good since I am friends with a guy locally with 2002 parts. He has a guage cluster for $75. I will gladly pay labor as I am not much of a DIY-er. Need a copuple other little bulbs replaced also.

 

Before you do anything, check the resistors for the odometer. I looked up on youtube problem on a death odometer and I was surprised, they just soldered on a new resistors and it work!

 

Do you have a link to that youtube video?

 

Yes, I agree. Link me!
Thank you for that, 3.5RLv-tec.

 

It's on youtube and i'm too lazy to look up for the link, sorry lol. The cluster from the video wasn't the RL cluster, but every cluster has resistors and I suspect our resistors were dry up and crack which they didn't have a good contact to the board.

 

My research is complete. The resistor fix will not work on these cars. The entire cluster must be replaced, so the only realistic option is to start shopping ebay and wrecking yards.

I love the car, but I am finding out that they were not designed for long term ownership.

 

Cars are just fine overall. Things like this happen on older cars. My fuel guage stopped working and dealer said to replace the entire cluster, so I bought one from the junkyard for $100 (shipped) and my mechanic just took the fuel guage out and swapped it. I have the rest of cluster kept so if anything like that happens.