My car turned 10 years old last week. That's about how long it's been since I've posted on these boards, too

Rather frustrating but my clock back light has died. It's the first (and hopefully only) thing to die on my car. Does anyone have a clue how you would replace it? I'm guessing taking the center console apart is the answer but I really won't do that for just a small light. I always wear a watch so it's not a huge deal.

I wonder how many other people have had their CL's for 10+ years. If I didn't travel by plane so much and actually drove my car more than 5000 miles a year I think I'd have probably upgraded by now.

Thanks,
RM

 

It's a PITA. But, like you said, this is the first thing that broke, so you're ahead of the rest of us. Use your cell phone and call it a day.

 

It's happened to my TL before. It's a pretty easy replacement. You do have to take the dash apart though...

Taken from 2G TL, but I'm sure its the same for CL.
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-problems-fixes-117/dash-clock-light-out-621510/

 

Your math is a bit off. It's not possible for your 2001 CL (built in 2000 most likely) to be 10 years old.

 

to fix ur clock light you pop off the dash piece with all your controls on it. But be careful because all the wiring harnests have no slack and you wil be yanking on them. You need to pop all them off (I left a few on and just twisted the piece and put the light in the back to save some time)

But honestly. It's a tight squeeze so be prepared

I believe the light is 8$ at acura LOL

To pop off the dash piece use a screwdriver covered in a t shirt or something. It'll make it easier.

Or u could do it like me and yank it out with ur fingers, but u need to squeeze them in there. (i didn't wanna mark anyhting so i used the gold ol hands)

 

Hit it a few times. You may be surprised.

 

do the hit method first.

 

I was one of the first to buy the car.
The dealers first got them in middle/end of march 2000.
I had to wait till April till they got a silver type-s for me.
I am 100% sure that the dealers got the first cls in march 2000.
So they are only 9 years 5 months not quite 10 years yet!
My clock went out a few times try tapping it or punching it with some force.
If u r gonna take ute dash off to change the clock bułb change the climate control bulbs also I had some go bad so after 9 years they r on there way out also!

Are u on your original tranny still?
I'm on my 4 th transmission and have 168k miles how bout u?

 

the hitting/ punching method worked for me

 

0o0o 9 years and 5 months! big difference! they're basically well on their way to being 10 years old. lets not nitpick guys

oh and the hitting method never worked for me...I don't know if i want to go through the trouble of taking the dash off

 

why are we making this seem like it's difficult?

It's like a 15 min job. It'll take you longer to drive to acura and back to get the light than it will to install.

Just be gentle and it'll be a breeze.

 

This happened in my CL-S as well, but it only took me about an hour to pull the dash out and put a new bulb in, not a huge deal but definitely worth the time invested.

 

It took me about half an hour to finesse the dash/connectors off.

Other than that, its stupid easy. Just be patient and DO IT ALREADY

 

I just gave mine a good, solid tap, and the light came on! And its been working fine ever since.

 

My clock light went out too, lucky my radio is being fixed and im going to have the radio guy slip in the new Acura bulb i ordered. So the installation for the bulb is free!

 

Well I dunno, do you celebrate your birthday 6 months before the day you were born?

 

my o1 cl-s light just burnt out it was about 20 min fix

 

All,
Thanks for correcting my math first of all. Yes, my car is NINE years old, not ten. I picked it up in July of 2000 on Long Island.

I am still on my original transmission. To be honest, it's working like a champ.

Here's the next killer: as I said in my first post hoping that the clock light was the only dead thing on my car, I got back to the airport yesterday where my car was parked and it won't start. It cranks but won't turn over. Had to have it towed to Acura of Seattle. What a bummer. I've never had a car die on me. My guess is fuel pump but I guess it could also be a crank sensor or starter. Of those, I think the fuel pump is the cheapest? I should know more today after Acura has a chance to look at it.

Regarding the clock light - thanks very much for all of the responses. I'll try the tap method first! If that fails I'll move on to replacing it myself. Like I said earlier, it's not a huge deal that it doesn't work but I still find myself looking over to the clock at night constantly and remembering I can't read the darn thing!

-RM