For those who took off their needles on their gauges and went to the dealer to get it fixed, how much did it cost you? My needles on my gauges are messed up and was wondering if there are any other places to get it fixed besides the dealership?

 

they dont fix them because the servo used in the gauged are fixed servos pulling the shaft damages the plastic bushing and esentially will cause it to read incorrectly, they at best will tell you to buy a new gauge set which will cost in the 300-600 plus...but ofcouse that is over price there are a few people who have bought the gauges here and have old ones to sell you should search around those normally go for about 200-300

JON

 

In theory you can calibrate the needles yourself. Just remove all the needles then wait for the car to warm up, then plug the needles to point where it should be.

Gas: simple. Fill her up full then make the needle point at F

Temp: simple too. let the car warm to normal temp, then pluf the needle at the middle (or where it used to pt when running)

Tack: Same as temp. Let the car warm up then point the needle to 500-800 range. Check if it points to 5k when you WOT it at P or N.

Speedo: This might be tricky. Technically you can have the needle pt at 0 when the car is not moving, but I doubt that'd work. Since if you accelerate from stop, you notice there is a lag for the needle to rise. I don't know if that'd make any difference in calibrating them. Or if you are really brave, get a buddy to drive along side at a fix speed. Get you car to match it then point the needle there. But that's not something I'd try to do myself

 

for the speedo... I drove in down a highway in Automatic mode and increased speed very slowly until the car shifted to 5th gear. My car would only switch to 5th at EXACTLY no less than 50 MPH.

After about a year now, its still very accurate.

Another way to check is in Manual Mode... the computer will NOT allow you to shift to 5th manually at LESS than 35MPH. So drive down a road continually upshifting until it finally goes to 5th, then you will be at 35MPH.

 

Tatewaki's idea for the speedo isnt too bad, because i once did the very same thing on my last car when i did have to pull the gauge apart for a remote radar install i did with the display set inside the speedo guage. I told my friend to bring his car up to 60 and hold it dead steady at that speed. I came up along side of him and pushed the needle on at 60 mph. Then we slowed down, and repeated the process of driving along side him at a steady 60MH a few times to make sure I had it set right.

To do this right, you need very level pavement so your friend wont have to accelerate to hold the speed up a hill, or brake to hold it steady down hill. A deserted freeway early in the morning is a good time/place to do this.

Naturally, this all assumes your friend's car has an accurate speedo. (ie. he is still rolling on the stock rims and tires - as a tire with a lower profile than stock will cause the speedo to be off by a slight bit).

Another good idea is to find out when and where the local police dept. is setting up one of those portable radar signs that say "Your speed is xx" and then drive past it a few times to see if you have the needle on right. If you call them (on the NON EMERGENCY number, obvously) they will usually be happy to tell you if you say you want to check to see if your speedo is accurate.

 

I'm thinking of either trying to fix this myself or buy a used cluster.

Also called the dealership and it'd cost $130 to just take a look at the temp/fuel gauge. I'd have to take it somewhere else to calibrate the speedo, which costs $65 minimum. I'm probably better of buying a used cluster that isn't tampered with...

OBTW, I have a '96 3.2 TL-P.

 

If your a member of AAA, those of us in the west, they provide a free speedoo calibration test at selected offices on certain days. After taking one of my older cars to be tested i asked the dude doing the test about if i should bring my new 03 tl-s in. he said almost all of the Acuras/Honda's that he has tested are at least 2-5 mph off at speeds above 55 mph. I'm going to test my tl-s in June when they come back to my area AAA office again. I'll let you guys know the results. BTW, i kept the stock wheels and tires....so far.