Hockeyman

So i got some new reverse glow gauges, because my old ones didn't light up because the transformer broke...so I had some spare time, so i put them on today.
When i was taking the old ones off, carefully sliding them over the needles, the RPM needle popped off so i stuck it back in, and it made a clicking noise. So i finished up the gauges, put them in to test, and of course, the RPM gauge needle won't move. When i push up on it, it forcefully goes down, like it is being powered to go down. Am i screwed? Do i have to get a new cluster? Would the dealer be able to put my current mileage on a new cluster?
grrr this is so frustrating!

joe80055

Hmmm... interesting.. it's hard to say.. I had to throw away my old gauge cluster since I messed up and took off the temp/gas needles by accident when I was doing my led conversion. Turns out, I had to be more careful and do it again when I got the second cluster from a salvage yard. It's kinda hard to get the needle back on right again because you never know where the motor was last positioned when the needle came off. it sucks.. i know. It's even worse when the needle is back in again, it sinks into the gauge face and just gets stuck there.

Here's what you do... go to a salvage yard, get another cluster (it shouldn't run you no more than $100. really.), before putting it into the car, try to put the gauges on that first... be more careful this time, and then before you put everything back together, go into a closed garage, turn off the lights check out gauges. If you like them, continue with finishing the project.. if not, then say screw it, take off teh gauges and put the gauges you got from the salvage yard into your dash. As for the speedometer revealing your true mileage as opposed to whatever's on teh new speedo, I've asked my neighbor who works at honda/acura about this... Although some dashboards may revert to the true mileage the car has, some may not.. so it depends.. I could be wrong, he could be wrong, but I took his word for it.

Hockeyman

hmm...i found a few clusters, but i don't wanna mess my mileage up

OntarioTL

Why spend a hundred for a used cluster when all you need to get is the RPM gauge?
Like Joe, I screwed up my Temp/Fuel gauge and was going to go the salvage yard way but called up my Acura Dealer, 60 bucks CDN for the part (Whole unit from salvage yard at the time was 250 CDN). The good news is that the Temp/Fuel gauge is more expensive than the RPM or Speedo. You're probably looking at about 35 USD.

OntarioTL

OntarioTL

You wont have to worry about messing up your mileage even if you did do the salvage yard way. All you have to do is transplant the RPM over to your cluster. I'd still go with the dealership way in my opinion. At least you know it will work.

OntarioTL

Hockeyman

sounds good, i'll call up the dealer then...but i found a few clusters for like, 80 bucks, so i could use it as a backup...i dunno

OntarioTL

Well you could use some of the guts (Gauges, inverter, and bulbs) but mainly the motherboard can't be used as you will have different mileage.

OntarioTL

Phrosttz0

take it to the dealer, i wouldnt fuck with it myself

OntarioTL

Actually, its quite easy to replace. If you have your cluster out already, the hard part is done.

Hockeyman

Ok, here's what i did, took the needle out, started the car, and plugged the needle in at the notch below 1k RPM where it idles....seems to work fine now, i'll update tomorrow after i drive it around more.

fsttyms1

thats what i was going to say. I did the same with the speedo and had to get teh ol gps out and go for a spin. got it up to 30 and set teh cruise and placed the needle on . it was more exact after i did that than before

OntarioTL

I guess the Speedo and RPM needles are more forgiving than the F/T gauges. If they are removed and reinserted, chances are bleek as the needles tends to sink in and get stuck after awhile as Joe stated in the second post.

OntarioTL

fsttyms1

the key is to not foce them on all the way or they will go on too far and stick and possible break the little motor behind

joe80055

You're lucky, at the time when it came to me finding the temp/fuel gauge from the dealer, they were asking me for $101 for just those gauges alone. Sad, isn't it?