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Recently my nav screen decided to go on the fritz. The attached picture shows what it typically does. After 2 months of this, it started working again perfectly for about a week. It's now fuzzy again. I bought a new screen and when I installed it, the new screen did exactly what the original screen did. (see photo) Even though the radio still worked fine, it was suggested that it may be the head unit, so I started looking around. I spoke with an audio company that specializes in replacing factory stereo/nav units. When I brought them up to speed on the situation, they told me that it was more than likely not the head unit, but the navigation drive. I wouldn't think this problem with the screen would have anything to do with the nav system, but as I researched more it seems that the "brains" of the system lie in the navigation drive unit made by Alpine which is in the trunk on the 3rd gen Acura TL. This afternoon I removed it and I am sending it off to them for a diagnosis. If that's the problem, they will fix it for around $225. I will follow up with a post and let you know how this turns out. I hope this helps anyone who has had or is having a similar issue because I just couldn't find a whole lot of information about it online. To be continued... Both screens started these shenanigans
$225 is a good price to fix the unit. I hear its the laser arm that fails. Would like to find out what replacement arms alpine uses, so we can do it ourselves for a few dollars
Last edited by Acura TL Builder; May 6, 2022 at 11:28 PM.
That's good to know and thanks for posting the link. I'm feeling a bit more confident about a successful resolution to this problem. I just hit 102,000 miles on my TL that I ordered new in 2007 so it's got quite a bit of life left and I'd hate to have to drive it with the snowy screen going forward. Thanks again!
So, everyone else with FUBAR'd screens look like @OP's, and the consensus is bad Nav DVD unit in the trunk.
Mine crapped the bed about a month ago, but looks like below.
Today I've disconnected and reconnected every plug on the back of the Nav DVD unit in the trunk as well as the Nav screen, to no avail. Is this an actual bad screen? (I'm secretly hoping to upgrade to a Tesla style tablet) Bad Nav screen?
Everything I've read says you have to remove the trunk mounted DVD Nav drive and send it in for repair either to Alpine in Torrance, CA or another repair shop. Just unplugging and replugging won't do the trick. I contacted Original Car Audio, (https://www.cd4car.com/) who has locations in MN and TX and they had me send them mine. I'm waiting to hear back but I will post what happens. As I understand it, they should be able to fix it for around $225 which beats gambling on putting in a used drive. If you go with the Tesla style tablet, make sure you are aware of what will happen to your rearview camera as well as your subwoofer and your steering mounted controls.
Original Car Audio will only replace the drive mechanism itself, AND NOTHING ELSE! They've made a business out of doing only that regardless of what's wrong with the unit. They fix the radio units too the same way by only replacing the CD mechanism even if something else is at fault. The drive mechanism is all they'll replace and charge you for fixing the whole unit. There's a company in Syracuse, NY that actually repairs whatever is wrong with the radio, but they're expensive as I recall.
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So I got my Nav drive back from Original Car Audio and my screen works again and looks as crisp as the day I bought the car brand new. They charged me $299 to repair it and $30 to ship it back. I spent $30 to ship it to them as I wanted it insured, so my total out-of-pocket expense was $359 and it works great. I'd highly recommend this solution if your screen looks like mine did in the OP above.
5th gear, thanks for the info about original car audio. How has your Navi held up over the past couple years since your post? My Navi unfortunately is fried and I was thinking about sending my DVD to them. Let me know about any info/updates you have before I contact them. Thank you!
Just an update, Original Car Audio fixed it but it didn’t last long. It messed up again several months later so I’d recommend using Alpine. I sent mine to Alpine at the beginning of 2023 and since I had the screen fixed by Alpine, it is still working like new. I highly recommend sending it over to Alpine for the fix. I think it’s better than going aftermarket or at least it looks better to me. Just my humble opinion. Hopefully I saved someone out there some money by not sending it to two places!
I already purchased a refurbished unit from Original car audio like 8 months ago. It's still working perfectly but now I'm scared it won't last too much longer lol. I'll keep that in mind thanks for the info
Pretty sure alpine definitely will repair it still but it actually costs way too much to ship it to them and then with the repair on top its crazy expensive
