Arcetti

Hello.. I'm going to try this again. My odometer (including trip meter and outside temp) failed. Those are the only things that don't work. What could it be? I replaced the display printer. Help!!!

2000RL

You replaced the "display printer"? What is that? My odometer/trip meter/oat is inop too. The bulbs are bad on my unit and I have ordered them through my local Acura dealer and will be having them replaced next Wednesday. Search the forum, there are threads covering the removal of the instrument cluster by folks who have upgraded their instrument lighting with LED bulbs. It could be something other than bulbs but I doubt it. As these cars age bulbs go bad, unlike LEDS bulbs which will outlive us both.

Arcetti

2000RL:

I know the schematics are a little hard to read, but the words Acura uses for the Odometer/trip meter/outside temp are in one device that has a ribbon cable and a display. Using the help from peeps who posted how to remove the instrument cluster, it was actually pretty easy to replace. But it didn't help. (Cost me $200 from an Acura dealer, too).. so.. that's why I'm kind of bewildered about what is going on... From other research, it's possible the instrument cluster itself has a problem.. can't seem to find one, though.

RL98

Mine failed on my 98 a while ago. My mechanic agreed that trying to remove the dash after 20 years would likely result in broken parts. I bought an Ultra Guage and use the app on my android phone. Including all the usual obd2 stuff (read and reset check engine codes, real time monitoring of sensors, ...) there is a persistent odometer function that works fine. UltraGauge Blue OBDII Scan tool & Information Center

2000RL

Long story! Just got my RL back from the dealer after 10 days with my odometer functioning. I took my car to the Acura dealer last December to have the timing belt, water pump, and radiator hoses replaced and to have them troubleshoot my odometer which had been dead for about 2 1/2 months. The tech said it was the bulbs for the unit that were bad. I ordered the bulbs for the whole cluster ($371.00) and was going to have the tech install them but he had reservations about taking the dash apart and possibly damaging the trim piece around the radio and climate controls. The reason he had reservations is the OEM piece costs over $1200.00, and he didn't even think he could get one. I told him to wait and I would research getting a back-up trim piece before he tries to fix it. I found a trim piece on eBay and told him I would bring the car back in July or August, 2017 to have the bulbs installed which is what I did. The end of the first day I get a call that the bulbs didn't fix the problem and that it need the odometer, trip-meter print ($411.00) to fix it. The end of day two I get a call that the that part didn't fix it and "oh-by-the-way" the tech inadvertently broke the instrument cluster glass. At this point the tech says it's most likely the circuit board that runs the whole length of the dashboard and depending on what reference you use it runs anywhere from $612.00 to over $900.00. At this point with me having spent over $780.00 they decide to buy me a used instrument cluster and ship it with my old cluster to a company in California that is authorized to download the milage information from the chip on my old cluster and upload onto the replacement cluster's chip. The cluster came back Friday the 18th and on Saturday the 19th after they install the new bulbs, odometer, trip-meter board and the new glass on my used instrument cluster I pick my car up on the 19th with 106,403 miles displayed along the the outside air temperature. I'm a happy-camper at this point until I get in to drive away and notice the SRS light is on, and the first thing that comes to mind is the seat belt buckle the dealer replaced last year under warranty. The tech comes back with his laptop and runs a diagnostic resets the light when I asked him why he didn't notice it before he said that he thought my car came in with the SRS light on I said I wouldn't drive with an SRS lite because it disables the airbag system but he said a lot of people do because of the related costs of replacing parts in the system. My guess is the light was set by the system of the car the instrument cluster came from because it cleared no problem and has not come back. This is why I didn't attempt to fix this gripe myself and was willing to eat the cost of parts and the dealer's hourly labor charge to get this problem fixed. As it turns out it only cost me the price of the bulbs and the circuit board and they ate the the cost of the new glass, the used instrument cluster, shipping costs to and from California and the labor cost for putting it all back together. I feel fortunate that this worked out the way it did since the original estimate for new bulbs and the two hours labor to install was $621.37 which is high but a car without a functioning odometer is unacceptable to me. These are the issues that come with owning older vehicles and in the long run it's worth it to me. My other car is a "cheerie" 32 year old Mazda RX-7 I have had for 23 years so you can see I tend to hang on to my vehicles.

Arcetti

2000RL... resetting the SRS computer (I believe it has some of its own sensors) it real easy... if you search on this site, you'll find out how to do it. just up from your left foot is a yellow connector that snaps in to nothing.. just holds in place... you have to use a jumper and turn your key on and off and remove the jumper at appropriate times. My research has told me that it happens when there is a low voltage situation and the SRS computer can't set up properly. Nonetheless, it is really easy to do this, if one follows the instructions.... and it's the first place I'd start. Back to your story about all the dash stuff, I have learned to live without the odometer and outside temp. The car has 230k+ miles, otherwise runs great.. and I don't want to spend that kind of money on it. Am already looking for a '15 or '16 RLX.