dochazmat

The instrument cluster in my 04 EL decided to pack it in last week. I had hoped it was only a loose connector, but as it turns out the whole panel is dead, so now I have some decisions to make. Acura has quoted me a price of $920 CAD for a new cluster, which seems ridiculous to put into a twelve year-old car, so I've been casting around looking for used clusters -- I am aware that the mileage is probably going to be off, and that it may need to be reset or fixed at the dealership, but I'm OK with that if I can save $500 on parts.

Unfortunately, used 2004 EL instrument clusters seem to be in short supply right now. Is it possible to use a cluster from a Civic (of one particular trim level or another) in an EL without having to play around with re-wiring the harness or doing anything more than unscrewing the panel and plugging things in?

Thanks in advance.

NDNV

Many salvaged speedometers/instrument clusters on this site. Search on speedometers and your make/model/year etc. Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market
$125 seems to be the highest price so this is your best bat to replace - which would be a no-brainer to me.
I have a 2003 EL and besides the premature head gasket issue, seems to be an OK DD. I've only got 150K kms.

s0hayat

First of all your 04 05 Acura EL speedo cluster are available on ebay from LKQ if you swap the Honda civic one to it the difference you will find is that Acura EL clusters are all illuminated red Honda only coupe civic of that year will have read. If you use Honda civic ex model of 04 or 05 cluster it will fit but your cluster lights will not match with the rest of the dash illumination. Also to make sure that that particular civic do have side air bags as Acura EL came equipt with the side air bags as well. If you go on ebay and type acura el oem you will come across couple of el's clusters for a decent price as well. Hope this helps.

Rick hybrid

i don't think a honda cluster will work in a acura. i tried to plug a 2003 civic cluster into my 2004 civic. the 2 electrical plugs went in and it fits in the dash but none of the gauges worked. try looking at a pull-a-part recycling yard but try to get the same year.

s0hayat

Well Acura is Honda if you see all parts it will always say Honda on it not Acura it is a luxury division of Honda, if you swap an 03 civic cluster into an 04 that you should check the wiring and fuse box as well to make sure all fuses are intact. I swap couple of them on my 2001 civic and everything worked fine. I also tried 2004 acura el cluster on my civic and it worked fine I never went with it because of too many miles on that cluster. Hope this help.

Former User

How do you know the cluster is bad? Might some fuses be blown?

s0hayat

Yeah you can check some under the hood and there is another one under dash driver's side. I did heard a lot of people saying that there speedo cluster failed and yes it could happened as it is completely electrical now where as in older cars they use to have a cable that will run from your speedo meter down to the transmission and only the rpm was electrical. But now due to new technology everything is electrical and it tends to either burn some mechanism in the cluster to stop working and than you would need to replace it. Hope this help.