Cup Holder Compartment

[BZA] I had a problem in my ’97 closing the cup holder compartment.  It would does not close tightly and always poped up. My fix: Raise the cover to vertical. Loosen the 4 screws on the cover hinge *slightly* (less than 1/2 turn, 2 screws on cover, 2 on center console). Gently push the cover down towards the floor of the car & tighten the 4 screws. Problem solved.

Cracked Dash

[KJ] The problem is fairly common, and happens when the part is not properly positioned before being tightened into place. I.e., the part is pre-stressed when it shouldn’t be. Chances are that’s exactly what you or I would do when installing

 a new one.

[TG]  The correct repair is replacement, however this is a little costly as the dash needs to be removed. If the tech installing it knows his stuff it will not crack again. On the other hand a much cheaper way is to have it repaired.

My advice is to call your local Acura dealer and talk to the Used Car Manager. Every used car man or woman in the world has an entire phone book of Recon people that fix everything from door dings, chipped and cracked windshields, bad leather etc. He or She should be able to get you in contact with someone in your area, many of which will go to your home or office to do the repair.

[TT] You do NOT have to remove the windshield! Unfortunetly its a bit more compicated. You have to loosen the dashboard and pull it back away from front cowl of the car. The plastic strip that usually cracks by the temp sensor has around 10 screws that attach it to the cowl area of the car. The screws are behind the dashboard pad. You must remove center console. Radio, temp controller, speedo, drop steering column and a bunch of other stuff, then pull the dash away from cowl. Not sure how many hours Acura would charge for this but it takes us around 5 hours to finish the job.

Also once you do change the strip dont throw it away. You will find your vehicles vin# attached to this part. Law enforcement wont be happy when they find out they cant verify your cars true ID #.

[KKA] Get the surrounding area really, really clean with rubbing alcohol, especially if you’ve ever put something like ArmorAll on your dash, then fix it with the vinyl seat repair goo they sell at any auto parts store. If it doesn’t stick, repeat the part about getting the surrounding area really, really clean and try again.

Troubleshooting