Jon

I would be delighted if that was so but when the cluster was first reinstalled the gauges were dead. I too will keep fingers crossed but fear the problem will re-occur 😱😱😱

Thanks Guys, I trawled through the reviews for both outfits which in the main were impressive with the common exception that neither have much Honda experience. This could just be that Honda clusters have a lower failure rate ? Who knows. Cluster Repairs quoted £150 and Autotronics £168. Provisionally I decided to go with Autotronics whose service was supported by DHL who collect and return from one's home address. Cluster Repairs relied on the Post Office which was a worry. So growing incredibly weary of the problem and with kind of a plan inplace I decided to go up the Pub via the Supermarket ! The unbelievable occurred ! All instruments performed perfectly for a total of six "stop starts" Give me strength, divine intervention requested !

As an alternative I am also investigating the repair of my unit which in many ways would be preferable. Does anyone have any experience of either "Autotronics in Leicester" or "Cluster Repairs UK in Essex" ?

Indeed always a huge gamble. I eventually worked out how to remove the pcb without damaging it and OMG it was like the mother board in a PC ! To say my intentions were over ambitious is an understatement. Irrelevant but interesting it revealed the board was made in Brazil and the face manufactured by Ford ! Sad!y I had to concede defeat and have now started searching for a replacement unit. Yuk !

Progress update. Rightly or wrongly I am now looking for a dry joint in the cluster itself. Inspired by various YouTube videos one of which was by Stuart Hughes, thanks Stu ! The cluster now sits on my bench. The three multi pin plugs and sockets looked pristine and were just immersed in alcohol for good measure and left to dry overnight. The cluster was partially dismantled and painstakingly the re-soldering of each and every connection on the circuit board is underway !

Wow ! You have gone to a lot of trouble. Many thanks ! I will try and digest your presentation this evening and plan to tear things apart tomorrow if it's not raining. Cheers Jon

Thanks for taking an interest. Yes most days and boy has it been damp ! Agree that a 25 year old connection somewhere will be responsible. Haven't delved into it yet and was just hoping someone might know where the instruments get their power from. Honda in their wisdom don't give any clues. Last time I had a loom or connection fault I just ran a new supply, saved many hours of anguish ! Cheers Jon

Last summer on returning from a shopping trip I noticed that none of my Coupe's instruments were working. However on the next start up all was well and has been until yesterday when it happened again. I have searched for a fuse to clean up but none claimed to be responsible for instruments. Before I enter the electrical haystack does anyone have any bright ideas that my assist ? Many thanks in anticipation Cheers Jon

Makes me feel better about my V6 plugs which have now done about 85k and yet to miss a beat !

Where are we with this issue ? Any news from anyone ?

Sorry to hear about your Aubergine Coupe Torogo seems my theory was incorrect. Thinking about it my Silver Coupe's lacquer was not at all flakey but I couldn't say the same for the gearbox !

Hi Welland My 1998 Coupe (same colour) is also afflicted but sadly much worse. My theory was an early cock up with water based materials ? Seems only to affect examples in green ?

Wow Stu ! ..... Very well done ! Absolutely scandalous but in no way surprising ! If ever there were grounds for a class action ??? Should you consider I would gladly contribute in any way I could. Can't wait to hear how Honda UK respond .....

Thank you for posting the pictures for me Stu Phoned Brayleys in Leatherhead Honda main dealers asking why the had not got back to me? They replied that the HPI database had said my vehicle was a Jaguar. Pity they did not reveal this at the time. You could not make this up could you. Eventually established that it was an Accord Coupe. Suggested we could avoid further hassle if they examined a photograph of the airbag details.They declined to cooperate but suggested Honda Customer Relations might. Tried Honda Customer Relations who stated that no information regarding chemical content was available, they also declined. Ever felt like a sterilized barge pole ? Any ideas ? Perhaps there's Honda main dealers in Ukraine....

I don't know why I didn't think of doing it before. I intend to send the picture of my airbag by email to Brayleys the so far unresponsive Honda main dealers in Leatherhead. Their response might be very interesting.

Pic's

Thank you for sharing a photograph of your airbag. I am frustrated that working on a fire tablet there is no facility for uploading to URL. I now have two photographs of airbags, the first is my 1998 example the second was offered to me on Ebay for £20. I notice that yours, you don't say the year, displays a "2" . Mine displays "T2" . The EBay one displays "U2" Someone somewhere knows what this means? If anyone would be kind enough to email me I could attach the photos for further consideration Thanks Jon

2001 and you haven't had a recall ? They may be right there again they might not. Just goes to show what a mess they are in ! Honda and Honda UK are on an arse covering mission to avoid possible future litigation. Worldwide 30 deaths due to defective airbags have so far been recorded. Not to mention many hundreds of life changing injuries inflicted by this ghastly invention ! To keep secret the type of explosives utilized is unacceptable. If they really want to put the record straight they should publish the real truth. What explosives were used and when they were intoduced. The part numbers must mean something mustn't they ? To now involve DVLA in this country is testament to their desperation and in my opinion just a further attempt to avoid litigation. The rewards for Main Dealers to fix the problem is clearly not attractive enough for them to take it seriously.Together with the natural decline of affected vehicles they are in no doubt hoping the problem will go away.

If this is going over old ground I am sorry, however this topic is still current with me. In no particular order I am grateful to PTR whose opinion that MOTs were unlikely to be sanctioned appears correct. An MOT examiner of many years who is well known to me knows of no such case. In the absence of securing the assistance of a trustworthy main dealer I pulled the fuse and looked at my example of the offending airbag. Equipped with the part number I then started my research. The contention that airbags may be over pressurised is misleading they are not pressurised they contain explosive ! Initially this was Sodium Azide (pre 2000) this proved too toxic. Takarta then invented an alternative they called Envirosure around 1999 this was actually Tetrazole which wasn't toxic but too expensive. They then reverted to Ammonium Nitrate a cheap traditional explosive (ask the Oklahoma bomber or the IRA) which had they included a drying agent might have been stable ongoing. However it absorbed atmospheric moisture (over decades) and the resulting steam explosion if detonated resulted in increased pressure. Prior to their collapse Takara used a rocket fuel Guanidinium Nitrate together with a copper nitrate oxidizer to lower the temperature. There is no defined date line to confirm the fitting of any airbags.... it is a mess. My Coupe was manufactured in 1998. It may have a any of the first three explosives mentioned. As yet I have not gained access to databases which would translate the part number I have. Any new information forthcoming will be gratefully received. I have never been a fan of airbags and even less so now. Any explosion close to my face is unappealing. The fuse will remain out save for the purpose of passing my next MOT. There is a certain madness in this akin to vaccines and vaccine damage. But who can argue with statistics ?

Got mine yesterday from the dvla and wondered what their next move will be ? Will they block MOT's ? Anyone know ? Regards Jon

Very good to see that there is so much good work still being done on mighty Coupes. Amazingly my example still survives and preparations for its 21st MOT are under way. Warmer weather would help however I did grab a recent warmer spell to do engine oil and filter change together with a partial gearbox fluid change. Got me thinking about the Magnefine filter I fitted some 3 years ago. So when weather permits I intend to fit the replacement that arrived yesterday, £27 courtesy of ebay. When completed I intend to cut the old one open to see what it has caught. I would be most grateful to hear from anyone who has done this previously. In particular how to prevent cutting swarf contaminating the evidence.

Gave all my details in writing to Honda main dealers in Leatherhead two weeks ago. So far just roars of silence. I won't be chasing them.

Familiar starting note has now returned courtesy of the new battery. I agree it wou!d be very interesting to know the CCA of the old battery however access to suitable kit is beyond me and my local workshop who suggested they are circa £800.. However it shut down after only a few minutes when I put the old battery on charge. To me at least this suggested it's capacity was greatly reduced and all was well with the charging capabilities of the car.

With temperatures dropping I have noticed a very slight change in note when cold starting my Coupe recently. It was six years ago I made a rare trip to Halfords and bought a 'five year' calcium tech 70ah battery HCB072 with a claimed starting current of 570 amps. To be fair it has performed faultlessly. It has never needed topping up and the terminals have remained spotless. It might keep going for a while but living out in the sticks I thought it time for a replacement. Visited Halfords to find the HCB072 is no longer available! Well done bean counters.... that's the way to save the High Street ! The only choice offered was a Yuasa HSG072 for £129 ! Time for a rethink. Looked on line and came across Tayna in Wales which I guess you all know well. Together with most of the big names offered I found an Enduroline 75ah 'four year' calcium tech battery with a claimed starting current of 620amps..... £71 delivered to my door, fitted this morning in sub zero temperatures ! Time will tell if I have done the right thing. It might just outlive the car ?

Hi Hylton 1806 The very best of luck.... But over my dead body ! Cheers Jon