So I have been noticiing more and more often that when I drive for long periods of time that my gauge cluster is hot to the touch and that they orange part of the RPM range turns red and that area is very hot to the touch. It happens when I drive the car for long periods of time. I have tried to dim the gauge cluster to see if that can help with the color shift and heat of the gauges but it doesnt. I also have the flickering of the gauges at a stop, idling. I dont know if the alternator has anything to do with it.

Attached is a stardard gauge cluster and circled is the area where it turns red and gets hot.

 

I noticed that it gets super hot too... But i don't think it will hurt or damage it. Honda must have known that it turns hot from time to time. But i would like to know too!

 

Anyone else have this issue?

 

No but from what I understand the flickering is from the rectifier bridge in the alternator. From what I understand, it's basically a voltage regulator or something but it isn't making smooth voltage...just what I take from it, not facts. Anyway, good luck with the hot thing.

 

Also, high resistance can cause heat...maybe check all the wiring and connectors behind the cluster

 

Bumping this thread up.

I have started to develop this problem also. Has anyone had this problem? This seems like a very uncommon problem with the S...Not sure where to go from here.

 

Test the voltage on battery with engine on. As you increase the R's (to around 2000) --- the voltage should max at 14-14.2 VDC. If it's higher, you may need a new voltage regulator.

 

Bumping this..
Starting to get this issue, i've had a flickering cluster for just under a year.. not really paying much attention to it, but now the cluster is getting red and very hot to touch.. Could the rectifier in the alternator cause this redness??
Anyone have the issue and change out their alternator??

 

My guess is yes, a bad rectifier that allows too much voltage into the system, could result in overheating things like the gauge cluster.

Electronic parts can 'wear' out, in that repeated small survivable damages add up to eventual premature failure (for silicon based parts like chips and transistors). So if you have flickering lights symptoms, get the regulator fixed asap, to prevent unseen damage that sometime down the road might lead to premature failure of various electronics...

 

Just to be complete... the regulator controls the voltage generated by the alternator. The rectifier changes AC, generated by the alternator to DC current. Bad rectifier may allow excess AC into lines. And also poor voltage.