Grainy, dim speedometer (after conversion from km/h to mph) 2022 CX-9

[Yoram]

Hello All,

I am new here and to this vehicle, so please bear with me as I fumble my way around...

We just bought a 2022 CX-9 Touring with 16K miles from a reasonably well known used car dealership in MI.
The car was originally sold new in Canada. Recently it was sold by the original owner to a dealer and subsequently shipped to and titled in the US.
The CarFax report is clean and reflects the indicated miles. The car looks and drives like new, except for one detail we did not notice until after the sale and during our trip back to SC...:
We had been advised during the transaction that as part of the import from Canada to the US the car had to have its speedometer converted from km/h to mph -- logical enough. The odometer can be switched digitally via the Vehicle Settings in the center screen, but the speedo apparently requires a physical face change.
The mph readings are correct (we verified using GPS) and all the warning lights seem to work OK, but the speedo display quality does not quite match the odometer or the multi-gauge on the right -- the digits are smaller, thinner and less legible from the driving position, and the speedo face looks "grainy" -- please see pic.

Not a huge problem, but any ideas on how this can be fixed?

Thanks,

Yoram

(P.S., the scratches on the lense over the right multi-gauge are not visible to the "naked eye" and of no concern -- first time noticed in the pic.)

 

[youri]

This does not look at all like my canadian 2018 GT. Try and find a screenshot of a 2022 with the non-digital gauge cluster. (I tought all 2022 came with the digital cluster, but maybe not the touring version).

Here is my 2018:

As you can see my tachometer on the left is textured and the centre speedometer has two different depth, with the other ring being raised compared to the middle.

 

[youri]

Look at this link (first 2022 Cx-9 touring that popped up on Autotrader). Check the photos of the dashboard. It does not have the textured tachometer on the left like my 2018, so the 2022 touring probably doesn’t have that. But it does have the two level center speedometer, which yours is missing.

I think whoever did the conversion from canada to US for yours put an aftermarket speedometer in instead of a genuine Mazda part.

Autotrader - page unavailable

 

[Yoram]

Look at this link (first 2022 Cx-9 touring that popped up on Autotrader). Check the photos of the dashboard. It does not have the textured tachometer on the left like my 2018, so the 2022 touring probably doesn’t have that. But it does have the two level center speedometer, which yours is missing.

I think whoever did the conversion from canada to US for yours put an aftermarket speedometer in instead of a genuine Mazda part.

Autotrader - page unavailable

View attachment 329197

Thank you, youri. Yes, I did a Google search and a number of used (salvage) instrument clusters come up on eBay and other sites for a '22 with speedometers looking like your last pic. Question is whether or how just the speedometer can be replaced, since the assembly contains the odometer which is tamper proof.

 

[Odrapnew]

I'm guessing the new speedo is just the face cover that can be swapped out.
And I agree with youri that it looks like they found a cheap aftermarket MPH one to replace the factory KPH one.

 

[Yoram]

Update:
I contacted Mazda to confirm the correct p/n(s) of the cluster for my car. Several salvage ones on eBay show up with p/n TK49-55-430, while the Mazda parts catalog pulls up TD2N-55-471D for my model and year. My dealer came up with a third p/n, which I suspect may be a km/h one if they just plugged the VIN.... I don't know... Sometimes they may use different p/n's for service parts which are a direct replacement for the factory part. Awaiting Mazda's reply.

My intent, once the correct p/n is confirmed, is to buy a salvage one in good shape and attempt first to replace the speedometer face myself. These go for around $200 (new ones are x10 that).
If I run into problems that I cannot resolve, such as if they buggered the original housing while installing the aftermarket unit, I will ship both clusters to a reputable conversion place I found. They will try to replace the face first, and if that won't work they will reset the odometer in the salvage one to the correct miles.

If I don't find info on how to remove and reinstall the cluster myself I will have our local Mazda dealer do this (they agreed). This will involve leaving the car with them while the cluster is being shipped, converted and returned. Probably a week...
If anyone here knows how to remove the cluster from the dash and reinstall it without breaking or buggering anything please let me know -- this would save some $$ + trips to the dealer.

Thanks!
Yoram

 

[youri]

So i have never done this myself and everyone as different laws on speedometer replacement. Here is what I found:

Mazda has a technical service bulletin out on replacement of speedometer. Based on it, it looks like to register the new speedometer they use a third party services and their diagnostic tool need to be connected. Doesn’t seem like a DIY can do it unfortunately. Have a read here:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2023/MC-10232299-0001.pdf

The good news is you can probably just replace the speedometer front plate yourself on the original gauge cluster. For the removal and installation instructions, the workshop manual for the Australian version is available here. The procedures to open the gauge cluster should be 99% the same. (Or if you want the North-american version there is a mazda website where you can pay for a one day access)

For the australian version:

2016 and up CX-5 Service Manual

Hi, I just completed a full engine replacement in my CX-9 2.5t (my post in CX-9 forum) and while looking for torque specs I found a service manual for the CX-5 here is a link https://mazdamanuals.com.au/wsm-secure/WSM/D9K4-1A-21B_Ver13/ Enjoy!!!!

mazdas247.com

Open the Mazda Cx-9(TC) link, and from there go to “Body & accesories”, and then to “Instrumentation/Driver info”

Then to “instrument cluster removal/installation” to remove it and “instrument cluster disassembly” to open it up.

There may be more in there (detailled steps in other sections) but I didn’t dig any further. Good luck and keep us posted on what you find.

 

[Yoram]

youri, this is awesome stuff!! Thanks a bunch. Will follow up and keep the forum informed.
Thanks again!

 

[Yoram]

Mazda has a technical service bulletin out on replacement of speedometer. Based on it, it looks like to register the new speedometer they use a third party services and their diagnostic tool need to be connected. Doesn’t seem like a DIY can do it unfortunately. Have a read here:

Yes, I did not expect to be a able to replace a whole cluster as the odometer will need to be reset to the correct mileage. I intended to only try to replace the face of the speedometer. If that fails then it goes to the specialty shop which allegedly is equipped to reset the mileage on the salvage cluster if they are not able to replace the face either.

 

[Yoram]

Update:
I found a salvage cluster in beautiful condition from a '22 CX-9 Touring (like mine) off eBay.
My current plan is to try to replace the face of the speedo myself. This will involve removing and reinstalling my cluster in the car with the help of the service manual instructions thanks to @youri.
The service manual includes removal and installation in the vehicle but as far as I could find does not include disassembly and assembly of components inside the cluster.
At this stage I was able to open the eBay cluster and expose the front face -- see pic.

It looks like I will need to replace the MPH ring (a separate piece) as well as the entire black face which contains the smaller km/h ring and the openings for the warning lights, and spans all 3 dials. This looks doable once I am able to remove the speedo and tach needles.

That's where I'm stuck at the moment. There is no mini-set screw or any tab or feature I can see to release the needles from their shafts or sockets. It is possible that they just need to be pulled out and then pushed back in, but I am reluctant to exert pressure in case I end up needing to use this salvage cluster instead of mine and have its miles reset.

Anyone has any experience or ideas on how these needles come off?

Thanks!

 

[Yoram]

I guess I jumped the gun too soon with the above post.

Problem solved (so far) after a short search on YouTube - the 2 spoon method worked.
Tried first on the tach needle with no issues. The speedo needle also came off but one side of its black hub fairing broke off. Glued it back with a drop of Gorilla super glue. Then the entire black face came off with gentle prying with a flat screwdriver under the tach center.

Next step will be removal of modified cluster from the car and hopefully repeat the above process in preparation for swapping the black face, putting in the mph ring and pushing the needles back in.

Cheers.

 

[youri]

Depending what you want the final result to be, you may be able to only replace the MPH ring. This would give you MPH on the outer ring and MPH on the inner ring so you would lose out on the ability to read km/h but that might not be an issue if you are not planning to drive to Canada or Mexico. This would prevent you from removing the tachometer needle if it is really stuck.

Thanks for the feedback and the photos, I am sure it will be helpful for others in the future.

Good luck!

 

[cornerking]

replacing just the mph ring could be an easier fix. worth considering.

 

[Yoram]

Thanks @youri and @cornerking . An important consideration of mine in this little project is to eliminate the grainy and inconsistent look and restore the cluster to OEM condition for our own enjoyment as well as for resale down the road (already salivating over the new CX-70...).
So my first attempt will be to replicate the above process on our "mutilated" cluster.
If one of the needles or the aftermarket face do not come off cleanly, plan B would be to reassemble and send the new/eBay MPH cluster to a specialty shop I located to have it reprogrammed to our car and miles.

 

[Yoram]

Update:

Project completed successfully. Our "mutilated" cluster removed from the car, the face from the eBay cluster retrofitted in place of the "mutilated" one. Retrofitted cluster installed back in car. Works fine:

Main steps:

1. Existing cluster removed: This requires removing the horizontal decorative trim, upper steering column cover and instrument cluster surrounding "hood". (Service manual says also to remove the glovebox which I did, but that proved unnecessary.)

2. Cluster disassembled. Needles came off OK although the speedo needle had both halves of the hub fairing detach; these can be glued back but I ended up using the needle from the eBay cluster (which had only one side detach).

Note that the aftermarket retrofit involved cutting out the center dial and putting in the cutout what appears to be a 3d-printed dial - grainy texture, different fonts and fuzzy openings for the warning lights:

3. Installing the OEM mph face from the eBay cluster into mine, installing the rings and needles, and finally the clear lens. It takes care and several tries to align the needles on the 0 position during insertion. I used the lens from the eBay cluster as it was in much better shape.

4. Cluster installtion in car (first pic) -- much quicker and easier than removal...

===>> Loose end:
The security indicator light (red padlock icon in speedometer face) is flashing when the ignition is off. Don't recall seeing it before; maybe it's normal and was not visible prior to the retrofit because the aftermarket face did not have an opening for that light?
Drove the car "around the block" and everything seems to be working normally.
I had disconnected the battery before starting the work and reconnected it upon completion. Not sure this has anything to do with it. The service manual does list an elaborate procedure involving their OBD tool to disconnect and reconnect the battery in vehicles with i-stop and i-ELOOP. I don't know whether ours has either of these (I assume it does) but of course I did not follow it... just disconnected and reconnected.

Can anyone please chime in whether a blinking red padlock light inside the speedo is normal with the ignition off.

Thanks!

 

[youri]

Blinking red padlock is normal I believe. I can recall seing it in my car. It is part of the anti-theft system and should be mentioned in the owner’s manual as well.

The CX-9 does not have i-stop or i-eloop.

 

[Yoram]

Thanks, @youri . As always, good info.
Yes, I need to revisit the owner's manual...
As much as I love the car, I hate this owner's manual. Sure, it is very detailed, but it is cluttered, poorly organized and of low graphics and print quality, so a bit off-putting to use.

The good news is that the car keeps growing on us. I keep being impressed by the remarkable combination of ride, handling and refinement. Right up there with, and often better than the Germans. Ooops, sorry for digressing off topic.

Cheers.

 

[youri]

There is a digital version of the manual: https://www.mazdausa.com/static/manuals/2022/cx-9/visual.html

It can sometimes be easier to use. Glad to see you enjoy the car just as much as I do.