Trip computer is tied to the airconditioning?

Hello all, I am new here. I'm planning to fit a computer into my car, so I've been reading up on some material on this forum.

Eventually I want to replace my trip computer with a mini-itx computer with its own lcd. I haven't gotten too far in figuring how to do that, but I do have question which bugs me and I can't find an answer to it yet.

I have a first generation Acura MDX , and it looks like the trip computer unit has buttons built on it which control the air conditioning and clock.

See here for a picture of the unit:
http://www.cd4car.com/product_images...71045_zoom.jpg

If I were to remove the trip computer and use the mini-itx, how do I control the air conditioning?

It could be that the wiring is separate from the trip computer computer (that is, I can just solder each wire onto my own buttons on the new lcd plate screen or something), but I"m not sure if that's the case... What would I do if it's tied to the trip computer?

It likely is a ODBII style box that controls everything. You will need more information on what this thing actually does. MOST of the newer vehicles use CAN and ODBII to control most features in the car.

The good news in this case is that if you can get the ODBII codes you can build a plugin for whatever FE you are planning to use to control everything.

The bad news is that unless you just relocate the unit and reuse its place you will likely HAVE to build your own plugin which is not going to be easy unless you know how to write programs well enough to make a plugin and you can get the associated ODBII codes.

If it doesn't use ODBII and is a special network only for Acuras you may not be able to do anything with it until you can find out exactly what it is doing.
But still you will need to likely write your own software to use it.

Thanks for answering. I can't seem to find much information on the trip computer hardware-wise.

Here is an image of the back:
http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server13....1280.1280.jpg

The green port doesn't look at all like an obd2 port, but the blue one might be. I can't see if it has 16 pins or not. Can anyone with more experience eyeball it and make a guess?

It is interesting to note that is an alpine unit. I did not realize Alpine makes stuff for OEM like that.

I couldn't make out the part number on that so could you post that?

With it being an alpine piece I don't know if it will be easy or not to figure out what it is. You may be able to get a full manual for it.

Your best bet for a project like this is always to get a copy of the factory repair manual because it has wiring diagrams and can atleast get you going in the right direction. I would make a stronger guess that unless you find that connected to another alpine piece that it is likely a CAN/ODBII piece. And it will NOT have a "normal" odbii port. The port you are thinking about is a diagnostic port and is industry standard. Devices within the car are going to be modular and likely use 3-4 wires to connect to the bus.

Rodney

The images I've found are here:
http://www.cd4car.com/2001-2002-acur...isplay-screen/

One of the images shows the part number, which looks to be: 78200-s3v-a030-m1

Doing a search on this came up with the following link which I believe is in a Russian like dialect.

http://www.codedradio.info/?i=bn&st=acura

What is interesting is that alpine has a number of pieces.
You need to find out what interface this unit uses. Is your stereo system also made by alpine as well?
It is possible that instead of CAN/ODBII it is using the Alpine network which has been broken elsewhere.

If it is using the Alpine network you SHOULD be able to easily replace it with a dedicated program on your "new" screen being run by the PC.

But will require someone writing a module for you to interface into the system so you can duplicate the functions on your PC. (Figure a plugin on RR or whatever FE you use.)

If you can find out the interface and you can connect to it then it should be a reasonably easy manner to have someone write a plugin for you.

Rodney

Sorry, I know it's been a while. I contacted an Acura dealership, Honda, and the Alpine Electronics in CA.

None of them know anything about the interface for the trip computer. No one knows anything about the protocol used on the green and blue ports on the back of the trip computer.

Alpine service rep did tell me to contact the "Honda Manufacturer", but I have no idea what the number for it is. I contacted Honda, but they didn't know where to send me.

I'm a bit frustrated at the lack of openness on the documentation. I don't know how I would reverse engineer the ports either, so now I'm back to square one.