diff --git a/cesm/driver/esm_time_mod.F90 b/cesm/driver/esm_time_mod.F90
index b65f467a..c423b96f 100644
--- a/cesm/driver/esm_time_mod.F90
+++ b/cesm/driver/esm_time_mod.F90
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ module esm_time_mod
   implicit none
   private    ! default private
 
-  public  :: esm_time_clockInit  ! initialize driver clock (assumes default calendar)
+  public  :: esm_time_clockinit  ! initialize driver clock (assumes default calendar)
 
   private :: esm_time_date2ymd
 
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ module esm_time_mod
 contains
 !===============================================================================
 
-  subroutine esm_time_clockInit(ensemble_driver, instance_driver, logunit, maintask, rc)
+  subroutine esm_time_clockinit(ensemble_driver, instance_driver, logunit, maintask, rc)
     use nuopc_shr_methods, only : get_minimum_timestep, dtime_drv
     ! input/output variables
     type(ESMF_GridComp)  :: ensemble_driver, instance_driver
@@ -134,25 +134,17 @@ subroutine esm_time_clockInit(ensemble_driver, instance_driver, logunit, maintas
           call NUOPC_CompAttributeGet(instance_driver, name='drv_restart_pointer', value=restart_pfile, rc=rc)
           if (ChkErr(rc,__LINE__,u_FILE_u)) return
 
-          if (trim(restart_file) /= 'none') then
+          if (trim(restart_pfile) /= 'none') then
 
-             call NUOPC_CompAttributeGet(instance_driver, name="inst_suffix", isPresent=isPresent, rc=rc)
-             if (ChkErr(rc,__LINE__,u_FILE_u)) return
-             if(isPresent) then
-                call NUOPC_CompAttributeGet(instance_driver, name="inst_suffix", value=inst_suffix, rc=rc)
-                if (ChkErr(rc,__LINE__,u_FILE_u)) return
-                restart_pfile = replace_text(restart_file, ".cpl", ".cpl."//inst_suffix)
-             else
-                inst_suffix = ""
-             endif
              if (maintask) then
+                write(logunit,*) " read rpointer file = "//trim(restart_pfile)
                 inquire( file=trim(restart_pfile), exist=exists)
-                print *,__FILE__,__LINE__,trim(restart_pfile), exists
                 if (.not. exists) then
-                   restart_pfile = "rpointer.cpl"
-                   if (inst_suffix .ne. "") restart_pfile = trim(restart_pfile)//'.'//inst_suffix
+                   rc = ESMF_FAILURE
+                   call ESMF_LogWrite(trim(subname)//' ERROR rpointer file '//trim(restart_pfile)//' not found', &
+                        ESMF_LOGMSG_ERROR, line=__LINE__, file=__FILE__)
+                   return
                 endif
-                
                 call ESMF_LogWrite(trim(subname)//" read rpointer file = "//trim(restart_pfile), &
                      ESMF_LOGMSG_INFO)
                 open(newunit=unitn, file=restart_pfile, form='FORMATTED', status='old',iostat=ierr)
@@ -329,20 +321,7 @@ subroutine esm_time_clockInit(ensemble_driver, instance_driver, logunit, maintas
        if (ChkErr(rc,__LINE__,u_FILE_u)) return
        firsttime = .false.
     endif
-  contains
-    FUNCTION Replace_Text (s,text,rep)  RESULT(outs)
-      CHARACTER(len=*)      :: s,text,rep
-      CHARACTER(LEN(s)+100) :: outs     ! provide outs with extra 100 char len
-      INTEGER             :: i, nt, nr
-      
-      outs = s ; nt = LEN_TRIM(text) ; nr = LEN_TRIM(rep)
-      DO
-         i = INDEX(outs,text(:nt)) ; IF (i == 0) EXIT
-         outs = outs(:i-1) // rep(:nr) // outs(i+nt:)
-      END DO
-    END FUNCTION Replace_Text
-    
-  end subroutine esm_time_clockInit
+  end subroutine esm_time_clockinit
 
  !===============================================================================