Neon speedometer trouble?

[MMSC]

Just bought my son his first car. It's a 1995 Dodge Neon.
I have noticed that the speedometer works off & on. Sometimes it works fine and others it jumps back to zero unless you hit a bump in the road.
Have checked the plug going into the speed sensor and it's tight.
Anyone else have this problem?

[dwalls9102]

Check out www.neons.org

Someone may be able to help you out there.

[J-BODY]

Is the speedo the only gauge with a prob? If they all go dead you need a circuit board for the gauge cluster. If speedo only the speed sensor and circuit need checked out.

[Bernie]

Hi

Not sure if the Neon had the same set up as the 1995 Avenger with the 5 speed or not. But for the Avengers the speedo pickup gear is plastic and is located in the gear box.

Yes - very bad news. If that is the case for the Neon too then you are looking at a $350 - 400 cost to pull the box, open it up and then replace the $20 plastic worm gear.

Might look into some alternative things like -- buying a GPS and permanently mounting it in the car.

That would give you a speedometer that is more accruate than the mechanical ones for $150 or so.

[2Sweet Neon]

do what j body suggested or get a used gauge cluster from a junkyard...

[MMSC]

The speedometer is the only thing acting up. Had it at the dealer the other day and pulled the plug on the sensor, cleaned it and it still does it every now & then.
Did it the other day and I tapped on the dash and it started working, if it stops and you hit a bump it will start back up.
May be loose in the instrument panel somehow.
How does it connect to the gauge? Is the dash hard to pull to check?

[OnmiGLHT85]

well the dash is easy to pull out. you can do it in less that 5 min the top of the dash board pulls off then their is 4 screws to take off and the cluster is out their is to main groups of wires that go to 2 connecters and the 2 connecters go into the back of your cluster. im having the same proublem and have just resorted to finding a new guage cluster but i have all my guages go dead from time to time. let me know if you find any thing else out.


mike

[seasaltchap]

Been told by my local speedo' repair shop that the electronic panel suffers from bad connecter contacts(oxydation) and bad flowsoldering of certain pins to the board itself. $235 quote to fix.

I too have had the whole lot go dead, and the cruise control not work. Went through the stage of banging the dash for a year, but that does not work any longer - me'thinks after 8 years that it must be corrosion on the connector contacts

Mike: Yours has given me the confidence to explore - they warn to disconnect the battery to stop the safety bags from firing from a short!

[Dick]

Before you spend any money, check this out:

http://www.neons.org/modules/news/ar...php?storyid=18

[lfk13114]

I have a 96 expresso, mine did that all the time, i had the tach, speedo, gas, and temp gauge cluster, this only works on thos models, it may not work if circuit board is broken, but remove top part of dash, should be held down with metal clips, then unscrew cluster, four screws, pull cluster straight out, then the electrical connectors that are still in the dash, remove from sliders holding them, connect them into back of cluster and screw back in, try that, it should work, if not switch from to the tach less cluster, no problems so far,

lfk13114

[kallyi]

I did the fix that Dick pointed to, back in February, on my 97 Neon. It works. However, now my odometer, and trip meter don't want to record anything, until you get over 60 mph. I don't believe that doing the soldering caused this, but I'm not sure what did, and I haven't found a fix for it yet.

[unclemike]

My daughter's 1996 Neon had the same problem. I took the cluster apart on the dining room table and resoldered the traces going to the connectors. No problems since.
Beware that the early first generation Neons had electrical connector problems that weren't really fixed until they redesigned the connectors. If you have to change any of the engine sensors you might have to buy the matching connector in kit form.

[superstriker223]

I followed the link in Dick's reply (also found on other sites) and the solution seems simple enough. Only one question: if I don't have access to a soldering iron, will a hot glue gun without the glue suffice?

[cageman]

They are cheap, I would buy one, cant say anything about the glue gun, never used one, i just dont think the glue gun gets warm enough, or does it?

[JVMopar]

I've also done the soilder repair also. Very easy. Soilder iron cost $20 at radio shack.

[superstriker223]

did the fix actually work for you? i tried it:

1st: nothing changed color. i had to use a toothpick to find out when the solder softened.
2nd: well... it didn't work. is this fix only for a certain year? because the picture looked different than my cluster actually looks.

[Dick]

Originally Posted by superstriker223

did the fix actually work for you? i tried it:

1st: nothing changed color. i had to use a toothpick to find out when the solder softened.
2nd: well... it didn't work. is this fix only for a certain year? because the picture looked different than my cluster actually looks.

Did you use a soldering iron or the glue gun?

[superstriker223]

i used a soldering iron i borrowed from a friend. nothing's any worse, but nothing's any better either.
now here's an odd thing that got me wondering... i've found out that when i push both front window switches at the same time, the needles will spike up to read for a few seconds before dropping down again. although that doesn't seem to be working any more. i'm also getting a lot of "no bus" on my odometer read-out instead of mileage. this probably goes beyond the cluster, doesn't it?