I too am having probs with my speedometer and gas gauge not working sometimes in my 97 Neon.. Not all of the time but now and then they will not work.. I guess I need to take it apart and check the connections and solder points.. Great info here

 

Great info here guys!

Quick question if these soder spots are broken would that cause the entire cluster to not work?

I have a 98 neon and the gas gauge, speed gauge and blinker lights don't work. The temp gauge and odometer all work.

Would this fix it?

Secondly on the picture of the broken ones do you just touch the sodering iron to both or is there a material that needs to connect them?

 

very well could be. also the solder joints ay not look faulty, but can very well be the problem. retouching all the solder joint with a soldering iron should do the trick. a little tip with soldering, when the iron is all heated up(usually about 5-10 mins.) coat the tip with a little solder before you start touching all the points on the cluster.

 

Thanks for the advice....

 

Alrightg i have a 97 DOCH, my temperature gauge sky rockets and then will drop a lil and then sky rocket again, replaced the thermostat and temp sender just to see if it was that, and then saw this, was wondering if it will work for temp guage, along with i could be doing 70 on the highway, and my speedometer will just drop to 0, and then a few seconds later it will go to like 40, and then back up to speed, will this fix it, and if so, besides a haynes manual, how would i go about taking off the dash to get to the cluster. Sorry i lack mechanic skills =/

 

Down in the guts of this thread, there are pictures that show what you will reflow with the soldering gun once the instrument panel (IP) is removed.

To remove the IP, pop off the top panel that covers the top of the entire dash by prying up on the left and right sides of it using a small thin slotted screwdriver. It won't take much effort. Once it has popped loose on each side, pull the entire thing up and toward yourself at the same time to take it off.

Then, the entire IP comes out once you remove the 4 phillips screws (2 on each side). It is plug and play. Just pull it forward about 1 inch then pick it up over the steering wheel.

Once it is out, remove the paper back cover to reveal the circuit board and where you see two plastic connectors is where you will perform the reflow - except that you must first remove the board from the plastic housing by taking off the tiny screws and flipping it over. Using the picture below, you will find the backside of the two areas where the connectors are located. Those are the ones where you put the hot solder gun on and when you see the solder change color and shift slightly, that means that it got hot enough to melt and flow into whatever nook or cranny or crack that was there and when it hardens again (in about 2 seconds), it should fix your problem. Do it for each of the connector pins on both sides. Then put it back together and test it out before you put the cover back on.

PS. If you read the entire thread, you will find that each person has a slightly different problem, but all with the same problem source (bad solder) and the same fix (reflow it).


Good Luck.

 

Okay, just did this fix and now I got no guages at all?? Engine fan still won't shut off unless battery is disconnected. Any suggestions?

 

If you had also read the thread, it also says that this does not always work and that sometimes, you just have to replace the bad cluster. If you reflowed all the connectors and now nothing works, then you most likely need to get a new cluster. Sorry. Nothing ventured nothing gained....

As for the running fan, check the Fan relay. Located in the Power Distribution center (PDC) behind the battery. You can replace the horn with the fan and see if it fixes it to know if it is a bad relay (assuming your horn works - of course).

 

Hi I live in pensacula FL, and I am looking to see if anyone out there could help me with or lend any suggestion to an ongoing problem I have been having with my 2003 Ram 3500. basically, about one month ago my dash went dark, it came back on and since then the dash lights are dim and the tachometer no longer works, any help would be greatly appreciated

 

I am very glad I found this forum. I have only soldered a couple of times in my life, and was nervous about damaging the circuit board.

Everything went fine, and I now have a working speedometer again.

It was a very easy fix, for someone who is mechanically challenged.

One thing that may be helpful, I thought I had to remove the plastic trim around the cluster in order to get to it. After several attempts I realized the entire top of the dash pops upward, and can be taken out (with the plastic trim attached). No screws need to be taken out to remove the top of the dash.

Then it is just four screws to remove the cluster. It is helpful if you have a LONG phillips head screwdriver.


Edit: I looked for a solution a few months ago, and just got around to fixing it. I came back to the forum and responded to the post with the picture, and then realized that another post above told about lifting the dash upward. Sorry I didn't read through all before I posted my response.