Hello to all,

I have a 98 Neon R/T. The gauges work while idling, (the tachometer spikes at start-up and then settles, the fuel gauge shows proper tank volume) but stop working when I start driving.

First I thought it would be the fuse, but that doesn't explain why they work when I restart the car. I saw the article here:

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...er-repair.html

about repairing the circuit board, but I ruled it out for the same reason - the gauges work while idling. My only other guess is a short in the wire? Anyone have an explanation?

Thanks in advance for reading,

Pepov

 

Try and solder the back of the circuit board first. That's more than likely the problem. Mine would randomly go on and off at times. Sometimes it would stay on for days, other days nothing. Sometimes its would be constantly on and off and the cluster was basically a needle free for all. Try tapping it a lot when your driving and see what happens, if they move at all, then it's the circuitry.

 

I spent countless hours dealing with my intermittent cluster failures. Even did the soldering technique which had no effect. After two years with no insturments at all, and giving it to my son to drive, I coughed up 48 dollars on ebay and got a new circuit board. Best 50 bucks I've spent in a while. Two months out and it is flawless.

 

Thanks for the help. Ill try soldering everything. I supposed that's easier that searching for a shorted wire for the time being. Thanks!

 

Make sure your battery cables are tight and clean.