97 neon speedometer

[jory]

So my 97 SOHC 5 spd neon lost it's speedometer a little while back. It will flick up to maybe 5 mph and kind of twitch sometimes, regardless of speed. On impulse I swapped the speed sensor with no change. So I managed to find another tach cluster at the yard (not as easy as it sounds, mopar must have loved those ugly base clusters). I tried soldering the original, no change so I swapped it out without any change. The only thing I can think of is to pull the insulation off the wiring and check it, even though a close visual inspection to it didn't reveal any burns or slices. The plug is not corroded and makes good contact. This car was swapped from an auto and the speedometer worked great for over a year after. I don't know what else to check, am I overlooking some plug or maybe a connection somewhere? If somebody has a wire diagram of the circuit that would be awesome.

[Dodge Aries K]

When you solder the board, make sure to add solder as well. Worked every time for me... and I've done probably 10 or so of those clusters.

[shadow88]

I've had a rubbed through wire cause this. In my case it was the speed sensor signal wire grounding out on the egr tube. I bet you'll find the issue in that back driver's side corner of the head.

[Vigo]

well, a good way to tell that the computer is not getting a speed sensor signal is that the idle will usually go funny. If you have no idle issues and no codes you probably are getting the signal to the computer, and it is an issue with the cluster that your first attempt at repair didnt catch.

Im about to resolder one of mine, itll be my first try. But my speed sensor still doesnt work.. need to fix that too

[shadow88]

well, a good way to tell that the computer is not getting a speed sensor signal is that the idle will usually go funny. If you have no idle issues and no codes you probably are getting the signal to the computer, and it is an issue with the cluster that your first attempt at repair didnt catch.

Im about to resolder one of mine, itll be my first try. But my speed sensor still doesnt work.. need to fix that too

The idle thing you mentioned is not recessarily true. In the case of my car, the only symptom was the bouncing speedomenter. I think it had a vehicle speed sensor code too, but I don't remember the check engine light on.