My dad has s 97 Dodge neon. it has around 130,000 miles on it. I am having to drive it now due to my car being down. Well I come to find out that the speedometer runs sometimes, and doesn’t at others. i have seen that the gas gauge and temp gauge will work some times and not at others. The two gauages can be working but the speedometer not. When I go over bumps the speedometer will bounce all over the place. Dad says it’s been that way for awhile and it’s no big deal to him. Any idea what might cause this and where to start in getting it fixed?
A common problem on 1st generation Neons is solder breaks on the circuitry on the back of the instrument panel. That is undoubtedly the cause of your reported symptoms. You can replace the entire instrument cluster if you are not confident about making repairs yourself. Fortunately there is a fairly simple fix for those who have confidence in their soldering skill. See a how-to video at this link:
http://forums.neons.org//viewtopic.php?f=1&t=353096&sid=8afd91708f2e981d6f3380e5f68fea11
As mentioned, this is a common problem with these cars. Until you fix it or get it fixed, some people find that smacking the top of the dashboard, above the instrument cluster, with the flat of your hand will bring the gauges back into line for a little while. It’s worth a try.