We had some problems with our instrument cluster in our 1998 Neon race car we used in the 24 hours of Lemons race in 2008. The tachometer didnt work!
Turns out, its a real common problem with first gen Neons where the solder joints break on the back of the pc board on the back of the instrument cluster.
With just a soldering pen, a little bit of solder, and your plain eyesight, you can commonly find the broken solder joints and then repair them.
Someone posted a video on how to do it on youtube.com – check it out here:
