Problems with 98 Neon

[Skeeter98]

Hello, I am new here. I own a 1998 Dodge Neon (automatic transmission)

I bought my Neon from a local car dealership last June '06. I bought it with the only problems listed as cracked windshield.

It runs like a dream and is for the most part, a very dependable car. All I have had to do is put on new tires and get a new battery last winter.

However, this is the only thing that irks me.

I was wondering if anyone else who has/had a Neon similar to mine has run into this problem:

My speedometer sometimes doesn't work. It will go down to 0, and sometimes (but not every time) when that happens, my gas gauge goes down to empty, and the temperature reading goes down all the way to C (as in, down to cold). Both the regular odometer and the trip odometer stop turning as well. When it comes back, the air bag light and the check engine light flash, and the speedometer and all the gauges come back. Sometimes it fluctuates, sometimes it doesn't work for miles and miles. It's very unpredictable.

Also, once every 200 miles or so, if I'm driving at night with my headlights on, my dashboard lights die (except for my shifter and my heat/ac lights). I cannot see how fast I am going (that is, if the speedometer is working) unless I take my cell phone, open it, and use the glow to see it. When that happens, my hazard lights appear on my dash board, completely illuminated (but not flashing on the outside of the car). So both the right and the left green signals are illuminated, and my highbeam light goes on as well (but my highbeams are not on). So, in a nutshell, my gauge lights and speedometer lights aren't working, but my hazard and highbeam lights are illuminated on my dashboard. This usually only lasts a few miles and quickly returns to normal, with all my dash lights coming back on.

I took it to a shop, where I was told that it was my Ignition Switch doing it, and I paid over $300 to get it fixed. For a week, my spedometer and everything worked and nothing happened. After a week, it was back to doing what it was doing. By then, I'd been dumb and thrown away my receipt.

I am totally clueless and not sure what is wrong. I am hoping the entire computer system isn't screwed.

Any ideas?

[das2123]

First of all, get your $300 back and show them it wasn't fixed.

After that, you or get someone you know to do this...
http://www.neons.org/modules/news/ar...php?storyid=18