aftermarket gauges

[jjk_52]

hey guys,
i wanna replace the entire stock gauge pannel with after market gauges. i plan to mount them to plexi glass and place it where the stcok ones were. how hard will it be to do this?

[denisond3]

Its going to be sort of a big job. The typical Neon cluster has a speedometer, fuel gauge, and water temp gauge. It may have the tach in it too. All of these instruments get their signal electronically. The speed sensor provides info that is used by the integrated circuit on the cluster, to run the speedometer needle up and to advance the odometer, as well as to tell the PCM what your car is doing. The fuel gauge gets a signal from the sender unit inside the tank, and interprets the resistance to move the fuel needle, and turn on the 'low fuel light' if needed. The water temp gauge is also told what to do via the integrated circuit on the cluster. One of the functions of the Dodge water temp circuit is to start beeping the 'chime' real fast, if the water temp gets too hot.
Im not sure if the integrated circuit for the tachometer is different from the one for the speedometer - but the signal from the PCM may not drive a regular tachometer properly. This is because most cars today, including Neons, use a 'wasted spark' type of ignition, and might show 1000 rpm when the engine was turning at 2000 rpm.
You could add your own water temp gauge, but it will take some work to find a place to instal a temp sensor to drive it. You could add your own oil pressure gauge, but will have to add a T fitting at the back of the block, so the original oil press indicator will also work. Otherwise you wont have the little red light coming on when oil is low. Luckily though the oil press light function isnt sent to the PCM, so the pcm wont care about that.
When I live they have emissions testing. They connect their computer to the diagnostic plug, and let the computer ask the PCM on the Neon if everything is all right. The 95 Neons may be different, but the inspectors wont pass a car if its 'check engine light' is on, nor will they pass a car if its 'check engine light' doesnt come on when the ignition is first switched on. If there is no emissions testing where you live, this may not be a problem. It may mean you would not be able to sell the car to someone who does live in an emissions testing area.