1992 Plymouth Acclaim Tachometer

The tachometer on my 1992 Plymouth Acclaim, 2.5L, auto tranny doesn't
work anymore.

Is this a big job (ie: remove dash, etc) or should I just live without
it?

Thanks in advance

"AtPeaceAndHealthy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> The tachometer on my 1992 Plymouth Acclaim, 2.5L, auto tranny doesn't
> work anymore.
>
> Is this a big job (ie: remove dash, etc) or should I just live without
> it?

I remember removing the tach on my 89 Acclaim, and it was easy enough,
although I don't remember all the details. It isn't necessary to pull the
entire dash, just the cluster bezel as I recall. Look carefully to find all
the screws.

I was able to fix the tach by cleaning and slightly deforming the electrical
pins to improve the contact. On vehicles with air bags it's important to
disconnect the battery before working in that area.

About 99.99% of the time this is caused by solder connections on the
cluster's printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB has traces on each side
of the board, and they are connected by 'revits'. Over time, heat and
vibration, these revits loosen up and the master signal, or common
ground goes away.

IF you can solder, the fix is to remove the cluster, and solder flow
the top and bottom sides of the PCB's revits. Clean the tach drive
module connections with a pipe cleaner soaked in TV Tuner cleaner, or
contact spray cleaner.

If you can't solder, or don't want to tackle this yourself, you can
still save some money by pulling the cluster yourself, and taking the
entire cluster to a speedo repair shop. Now, they will solder the PCB,
and test all guages. They will want to charge you for calibration, but
I would decline to save the money. Some shops will charge a flat fee of
$120 to do a repair and test, others will just do a solder reflow and
test for less money. This is what most independant shops do to make
this repair.

I have repaired many K car tachs using the above technique.

Good Luck,

Bill
Dave Gower wrote:
> "AtPeaceAndHealthy" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > The tachometer on my 1992 Plymouth Acclaim, 2.5L, auto tranny doesn't
> > work anymore.
> >
> > Is this a big job (ie: remove dash, etc) or should I just live without
> > it?
>
> I remember removing the tach on my 89 Acclaim, and it was easy enough,
> although I don't remember all the details. It isn't necessary to pull the
> entire dash, just the cluster bezel as I recall. Look carefully to find all
> the screws.
>
> I was able to fix the tach by cleaning and slightly deforming the electrical
> pins to improve the contact. On vehicles with air bags it's important to
> disconnect the battery before working in that area.