Dodge neon 1996 heat gage goes to hot andthen

It suppose to go to the middle and stay there

change pcv valve

No heat sounds like the heater core isn't circulating. Dropping down, sounds like the thermostat is sticking for a while than working. That can be checked by feeling the hose when the temp is up. If it is hard at the hose where the flow goes in; I would consider changing the thermostat. It can be a bad circulation problem killing the themostat though.

its hot do not drive a car thats hot severe engine damage may occur also look for antifreeze on ground

instrument cluster. either you can pull yourself @ clean w/electrical cirercuit cleaner but also suggest check fuses for a loose fuse

Do not replace the ECM Robert,
The problem is in the dash on stratus,cirrus,breeze and neon,
there are three resistors on the back of the dash that was poorly designed and installed to close together,they creat too much heat and the solder points come loose,you can repair this yourself in about one hour, if you send me your email address i'll send you a picture of what your looking foron the dash,Make sure you keep the three resistors held in while you resolder them.

IS VERY POSSIBLE YOU HAVE A BAD CONNECTION ON BACK OF CLUSTER. REMOVE CLUSTER CLEAN AND APPLY ELECTRIC GREASE ON CONNECTOR PINS AND REINSTALL

After it heats up, see if the fans are spinning. Turning on the AC can force the fans to spin if the car is already warm.The wire plugs into a fixture on the passenger side fan then a wire from there goes to the driver side fan. On my Neon the fixture shorted out and I bypassed it. so far, so good. -- You may be able to drive if you keep the heater on full - hot.

You probably just need to "burp" your cooling system. Run the car (from cold) with the radiator cap open and the heater on full blast. As the engine heats up and the water level goes down, fill it up until it stays full and starts to overflow.

Regards,
matt

You may be just low on water. Check your water level and top off with antifreeze.