Jeep Patriot RPM Gauge bounces / not right

Question

I have a Jeep Patriot 2012 2.4L 4 wheel drive limited. While all other dash gauges work well with no issues, the RPM gauge will stick (not move after a certain position, around 1000 RPMS and then sticks after the needle reaches its max position). It also randomly stutters. The problems mentioned occur consistently. The fusebox relays no issues and the check engine light is not on. Are there any other possible issues that could be causing this? Perhaps a sensor within the pedal/engine that I don't know about?

Answer 1

I don't know for sure, but would bet the gauge itself is bad. One way you could check this is by putting an OBDII reader onto the port and check live data from the ECU to see if it matches what's going on with the tachometer. In most newer cars, the gauges in the dash are ran through the ECU for output. If the ECU reading is different from what the tachometer is reading, you can guarantee the gauge is at fault.

The reason I don't think it's something else is because if the ECU wasn't reading the engine speed correctly, the engine would not be running well. Engine RPM is one of the parameters the ECU uses for fuel mapping. If there was a sensor which was going bad, not only would it register as a fault code, the engine would be running bad or not at all.