Chrysler Repair: 98 Intrepid Heater Control/Blower Flaky , gauge panel, mr roland

Question
The heater in my 98 Intrepid has a mind of its own... Last year at this time the Automatic Temp Control unit with the digital readout would go out but with a few finger taps it would light back up.. then eventually it would not light up but heater/ac still functioned.. Then all of a sudden the heater quit working.. my 1st thought was blower motor, I removed it and connected it to 12volt power source to test it and it worked at full speed every time I connected it to power source.. so, I put it back in and turned on the ignition and it seemed to work at all speeds. So I figured the resistor block was okay since all speeds were working. But the control panel still did not light up.
After going to fuel up I shut the car off and when I restarted the car the heater would not come back on. The next day same thing, I started car and it was working, then after I immediately shut the car off so, as to not let anything heat up... again it didn't fire back up.. I have searched thru all of your other questions to see if I could find someone with the same issue and it seems like everyone else has the one speed problem but, none with sporadic issue of heater working properly to not working.
My question could this be a problem with the control panel since it already has an issue with not lighting up? And my other question is when trying to use your method for codes does the code show up within the digital control panel or is it displayed within the instrument gauge panel above steering column?

P.S. After calling dealership I found that the dysfunctional control panel was a whooping $184.00 for a replacement. So and help or advise would be greatly appreciated Mr Roland.

Answer
Hi Fred,
The first thing to check would be the fuses: #17 and #23 in the panel behind the left end-cap of the dash. See if one might have a subtle crack in the wire or corroded contacts/socket clips that make the power to the control panel (17) of the blower motor (23) flaky. There are two ground points as well, near each other, under the dash and just to the left of the center console either on the firewall or a structural support. So see if either of those has a loose screw holding the grounding wires in place.
On the fault codes for the HVAC unit, these would appear on the HVAC controller readout.
Let me know if these fuse inspections don't clear this up.
Roland