Chrysler Repair: 94 new yorker stuck in limp/gauges flaky, dash guages, dash lights

Question
QUESTION: my 94 chrysler  dash light (gas guage, rpm, odometer) does not come on when i start my car when these are not working my car will not shift. all the sudden they will come on and my car operates normally.  or i will be driving and my car jerks and the dash guages will shut down for a nano second and come back on it seems like something is shorting out and then it seems fine even though i know it isnt. now they wont come on at all since yesterday.  any ideas not a good idea to drive it im sure. thanks for any help you can offer me.

ANSWER: Hi Linda,
If the cluster gauges are what are not working (rather than the 'light') and those gauges momentarily quit and the trans won't shift briefly, and the power stumbles, then my suspicion is that either there is flaky contact in the ignition switch OR that fuse B in the box under hood (inner row, next to the rearmost, 20 amp) has a small crack in its wire that is opening up momentarily and cutting power; either would cut power to the trans relay and the engine control computer for a moment. You could try jiggling the key when this happens to see if that corrects the problem, and if so, then remove the the underside of steering column cover (remove screws) and with a spray can of electronic circuit cleaner shoot that into the switch via any cracks or holes in the body of the switch) and also you could remove the fuse and look very carefully to see if there is a crack in the wire (replace the fuse should that be the case). If the dash lights are involved too, that would be a slightly different problem/answer.
Roland
PS Please 'rate' my answer.

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QUESTION: Hi Roland,
I tried to jiggle the key that doesnt work.  I noticed to that my steering wheel doesnt lock in place either. uless those gauges come on either. earlier i let my car run for about 15 min and all the sudden those gauges poped on and the car ran normal again then the check engine light came on so when i shut my car off the gauges wouldnt come on and the car wouldnt shift into normal drive just stayed limp.  also all my lights and the blinkers do work when  the gauges dont. i tried to check out the fuse it is very hard to see if the fuse has a crack i really cannot see the wires they area enclosed iside the plastic which is hard to see i will try to look again   any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Linda,
Try switching the B fuse with another fuse of the same size/color in the box and see if the problem becomes something else which would tell you that there is something wrong with the B fuse or whatever fuse you switch it with. If that doesn't change anything then my suspicion is that the ignition switch is the problem but it would be desireable to prove that by means of checking for voltage on all the fuses that it sends power, which are located in the fuse box behind the dash (remove the cover on the left hand end of the dash for access to those fuses). You would use either a voltmeter or a simple glow light to check for whether all the fuses that the switch supplies are showing voltage or not. That is the intelligent way to diagnose the problem and not waste money guessing what part needs to be replaced. Let me know if I can be of help in doing those measurements. It is good that you can reliably tell when the situation is abnormal, when you turn the key to 'run', and it stays that way, so that you can then make the measurements and really understand what is wrong.
Roland