Chrysler Repair: 96 Breeze 2.0L hard re-start, light flickers, regulater

Question
Hi Folks, Im baffled.  96 Breeze, 2. 0L.  Cranks a long time (killed one starter already) then starts.  The weird things:

Always starts right after the Oil Pressure light flickers out.  (May be the light goes out as its starting) changed the sender with no change in the condition.

Seems to start after you fiddle with the ignition switch a little (cycling the pump a few times etc) I dont think the pump or regulater as there have been times when ive cycled the pump 15 to 20 times and it made no difference.

The trouble is worse after Ive run it a while and its warm.  If ive shut it off for say five minutes i have to wait for at least twenty to restart it.  Then. . after its cooled a little it will usually start on the second or third cranking

There seems to be some electrical problems with the car.  tach is pinned to the underside of the stop peg when the car is running and the odometer is visable.  The odometer will sometimes blink out and the tach drops back counterclockwise a little

The wipers come on when you so much as touch the switch and wont go off until you cycle the switch to high and then off.

When you shut the car off it sometimes wont die.  Its almost as if its dieseling with this sputtering continuation of running.

had the water pump/timing belt changed (not related to this at all) and the tech had trouble restarting it.  He noted that there was no fire and no pulse but after fiddling with the switch it started (as he put it, "you could hear the rest of the relays click and then it started)

So;

Ive changed the ignition switch but not the lock cylinder (seems to me that it cant be that as all the key and tumbler does is press the switch and and rotate it which occurs each time without fail)

What the heck is this all about?

Thanks

Leo

Answer
Hi Leo,
I would begin with a self-readout of the engine controller memory for any fault codes it may have noted. Turn the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the check engine light to begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause, then repeat to assure and accurate count. Then group the counts in pairs in the order of appearance to form the two digit fault codes. The last code is always 55, which means "end of readout". A fault code list is at www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html  Or write back and tell me what codes you got and we can go from there. I would prefer to deal with all the other items one at a time but let's try the engine first.
I assume that you can hear the fuel pump hum for about 1 second when you turn the switch to the run position, if not let me know that. The other thing would be to check for spark when it won't fire up using a screwdriver with an insulated handle with the tip inserted into a spark cap and then hold the two by the insulated materials but position the shaft of the screwdriver 1/4" from the cylinder head while a helper cranks the engine over. Watch for a blue spark to jump the gap as he does a 5 second crank.
Which "sender" did you replace?
I got this question from the 'pool' list so that is the reason for delay. You can get back to me without having to wait for me to be available by using the "thank and rate" tab where there is a comment section.
Roland