Chrysler Repair: Instrument Panel Cluster: 99 Van, soldering pencil, cluster board

Question
I have a 99 Chrysler T&C Limited 3.8L.  My question is: My IPC Cluster will stop working all together while driving, at the same time the ABS and Alarm Set warning lights will go on...if I bang on top of the dash sometimes it will start working again and the warning lights will go out, however, sometimes not for a couple days.  What do you think could be going on?  Also, if I leave this condition and don't bang on the dash, my SES light will come on.

Answer
Hi Jon,
It sounds like a flakey connection between the plug cluster and the circuit board. You might want to check fuse 28 in the box under the hood and fuse 2 in the box under the dash (check for a subtle crack in the wire), and the ground for the dash underneath at the center support (black/light green wire from the cluster goes there).
The cluster has 13 pin plug which only needs 7 wires because of digital data for everything coming in on 2 wires. If you remove it then look for and cold solder joints at the socket/circuit board interface or cracks in the traces for the 7 connections. You can reheat any suspect joints with a small soldering pencil.
There are several detailed steps to removing the cluster board which would most efficiently be supplied by my xeroxing the pages and postal mailing them to you. If you would like use the "thank and rate" tab to give me a postal mailing address. If you would send me back three 41 cent stamps to cover my costs that would be appreciated.
Roland