Chrysler Repair: 97 Plymouth Breeze Gauges, fuse block, plymouth breeze

Question
Hi Roland,
I have a 97 Plymouth Breeze 2.0 SOHC, 4 cylinder with an automatic transmission and 108,000 miles. The Gauge Cluster and Digital miles readout stopped working since it's been cold. When I warm the car up, the needles and numbers start jumping and flashing. When the car is totally warm and running smooth the gauges work fine. Can you tell me what the fix might be.

Thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi Dean,
Because all the gauges misbehave similarly I don't think it has anything to do with the gauges themselves but rather to something that affects them all. When it is not working make sure that there is no message "No Bus" showing in the odometer window. If that message is not present, then my thought is that one of the two fuses that supply power to the gauges may be cracked and that as the car heats up the crack "heals" and the gauges come to life. I would take a close look at fuses 7 and 11 under the dash looking closely for a subtle break in the interior wire. You might try substituting another known good fuse for each to see if that fixes it.
The other possibility is a flakey ground connection from the body controller which is attached to the fuse block under the dash. There usually is a black wire from that multiplug unit that goes to and is connected to the inside metal panel called the kick panel which is just to the left of the driver's leg, usually just in front of the door opening (possibly covered by a trim panel). So as with the fuses, try looking for the black ground wire and make sure that it is firmly attached to the metal panel by a screw and that there is no corrosion at the interface between the wire grommet and the panel.
PLease let me know whether you solve this issue and how.
Roland