Chrysler Repair: gauges not working electrical short, digital odometer, ground clamp

Question
I have a 96 voyager 3.0 eng.  Some times when I turn the key it won't start, no dash lights or chimes or headlights.  After a couple tries it fires up like normal. When it acks up the gauges go nuts digital odometer goes out. I noticed that a relay for the headligts started clicking ,I switched with the a/c relay but after a couple days acted up again. When driving and it acts up it seems like the engine is skipping.  thanks for any input

Answer
Hi Mike,
I haven't looked over a Voyager myself, but I do have the wiring diagrams. Is it not the case that you should be able to turn on the headlamps without using the ignition key at all? If that is indeed the case, then the fact that the electrical system seems "dead" when you have the no start, no dash, no chimes, no headlamps, indicates to me that the battery is not well connected to the system. I would begin by cleaning the battery terminals and also checking all the cables attached to the ground(-) clamp by following them as far as you can to where they are grounded on the chassis and the engine to make sure that you have good return paths to the battery via those - post cables. Always remove the - post first, and always reinstall last in order to not be  dealing with a + post that is in the circuit and thus could burn you if your wrench shorted to ground while you were tightening the nut on the + post clamp. Use some anti-corrosion compound on the battery terminals after shining them up with a battery brush. Let me know if this doesn't fix it, and tell me what does and doesn't work when it won't start.
Roland