Chrysler Repair: Liftgate mechanism - 94 Caravan SE, shift rod, speed auto

Question
Hi Roland.
Two oddities.
Recently the liftgate electric release has stopped working. I removed the bottom panel and found that there is a relay click when the gear shift is in any position. I looked behind the liftgate panel and all looks OK. Looked for a fuse, but couldn't find one. Once the mechanism stopped working, it has worked twice to my surprise!
Secondly, twice the speedo has totally stopped working. Shut off the ignition, and it works normally. What gives with that. The first time it happeded I hit a bad pothole, and noticed it stop working immediately. Was fine for months, then a few days ago it stopped again. Just those two times!
Thank you once again. You are amazing! Have waited a week to talk to you. Looked like you were maxed out for a week or more!

Answer
Hi Jeff,
The entire auto repair category was shut down for about a week for no reason that the site management is willing to disclose. Sorry for the situation to be like that.
On the liftgate, my '93 manual suggests:
1. make sure that 10V or more voltage is available at the latch solenoid wire.
2. make sure grounding is tight through latch mounting screws
3. remove latch and inspect plunger to insure it is undamaged and properly attached, the plunger should spring back when preseed.
4.Insure that plunger travel is adequate, approximately 16mm.
You might also try adjusting the latch and striker mechanism so that it latches with a moderate slam.
The fuses for it are #3 and #4. The last item to check is the release switch proper.
On the speedo, how the system gets the speed data depends upon which trans you have: 3-speed auto non-electronic, or 4-speed auto electronic controlled. The former has a sensor located on the top of the transaxle extension (the housing from which the half axles protrude) while the latter uses the trans output sensor located on the side of the trans facing toward the front of the van, just to the left of the gear shift rod. So you could check the plug on whichever sensor you have. The data gets digitized at the powertrain controller and sent to the dash with all the other data on the common buss. So if the intermittancy is not associated with the sensor it has to do with the cluster unit itself.
Roland