Nissan Repair: instrument panel gauges works intermittenly, illumination lights, nissan frontier

Question
98 Nissan Frontier 2.4L, 2wd auto. Initial problem- Speedomenter would consistently stick then jump up or down about 10MPH while driving ie. register 60 mph while driving then jump to 70 or down to 50.  Now intermittent problem with other gauges.  Sometimes when turn on ignition and driving,the tach vibrates & stays around 0, speedometer may go up to 20 MPH max, and fuel and temp gauges pegs at top end. Other times I start and drive and everything works. Sometimes if I drive and stop somewhere and then start the car,  all the gauges return to normal.  Only one time so far when the tach,fuel, and temp gauges did work and only the speedometer would go up to 20MPH on the hwy. Panel illumination lights and odometer always work OK, only the 4 gauges are affected. Problem does not affect the starting or performance of the car.  

Answer
Dave,

Take the instrument cluster out of the vehicle and clean the contacts first.  That would be my first suggestion since the connectors get corroded.  No, it does not look like it when you take it out.  But, use an eraser from a number 2 pencil and rub the contacts on both sides.  Reinstall it and if this does not do the trick then the 9 volt resistor is going out and it will need to be replaced. You can get one from Nissan or a speedometer speciality shop in your town.  Check out the phone book or go to a wrecking yard and get one off an old cluster.