what could be ready to go south and what kind of money? thanks for any info.
No Check Engine light?
Tester
no light.
Could be corrosion on the electrical contacts on the back of the dash cluster. I had a similar problem with my 2000 Explorer’s tachometer. It would quit working, but hit the dash on top and it would work again. I needed to replace the backlight bulbs, so I cleaned all the connectors for the speedo, tach, and other gauges while I had it out. It’s behaved ever since.
how long would cleaning these connectors take a garage to do, usually?
I would clean the dash connectors as @busstedKnucles suggests and also the connector for the Vehicle Speed sensor.
@grizz, ask for a quote. I don’t know how much needs to be disassembled to remove your dash cluster. It was a 2hr job on my explorer, but I needed to remove much of the lower dash.
tester made me think, would this type of problem cause a check engine light to come on?