the car: 96 850 GLT wagon (edit 5cyl, non turb
the scenario:

i get in my car, start it up, and all the lights on the dash illuminate. no biggie. after about 3 seconds, they all go out. good. except the Traction Control signal and the ABS signal. hrm. i push the selector switch for the traction control, thinking maybe i flicked it by accident when i mounted my ride. nope, its not in the off position (the light comes on if traction control is off, warning you that it is not on). hrm.... i drive down the road, and about 2 minutes later, i realize, that the ONLY gauges the are working, are my tach and temperature gage. wtf.... so i pull into a gas station, turn the car off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on. now my fuel gage works, but the trac light is still on. hrm... turn it off again, wait a few, then turn it back on. now all my gauges are working (presumably, im not moving to see if the speedo is working, im still parked), and the lights are off. i go down the road a bit, and the speedo is not working. i start to pull into another parking area, when it miraculously kicks on. now everything is working.

what in the heck is going on here? i would think if it was a fuse, the gauges would either work or not, instead of toying with me. also, what are the chances that every gauge i have goes haywire at the same time? its apparent (to me) that it is something electrical, but why would that affect the speedo?

the only thing i have had done recently, is a full brake replacement (all new pads / rotors, inspection of e-brake). i have done new plugs/wires, but i wouldnt think that would affect anything on the dash?

any ideas would be helpful, kinda getting spooked about my haunted car

 

When it happens try to wiggle the key around alittle and see if they start working. It might be a bad electrical part of the ignition switch.

If not that then let me know and I will tell you another thing to look at.

 

well, it happened again. reason so long of a delay for reply, it happens like once a week.

well, i noticed the gauges wasnt working, and the trac and abs lights were on. so i wiggled the key, as i was driving, nothin happened. when i wiggled, i didnt hear any clicking, like a short or something making/breaking connection, and the key didnt really move, it was firm.

 

Ok next thing to do is remove the lower dash panel on the drivers side of the car. Then look under the dash by the drivers door.
Look for a yellow plug behind the metal Knee bolster.It will have A purple handle that you can pull. Pull it and take the plug down and inspect both sides of it. Make sure it is clean and none of the wires are backing out. Then reinstall and see what happens from there.

 

I have the exact same problem. I tried wiggling the key and pulling the yellow plug with no apparent results. The plug was in clean/like new condition.

Do you have any other suggestions? Cleaning the ABS wheel sensors maybe? Doesn't seem like that would cause the gauges to stop working.

 

Nope just the ABS module. I will bet it is bad.