2001 Taurus

The instrument illumination light is acting strange on my 2001 Taurus. When I switch on the headlights, sometime there is no light in instrument gages. All I will see two arrows which are not blinking. In the night I can't see how fast I am driving because there is no instrumentation light. After driving for a while everything becomes o.k. & will not have this problem for several daya. Sometime I will have this problem for several days in a row. What's goingon? Can somebody help me? The car has 52k miles.

Sounds to me like it is the GEM (General Electric Module). It is a circuit-board module (computer) that controls the inside electrical....instruments, heater, radio, etc. The fact that the problem goes away after a while indicates that this is caused by transistors - not burned out bulbs, or bad switches, or bad wiring. A faulty GEM makes things act "funny" like that. They cost between $125 - $200. Take the car to the dealer and ask if he can check the GEM. DO NOT ask them to check the electrical because they will charge you the going labor rate (about $80 per hour) for at least 3 or 4 hours but could be up to 10 or 20 hours with no guarantees of even finding your problem. It would be cheaper to just go and buy a new GEM than to pay for 2 hours of labor which won't necessarily get you anything. If you allow them up to 5 hours to check it - guess what? It will magically take 4 hours to find the problem, and 1 more to replace the GEM. How special! Just ask them to check the GEM and allow 1 hour. If they ask how to check it, say to plug in a new one off the shelf. If they balk, just buy the thing and do it yourself. Electrical problems are an area that the dealer can screw you mercilessly.