electrical problem i think

i was driving on the interstate this weekend when my truck felt like it was gonna stall. I was going about 70. It chugged once then my gages went ballistic and all my control panel lights came on. It last for about a minute then everything was fine. Something also happens when i turn the truck on. Sometimes it feels like its gonna stall and then all my control panel lights go on then off as well as the radio. The clock on the radio never resets so i'm probably not losing power. What can this be. I have a 2001 s-10 4cyl 2wd.

Might have had the same thing happen to mine.. sounds simalar.. But .. anyways.. look at yoru battery terminals.. mine was very badly corroded..and it made my dash lights go on and off.. and gauges go crazy.. I cleaned it all up with battery terminal cleaner (or baking soda and water does the same i think).. Ended up breakin the connection right off the battery so i had to replace it.. but.. id look to that.. if thats not it.. follows the positive and negative cables.. look for a short..

come to think of it my battery was getting pretty corroded. how do i replace the wire contact?

just disconect the battery posts and use sandpaper to clean them. That's the easiest and cheapest cleaner that I've found for side mount battery posts. If you have to clean the contact points on the starter, and block the same method works.

Wash your hands with baking soda and water afterwords to clean off the acid that might have gotten on them.

If you need new cables you'll have to measure them and take note of any additional wires coming off when you get the new cables.

If your battery also has top mount posts on it's the best time to convert to top post mounts (some people prefer them)

thanks for the advice, o yeah my battery went dead this morning, any ideas why the above happened and two days later my battery died?

Battery terminals always corode to a point. It's just the chemical reaction. Newer batteries don't seem to as badly, so my guess is that they are sealed and vented better.

Batteries will go dead if they don't charge properly, again caused by the terminals getting coroded.

Try cleaning everything up, and charging the battery before you replace it.
If you can your better off to extend the life to fall, and then start the winter of with a new battery