dead dash 2002 caravan

my caravan in the past month has been doing some really strange things with regard to the dash. when first started up everything on the dash would work properly for about 10 minutes and then the entire unit would go dead[no dash light, speedometer or guages] most times after the van had been shut off for a while the dash would come to life and last for another 10 minutes.. after 2-3 weeks of this the dash has now gone competely dead . the van is running and shifting properly. i have read through the threads and it appears that the dash motherboard is a real weak point as is the body module.. i have checked the fuse and it is o.k. and i really hate to start throwing money at the problem until i am at least 1/2 sure of what the problem actually is. any ideas are greatly appreciated sam

Have you tried smacking the dash above the instrument cluster to see if that jolts anything to life? Unfortunately that's not a conlusive "test". Even if nothing happens you need to inspect and resolder the connections on the cluster circuit board as you noted, specifically the solder connections securing the connector to the board. You've probably read about the IOD fuse trick. Try it if you haven't. Try a cluster self test. Push and hold the odometer trip and reset buttons. The indicators should cycle.