1994 Dodge Ram Van 15 Pass... Electrical?

[MeadowLark8]

Help Please?
Hubby is deployed and our van suddenly quit showing speedometer,fuel gauge, showed the oil as "Hot" none of which was true. My son wiggled the fuses and it all started working again. Then, we stopped about 15 minutes later for about 5 minutes. It again showed nothing working.
A green wire was hot to touch under the glove box.

Though it seems to be working again... I'd like to find out how to make a permanent fix of it.
I'd appreciate any suggestions .... (other than going to mechanics in this area. We've been taken to the cleaners a couple of times in the past two years and just cannot afford it.)
I'm willing to work on this myself ... with a little help from you all out here in cyber space.
Thankyou
MeadowLark..... temporary single mom to a handful

[ctwright]

Since the problem went away when your son wiggled the fuses I think that the fuse socket connections where you put the "guages" fuse in are loose, you may be able to put something in the socket and kind of pry them a little so that the fuse has a better connection. Or take some wire, strip it about a half inch, cut it, and wrap it on one of the connections on the fuse and do the same thing with the other side, and then push the fuse in it should be good and tight then.

May not be your problem hope that helps though.

[alloro]

I have to agree that the problem is in the area of the fuse box. The "hot to the touch" green wire is a sign of a loose (or corroded) connection. A bad connection creates heat from the higher than normal resistance. It could be as simple as squeezing the fuse clips to make them tighter, but there could also be a connection at the back of the fuse box in need of repair. Before messing around with the fuse box I suggest disconnecting the battery to avoid shorting anything out. Then you'll really have a problem.

[ctwright]

Great advice he is right I should have mentioned that about taking the battery loose that is also a good suggestion too about there may be a loose or corroded connection behind the fuse box.