I have owned a 1996 Sebring convertible for about 10 years.
For the past 5 years, the odometer lights & tach were intermittent.... they worked 1 in 50 starts. I just got used to life without them. (see below)
Recently, I noticed the interior lights were dim on occasion, and the battery light would also come and go.
Tested the battery and it was fine - so replaced the alternator. Battery light went off, but interior lights still dim on occasion.
Then came the big issue... my instrument guage needles started swinging wildly .. fuel guage, speedo, tach - all at random... while driving... while stoppep & idling... super fast swings... 0 to peak... multiple times per second... and then eventually they would drop to 0 for a while, only to do it again.
I searched this forum and found the fix for the odometer and tach not working... I put in a new (used) instrument cluster and viola - I have an odometer and tach again.
But the odometer lights are flickering and I still have the swinging guage issue - although they are not swinging as wildly now? The "odometer flashing" and "needle gauge swinging" happen simultaneously.
2 other items to mention...
1) before this my a/c light came on & off at random with the AC fuse clicking each time.... I replaced the fuse and tried 3 or 4 others all with the same results = pulled the fuse.
2) there is an annoying "spring-like" sound from under the dash every few seconds... boing .. boing... boing... no pattern, seems to be coming from above the center dsh/heater area?

I have googled and searched for hours to find other sebring owners with this "swinging gauge issue" - but no luck.
If any forum members have any advice or experience, please advise.
Thank you

 

Here is an update from my last post.
Checked the battery again, and did load test, and did alternator tests including volatge drop tests = and all checked out fine.
The crazy wild guage swinging seems to be gone... (after I put the new instrument cluster in)... but all guages still fluctuate a little - simultameously with the flickering odometer lights. If the odometer flickers - the guages do too. If the odometer lights disappear - the guages drop to 0, (all guages = tach, speedo,fuel, & temp).

I also located the source of the "springy" sound under the dash that I mentioned in my last post. It is the vent direction doors slowly moving back and forth on their own. No matter what position I direct the air (windshield, floor, air vents, both) they continue to try to move and adjust at random, which cause the noise. .However, whjen the car is turned off, the vent doors cycle through their proper positions. With the key in the on positin, you can hear them move and adjust. But as soon as you turn on the car - they start trying to move on their own?

In my previous post, I stated that I pulled the air cond fuse because the light kept turning on and off. I was incorrect, it is the rear defroster light that keeps turning itself on and off at random, and every time it does the fuse clcks is th right side of the dash... probably every 2 seconds it turns itseldf on or off. And when the air vent
When I tirmore to the left the air vent selector is... thhe more the faster the defroster turns on & off. If I turn the selector all the way to the right (windshield) = the defroster does not turn on & off... but all the other positions it does, and in the far left position (dash vents) it turns on & off the fastest.

The other funny thing I noticed is when the odometer is flickering and gauges are bouncing... if I turn on the fan full speed, the gauges bounce less and the odometer flickers less. But the slower I run the fan (the more left the dial is)... the more the gauges bounce and odemeter flashes.
If I turn the fan all the way off, the odometer disappears and the guages all drop to 0. If I want to see the odometer pop back on and the guage readings, I simply turn the fan on high and there they are ... fluctuating less.

Any ideas or simlar experiences out there would be helpful.
Thanks