ok guys/gals i'm new so bear w/me....
this just started about 30 mins ago: i was on my way to school, i turned my head lights on and....there is a buzzing as if the door was open, i have no panel lights, but thedashboard lights work, the highbeam & hazard light indicators came on ( the panel ), but the hazards weren't flashing on the panel until i actuallyturned them on.rpm/speedometer don't work, oil pressure,temp, gas gauge all maxed out, battery gaugedropped to damn near 'no juuice',when i turned my head lights off.....all gauges went to normal and worked fine??!! i checked the fuse under the dash, its ok?????PLEASE....SOMEBODY HELP ME HELP MY BABY!!!!

It sounds like you got a short in your wires somewhere. I would say check all wires and make sure none are cut broken or damaged in anyway. If you need wiring diagrams check out the FAQ here in 1st gen dakota. check your head light wires as well as the switch too. Check everything!

will do. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!

yup, you'll be chasing wires for a while. Find where power goes into the switch. Start from the switch and follow where power goes once its turned on.

My truck at one time did the SAME thing. Pull your cluster out and clean both connectors that plug into the back of it. Use a little dilectric grease while your at it after you clean each prong on the cluster itself.

My truck did this for a year off and on before I figured out what it was.

ya, my 88 did that last winter. I just pulled the cluster out and cleaned all the connections. its pretty easy.