Instrument Issues

I have an 05 Sport Trac that I bought about a year ago. The gas gauge has not worked since I bought it. Now the rest of the gauges are going haywire. When the headlights and wipers are both on, the odometer flickers and flashes. More recently, the tac and speedometer have started randomly going crazy and the check engine light comes on and goes of randomly. (Happens when the tac and speedo are acting up. Any ideas? Words of advice?

Check all battery connections first. Faulty batteries are known to cause strange gremlins with these trucks, have it bench tested. If it tests OK, check the alternator. Trouble codes?

Bad ground. Faulty wiring in the circuit (connector, fuse box, PC).

Hey. I've had similar problems. You need a new instrument cluster. They're anywhere from $300-500 if you buy one from Ford, but do like I have done and search for one on eBay and call some local salvage dealers. Clusters were problems for 04 and 05 Sport Tracs. I bought a used one on eBay for $115, and it'll cost me around $100 for someone to install it. So, it's a lot better than buying one direct from Ford.

And I have an 04 XLT by the way.

I'm having the exact same issue but less severe

I'm having the same issue. My mechanic has pulled the instrument cluster several times and given it to a specialist who gives it a check and thumbs up each time, and it always fails when re-installing it. I've noticed some online cluster repair sites. Hadn't thought about getting another one from a salvage yard (wouldn't they have the same issue if they're from the same time?) Any luck anyone on this?

These clusters have been having issues since 1995. My ranger with about 300k miles has gone through about 10 of these clusters. I just bought another one. Eventually going to switch everything over to Auto-meter. My 04 ST at 187k, hasn't yet.