Archived Instument panel and transmission problems

[JEGarland]

Had a good day skiing today, but when I started the truck to leave it started real hard, sputtered a bit and then cut out. It was cold all day (about 10deg) so I gave it a second try and noticed that the wait to start light did not come on. Went ahead and started it anyway and it smooted out when it got up to temp, but then I noticed that none of the guages were working. The panel was lit up but nothing was showing any sort of reading. Then the ABS, seat-belt and low fuel light came on and the odometer started blinking. So I checked all the fuses that I could and nothing was blown. I decided to figure it out at home and drove off but then the transmission wouldnt shift! I could safely wind it up to @45mph (no speedometer). It turned a 2hr drive into a 3 1/2 hr drive. I'm thinking it must be some sort of limp mode, or maybe a fusible link. What gives! Oh yeah, the truck is a 98 12v. Gonna work on that Signature soon

 

[bmoeller]

When you say it didn't shift, do you mean it didn't go into O/D? The transmissions have a temp sensor that won't let it shift into O/D 'til the fluid temp comes up enough. Could be it is acting up. Or, with the dash being goofy, it could have gone into limp mode.