Had a small electrical fire behind the gauges. Not the flame kind, just the smoldering type. Gauges went crazy, but still work on and off. The power windows is another thing, they stopped working completely.
Question...Has anybody else had this happen to them, or hear if it happening to a friend, and what was it that caused it? or where to start tracking down the cause?

I know it a shot in the dark, but not good with the electrical stuff. Have to admit it scares the hell out of me to have to do anything but splice a wire.

 

Its not a common thing that happens, but it does happen from time to time. You will need to take the dash a part to see what happened and repair or replace the burned wires and fuses.

 

do you know what may have caused it? I dont want to replace and fix wires to have it happen again. Am I safe to guess it's something that doesnt have a fuse protecting it?

 

There is no way i can tell you what caused it, it could be something as simple as a wire that rubbed through on a piece of metal and shorted out. The only way to know is to pull the dash a part and fix or replace what ever shorted out. There is no other way to fix the problem. If you don`t like working with electrical then you will need to take it to a shop and have them find and fix the problem.