Well, the ignition switch arrived Saturday and I had it in in less than 30 minutes... the black part was separating from the silver part on the old switch and the spring inside was worn. Key has much more tension starting the car now, but the temp gauge still drops out while driving. I cleaned the contacts in front of the battery with all the little black wires on it.....not the problem either. So I'm thinking the harness to the VDO is loose. Good project for next weekend. I have an old one to swap out to check. If this doesn't work, I'm out of DIY checks unless someone has another idea... the strange thing is it always works after sitting for about 8 hours....it works for about 20 minutes or so and then just drops to the bottom of the display like there is no power. it won't work for the rest of the day, and after sitting for about 8 hours it works again, sometimes for a couple days....strange.