The dealership just called my wife. They say it is only the battery that is causing the problem. I SERIOUSLY have my doubts, but I am going to let them replace it under the extended warranty (to give me a paper trail) and if I have ANY electrical problems, the van goes back and I am not paying a dime more if I can help it.
The swear they have done a complete electrical system check and everything checks out. The reason I doubt that it is the battery is because of all the other wacky crap that happened when I inserted the key into the ignition, like the wipers doing a complete back and forth with the rear one stopping mid stroke, the fuel, temp, tach, and speedometer all pegging out at the same time and then resetting, a strange clicking noise from the engine compartment, etc. I guess it could be the battery, but it seems weird to me. The van never had a problem starting, ever. It did not act up at all on our way to the restaurant, but it was completely dead when we came out. I know that the Texas heat can mess with a battery, and the battery is at least four years old (on a five year battery)...
Lunchtime update:
I did some Googling during lunch and found that the biz-ahh (for all you current and former Bostonian's) dashboard display can be caused by a bad battery...however I still found plenty of posts saying that the behavior CAN mean something else...usually something that Dodge cannot diagnose. I am not slamming Dodge...I love my 1999 Dakota, but it is hard to digest that a battery, something I could have easily tested, could be the culprit. Not impossible, I understand, but still hard to fathom.
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