Electrical Problem? While driving on the highway my 1999 Ford Windstar SEL started jerking and the instrument panel went wild. The temperature gauge flipped to hot, the gas gauge flipped to empty, the RPM gauge flipped to beyond the highest range, the speedometer flipped to 85. It stopped after a minute or so. What's going on?

Had the same issue its a defect in the solders on the back of the gauge cluster board... They had issues with cold and broken solder points ... Remove it and reflow the solders problem solved..

For some reason you lost power. Start at the battery, checking connections, check connections on the engine block(grounds), connections at the starter. What is the repair history on the van? Is this problem intermittent? A faulty ignition switch could cause your problem.

The "dancing gauges" problem is common on the 99 Windstar. Search google or youtube for "dancing gauges" and you will find it. The fix is to remove the instrument panel and re-solder the wire leads into the printed circuit board for the connectors which join boards. Ask a friend who is familiar with soldering electronics for help.

The last 3 answers you have been given are correct but this may also be your problem because the van totally died go to the power distribution box there will be a cable coming from the battery to the box take the nut off and clean it get it as shiny as you can and be careful this is the positive feed to the box do not let this cable get grounded out even for a second it's best that you disconnect the battery first then clean those connections then go to the power distribution box clean those then connect the box first then the battery there are a slew of problems with ford vehicles not just this vehicle it self so go slow be careful you have a lot of people here to help you through it, this one has 40 years of ford taxi fleet experience with crown Victoria's town cars van's you name it I did it good luck STEPHEN