When I turn the key to the ON position, the dashboard goes through an initialization phase (tach goes from 0 to max and back, spedometer and other digital labels initializes, etc.). Normally, the dashboard stays displayed when cranking the engine. In the past 2 weeks, I've noticed that when I crank the engine, the dashboard flips/dies/blanks-out, followed by the re-initialization phase. From there, everything seems fine and the engine seems to run OK. Part of me thinks that the battery might be (close to) out of juice? I do have a 2-way pager connected directly to the battery. I may hook a battery tender to see if the tender can keep the battery charged.

Any thoughts on this?

mr_et