thanks Jim,
the flasher issue has come up previously, and I messed with it when this first happened. But all this stuff happened at once! which makes me think that it is not a bunch of little things. There was no rain on the day it happened, or any spilled items, just highway driving. I'm pretty stumped, but I'm gonna check the ground behind the dash, for good measure... Thanks for the input!
Mike

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1982 300D, up to 152K
1990 Dodge W350 cummins diesel, 135k