Have a 1993 S10 Pickup Automatic with the 4.3 V6. All of a sudden within the last week, it started having some sort of electrical problem? Start the truck and put shifter in drive and all the dash lights will go out, the gauges and radio lose power and stop working and the transmission will not shift out of 1st gear? It's an intermittent problem, as you can turn the key off, start it again and it may be fine for the rest of the day. Start it again the next morning, or in the afternoon after work, and same problem? It's also happened a couple of times when running, pull off the interstate on the off ramp, stop at the stop sign, and gauges, radio go dead. Press the gas and it will not shift out of 1st. Any ideas where to start looking? All the fuses are good! If it was JUST the dash and radio, I would suspect a wiring issue within the dash board, but the transmission not shifting makes me think it's somewhere else? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully I'm not the first person to experience this problem? I searched the forums, but found nothing similar to my problems. Thanks!

Replace the ignition switch. It should be easy to do. Once you remove it, check it for wear, pitting, or melting. The flow is positive battery terminal, to under hood fuse box, to ignition switch, to under dash fuse box. The switch is affecting power to the under dash fuse box, which affects the dash lights and transmission (via the neutral safety switch).

Thanks for the quick response, do you mean the actual switch assy where you insert the key, or the actual ignition switch that is located lower on the steering column, just above the brake pedal?

Where you insert your key. On the left side of the steering column, there's a switch/harness that the key goes into. There's likely so much wear that you are getting an intermittent connection. Disconnect the negative battery cable, remove the lower cover to the steering column, and you'll find the actual switch.

Do you have a tilt steering wheel?

Yes, it has a tilt steering wheel. I've also looked for the Under the Hood fuse box, nowhere to be found?

AutoZone, LS309, $14.99, with tilt wheel, except GT model.

GM places fuses boxes all over the place. Sometimes, they are located where the driver's door opens up. Regardless, I'm sure the ignition switch is bad.

Thank You SIR! I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions and provide a solution. I'm off to Autozone! I will post back with the results!

We replaced the ignition switch, but alas the problem still remains, and has gotten worse. Now in addition to the dashlights and transmission issue, the fuel pump went out. Checked the fuse, it was good, the relay is clicking when you turn the key, but the pump does not come on. Removed the bed of the truck to gain access to the pump and cut the power wires, connected a jump box to the wiring, no pump action at all. This pump was just installed less than 3 weeks ago when the original one went out. Took this pump back to the auto parts store and they swapped it for another one. Put it in the tank, temporarily attached all the wiring and the truck fired right up. Put the bed back on, and the pump will not work. Removed the bed again, hooked up the jump box to the wiring and it's dead, it does not come on at all? Wondering if all of these problems can be related to the alternator, voltage regulator circuit, possibly providing too much voltage to the fuel pump and burning it out, as well as possibly causing the other electrical problems that we started with? Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks!

Maybe a fuse blew when installing the bed
When I hear symptoms like this, I usually suspect grounds.
Maybe when the bed was put back on, it pinched a wire.
The shifting problem may be a lack of 12 volts leaving your brake switch.
I would check all wiring on chassis.
Then, if voltage is not at and leaving brake switch, trouble shoot that, hook up a meter to constant hot at the brake switch and move wires around while someone watches the meter, install the bed while someone watches the meter again.

I was fixing a TV with NO picture(old tube type), pulled off the back, picture worked fine, did this a couple of times, then I installed the back while watching the Picture, and it went black when near, then I notice the owner added a big speaker to replace the puney one it had, The Magnetic field was so powerful, it blacked out the picture,
Just saying strange things can happen and be overlooked.

Checked the fuse, it's good. Looked at the wiring under the bed, there are no exposed wires to get pinched. 12 volts directly to the fuel pump and it does not come on. Checked voltage at the fuel pump plug and it's there when the key is turned on. Just can't figure out why this replacement pump went out? Taking the alternator to be tested tomorrow, I seriously hope it's bad. Will report back on the finding. One additional note regarding the ignition switch I replaced from a previous reply, it did have several pitted and corroded connections which needed to be replaced. It was located 3/4's of the way down the steering column just above the brake pedal and is operated by a metal rod that runs up the column into the key switch assy, weird but it works, just didn't fix the problems, continuing on, Thanks everyone!

Final update! First off, thanks to everyone who assisted with my problem. To sum it all up, the fuel pump was BAD! Even the new one installed for less than an hour. Broke down and paid a little more for a Delphi brand pump and it's working flawlessly. I guess there are some things you should not scrimp on, and the fuel pump is one of those items, you do get what you pay for! As for the orignial electrical problem, it still exists, somewhat, but can pretty much be made to go away, or not rear it's ugly head by simply running the truck with the parking/headlights on at all times. The driver figured out after the dash dies and the transmission refuses to shift, to pull off the road, turn the truck off, turn on the parking lights and start it up again, it will run without incident? Still believe there is some sort of short in the wiring inside the dash, and may be related to the light switches? I'm ready to continue troubleshooting the problem and fix it once and for all, but the driver just wants to drive it and not mess with it anymore. Kids! HA! Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it!

Check for a loose wire near the park release handle. You'll need to lay on driver's floorboard and, with a light, look up for a single black wire attached with a single 7mm screw going into the Instrument Panel Carrier. This has been a known source of problems with nearly all of those issues you've posted.
Let us know!

I spent quite a bit of time looking for the wire, but never found it? Here are a few more details on the problem as I experienced it messing up first hand: Drivers door open, no key in the ignition, dome light on. Both the left and right turn signal indicators are faintly lit, no other indicators on, no buzzer. Turn on the parking light switch, the parking lights come on, the buzzer sounds, all indicators come on on the dash, and the gauges light up, press the door close button on the driver's door, the gauge lights go out, but all the indicators are still lit and the buzzer goes off. Release door open switch and the gauges ligh back up again. Turn off the parking lights, move the dimmer control to the lock position where it forces the dome light on and the buzzer goes off, and both turn signals are still faint. Move the dimmer control to the far other direction, and all warning lights on the dash come on and the buzzer sounds. I thought if I could remove the dome bulb and unhook the door switch so it wasn't being used the truck would operate without problems until this can be fixed correctly? This went on for several hours, it was definitely messed up, and didn't matter if the key was in, or out, the true test was to turn on the parking lights, and the gauges would not light up, but all the indicator lights would come on, and closing the door, or operating the dimmer control had an adverse effect on it. Here's where it gets weird, started the truck, and everything worked perfectly! Turned the truck off, and again everything worked 100% as it is supposed to? What I was thinking was some sort of short, or something not making good contact was miraculously fixed by just starting the truck. Now it's just a matter of time until it rears it's ugly head again. Could this all be related to a failure within the ECU/PCM? Seems strange that just starting the vehicle made all the problems go away? Thanks for any input, and I will continue to look for that wire near the parking brake handle, if it's there, I will find it!

I still think you have an open ground somewhere.
On your truck, many ground points are low on either "A" pillar so if you remove the left and right kick panels you may find something loose. If not, keep searching. Even look under the hood. Some ground points are attached to the radiator support.
It sounds like the fault is temporarily corrected by finding its path through the ignition switch circuit.

Eureka! We may have found the culprit, only time will tell, but so far, so good, no more electrical issues! The boys were putting the ECU back under the dash after we totally removed everything and checked all connections and plugs, I was now moving wires around inside the engine compartment when one of them said "Hey, what did you just touch, the glove box light just went off and on a couple of times?" (Thanks to Stratmando for the heads up about using the 12V positive on the brake switch side, but figured out the glove box light would suffice for the same troubleshooting procedure) Lo and behold, there is a grounding stud that holds down one side of the thermostat cover, to this stud were 2 ground wires coming out of one of the wiring harnesses. I touched them again, and sure enough, the inside lighting blinked. Looked a little closer and whoever owned this truck prior to us, they used a lot of RTV on all their repairs, to include the Speed Sensor in the tranny, fuel pump in the fuel tank, small hold in the bottom of the gas tank and now here on the thermostat housing? I simply moved the 2 ground wires to a better location on the engine block and all is good! Time will tell, but it all makes sense if this is the culprit. I really appreciate everyone's help with this gremlin that has cursed this truck and I will check back in if the problem returns, but I seriously hope it does not! Thanks again to everyone who has been involved!

I think you've got it. Good Job.