Strange Electrical Problem

[Solo2puller]

Strange thing happened to my '02 F250 V10 the other day, and I'm hoping someone else has seen this problem and can point me in the right direction.

Had the O/D button on (O/D off) just to exercise it a little - hadn't used it in a while. Forgot I hit the button, and a couple miles down the road remembered to un-click it. When I did, I heard a pop like a fuse blowing and the gauge cluster went dead. By the time I got home the radio had quit, and the battery was dead. Truck wouldn't restart. Seemed to be running fine.

Had to head out of town the next day, so I popped in a new battery because it was time for one anyway. The truck fired right up and seemed to run fine, but still no gauges. Parked it at the airport until tonight. Drove it home (18 miles) and by the time I got home the radio quit again and the brand new battery wouldn't start the truck anymore.

What in the world is going on here? Anyone have any ideas? I really don't want to take it to the dealer if I don't have to.

I've checked all the fuses - they're fine. I'm at a loss where to even begin.

TIA

[Solo2puller]

Update:

There ended up being a short in the wiring harness for the shifter. The bushings for the movement mechanism were worn and allowed the wire to short out. A new shifter, harness and a deduction from my checking account and it's all back to normal. I'm not sure how I wore out the bushings in only 63K miles.

Apparently the short was severe enough that it prevented the alternator from charging the battery. They couldn't even tell me if it needed an alternator until the short was fixed. Didn't need one, so that's good. Still not sure how the gauges were involved, but I'm happy and everything works.

The new shifter is funny - all the ridges are very crisp. It 'feels' new...