g96v6-250k

96 mustang 3.8ltr with stalling/vibration/pig rich and pre-ignition. when i unplug both sides of the dash cluster the engine without a doubt idles and revs much better/smoother. seems something goes to ground in the wiring. The whole cluster works but cluster lights seem to be dim? when i got the car the battery + was bumping ground on power steering line. i did continuity test and got this. red leed on fuse 18, black leed on ground-650 ohms, black leed on fuse 18, red leed on ground-0 ohms with fuse 18 in and 15 out. tested without cluster/airbag-module connected. CCRM? any suggestions please? im a newbie with wiring like so. am i in the right spot yet? i can do more continuity tests for fuse 15 and 18 if anyone can help me. thanks