Martin,
From what I gather, it would be quite unusual for the whole VDO unit to work intermittently. If they do fail, individual functions stop working completely. The fact that there is no power to the ignition ( plus starter?) at the same time as the gauge cluster stops working tends to point towards a bad connection, switch or breaker. I would have expected that the breaker would not work intermittently, it's internal parts only move when it trips. As to the connections, this can be not only the plastic blocks not being clipped together tightly but also some of their pins loose in the blocks. The worst case on my '04 Sundowner was the main power connector to the helm; two heavy cables in one block, in which the pins were loose in the block and actually pulled out due to the weight of the wiring loom pulling on them. Others were also loose.
However, I wouldn't discount that large connector at the engine; I am not certain whether that supplies power +12V ( plus connection to -12v) to the helm, but if it does, if it's loose it could have the same effect as a loose connection at the helm.
The only thing I didn't like about the VDO dash on my '99 boat is that it was recessed qute deeply in the dash, so I couldn't see it when standing up ( I drive the boat standing up so I could see lobster pots looming up etc). Mine always worked fine ( when I could see it !), the engine had over 230 hours on it when I sold it if I remember correctly. I'd only consider changing your's if it started to give trouble ( the Faria individual instruments on my current boat are unfortunately proving less reliable!)
Graham
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