New dash lights stole my energy.

That kills the entire cabin. Not igintion alone.
OP stated he had power in the cabin.
This is as close to argueing as I'll get.
Just bend the little thingy LOL

Not tryin' to argue with ya, Red, but sometimes things are "intermittent." I've seen all kinds of unpredictable crap in my life with bad connections-----if the ammeter connections are bad/ rusty/ corroded / loose, it might be that some/ all the time the headlights might work, but there might not be enough load to arc across a bad connection and cause current to flow for a lightweight load such the starter relay.

The main thing is the ...........................


wiggle test