Why can't any of these be near me so we can swap parts?

If you're talking about the single power wire plugged in behind the tach, I believe that it is clock power.

The GP light? Is that an LED? If so, it's likely fried with direct 12v. If it's a 12v bulb, you can't burn it up with a short, it is a short there is no power in a diesel benz that will burn out a 12v bulb.

Odd problems. I'd start by unplugging and removing the cluster and reinstalling, or get enough access to check and plug in all of the wires.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff