OK guys, I got an update saying someone else was having the same problem, so I thought I would post to tell what happened and how I fixed it.

Basically, in my case, the wires in the rubber elbow leading from the door frame to the rear passenger door wore through their insulation and shorted together. Since there is an illumination wire that is one of those four wires, it blew a fuse. This fuse is between the general illumination output from the rheostat but after the internal instrument cluster illumination. That is why your instrument cluster lights up but nothing else does. BUT, this fuse is not, repeat NOT, in the fuse holder or any accessory fuse panels under the hood. It is a tiny circuit board fuse screwed into the rear of the instrument cluster, very similar to the lightbulb sockets that are screwed in, except it is red. It is located to the drivers side of the rear of the instrument cluster, in the center. Let me tell you that this was not easy to track down.

What I had to do was: repair the wiring in the door (took the door off and butt connected them damn wires), then drive the car on ramps, disconnect the speedo cable to get slack to remove the instrument cluster, then use a pair of coat hangar pullers to remove the instrument cluster, then go down to a MB dealership and buy the fuse ($5 or so and they may have to order it), then screw it in and voila! it worked.

Now something to keep in mind: some cars did not have a fuse in the instrument cluster, and the printed circuit board that backs the instrument cluster simply burned some of the printed lines out. In this case you will either have to get a new instrument cluster or you will have to do a solder patch job. If you need a new instrument cluster, I have one that works and has the spot for the fuse, selling it for $40 (cheap) to help whoever might have this issue. Email at panzerkampfwagon at hotmail com if you are interested.

Good luck guys, and hopefully this will help people in the future.