I’m really not following your post here…

“ it worked as intended until yesterday“ huh?

And then what happened? The socket disappeared?
Did you rip something out when you were pulling the cluster?
And if so, what’s left? You should at least have a wire.

If the bulb burns out, the alternator will bootstrap itself after a certain RPM.
If you simply don’t have a bulb or especially socket you would’ve been having problems for a very long time.

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1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.