This was it. I had a corroded/broken ground connector at this cluster caused
by a previous windshield leak.  I also had a broken circuit copper trace on
the instrument panel. 

A little solder and connectors did the trick!

Thanks,

Scott Maurer
84' Vanagon 
Portland, OR

At 01:51 AM 5/27/97 +0000, you wrote:
>Check/clean ground clusters behind the fuse box. They are susceptible to
>windshield leakage.
>Good Luck
>Ken Lewis
>
>On Mon, 26 May 1997 13:16:48 -0500 Scott Maurer
><smaur@postoffice.worldnet.att.net> writes:
>>I had an intermittant failure of the three instrument panel lights 
>>that come
>>on with the headlight switch when I bought my 84' Vanagon last Dec.  
>>I'd
>>turn on the lights and the instrument panel lights might have come on
>>minutes later. They seemed to fix themselves and lighted for a few 
>>months.
>>Then after removing the radio, the instrument panel lights were gone 
>>again.
>>I found and bypassed a torn copper trace on the instrument panel where 
>>the
>>14 point wire connector mates.  Then the instrument panel lighted with
>>ignition key off and the headlight switch on.  However, with the van
>>running, no instrument panel lights, no turn signals, no windshield 
>>wipers.
>>I turned off the ignition key and everything worked. 
>>
>>I tried disconnecting my repairs (including a disconnected wire to the 
>>right
>>heater blower dashboard light and the auto transmission position 
>>light), and
>>have no instrument panel lights, no turn signals, no windshield 
>>wipers.
>>Also, now the blue highbeam indicator light is always on when the 
>>ignition
>>key is on.
>>
>>Are there any places where the electrical system is vulnerable to wear 
>>and
>>shorting out?
>>Any ideas on how to troubleshoot? 
>>
>>Thanks!