My lights don't work. The fuses are all good. There is a component dangling behind the cluster with three wires going to one side, including a really tiny one, but it looks like it in turn should plug into something else....while fishing around I managed to knock out a few blubs and now I can't get the little bastards back in. Anybody know what the problem is? What is this electronic mystery component? How do I get these bulbs back in?

 

Look up to your headlight switch. That controls the lights on your dash.

If the plug you describe has been hanging there for a while then it MAY go to something that is no longer part of your car. If the lights (I'm assuming these are your dash lights) just all of a sudden went out then it is a component failure, i.e. the headlight switch. It may also be a headlight relay under the hood just behind the right headlight (as you are standing in front of the car)