How to fix the button lights on oem radio after LOC install

Note: This is for the double cab. It may be different for the reg cab or access cab.

I installed my sound system this past weekend which included an AudioControl LC7i LOC (line output converter). Someone recently mentioned that after they installed amps on a factory radio the buttons stopped lighting up. I noticed the same thing happened to mine tonight (first time driving at night since the install). What happened was that when you use the aftermarket wiring harnesses to avoid cutting the oem wires, there's a wire that gets left out. I imagine the older toyota vehicles didn't have this wire so the aftermarket manufacturers left this wire off.

Anyways, the wire in question is a Green/White wire that's in the 6 pin plug that has the wires for the rear speakers. If you read the LOC thread and saw this post: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ich-harness-wires-to-tap.318970/#post-8317413, then it's probably why you missed this wire. The diagram says not to use the O wire, but this is the wire the OEM radio needs to work.

Here's how to fix it if you used aftermarket radio harnesses like I did.

1. Remove the radio to give yourself some room.

2. Find the new harness that plugs into the radio. There will be a blue/white wire that you will want to de-pin from the harness. You can also de-pin the solid blue wire, but it's jumpered, so you will need to remove both pins. To de-pin the harness, use a dental pick or similar that has a small angled tip. Slide the pick in and push the tab while gently pulling on the wire. It should come loose. I heard a click when I pushed the tab on mine. I didn't take a picture of this step but you should be able to figure this out.
Note: the harness I'm referring to is the larger of the two new harnesses.

3. After you installed the LOC, you should have left over a new harness that has 4 wires for the rear speakers that would otherwise plug into the car side of the radio system. For this step, you'll want to de-pin one of the wires to use. I chose the Green/black wire since it's like the OEM green/white wire.

4. Solder the blue/white wire to the green/black wire that you de-pinned. Quick connects are ok to use as well. Then insert the green/black wire back into the harness in the new position. This is the O position from that diagram in the post above. (see pic for detail) I went ahead and removed the other speaker wires since I don't need them.

5. Find the new rear speaker harness you are using to plug into the radio and insert the blue/white end into that harness that is next to the green/black wire. (see pic)
Note: Make sure you orient the connector correctly or it will slide out. The square hole needs to face the tab.

6. Now just plug the new harness into the old 6 pin rear speaker harness (the factory one with the green/white wire).

7. Reinstall the radio and enjoy!

 

I am going to attempt this as soon as my audiocontrol lc2i arrives

 

Ok so I installed my lc2i which is amazing btw. And I fixed my radio lights! Thanks op

 

I left the remote wire in place and I am actually using it to turn on my powered sub. It does put out 12v with key turned so I figured it was easier to just wire up to that then doing the add a fuse. That being said can I just add a wire in that pin location rather than using the blue like you did. If so do you have any idea where I can get some of the "pins" that will plug into the harness.

Just to clarify I have the same set up and same problem. Glad I found this thread before I started tearing the truck apart again trying to find out why my buttons were not on. Other than this issue everything is working flawlessly.

 

I don't know where you would find more pins unless you bought another harness. If you have the same LOC, then I would suggest moving the wire and using the LOC's remote output to power your sub. If your sub needs 12v, test the LOC's output before using it. Of course, the harnesses are cheap enough that you could just buy another one.

 

Good idea! I didn't even consider that and it will definitely work. gonna just go buy any harness I can find on a shelf and use it for parts. Thanks

 

me too. Thanks for this post Revelations. Radio button lights are out. Bought and extra wire harness and I'm dissecting it now.

 

I have a question for you. I see where you added the wire to the 6-pin harness from the pics. My setup is a bit different because I didn't run wiring directly from the amp to the speaker but used the factory wiring and tapped into it. I have a leftover power antenna lead from my harness that I am going to de-pin from the 10-pin connector and add to the 6-pin. My question is what to do I connect it to? This might sound stupid, but is it a power or ground lead? Should I tap the power or 12-volt memory for the power?

 

I guess that would all depend on why you are adding a wire to the 6 pin harness?

 

The button illumination. I know to add the wire to the 5 position on the harness but I am not sure where to hook the wire to. I don't know if I should put it on to the power or memory lead. I saw your post for the wiring but your solution just taps back into the harness. Thought you might know where to run the wire to.

 

Check out the last pic in my original post. Find that green wire with the white stripe and tap into that wire.

 

I looked over that a few times and tried to match it up in my truck but didn't see it. I will take it apart again and check it out.

 

If you can't find it, take some pics of what you see. You may have different wiring. You may need to probe with a multimeter to see which wire triggers the lights for your radio.

 

That's what I am going to do today. I moved and have no clue where some of my small tools (multimeter) are. I'll shoot some pics if I get stuck.

 

I just completed this wiring tap and my stereo clock stopped working. Anybody else have this issue? The button lights worked, but no clock...everything else seemed to function too. I cut the new wire and it reappeared.

 

Isn't the clock separate from the head unit? I would guess that you are tapping into the wrong harness.

 

No, the factory unit has the clock in the display, top center. It's quite possible that I wired it incorrectly, but I simply located the green/white wire in the 6 pin factory harness and connected it through to the same hole in the aftermarket harness that plugs into the back of the stereo. The stereo button lights actually worked...just no clock.

 

Can you take a pic? Mine is separate. My clock sits next to the hazard button. It's possible they rewired it in 2015. You should grab a multimeter and test. When the headlights are on, you should see 12v, when it's off, it should be 0.

 

Hopefully these photos come through. So, I checked it again this morning, plugged it back in and everything works...maybe it was just a glitch with the stereo. I noticed that my album info wouldn't display for a bit yesterday too. I also got my multimeter out and couldn't get any voltage off of the green/white wire. I am guessing it was user error, but I double checked the constant hot and was getting 12+ volts. Thanks for your help...hopefully, this last connection resolves the issue.

 

well, as long as you got it working... haha.