Center display light way too dim with headlights on during the day..?

This is really bugging me. If I turn the headlights on during the day (raining) I know I can put the display in day time mode and do...and yes it brightens up the main central display area appropriately. BUT...the left and right row of three main buttons (Audio, Apps, Home) dim so much (or turn off) they are literally invisible. I mean you CAN NOT see them at all. Day time mode setting makes no difference on these.

I asked the dealer and they said they have had complaints about this and it is the way it is. Is there some adjustment I can make? Sometimes the dealer doesn't know all the settings. Is there a way to suggest Toyota updates their programming? This is a terrible flaw, as the controls literally are gone. The only way I can find where the buttons are supposed to be is look for the smudge of my finger prints on the display.

 

Did you adjust your brightness up by turning the reset stalk on the gauge cluster?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/instrument-backlighting-daytime-use.438465

 

Go to the settings and set daytime on

 

I assume the reset stalk you mention is the one that resets the odometer. Each click changes the brightness up or down. This has no effect on the left bank of buttons in the main display (at least during the day with lights on and day time setting on). It does indeed adjust everything else. Once the headlights are on (during the day) this bank of lights are gone. The service tech tried that (stalk) at Toyota and said he knew of nothing else to make the display show.

 

Just went outside and tried it again. Yes indeed the stalk does brighten up that section, however, it has to be set almost all the way up to see them (and they are still dim). It is night now, so I'll have to see if it made any noticeable difference during the daytime (when the problem exists). When I turn the stalk all the way up, everything else is way to bright, much more than I'd ever want at night. So does this mean in order to see these lights during the day, with headlights on, I have to "manually" turn the stalk to brightest and back again for at night? Totally useless, as you can't adjust this stalk, 5-10 clicks while you are driving, behind the steering wheel, when you need to turn your lights on as you drive.

 

Don't know why Toyota made it so hard for the 3rd gens.

1st gen / 2nd gen:

 

Digidan...
Did you ever figure out how to make the lighting better on these buttons? I just purchase a new 2018 Tacoma TRD-OR 4x4 and this is driving me nuts. It is impossible to see these buttons on a sunny day without turning my headlight selector to DRL only (as this photo shows). Thanks for any help.

 

THIS

 

Hmmmmm...I haven’t noticed this being a problem....

 

Did anyone ever solve this? all the tech in this truck is a nightmare after one year of ownership but this is absolutely the worst. Everytime it rains I'm messing with the day mode and then the gauge cluster brightness just to be able to navigate anything. My previous car, a budget Ford Fiesta adjusted everything automatically.

 

I ended up calling Toyota and spoke with a representative that specialized in the (driver) customizable vehicle settings from the display. He was somewhat familiar with this issue and his opinion was that this could have been designed better. He said that he would check to see if there was some kind of "software patch" that he could send to my vehicle that would help with this issue. He called me back later that day and told me that there was nothing available from Toyota that would help with this issue. I am as big of a Tacoma fan as anyone and am driving my 4th Tacoma (back to back purchases) and will continue to do so however I hope that this is solved before my next purchase. I would love to hear from anyone that has any suggestions for this issue.

 

That's a huge bummer. I am not a Tacoma fan haha. It was the only truck to get in manual and friends that owned them loved them...but mysteriously all now owned F-150's which I honestly wish I would have bought instead. I do love it and will keep it due to how capable it is but stuff like this that affects daily driving makes me insane.

 

Just to make sure, you guys don't have anything on your windshields in the lower passenger corner potentially blocking the light sensor, do you?

 

Will happily check again in the morning but this has happened for my entire ownership.

 

Just seeing this thread, and experience the same issues. My idea, which I haven't tried yet, is to find some type of tiny round decal, that is some bright neon color (orange/green), and stick them on the face over the buttons. I'm thinking something maybe 1/8" diameter, but bright.

Other than that, I've somewhat memorized where the 3 buttons are in a year of driving, but still it would be great if they were illuminated better. Sub'd to see some other's ideas or solutions.

 

This bugs the hell out of me. My mom's 2003 Suburban has a sensor somewhere that dimmed things on the fly. How is this not standard in all vehicles by now? First world problems.

I'm no electrician, but I imagine there's a wire that sends a signal to the headunit to switch to night mode that is active while the headlight stalk is set to anything besides Off and DRL. I'd have to scour the electrical diagrams to see if that's the case. If it is, might be possible to intercept the signal by tapping into the wire with a switch: leave the switch off to let HAL the truck do its thing, or flip it on to force it into Day Mode. Maybe even use a SPDT switch to manually override Day or Night mode.

 

I’m hear with the same problem (2014 Taco TRD/OR, brightness of media display too dark in daylight with park/headlights on), EXCEPT I had found the setting once and cannot find it now.

I had inadvertently let my battery discharge all the way, and this somehow caused the media player to revert to factory settings. I had previously found the setting for disabling the “nighttime” brightness but I’m now at a loss. I was sure it was in the ‘settings’.

I see that I’m in the 3rd Gen forum, but I doubt they had made the feature available for 2nd Gen and left it out for 3rd(?)

 

I have the same problem....I just turn my headlights off during the day....

 

I found the setting!

You have to first turn your parking or headlights on!

Setup=>Display=>(enable) Daytime