New HU now gauge cluster won't dim

Hey guys,

I just installed a new HU in my Taco. I wired the dimmer orange/white wire from the HU to the orange/white (or just flat orange wire) from the harness together and grounded my harness orange and black wires as described in numerous threads here.

The problem is that now my gauge cluster will not dim with my dimmer switch. The a/c controls and everything else on the dash will dim but the gauges will now only hold at maximum brightness. The HU dims when you turn on the head lights as I intended.

Is this simply the price of wiring an aftermarket HU in to dim?

I've seen this topic brought up in other threads but no one has put forward a solution other then to simply disconnect all orange wires.

Let me know what you all think.
I appreciate it.

 

My Pioneer X5500 does not affect the dim on my cluster.
Maybe theres another wire, I think are two from when I was doing research on the wiring for my install.

 

You should have left the orange/blk alone, disconnect it from ground immediately. You may have blown up the dimmer or illumination switch. Just for testing, disconnect the pioneer while your back there from the illumination circuit as well and see if it comes back. I have seen guys tie in the negative dimmer illumination together with the positive and it blows the illumination switch up. Hopefully you may get lucky with just grounding it and see what happens when you take it off ground.

 

"The ORANGE/white radio wire goes to your SMALL GREEN harness wire"
From my write up on installing the X5500.

Im not sure about the grounding of your orange/black wire part.
What year and model is your Tacoma?
You should be using a Digital Multi Meter to check your wires if unsure of what your connecting.

 

Just to clarify, I'm referring to the color on the adapter wire side, not the oem wiring harness.

 

That worked like a charm. Gauges dim again and turn off when the head lights are off. Thank You!

I guess for future reference for anyone who stumbles onto this thread. For Pioneer HU (or all HU for that matter) you connect the orange/white wire from the HU harness to the orange/white wire on the wiring harness. For the orange/black wire coming off the wiring harness, leave this wire disconnected do not ground it or you will end up bypassing your dimmer to the gauge cluster. Additionally, never connect the orange/white wire and orange/black wire coming off your wiring harness or you will blow out your rheostat and dimmer.

Thanks again