Stereo Dimming wiring question
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Stereo Dimming wiring question
I'm installing a new stereo head unit which if wired correctly, will dim automatically when the headlights come on, so that the glare of a brightly lit radio isn't blasting me in the face at night.
The harness has a wire for it, but it goes nowhere, as it is not a standard wiring configuration for my 2006 F150 King Ranch.
I can wire it directly to the wire that powers on the lights at night if I can find it.
Does anyone know where and what color that wire would be? My light switches are on the dash, but there may be a better place to hook this up. I would certainly appreciate any advice.
The harness has a wire for it, but it goes nowhere, as it is not a standard wiring configuration for my 2006 F150 King Ranch.
I can wire it directly to the wire that powers on the lights at night if I can find it.
Does anyone know where and what color that wire would be? My light switches are on the dash, but there may be a better place to hook this up. I would certainly appreciate any advice.
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From: Virginia
The voltage varies on the lightblue/red depending on how dim you run the instrument lights. But in my experience it's usually still enough to trigger a aftermarket stereo to dim. Ford ran a separate brown wire in the old days to dim the display, and ran the lightblue/red to the button illumination on the radio. I don't know how they do it on the later models though.
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Thanks for the replies. Are you saying that the light blue wire with a red stripe is already in the factory terminal harness, and that I can connect it to the panel illumination dimmer wire in my after market head unit?
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From: St Louis
Presumably.
You'd have to check with the maker of the aftermarket head unit to see if it is compatible with a varying illumination voltage supply or if it depends on a simple on/off of battery-level voltage.
If not, you'll need to jumper that lead on the head unit over to the light switch and tap into the switched parking or headlight power feed.
You'd have to check with the maker of the aftermarket head unit to see if it is compatible with a varying illumination voltage supply or if it depends on a simple on/off of battery-level voltage.
If not, you'll need to jumper that lead on the head unit over to the light switch and tap into the switched parking or headlight power feed.
Hotshot
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From: St Louis
It can be looked up, if needed. Have you called the HU company and found out what's supported?
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I did. They said that my vehicle didn't support the dimmer function through the HU harness and that I would have to hook it to the lights power switch wire. This sounds a little bit different.
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So I just got a confirmation from Crutchfield that the light blue wire with the red stripe is the correct wire, and is pinned out in the right place.
Thanks for the help. It's a different answer than I was first given, but matches up with your answers. I appreciate the support.
Thanks for the help. It's a different answer than I was first given, but matches up with your answers. I appreciate the support.
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