I would start by disconecting the dimmer wire to teh stereo and see what happens.

Honda's dash lighting is a bit unique.

The dash lights are fed 12V and the dimmer circuit is put in the return (ground) side.


What fuse was blown?

 

I would start by disconecting the dimmer wire to teh stereo and see what happens.

Honda's dash lighting is a bit unique.

The dash lights are fed 12V and the dimmer circuit is put in the return (ground) side.


What fuse was blown?

WOW N_Jay, thanks for the fast reply! I tried it with the OEM stereo back in and it still didn't work. Also tried it with no stereo and crutchfield harness disconnected. No Luck! The blown fuse I believe was #11 on the passenger fuse box (INTR LIGHTS 10A). I replaced it with a spare 10A fuse from the box under the hood. I could have missed some fuses but as far as I know there are only the driver/passenger fuse boxes and the ones under the hood by the A/C compressor. That's it right?

POST # 100- Senior Member, woohoo!

 

WOW N_Jay, thanks for the fast reply! I tried it with the OEM stereo back in and it still didn't work. Also tried it with no stereo and crutchfield harness disconnected. No Luck! The blown fuse I believe was #11 on the passenger fuse box (INTR LIGHTS 10A). I replaced it with a spare 10A fuse from the box under the hood. I could have missed some fuses but as far as I know there are only the driver/passenger fuse boxes and the ones under the hood by the A/C compressor. That's it right?

POST # 100- Senior Member, woohoo!

I would guess it s back to the dealer.

If th edimmer is dead, you are going to have a hell of a time saying it was not the stereo. (It probably was)

 

I would guess it s back to the dealer.

If the dimmer is dead, you are going to have a hell of a time saying it was not the stereo. (It probably was)

Actually the dimmer wire on the stereo has a fused resistor, as Pioneer describes it, so I would highly doubt that the stereo caused the problem. It's always possible that it could have but like I said before, I don't think that the dimmer/illuminator wires have anything to do with the cluster's manual dimmer. Its not like the light doesn't turn on. Think of it like one of those light switch knobs that can dim your house lights by lowering and raising the voltage to the light. The light works but no dimming. I think maybe the switch is broken but I'm no expert, hence the reason why I'm seeking assitance.

Does anyone know what wires go to the dimmer switch on the cluster? Color codes? How can I test them?

I know the illuminator wire has 12V but I'm not sure about the dimmer. Maybe it's a ground wire because I couldn't get a reading on it with a 12V test light. Either way, I'm not even sure if any of those are involved with the switch/knob.

 

Actually the dimmer wire on the stereo has a fused resistor, as Pioneer describes it, so I would highly doubt that the stereo caused the problem. It's always possible that it could have but like I said before, I don't think that the dimmer/illuminator wires have anything to do with the cluster's manual dimmer. Its not like the light doesn't turn on. Think of it like one of those light switch knobs that can dim your house lights by lowering and raising the voltage to the light. The light works but no dimming. I think maybe the switch is broken but I'm no expert, hence the reason why I'm seeking assitance.

Does anyone know what wires go to the dimmer switch on the cluster? Color codes? How can I test them?

I know the illuminator wire has 12V but I'm not sure about the dimmer. Maybe it's a ground wire because I couldn't get a reading on it with a 12V test light. Either way, I'm not even sure if any of those are involved with the switch/knob.

Who installed the stereo?

Where did you connect these "Illumination" and "Dimmer" wires to in the car?
How are they described in the stereo manual?

 

Who installed the stereo?

Where did you connect these "Illumination" and "Dimmer" wires to in the car?
How are they described in the stereo manual?

I installed the stereo. The harness from Crutchfield has a dimmer (orange/white) and illuminator (orange) wire. My Pioneer only has the dimmer wire, also orange/white. I don't have the manual in front of me but I installed the stereo the same way I installed my last Pioneer that was in the Pilot for 2 years without a problem. The Pioneer I have now has been in the Pilot since Christmas 2004 so I highly doubt that my stereos caused any problem. Come on guys, somebody please tell me what wires are involved in the cluster dimmer switch?

 

What year and model trim is your Pilot?

 

What year and model trim is your Pilot?

I've got a 2003 EX.

 

May Have Something

Out of coincidence I was searching around and found an old thread from Ferdball about his dash lights not working after his stereo installation. There is a picture diagram of the OEM stereo with all of its wiring and I noticed that cavity A19 (red wire) is the "dash lights brightness controller" which on the crutchfield harness translates into the "illuminator" which I have never used and therefore the malfunction would not be my fault. If anyone thinks I'm wrong, let me know before I go to the dealership later this morning.

 

Re: May Have Something

Out of coincidence I was searching around and found an old thread from Ferdball about his dash lights not working after his stereo installation. There is a picture diagram of the OEM stereo with all of its wiring and I noticed that cavity A19 (red wire) is the "dash lights brightness controller" which on the crutchfield harness translates into the "illuminator" which I have never used and therefore the malfunction would not be my fault. If anyone thinks I'm wrong, let me know before I go to the dealership later this morning.

THen what wire is connected to your dimmer line into the radio?

 

Facts Corrected.

THen what wire is connected to your dimmer line into the radio?

I took my stereo out the other day to make sure I had my facts straight and noticed that the Pioneer wire I kept referring to as "dimmer" was actually the "illuminator". The installation is correct.

The Honda wire that is connected to my stereo is in cavity A9 (red/black) which the service manual diagram describes as "lights on signal". Once the crutchfield harness is connected, that wire turns into orange (illuminator). On my Pioneer, the "illuminator" wire is orange/white so those two were connected and everything was fine for a couple years and now this happens. I do not use the A19 (red) "dash lights brightness controller" wire at all but somehow the brightness controller failed even after replacing the blown fuse. That red wire, turns into the orange/white "dimmer" wire on the Crutchfield harness and like I said before, I cannot use that wire since Pioneers do not have a "dimmer" wire on their harness. I may be wrong but that's the way I understood the wiring diagram on page 22-264 of either the service manual or the electonics manual. I don't know which it is since I found the picture here on the board and it didn't state the source. It sounds a bit confusing because Pioneers do not have a "dimmer" wire, but they have the option of having the stereo's dimmer on or off when the headlights are turned on...but it uses the "illuminator" wire to sense this action. You would think that they would call this orange/white wire the dimmer.

Anyway, to make a long story short, my "dash lights brightness controller" no longer works. The dealership thinks it's my Pioneer's fault. The wire for that controller has never been used by any of my aftermarket stereos.

Can someone with the service manual or electronics manual verify if there is a red wire that is used in the "dash lights brightness controller"?

 

BUMP!

I corrected some information on my last post. If you can help, please respond. Thanks.

Pablo

 

UPDATE!

I took the Pilot to the dealership on Friday and the electrician said "Well, you're not using the wire that connects to the dash lights dimmer controller and I see that it's taped up pretty good but at some point, that wire MAY have touched something else and shorted out the controller." It doesn't make any sense to me because the Crutchfield harness and the Pioneer harness were spliced together at my dinner table and the dimmer wire was taped up before ever being connected to the Honda harness. Everything was fine for 2 years on my old Pioneer and since Christmas on my new Pioneer AVIC-N1 and all of a sudden a fuse blows, it gets replaced, and the dimmer doesn't work. How in the hell am I the one to blame for this. Does anybody think I should contact Honda about this? The only thing that might bite me in the @ss is that the electrician that said it MAY have been my fault just received Honda's nationwide "Top Technician of the Year" award. I had to pay $70 for him to tell me that it MAY have been my fault. You would think that Honda would only give that award out to those that can be sure about what's manufacturer defect and what's not. This guy doesn't know. What do you guys think?