How-to: Wiring a '99+ Bezel Into a '97 - A Comprehensive Tutorial

[4Runner4Leon]

ThE gauges in the security section are awesome! What did you use?

Thanks! Here's the writeup, still works great! Installed Digital Outside Temperature and Voltmeter Gauges - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

 

[derekwilliams345]

[MENTION=198376]4Runner4Leon[/MENTION] You are the man! Its great seeing someone else who pays attention to detail and doesn't stop until its completely custom while still being "stock".

Here is my challenge for you... lol

I am trying to do the opposite. I want to put my 97 Rear Defrost Switch/bezel in my 99 truck. I was able to reverse engineer all of your steps from the other switches but when it comes to the defroster, there is a redundancy with the timer and what not. So basically i need my 97 switch to send a signal to the 99 brain where the timer will be initiated and in return send the illumination signal back to the 97 switch.

Should i just wire it up and let both timers do their thing or can i somehow detune the 97 switch so its not doing so much and only sending/receiving signals?


A few questions you may have... 1. I like the old bezel with pullout cupholders. 2. yes my auto climate control fits in the 97 bezel. 3. yes i did have to run individual G and W-G wires to all the individual switches.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

[MENTION=198376]4Runner4Leon[/MENTION] You are the man! Its great seeing someone else who pays attention to detail and doesn't stop until its completely custom while still being "stock".

Here is my challenge for you... lol

I am trying to do the opposite. I want to put my 97 Rear Defrost Switch/bezel in my 99 truck. I was able to reverse engineer all of your steps from the other switches but when it comes to the defroster, there is a redundancy with the timer and what not. So basically i need my 97 switch to send a signal to the 99 brain where the timer will be initiated and in return send the illumination signal back to the 97 switch.

Should i just wire it up and let both timers do their thing or can i somehow detune the 97 switch so its not doing so much and only sending/receiving signals?


A few questions you may have... 1. I like the old bezel with pullout cupholders. 2. yes my auto climate control fits in the 97 bezel. 3. yes i did have to run individual G and W-G wires to all the individual switches.

You'd need to give this some thought and go through the logic of how the rear window limit switch and defogger relay wires (that the '97 switch uses to complete the circuit) will play with the '99 wiring system.

The redundant timers are probably not an issue, but there may be a more elegant way of doing it.

It would definitely take some thought - I don't have the time to think through it right now, but may look later.

Good luck with the project, sounds interesting. You must really like your sliding cupholder .

 

[derekwilliams345]

[MENTION=198376]4Runner4Leon[/MENTION] haha, i do love my cupholders! 2 in the back and 4 in the front with this combo, all easily accessible from the driver seat. To be honest tho, my middle two cupholders normally end up full of little nick-nacks like quarters, monster tabs, and random little bolts and pieces. I figure i can wire the two extra power outlets anywhere i want and one seems to be quite enough in the front anyways especially with a 2-usb adapter. In my opinion the 97' bezel is more useful with cupholders and a small cubby down low. As for the rear window switch, i prefer it on the far left so i can easily reach in the window or open the door and operate it. It is reverse but i can live, at least the lettering is right side up, haha. Id like to hear some arguments as to why people think the newer bezel is better? maybe i can be convinced.

As for the defog switch, from what i learned from you so far, my 97 switch will essentially be sending the signal to the 99 computer for the duration of the timer in the 97 switch, instead of just briefly as would be the case with the 99 switch.

I completely understand the complexity of this mod so im not really expecting anyone to go in depth but im sure you can agree talking through things can help the process dramatically.

Ill most likely attempt to remove the timer in the 97 switch by wiring past it and any other capacitors or resistors.

One question i do have is, what was the original operation of the switch? If i recall it was, press once turns on (w/indicator light), press again turns off (ind light turns off), and if you leave it ON it will time out automatically? Does that sounds about right?

Im thinking i need two signal wires for the operation, two wires for indicator light, and another two wires if i want it to illuminate with the rest of the dash lights.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

Id like to hear some arguments as to why people think the newer bezel is better? maybe i can be convinced.

Well if you use the '97 bezel with the '99 console, you need to find home for three switches (Defogger, ECT, rear window). That's a lot of switch slots that will get used up, not to mention all the associated wiring, sort of the reverse of what I did in my swap. I personally did not like the sliding cupholders, they felt flimsy and tended to spill. But that's a personal preference.

I'm going to think a little bit more about the reverse wiring approach. Like I said, it's not just the dual timers, it's the rear window limit switch and defogger relay that the '97 switch "expects" in the system, you'll need to think through how that would work with the '99 ECU.

 

[derekwilliams345]

Well if you use the '97 bezel with the '99 console, you need to find home for three switches (Defogger, ECT, rear window). That's a lot of switch slots that will get used up, not to mention all the associated wiring, sort of the reverse of what I did in my swap. I personally did not like the sliding cupholders, they felt flimsy and tended to spill. But that's a personal preference.

I'm going to think a little bit more about the reverse wiring approach. Like I said, it's not just the dual timers, it's the rear window limit switch and defogger relay that the '97 switch "expects" in the system, you'll need to think through how that would work with the '99 ECU.

Got it all buttoned up! [MENTION=198376]4Runner4Leon[/MENTION] I can't thank you enough for your initial writeup which gave me a HUGE jumpstart on everything. But really, more than a jumpstart, you basically ran the entire race and i just jumped in on the home stretch, lol.

So as you just mentioned, there was a lot of relocating. I went to my local toyota specialist junkyard and gathered all the wire i needed. Everything stayed color correct all the way across

I moved the ECT and rear window switch to the far left and while i was at it I jumpered my common illumination wires (G and W-G) to my RR Diff Lock button cuz it already has a bulb in it from factory. I carried the G and W-G over for all three buttons so i hope those three small bulbs aren't too much for the single wires...

Now left on the center bezel is my hazard and defrost. Hazard was easy re-pin but defrost took some thought.

I took the small circuit board from my 99 and after all the other wires from C23 were used i had 3 leftover: LG-R, LG-B, and W-B
I knew it would take 4 wires to run the two simple circuits so i realized i needed to jumper into the B-Y also. To my understanding the B-Y is some what of a common illumination wire but it isn't on the dimmer circuit like G and W-G.
So after studying the 99 circuit board i came up with LG-B and W-B are the signal circuit, and B-Y and LG-R are the indicator light circuit. simple.
Having knowledge of the 97 circuit board you know the two outer circuits are basically the illumination and indicator circuits using 4 out of 5 pins. The only thing left to do was add an additional male pin. After adding the pin i jumpered it to one side of the existing internal button while the only remaining pin was wired to the other side. Now, when the button is pressed it completes the circuit between the middle two pins, one of which was the added pin.

As for all the other capacitors and resistors on the 97 board, i just soldered them off and dumbed it way down so it is essentially 3 individual circuits now and the 99 computer does all the thinking One illumination circuit, one indicator circuit, and one signal circuit.

Im pretty sure there were two versions of the slide out cupholders, one was flimsy and the later version was a little more rigid but still same design and functionality. Same goes for the rear seat cupholders, there were two varieties, one was flimsy with full wrap around arms and the better one which had shorter stubby 3/4 wrap around arms.

Edit: And most importantly!!! i use my sliding cupholder to chill canned drinks. If you put a monster can in the right cupholder it is almost right in front of the left A/C vent where 40 degree air will chill it down pretty quickly

 

[4Runner4Leon]

That's great, I'm glad that you got it all figured out and working. And I do like the drink chilling feature of the sliding cupholders . Enjoy!

 

[RodrickHeffley]

(apologies if this is a little off topic but I don't know where else to post it)

First off: thank you! this writeup was incredible and was super easy to follow. I was expecting repinning to be a hellish job but once I figured out the first "pin" i found it super super easy.

I finished this the other week (after waiting over a year to find one) but I think that the bulbs for the rear window, defrost and ect are all burnt out as they don't seem to light up. How would one go about replacing these? Ive heard a little about bulbs for these but people say different things and I want to be sure.

 

[Bad Luck]

(apologies if this is a little off topic but I don't know where else to post it)

First off: thank you! this writeup was incredible and was super easy to follow. I was expecting repinning to be a hellish job but once I figured out the first "pin" i found it super super easy.

I finished this the other week (after waiting over a year to find one) but I think that the bulbs for the rear window, defrost and ect are all burnt out as they don't seem to light up. How would one go about replacing these? Ive heard a little about bulbs for these but people say different things and I want to be sure.

I'm assuming you need the bulbs for the 99-02 interior. If that's the case then you need:
ECT and Defrost Bulb 90010-01041 (1 bulb covers both I think)
Rear Window Bulb 90010-01042

If you pull the switches from the trim bezel the bulbs are attached to a plate that screws into the switches from the bottom. If you look at the new bulbs you should be able to figure out what I'm talking about.

Edit: I forgot I had an extra switch at home. There’s 1 bulb for both the ect/defrost and 1 bulb for the rear window switch. The bulbs screw in from the back of the switch panel.

 

[ohbludvlsfan]

I have been putting this mod off because of the defrost switch. Had everything else figured out but that. Thank you very much for this write up. It was the exact info I needed. Excellent write up.