Interior Light Brightness @ Night

[CookieRoe]

hello all,

I searched, but found nothing.

Ever notice when driving and you turn your lights on and the interior cluster lights are dimmed?.... Of course this is a normal funtion, but EVEN with the brightness set all the way up, didn't you ever say to yourself, "No, I want it ALL THE WAY up!!". "I want the lights, or at least the instrument cluster lights at full brightness even when the headlights are turned on?" Lexus cars/SUVs give you this option. On them, the brightness knob can be set all the way up, but you can turn it until it clicks and the cluster lights lite up all full brightness (as when they do with the headlights turned off).....Heck, even my 07 Civic allows this.

Is there a mod for this for our Runners?

 

[riverwolf]

Why do you want to kill your night vision? The brighter your gauges, the less you can see outside of the car, which is what matters. I have mine dimmed to the point that the dash/window switches/radio controls are nearly dark, but I still have no problem with the main gauges at that setting.

-Brent

 

[CookieRoe]

Why do you want to kill your night vision? The brighter your gauges, the less you can see outside of the car, which is what matters. I have mine dimmed to the point that the dash/window switches/radio controls are nearly dark, but I still have no problem with the main gauges at that setting.

-Brent

..............Mainly for dusk/low light situations, I like having the lights bright. For when it's completely dark, then yes, having them dimmed is fine.........the ONLY time I actually dim the lights down is when I'm driving at night with a headache.

So I guess they can't be modified???

 

[Larry77]

I actually love the way our lights are set up...throw them on "Auto" and never worry about them. The only time I turn my lights to the "On" setting is when its raining really hard. And I just leave my dash lights set a little below full.

 

[MATT-X]

why do you want to kill your night vision?
-brent

i agree! I wish i could set my nav to dim further with the lights on, it's blinding!

 

[CookieRoe]

i agree! I wish i could set my nav to dim further with the lights on, it's blinding!

I'm talking about the instrument cluster (speedo,tach,etc)......as far as the rest of the interior, it wouldn't make sense to having them bright......anyway, this isn't a silly idea as some suggest as other manufactures give one this option.............I was just asking if this is a simple mod to do, if not, I'll let it go :

 

[CookieRoe]

For those looking for this, there IS a way to do what I propose.

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/1536916-post1.html

enjoy, I'll be doing this sometime this week. IF (when) I blow my car up, I'll be sure to post, hahahhaha

 

[sport2004]

good luck with it. about the only attempt I would make is installing fresh bulbs

 

[Terminator03]

For those looking for this, there IS a way to do what I propose.

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/1536916-post1.html

enjoy, I'll be doing this sometime this week. IF (when) I blow my car up, I'll be sure to post, hahahhaha

Wow, I was just noticing that you posted the original question in 2010! Guess you’ve been wanting that mod a LONG time! Glad you finally found the answer though.

 

[CookieRoe]

Wow, I was just noticing that you posted the original question in 2010! Guess you’ve been wanting that mod a LONG time! Glad you finally found the answer though.

I've known the answer for about 6 years now. I never took the time to get it done and recently revisited this issue. Just a matter of get two, 12v 1amp diodes, connecting them to 2 wires behind the cluster and nothing else. To this day I don't know why the 4Runner doesn't come with such a remedial feature. It always drove me crazy when I turned the lights on, the cluster would dim (even with the dimmer on full brightness).

I'll post pictures when I'm done with it.

Ed

 

[Terminator03]

I've known the answer for about 6 years now. I never took the time to get it done and recently revisited this issue. Just a matter of get two, 12v 1amp diodes, connecting them to 2 wires behind the cluster and nothing else. To this day I don't know why the 4Runner doesn't come with such a remedial feature. It always drove me crazy when I turned the lights on, the cluster would dim (even with the dimmer on full brightness).

I'll post pictures when I'm done with it.

Ed

Yeah, I know how that goes! Sometimes I research mods only to get busy, and then by the time I get around to them again I’m stuck researching all over again! Good luck, and definitely post pics, especially with the new LED backlighting.

 

[CookieRoe]

BUST, sort of

Well, my cluster came in and I had the diodes needed to do this mod. Connected everything properly and BAM................ Sooo, it worked, sort of.

When you turn on the ignition switch, the cluster comes on. Good, but I noticed when this happened, it was dim. I played with the dimmer and it worked fine. I then turned on the parking lights and the cluster did not dim. NICE I thought, b/c this is what I wanted. However, the full brightness of a Limited cluster wasn't visible to me (visible when all lights are off). So I ripped out the diodes. Upon turning the ignition switch on, I saw the familiar bright cluster. When I turned the lights on, it dimed (as intended by the factory). Good I thought as I properly returned to normal.

Some thoughts: If you have an SR5 or Sport, this works, but I can not confirm this b/c I don't have those models to try it on. From what I understand, those clusters are different from Limited clusters. So the mod worked as [MENTION=93434]gshadow325[/MENTION] advertised in his thread (tough to confirm now that his video is long gone). Remember his 4Runner was a V8 Sport (different cluster).

I hope that made sense. To sum up, if you have a Limited, this will not work. If you have an SR5/Sport, it appears to work as advertised. The circuitry in the Limited cluster is no doubt different than the other models. Oh well.

Here is a video to better explain.



YouTube

 

[AuSeeker]

Well, my cluster came in and I had the diodes needed to do this mod. Connected everything properly and BAM................ Sooo, it worked, sort of.

When you turn on the ignition switch, the cluster comes on. Good, but I noticed when this happened, it was dim. I played with the dimmer and it worked fine. I then turned on the parking lights and the cluster did not dim. NICE I thought, b/c this is what I wanted. However, the full brightness of a Limited cluster wasn't visible to me (visible when all lights are off). So I ripped out the diodes. Upon turning the ignition switch on, I saw the familiar bright cluster. When I turned the lights on, it dimed (as intended by the factory). Good I thought as I properly returned to normal.

Some thoughts: If you have an SR5 or Sport, this works, but I can not confirm this b/c I don't have those models to try it on. From what I understand, those clusters are different from Limited clusters. So the mod worked as [MENTION=93434]gshadow325[/MENTION] advertised in his thread (tough to confirm now that his video is long gone). Remember his 4Runner was a V8 Sport (different cluster).

I hope that made sense. To sum up, if you have a Limited, this will not work. If you have an SR5/Sport, it appears to work as advertised. The circuitry in the Limited cluster is no doubt different than the other models. Oh well.

Here is a video to better explain.



YouTube

Well that blows..but if someone was able to figure out how to do this mod on the other models then someone with the electronic knowledge and the correct schematics to figure it out should be able to come up with the correct mod for the Limited.

 

[gshadow325]

What you should have done was take photos of your connections. if you had the same wiring in the truck there is no reason it will not work.

The wiring is the same. so there must have been something you did wrong. you had a diode backwards or something.

all this mod does is supply power to the light circuit when it is off.
when you cut the wire that is the power feed to the cluster.
thats why it is INLINE. then the other wire is supplying the power to that circuit when it doesnt have power.

Diodes prevent power from back flowing.

here it is working after many years. so long i forgot LOL
YouTube

btw- i did use the schematics for this truck that is the same for 03-05

 

[CookieRoe]

What you should have done was take photos of your connections. if you had the same wiring in the truck there is no reason it will not work.

The wiring is the same. so there must have been something you did wrong. you had a diode backwards or something.

all this mod does is supply power to the light circuit when it is off.
when you cut the wire that is the power feed to the cluster.
thats why it is INLINE. then the other wire is supplying the power to that circuit when it doesnt have power.

Diodes prevent power from back flowing.

here it is working after many years. so long i forgot LOL
YouTube

btw- i did use the schematics for this truck that is the same for 03-05

I did take pictures, I just didn't publish them b/c....... well, why? All connections were done according to your instructions and pictures. No diode was installed the wrong way. Like I said before, a Limited cluster is just different, I just don't know how.

 

[CookieRoe]

Well that blows..but if someone was able to figure out how to do this mod on the other models then someone with the electronic knowledge and the correct schematics to figure it out should be able to come up with the correct mod for the Limited.

Yes, but I've come to peace to with this. I tried it and it didn't work. Everything was connected and as GShadow325 said, "it should have worked". Well, it didn't. But I do agree with him. The only thing I can think about it maybe a diode was defective or something more complicated was happening. Like I said, it is a Limited cluster, so maybe there is something MORE to it.

I could be wrong.