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SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:53 +0000
by fark
SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

Tools required

1 Phillips head screwdriver
2 Side cutters
3 Soldering iron
4 Electrical tape
5 10mm drill bit

Parts required
1 Single turn 1K 0.5W pot (Jaycar RP3504)
2 Knob to suit above (Jaycar HK7717)
3 500mm twin core cable or similar

Procedure using above parts
1 Remove instrument cluster (AKA dash) (if you can’t work this part out, then don’t proceed!)
2 Locate the only Green (GN) wire and cut it down stream of the connector.

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3 Solder the twin core wire and tape up the connections and run the wire down to where you want the potentiometer (pot) to be.

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4 If you are using the same pot as me, you need to cut the shaft down to approx 15mm in length before proceeding.

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5 Solder the ends of the wire to the pot in the exact same position as I have. It doesn’t matter what color or wire is soldered, just the terminals used on the pot. This will provide the lights to dim with clockwise rotation.

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6 Bore out the hole in the fascia to 10mm where the pot will fit.
7 Put pot in the fascia and take note of the locating tab on the pot, it fits straight into a factory locating hole.

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8 Push the knob onto the shaft and put everything back together.

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9 Go and show the missus how clever you are.




Procedure using the factory Toyota dimmer switch
1 Follow the above steps 1 – 3.
2 Locate the white 2 pin factory connector and cut it off the loom allowing some length in the wires.
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3 Solder the above onto the wires you have run down from the dash.
4 Discard the link plug and then plug the connector into the dimmer switch that you have already mounted in the fascia.
5 Go and rub one out.

This is the only way to do the job as the SR dash doesn’t support the factory wiring that the SR5 uses.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:09 +0000
by McSumWay
Thanks Fark

Does this dim the air con panel as well??

Warren

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:25 +0000
by fark
NO, it only does the instrument cluster. I didn't think about the rest of the dash illumination, to be honest i'll never use the dimmer as the brightness has never bothered me. I only did it to help other people out.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 29 Sep 2008 2:12 +0000
by McSumWay
no probs mate

It shits me when I drive at night out west

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Wed, 08 Oct 2008 6:54 +0000
by Lately Lux
May be a stupid question, but could this be used to turn on the instrument lights during day driving. When I have my sunglasses on (during the day) I can hardly see the speedo.

Brett

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Wed, 08 Oct 2008 7:19 +0000
by cr1pp5
instead of soldering the wires together, you could crimp them with insulated receptacles and tabs. Just a thought

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Thu, 09 Oct 2008 9:38 +0000
by Shrek
Lately Lux wrote:May be a stupid question, but could this be used to turn on the instrument lights during day driving. When I have my sunglasses on (during the day) I can hardly see the speedo.

Brett


I get the same problem, so i turn on the parkers :-)

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Sun, 20 Dec 2009 6:34 +0000
by Lancair
Pity the pics arent still there. Im very keen to do this mod but some pics would be good.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Sun, 20 Dec 2009 6:41 +0000
by Hilux Max
i personally dont think the lights are that bright that you need a dimmer......

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 4:48 +0000
by Skog07
I have PM'ed the thread author, to see if he could reactivate his photobucket account and enable the images so everyone can see how to modify the wiring to do this job.
Cheers
Skog

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 6:19 +0000
by fark
OK, all fixed.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 6:48 +0000
by 9W6VX
Thanks for the pictures.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 6:52 +0000
by Lancair
Thanks for that.

Its not often that I find them too bright, but driving extended trips in dark areas is one. Travelling to my inlaws out west is often done at night and thats when Ill use it.

The cutting, soldering etc isnt a problem for me, but how to get the dash apart to get at the wiring loom, theres the hiccup.
I do have a mate who is a sort of jack of all trades with cars, he installs stereo's etc all the time so he may be able to help out.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 7:22 +0000
by 10K
Great write up Fark.

Quality.


Cheers
Matt

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 3:21 +0000
by billc00
Hi,
I just posted something but I'm not sure if I done it properly. Just in case I'm doing it again.
I'm a new member and I found this while I was doing some search in google. I'm wondering if everyone know if this wiring and color code will be the same for a Hilux D4D 2008. Many thanks.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 1:55 +0000
by jos89h
[quote="billc00"][/quote]Hey yeah it is I've just done my 2008 SR, on the same green wire. Also done the Fuel Contamination warning mod at the same time while the dash was out. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5924

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 5:22 +0000
by redirtlux
Hi ,
just installed SR5 cluster into my SR , now at last i can see the speedo ,this should be standard on all SR's as it could be a safety issue,I could never see the speedo in shady or overcast days , now need to do mod to dim dash lights as they are very bright even in day light.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 3:54 +0000
by Pdrwired
This mod worked sweet in my 2013 SR.
Can't believe it didn't have a dash dimmer though ,even my old ht Holden had one.
Thanks fark

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 8:37 +0000
by Malted
redirtlux wrote:Hi ,
just installed SR5 cluster into my SR , now at last i can see the speedo ,this should be standard on all SR's as it could be a safety issue,I could never see the speedo in shady or overcast days , now need to do mod to dim dash lights as they are very bright even in day light.


I suppose you had to modify the wiring since the looms aren't the same? I would be interested to hear more about this.

Re: SR dash dimmer for under $5 – THE ONLY WAY

PostPosted: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 7:28 +0000
by My lux 6%
fark, gday mate ive done your mode ive got a 2007 hilux sr but i wantd to brighten my dash light's up does this mod do that it only seems to dim it really wanted to brighten it up is there another wire ? and how do you control the other dash light brightness heatrr etc ?????