cajunss

iTrader: (10)

Hey guys, I need a little help. I received my new Kenwood DNX890 and starting to get the harness solder. On the GM adapter harness it has two orange and on the kenwood there is one label Illumination. So my question is which one of the GM wires does it go to Dimmer or Dash Illumination.In the Kenwood manual it states to tie it to the Dimmer but kind of confusing when the GM has a illumination wire as well.

redssmaro

iTrader: (2)

Should be to the orange and with white line if im correct

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Yes, Kenwood HUs normally use the orange with white. The orange/white wire provides simple on/off power from the lighting circuit - when the lights are on there is power otherwise there isn't. The plain orange wire provides variable voltage power based on the dash light dimmer circuit. Most aftermarket HUs don't use the dimmer power because they have their own dimmer configuration that is bright when lights are off and dim when lights are on (so all they need is the on/off signal).

cajunss

iTrader: (10)

So do I connect the Kenwood Orange/white to the orange/white label Dimmer on the GM adapter or the orange label Illumination/Dash Light.

From what I'm getting it looks like I would connect the Kenwood Orange/white to the GM orange/white label Dimmer.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Always connect same colored wires when using an adapter harness... so yes, connect the orange/white to the orange/white. BTW, there is no GM orange/white wire - that wire is in the adapter harness - the corresponding GM wire is brown.

cajunss

iTrader: (10)

Thanks Whitebird. Yeah its on the adapter harness that connects to the factory connector. Was just confusing the way it label.

cajunss

iTrader: (10)

Here are pictures. The one with the tag is from the Kenwood harness. the two orange is on the adapter to connect the Kenwood harness to the factory harness. The orange and white on the left has dimmer on it. The orange on the right has Illumination/dash light

ShredSled

iTrader: (11)

So did you ever hook this up and find out?

I just soldered mine up to the "illumination" wire on the Metra harness from my Kenwood harness but haven't checked it for function yet. I'm sitting here waiting for a drill battery to charge and figured I'd Google it and it lead me here.
Hope this works out not being on the dimmer wire!

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

It will work - all recent model Kenwood head units use the simple on/off illumination wire (orange with white). Make sure you insulate the unused plain orange wire in the adapter harness because once the harness is plugged in it will have dimmer power from the car's dash lighting and you don't want it to short against anything.

ShredSled

iTrader: (11)

Yeah I saw you gave the OP a similar answer but maybe you do not realize that the Metra "dimmer" wire IS the white and orange wire!
This contradicts what you just typed...
The Metra "illumination" wire (which I would think as on/off) is solid orange, and is what I used. I figured I wanted just on/off illumination, not dimmer so I went that route but have yet to find out if it will work (hope so; already soldered and shrink wrapped!)

Check his photos above, mine read the same.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

I think you'll find that the labels are incorrect. It's easy enough to check - the wire that provides on/off illumination mates up with the brown wire in the factory harness. The wire that provides variable dimmer illumination power mates up with the grey wire in the factory harness. You WILL find that the Kenwood expects on/off power and has an orange with white wire for it. You SHOULD find that the orange with white wire in the Metra harness goes to the brown wire in the factory harness and is just mislabeled. That would mean that you soldered the wrong wire. Always match color to color and ignore the labeling.

ShredSled

iTrader: (11)

Gotcha, I'll try to check tomorrow if I have time.
That would be extremely odd if the Metra was mislabeled or wired wrong!