Running light's problem
 

Well about 2 weeks after I got my 4runner my friend thought it would be fun to punch my stock radio. So I made him buy me a aftermarket one.
I've installed many radios in my time, and had no problem with this one.
I installed it and now my running lights wont turn off. When I turn the truck on the lights come on even though the switch is off, when i turn the truck off they go off. So it's not a big deal cause it never runs down the battery but when I am sitting with the accessory switch on listening to the radio they are on, just wasting battery.

So what im asking is that if anyone knows of a way to make them stay off until i turn them on using the switch on then steering column lever?

It is a 99 4runner SR5. Please Help!!

Thank you,
Mark

did you use a harness for the new radio ?

Yes. I got the whole easy plug kit, Everything plugged in nicely.

i start by unplugging everything you hooked up and and see if that does anything

Ok, so just remove my head unit and see if they go off?

yea just unplug the harness

O ok. Well in like 10 min i can go out to my truck and try it.... Sadly gotta wait for mom to go to bed. Don't wanna disturb the parents.

Also. If the lights do go off when I unplug it, what would be a fix for it? Cause I have to have my radio for my subs.

you said this all started when your nice friend punched ur radio ?

Yea... Well I had to replace it when he did. He got pissed and punched it. So i punched him and then we bought the aftermarket one. The lights were fine up until the point i unplugged the OEM and plugged in the aftermarket. So basically even after he punched it the lights were working normally. But when I unplugged it all, including the OEM amp and plugged in the new one and turned it on is when they came on.

wait soo your still using the factory amp ? a few pics of the harness would be nice also what brand of radio ?

No, I took out the amp and I am just using the head unit to power my system. And I will be able to post pictures of it tomorrow at about 1. Also i am using a Sony Xplod CDX GT710 Head Unit.

The Plug harness that I got bypassed the Amp, in order for me to use my head unit.

yea i know what your talking about now if its not the radio i cant think of anything else

Ok. Well i'll post pictures tomorrow of everything and see if you happen to come across something or if someone else does. Thanks man for your help atleast.

OK, guessing here. But I think I am on the right track. There is a wire in the harness that is supposed to tell the head unit when to dim its display; this takes 12+ FROM the running lights. I figure either you misconnected, your harness is mislabeled, (I've seen it more than once and I don't do that many), or there is a simple short-circuit, so that a 12+ OUTPUT from the HU (such as the power output feed to a disc changer or antenna) is backfeeding 12+ into the wire that is supposed to tell the unit that the lights are on.

If you disregard the speaker wires, leave your ground, your full-time 12+ (usually red) and your ignition 12+ (usually yellow) connected and disconnect everything else, your unit should play and I bet your running lights will be off. Then reconnect the others one at a time, verifying what they do, and eventually you will find the one that is backfeeding when the lights come back on. Then you will have to figure out what the screw-up is, but I am sure it has to do with the dimming circuit.

I bet your clock looks real dim in the daylight, too--if, by chance, it still lights up at all. (Same sensor circuit.)