Just stumbled across this on my 08 GMC Savanna with auto DRL.

With the screen display setting on auto, there were many instance the nav screen would go in the night view on an overcase day making the black background very difficult to see. By clicking on the day/nite icon on the nav screen you can have a choice of having the background go black or just slightly dimmer than the day setting. This make the nav screen display much easier to read when your vehicle light system is on automatic.

The photos below show the difference between these three available settings.

Uhhh, what? There is no day/night icon. The AVIC goes into night mode automatically when the headlights are turned on (when 12v is provided to the illumination wire).

Uhhh, what? There is no day/night icon. The AVIC goes into night mode automatically when the headlights are turned on (when 12v is provided to the illumination wire).

Sure there is. See first photo below. To get to this screen you have to touch the information icon shown in the second photo.

You are correct about the screen going into nite mode when the headlights are turned on manually or automatically. Most newer vehicles with the auto headlight feature will turn the headlights on automatically even on an overcast day making the screen go into nite mode which is very hard to see.

I hope this is clear because it was one of the things I wanted to share with other owners of the Z-130-BT.

Wow, I've never seen that on a Z130 before. Either you have some new software version or that's a mod.

Wow, I've never seen that on a Z130 before. Either you have some new software version or that's a mod.

Pages 29 & 162 in the Z130 manual (Quick Access menu). It is a customizable menu of shortcuts. There are 11 possible shortcuts (icons). The Quick Access menu is only on the Nav screen and can display 6 functions.

BTW, it has been there since the Z110.

Wow, I've never seen that on a Z130 before. Either you have some new software version or that's a mod.

No.......all I did was read the entire manual twice. I picked this little jewel up on the second reading.

Yeah... you guys are totally right. It was late and I wasn't thinking straight. It's not often that I make a total fool out of myself. haha

Hey man, don't fret......these units have so much stuff there is no way you can think of everything all the time. I'm just thankful that you have this place for us to come and learn.

I just found out today much to my surprise that my CD's do not show the song name or artist like they did on the AVICZ2. I know its ipod friendly but I don't own one.

On my z120 it never goes into night mode. Its on the automatic setting but it never dims the display on the navigation. Anyone know how to fix it?

Has to be you ILL wire either isn't connected or not connected correctly. See your installation manual. Mine is tapped off my tail-lights.

Has to be you ILL wire either isn't connected or not connected correctly. See your installation manual. Mine is tapped off my tail-lights.

They must not have connected my illumination wire or connected it wrong because my unit does not switch at night and the day/night icon does't work when I select it. I swear I should have just installed this damn thing myself.

Stupid system indeed.

In Europe we have to have headlights on during the day, which means that unit dimms during the day as lights are turned on.

Pioneer should think about this one and provided a more flexible system independent of lights being on/off!

So, if AVIC is connected properly, it will go to night mode as you turn on your lights.

You than have to set it to day mode during the day, via day/night map menu – you can create shortcut on map screen.

Stupid.

I just fitted light LED sensor, it does it automatically now..

Stupid system indeed.

 

In Europe we have to have headlights on during the day, which means that unit dimms during the day as lights are turned on.

If you are referring to the mandatory DRL feature, doesn't that only turn on front lights? (headlights or foglights or LEDs on some cars)? If so, connect the HU dim wire to your rear running lights. This might not work on all vehicles.

BTW, I have this same issue with my Mazda's factory HU.

I just fitted light LED sensor, it does it automatically now..

This is something I'd like to do. My car doesn't have auto on/off headlights. So I sometimes turn them on in a parking garage and , when leaving forget to turn the lights off when I get out into daylight. I'd like the HU to be controlled by ambient light, not the car's manual light switch. Can you give more details -such as the parts you used and any circuit you designed. I'm confused by the use of Light Emitting Diode sensor. I've seen and used "dusk-to-dawn" type sensors, but those were all 110-220V AC switches and required a circuit-board. I once tried to find a similar 12VDC board and couldn't find one at a reasonable cost.

I can’t give you specific details as I had this fitted by auto electrician. The system includes white LED (the diode which comes with relay). It was a 50$ install.

He said it needs to look directly into the sky and install looked horrible - you could see cable by the front windshield - not OEM looking at all. After some testing, I relocated the LED further down the dashboard so it looks relativelly OEM.

Here is a photo of LED if it helps.

I guess it's a photo diode not LED.

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but I found it while searching for my problem. I recently bought a used vehicle and the previous owner installed the z130bt. Everything seems to work fine except for the dimming of the screen when the headlights are turned on. I search everywhere for a wiring diagram without much success. I have the icon mentioned above when I open the navigation screen, but it seems to operate the same as hitting the 'close' button. I'm guessing the installer never attached the illumination wire to the headlight/tail light wire and was hoping someone might know which (color) wire it is

Vehicle is a '04 Chevy Silverado if that would make a difference (I guess it will make a difference when I need to find which wire to attach the illumination wire to)

Not only would the auto headlights turn my display to night mode, so would turning the fog lights on.I turned the auto dimming off on the head unit. The day view at night is hardly insufferable.

_{Greetings from the FNG.  I've currently got a D3, but am thinking of upgrading to the Z150 due to some intermittant NAV glitches.  My question revolves around the ability to manually adjust the brightness / contrast of the NAV screen.  Is this still possible in the newer models? I live in a VERY dark area, so this is a critical requirement. I've got a Kenwood unit in my other vehicle and it isn't adjustable, and it just isn't cutting it.}

_{Based on the above responses, I'm guessing the light hookup still needs to be 12V.  I haven't seen a 12V dash light in quite some time...}

Yes - brightness, contrast, color temp, hue.  Can be adjusted for each source. See manual pg 158-159.  Brightness and Contrast settings are stored separately for daytime and nighttime settings.

AFA wiring, I used my tail light. Might as well pull the wires for reverse sensor and rear camera at the same time.

Thanks for the reply!  AFA the wires, it's my company truck and I really don't want to run a bunch of stuff I have to pull back out when the lease is up. That usually happens when I'm travelling, too, as I supervise fairly long construction projects. My work-around for that was to get a switched lighter plug and adapt it to the dimming wire.  Cheesy, but it does the job.

Thanks for the reply!  AFA the wires, it's my company truck and I really don't want to run a bunch of stuff I have to pull back out when the lease is up. That usually happens when I'm travelling, too, as I supervise fairly long construction projects. My work-around for that was to get a switched lighter plug and adapt it to the dimming wire.  Cheesy, but it does the job.

If it's a lease, removing the HU is a much bigger issue than the few wires (you could just cut and hide the wires rather than remove them. Are you saying you are powering the HU from the cig lighter, or just sensing day/night from the trim ring light? BTW, I've heard (haven't tried) that you don't need 12VDC for the Day/Night thing. Practically any voltage.

I wired it with the Crutchfield adapter, so installing it was pretty quick.  It should take about 10 minutes to replace the original head unit.  I've just wired the dimming function off of the lighter.  I know I tried the dimmer off the lighting wire that went to the original head unit and it didn't work, but this is an old D3.  The newer units might be better at that. 

Another question that I'm pretty sure I know the answer to, but do these still use map discs?

 Another question that I'm pretty sure I know the answer to, but do these still use map discs?

No, all maps and software is flashed into NAND.

I own the AVIC-Z150BH, in the installation instructions it claims there is a orange/white wire in the pioneer harness, looked three times, there is not!

If somebody has the correct pin assignment on the plug I would appreciate it.

So far, I am less than impressed with Pioneer.