hey guys, i was installing a panasonic head unit last night with the crutchfield wiring harness and i noticed a couple wires were not being utilized. Coming to the end of the wiring process the head unit would not work and i tried touching some of the wires together that were not being used and the head unit started to operate. Now i have everything soldered up and the speedo and tac do not illuminate..any ideas??

Check your fuses.

yea i checked all my fuses and they are fine. Are any of the wires going to the hu related to the lights on the gauges??

yes, the illumination wire. typically orange on an aftermarket radio.

" i tried touching some of the wires together that were not being used" does not sound like a good way to make things work. not 100% sure but some nissan head units ground thru the metal mounting bracket. so the radio has to be installed to work. you may have touched the orange wire to a ground or the frame and fried something. check your fuses again, but this time use a DMM set to ohms and make sure you have continuity.

if all else fails, consult your local stereo shop for further electronic installations.