Audio Systems: cd player, pioneer cd player, dashboard lights

Question
Hi i have a 1995 intrepid and i just took out the radio and put in a pioneer cd player.  i hooked it up and it works fine but there is a orange wire from the car that doesn't have anythin to hook up to. i would like to know what this wire is and what it is for. Also now that i have hooked up the stero the dashboard lights are not working, at night my dash is black, is that to do with the orange wire?

Answer
If you go to:

http://installdr.com/InstallDocs/DCP/PDF/327033.pdf

and look carefully you will not find an orange wire listed.  But, colors don't always agree with published wiring lists.  If you can find out where the wire is coming from you may be able to identify its function from the charts in the web pages above.

And, yes, it could be the orange wire is related to the dash instrument lighting.  It may need to go to ground, but you must find out before trying the ground idea. If you ground it and it has 12 volts on it you may wipe one or more fuses. If you have a vom, check the wire for voltage, etc.

Let me know if you need more help.

C