I have searched but can't get an ID on this little connector with black and orange wires which is part of the harness that plugs into the A/C and Heater control. Is this for an option I don't have? It was not plugged into the original control unit. We're having some issues with wiring for the radio affecting the operation of the A/C and the 4WD selector so I'm trying to run down all the wires.

What is this connector with the black and orange wires?

 

Orange is usually reserved for constant power (yellow normally is, except it was reallocated to air bag systems for easy tracing). Do you have a non-working power port or cigarette lighter floating around by chance?

 

What I see in the FSM shows that the center power outlet and the regular power outlet both are red/tan in and black out. The cigarette lighter, however, has a 3 pin connector containing red/tan, orange, and black, wherein the 20 gauge orange wire is for the illumination circuit.

As i look further, likewise, there are 3 lamps in the HVAC panel which are supplied through another 20 gauge orange wire for the illumination circuit.

Thus, it appears that the orange wire is associated to the illumination circuit's dimmer wheel.

 

Thanks for the info. The forum automagically offered a related thread that directed me to another part of the service manual where I was able to find it. Official name is "Shift Bezel Lamp" and location is shown in Fig. 30 on page 8W-90-33. Or page 992 of my PDF. We did measure voltage on it and it was a unexpected -1.6 but we didn't think to play with the dimmer wheel. Now I'll have to post about the really confusing issue.