Eclipse 7" wide Touch Screen radio installation, full step by step details..

[5speed6 v.2]

The long and learning lesson journey.

It started out with a desire to put in an aftermarket head with separate front and rear video/NAV capabilities with a clean high power pre-amp stage.

The following unit met those requirements and was purchased:



6.5" display, dual DVD drives internal, 5 volt preamp output stage, front, rear and subwoofer outputs, electronic signal processing.

Then an aftermarket dash kit was sourced that would accept a double Din head unit made by Metra

When I cut out the plastic bar that separates a single DIN unit and a junk-pocket, I was left with an opening that was way too large:



Back to the drawing board. (At this point, take note of the Gold upper and lower trim of the radio...this will be important later)

A/W user Amatoo04 posted about a kit by Scosche that he used, p/n AU2390B that was double DIN and fit well, so I ordered one in.

This is what I received:


This was waaaay different than what he posted. So I called up Scosche, and it turns out that they redesigned the kit recently, but made no changes to the part number. Even their website showed the old kit. So most distributors would be sitting on old stock. I called around and had the salesmen go to the warehouses until I finally found one that had the new kit.

I ordered the new kit in and when I went to test fit it, it was too narrow. Turns out the kit Amatoo04 used was for an A4, which also fit his car. After further research, the A4 and A6 up until model year '01 had the same dash width opening, in '02, the A6 changed.

So, back to speaking with Scosche....the proper kit for '02-04's is an AU2380B

Here is that dash kit:



I was not happy with the fact that there would be a gap with the trim ring installed.


I got out the Zap (an industrial version of Crazy Glue) and glued the trim ring to the face plate. Then my friend John (at the stereo shop where I am doing my whole install) broke out with the Bondo and layed it into the gap. After it dried, it was followed by some fine sanding.





Some primer was applied, and then some more sanding. Off to the body shop John went, and returned with a color chart for me...special paint for plastic and dash trim. I picked out a color to match the climate control face, and he then returned with the paint.

Several coats and sandings later, a beautiful one-piece face:


In the time frame between me purchasing the Eclipse AVN-6600 and the other work being done on the car, Eclipse released a new unit, the AVN-6610. The buttons on the sides were removed, and it now had a 7" wide touch screen, and the frame of the radio was Charcoal. I test fit the 6600 in the dash kit. I really did not like the Gold-ish frame of the 6600 anymore, knowing that the 6610 existed. The 6610 was then ordered in.

Here is the AVN-6610 powered up on the bench...just look at that fit:



I also started thinking that since my Phatnoise was gone, I should consider an Ipod to store my music. I then ordered in an Eclipse interface for the Ipod.



Electrical work started on the dash end, and I researched getting an interface to retain my steering wheel controls. Because the car has CAN-bus, two interfaces are needed. One is to adapt the CAN-bus to the interface, and the other is to adapt the interface to the Eclipse head.

Here is one of those interfaces:



In the middle of me wiring up stuff one day, my friend John comes over and says "I have something for you" and hands me a Sirius satellite tuner especially for Eclipse head units. It connects in-line with the Ipod interface. One more thing to find room for.

I dropped the passenger side dash, and found a nice mounting location just waiting to be used. I mounted the Sat tuner in there, and piggybacked the Ipod interface on it, using hook and loop fastener and tie wraps for security.





I finished connecting the wiring, the RCA leads, the LAN cables to the interfaces, and installed an antenna adapter to the factory cable. I gave power to the radio, and it turned on, the display showed me that the steering wheel controls were working. At this point I have no sound, as the amps and speaker wiring is not connected yet. I pulled the car outside, and confirmed that the satellite antenna I installed was talking to the radio, and got a correct map to display. I then noticed that I was not getting any reception for the FM stations.

I checked my antenna adapter, and connection to the radio, and it was fine. I did some research on A/W and the internet, and there was a lot of conflicting information about which adapter to use. After much trial and error, I found that Metra's VW53 antenna adapter was the correct one to use for my model year.



It gets 12volt power, and sends it back over the shield to power up the OEM antenna amplifiers in the back of the car.

Now for the hard part. Getting 7 wiring harnesses, 3 pairs of RCA's and the antenna cable and adapter into the dash, and still have room for the radio. I decided that once the radio was installed, I did not want to remove it...EVER...and having the fuse for the radio behind it was not a good idea. I cut the fuse out, extended the wire over to the driver's side of the dash, and connected it inline to the 12volt taps near the factory fuse panel.


The Eclipse radio is very deep, and it also has a fan located at the back. I wound up having to back the radio out ½" of the dash kit to allow for spacing for all the cables, and the radio to have some circulation area back there.

Here is the radio installed in the dash, finally!! (Some Blue painters tape is visible as I had applied it everywhere to protect the trim while I was working. Also on the right side is one of the steering wheel modules, before being secured under the passenger side dashboard.)

Radio mode:


NAV mode:


It's getting there...the rest of the work is now in the trunk.

[Boston Driver]

I think he is coming from NJ.

[5speed6 v.2]

..as much as I want to go, I really don't want to show a 'half-baked' project. I'd rather show it when it's completed, and can be listened to as well.

Even if you could twist my arm to do that..8 hours of driving would be killer without music to listen to.

And lastly, I (hopefully) will be starting to do the fiberglass work tonight.

[Whitjr]

[Boston Driver]

[LadroAudiA6]

[Dimi (A6 2.7T)]

[bac2h]

[bac2h]

[bac2h]