2001 w/ Infinity system. Making your own Aux Input?

***UPDATE*** - See my post below on details, ask if you want how-to's!


Okay, here is what I would like to do. I have the factory standard issue Infinity system that came with my 2001. I would like to hard-wire my ipod or other mp3 player on it directly without use of fm modulation or cassette (which isn't possible, no tape deck). Now, I have very little knowledge about car stereos, but, im a 4th year electrical engineering student, so this should be rather straight forward right?

First and foremost, I don't have much cash that could be put into getting a new head unit/amp, especially on a project that I think I can solve with just a $5 wire and a switch.

So far with my research, I have come to many conclusions. 1 - the standard sound system in an 00-01 eclipse must be mighty special, because any site i went to looking for adapters, etc came back with specific instructions that my car was not compatible with their product. There goes the easy route...

Now, I have completely removed the center console and dash to get a look at the back of the head unit, to get a feel for what I was in for. Here is a pic of what I found:

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/6206/s35000060wi.th.jpg (http://img466.imageshack.us/my.php?image=s35000060wi.jpg)

Now, I see several wires here. The one on the right and the group in the middle go straight up to the display, which leads me to believe they would be of no use to me. The other 3 however, I am curious about. Looking where they lead, they both head below the front passenger seat, going to the amp i presume. I take it the larger of the 3 is the audio from the cd/radio, but what are the other 2 for?

At this point, i think I have 3 options:

1 - You will notice the empty port on the right that looks a lot like the large black connecter on the left. Am I correct in assuming this would be where a CD-changer would go, if i had one? If so, wouldn't it be possible, knowing the pins on that connecter, to input audio directly there from an ipod, accessing it by "switching disks" on the head unit?

2 - Now I have yet to look at the amplifier under the seat, but would it have any free/spliceable ports that I could use? could I open the thick wire and splice some RCA cables directly into that?

3 - My last resort, as I know this will yield the worst results in quality, is taking the antenna of a FM transmitter and directly attaching it to the antenna line of my car. Problem is, I have yet to find such line. In my car, the antenna is embedded in the rear glass, so finding the wire might be an issue, as it is probably bundled with the rear lights, etc.

So are there any audio experts out there that could help me? I am quite competant when it comes to general electronics, but with car audio I have no experience. Does anyone know the pin assignments of the wires leading from the head unit to the amp, or all the wires on the HU? If i can wire my own switch and Aux-IN that would be sweet, and very cheap. BTW this is my first post and I have searched, but nothing remotely related to what I would like to do. Here's hoping someone out there can help!

PS: Does anybody know which wire is used with the AntiTheft system? I cant for the life of me find that 4 digit code so I cant disconnect any wires before knowing what they do. Thanks again!

Heh, guess nobody wants to read my lengthy first post :) I have made some headway. Below is a link to a site describing exactly what I want to do - for a miata. Luck has it that it uses the same 13 - pin DIN connection as our stereo, so perhaps we are in luck:

http://www.miata.net/garage/external_audio_interface.html

So I think i might try to add an RCA cable to the L and R input pins, or create a secondary interface like the link described.

I have also found this adapter for Kenwood systems which uses a 13 pin DIN connecter:

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/electronics/Kenwood_CA-C1AUX_Audio_cable-4286561.html?isrc=e-search

Would the pin definitions be the same in both of these cases with our cars' equipment? If not, does anyone out there know the pins for our stereo?

i have never heard of this so sorry, i will be of no help

i really like ur post about this topic. I jus got an mp3 jukebox and i was very frustrated about the installation... Although I don't use the Infinity system, I just wanted to say your post has given me much insight and help in my process of installation!

Yea, maybe I'll give it another try before I let Best Buy own me...

If that is the area awhere a cd changer would go and the 13 pin connector would fit than I don't see why it wouldn't work. The only question would be what channel would you have to go to access the the device

Right now I'm leaning towards running the rca cable through the existing 13 pin instead of creating a new line from the cd changer. Reason being is, I am unsure of the control signals that would necessary for the head unit to realize "hey we got a cd changer connected lets switch audio." If I splice into the existing wire, I can use the existing control signals from the head unit, just place switches to change the audio source. Unfortunately, this is a really bad time of year, so I am unsure when I will be able to dedicate any more time to this :(

SUCCESS!!!!!

Okay, after some tweaking and much soldering, I was finaly able to tap into the line running from the CD player to the amp. Currently it is a very ghetto setup, but the whole project cost less than 10$ if you have a few basic tools laying around.

Now, I am nowhere near complete, but at least now I have a proof-of-concept that someone can actually do this with little to no experience in car audio.

While I do not have the time tonight, if anyone wants to know the specifics I can do a full writeup this weekend complete with part numbers, diagrams, etc.

Currently, I have the cable (which was only 6 pins thank goodness, not 13) seperated into two parts, power and signal. Basically, 4 of those wires carry audio, and the rest are just power signals. You can switch between CD player (which still works fine btw) and ipod/aux by simply unpluging a cable. In the future I plan on running all this through a single switch i can mount on my dash.

Anyway, enough for tonight. I can answer simple questions now, but if you want all the gorey details ask and I will whip something up by the end of the week.