I recently snagged a used Eclipse HU from Toasty, got everything hooked up, attached colored wires to the right spot and all, and then that night while driving home...I noticed that the only thing lit up on the HU was the screen, which lights up day or night...so I thought to myself "hmm no illumination".

I know things are a little different for my car, but I figure the collective knowledge can be of use.

Here is information Ive gathered so far:
The solid orange wire used for illumination on my wiring adapter plugs into a brown wire on the stock connector, which all the research ive done shows it to be used for a dimmer, so thats fair enough. then I attached the solid orange wire to the orange/white wire on my Eclipse harness, which according to the manual is used for illumination....didnt work.

Did some more research and found that the gray wire on the stock connector is often used for illumination, so I moved the pin over to where it was tapping into that wire instead...no luck...that was a move from pin 4 to pin 5 IIRC.

Heck I even spliced the illumination wire into the red power wire and it still didnt work!

My traction control connector was nearby, and it illuminates with the headlights on, so I even tried plugging the orange/white wire into that and it still didnt work.


I have no freaking idea where to go from here, I wouldnt think the illumination would be completely burnt out, especially since Toasty says that he never even used it during the time it was installed.

The only thing I can think of that might be causing a problem is this...Toasty replaced the Eclipse HU he sold me with another Eclipse HU, so instead of using the harness that came with his new one, he plugged his new one into the old harness, the one that originally came with mine. Then he sent out the new harness with mine since it fits the same.
Everything else works fine, the only thing I can think of right now, is maybe the location of the illumination wire is different between the two harnesses and im simply trying to put power to the wrong location and I dont realize it.

Thoughts? Ideas?

EDIT: After doing some looking around on Eclipse'* website, I think I may be onto something, I looked at some manuals for the newer HUs and the Illumination wire seems to be mostly on pin 3, or is at least listed with a number 3 next to it.
I cant recall exactly, plus its too cold outside to go look, but I believe that my illumination wire is listed on pin 4 or 5. Ill check on this more tomorrow, I feel like Im about to pass out from sleep deprivation right now. But keep the replies comin.

I found an issue when hooking my HU up as well. There'* two wires to think of, one is dimming and one is illumination.

There is one wire from my Eclipse harness that is orange/white that is for illumination. The only wires left are a brown and brown/black which are used to interface with steering wheel controls, which I cant do, because this isnt the harness intended for my HU.

Then there are blue and blue/white wires for the amp, and thats all thats left unused.

I tried every combination I could think of today, even tried using the brown wires in case one of them was in the place my HU is trying to look for the illumination power, but no luck.

Is there a possibility that BOTH the Illumination and the dimmer wires must be attached to the Illumination wire in order for it to work? How did you solve your issue Boosty?

Does anyone have a list of the wire colors that GM uses for their radios? I found a couple here and there online, but nothing I could really trust. I found that gray is used for illumination and brown is used for dimming, but I have a gray/black and a brown/white wire on the stock wiring that would appear to be used instead.

A diagram of the 32-pin stock connector that I have might be a helpful asset at this point.

Im considering buying the harness thats intended for my HU, but I honestly dont know if that would make a difference or not.

This just sucks, because my car is DARK at night, and I hate trying to navigate my feel, especially things like radio presets which the buttons are very small.

The following list is for the 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue w/U85 RPO (Bose Amplifier). If a terminal is not listed, it is not used. The informaition is Pin / Wire Colour / Function. If you don't have U85, it won't matter if you are only looking for illumination wires since they are the same.

E1 / DK GRN / Entertainment and Comfort (E and C) Serial Data Link

E3 / PNK / Radio On Signal

E6 / DK BLU / Steering Wheel Controls Input

E9 / LT BLU / Remote Audio Communication (w/ CD Player-RPO U1S)

E10 / ORN/BLK / Remote Left Audio (w/ CD Player-RPO U1S)

E11 / LT GRN / Remote Right Audio (w/ CD Player-RPO U1S)

E12 / BRN / Left Rear (+) Audio Amplifier Feed

E15 / DK BLU / Right Rear (+) Audio Amplifier Feed

E16 / BLK/WHT / Radio Ground

F1 / ORN / Fused Battery Power Feed

F2 / YEL / Fused Power Feed

F3 / DK GRN / Radio On Signal

F4 / BRN/WHT / VF Dimming Signal

F5 / GRY/BLK / VF Dimming Display Signal

F12 / TAN / Left Front (+) Audio Amplifier Feed

F13 / Bare / Shield Drain Wire

F14 / BLK / Audio Amplifier Common

F15 / LT GRN / Right Front (+) Amplifier Feed

Thats what I have and Ive tried using both of those, the adapter plugs into the brown/white wire originally. I tried moving the pin over to where it plugs into the gray/blk wire as well but it still didnt work.

Does anyone think that theres a possibility it needs to be plugged into both of them at the same time? Seems kinda ridiculous, and I dont want to attempt it unless its absolutely necessary.

Update: I just came in from messing with it some more. I tapped the orange/white wire into the red power wire, and it STILL will not work.

So Im thinking its either one of two things, either A: the wiring harness doesnt have the illumination signal in the right location. Or B: The lighting on the unit is DOA.

One thing that is strange is that the little ring inside the volume **** flashes red when you first enter the car, as part of the security system on the unit I assume. This area doesnt light up once the car is started and the unit is turned on, but I can assume it would light up under the night-time illumination circumstances.

So for now, Im waiting to hopefully hear back from Eclipse tech support, and if no one else has any better ideas, I may try to snag a wiring harness that is guaranteed to work with this model.

i believe that the rings on the ***** lit up for me when i had my radio hooked up with only the Yellow, Red and Black wires - NOTHING else. However, i dont remember specifically if they lit up or not
:?

****, im starting to feel bad that this isnt working out well for you

I may try disconnecting the illumination wire entirely, id swear ive done it before with no results, but ill try it again later today, I suppose it would light up all the time wouldnt it? Because I dont think it has a light sensor or anything like that.

Dont worry, Im kinda starting to feel bad about it myself, but I cant really get upset at you, because you didnt know, and therefore couldnt tell me about it.

i wish i could remember if the ***** lit up.... i honstly cant tell you for sure either way if they lit up with my bare-bones wiring or not... :?

Meh ill try it out later today or more likely tomorrow, im getting used to navigating by memory and feel, but im not fond of it.

I think my options are to either deal with it or put the stock one back in. So far Im dealing with it though.

Dont feel bad about it Toasty, I should have inquired more about it I guess, I was in a rush to buy one. Live and learn I suppose. But I'm not angry or anything.