Aftermarket Backup Camera wiring *install* (1 Viewer)

[l3n0x]

I've used a wire taped to the cable/connector to pull it through from the other end while massaging the boot. I wouldn't cut it if I were you.

 

[gregnash]

I've used a wire taped to the cable/connector to pull it through from the other end while massaging the boot. I wouldn't cut it if I were you.

I am definitely going to try again. Gotta head to the hardware store anyways so may look to see how much a small wire tape would be. I know people have used large ziptie/cable ties in the past, I was using an old metal hanger. Just need to be more careful in the middle section of that wire loom/boot.

 

[kgrove]

I'm looking for both ideas and clarification. I'm installing a backup camera in a non-nav 2000 LC using an Alpine deck (ilx-650) that has an RCA input on the head unit pig tail. Since I was running RCA cables to the amp under the passenger seat anyway, I ran an extra RCA connected to the head unit harness camera input, so in the next couple days when I get time I can run the camera RCA to the passenger seat and not have to open the dash again. So... I need a reverse wire for the head unit harness (so it knows when to switch to camera mode) and another reverse wire for the camera, I assume to power the camera for when it is needed or backup.

My head unit reverse wire ideally needs to be near the head unit or one of the front seats. Near the passenger seat is ideal since I already have the seat out and some of the panels in the area removed anyway. Where do I find it and how do I recognize it among all the other wires.

My camera reverse wire could be by either tail gate (haven't decided whether I'm going upper tail gate where the factory camera is on the '03-'07 nav LCs was located) or lower tail gate) or I could run a revers wire all the way to the passenger seat area along with the RCA plug. If that's the case, would it work to connect both the head unit and the camera to the same reverse wire? Or for a shorter run, where would I find the reverse wire in the tail gate? I'm sure it must be connected to the reverse lights.

 

[l3n0x]

I'm looking for both ideas and clarification. I'm installing a backup camera in a non-nav 2000 LC using an Alpine deck (ilx-650) that has an RCA input on the head unit pig tail. Since I was running RCA cables to the amp under the passenger seat anyway, I ran an extra RCA connected to the head unit harness camera input, so in the next couple days when I get time I can run the camera RCA to the passenger seat and not have to open the dash again. So... I need a reverse wire for the head unit harness (so it knows when to switch to camera mode) and another reverse wire for the camera, I assume to power the camera for when it is needed or backup.

My head unit reverse wire ideally needs to be near the head unit or one of the front seats. Near the passenger seat is ideal since I already have the seat out and some of the panels in the area removed anyway. Where do I find it and how do I recognize it among all the other wires.

My camera reverse wire could be by either tail gate (haven't decided whether I'm going upper tail gate where the factory camera is on the '03-'07 nav LCs was located) or lower tail gate) or I could run a revers wire all the way to the passenger seat area along with the RCA plug. If that's the case, would it work to connect both the head unit and the camera to the same reverse wire? Or for a shorter run, where would I find the reverse wire in the tail gate? I'm sure it must be connected to the reverse lights.

Easiest is to pull the tail light assy (2 screws) and tap the reverse light wire there. Doing one wire and "Y"-ing it near the passenger seat should work, yes.

If one wants to avoid drilling the tailgate, this is a good one to use (this is the type I have). Near the end of the thread there is an adjustable one as well, should someone want to go real fancy
There are also some great advice on installing in the thread (like using wire pulling lubricant when pulling the connector through the grommet)

Back-up camera with intelligent tracks

I found this on AliExpress and ordered one ... I am pleased with the fitment and results. It works with a gyro in the camera assembly to detect the yaw and predict where the vehicle will track in reverse. The unit replaces one of your license plate lights and has a slot to insert your...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[kgrove]

Easiest is to pull the tail light assy (2 screws) and tap the reverse light wire there. Doing one wire and "Y"-ing it near the passenger seat should work, yes.

If one wants to avoid drilling the tailgate, this is a good one to use (this is the type I have). Near the end of the thread there is an adjustable one as well, should someone want to go real fancy
There are also some great advice on installing in the thread (like using wire pulling lubricant when pulling the connector through the grommet)

Back-up camera with intelligent tracks

I found this on AliExpress and ordered one ... I am pleased with the fitment and results. It works with a gyro in the camera assembly to detect the yaw and predict where the vehicle will track in reverse. The unit replaces one of your license plate lights and has a slot to insert your...

forum.ih8mud.com

Thanks for the link. Is there consistency in the wire coloring? If the reverse wire in the rear is red and black, will it also be red and black up near the passenger seat or passenger footwell? Or is there a reverse wire already behind the dash?

I'm also getting some conflicting information about connecting the camera back by the tailgate to an accessory line or to the reverse signal. Argument 1: Reverse signal is only meant to power reverse and not a camera, so connect the camera to an accessory power line. This has the added benefit of the camera always powered in case you wanted a rear view without having to be in reverse. Argument 2: cameras are not meant to be permanently powered, so if you connect the camera to an accessory line, the camera will have a fairly short life... expect to replace it 6-12 months later. Is there a consensus here? Both arguments sound logical. Is there proof constant power kills cameras? Has anyone connected their camera to accessory power and had it survive 5+ years? What is the OEM camera for '03-07 LCs powered by - reverse signal or always on?

 

[ramangain]

I do believe that the power draw of most modern backup cameras is small compared to standard reverse bulb. Tapping the bulb for both trigger and power should be e a non-issue

 

[kgrove]

Damn - I should have looked at my backup camera details earlier.

The Alpine I'm using utilizes a long common lead that brings the video, ground, and reverse or accessory wires together to the front of the car. The good news is it's a fairly sleek package that should make fishing the wire through to either tailgate easy at least relative to bigger packages. The bad news is I don't have a choice of tapping into the reverse lights in the rear without running a second, dedicated reverse tap all the way from the front to the back along with the camera wire.

It's got to be easier to just find a reverse wire around the front passenger side kick plate. Anyone know where that might be? There are several large size wire bundles... I can't imagine a reverse wire isn't in there but I'm also not super excited about digging in there to cut wires. Is there something on the driver side that is easier to locate?

Anyone have the EWD for a non-nav 2000 LC handy? I'm hoping there is an accessory power in one of the OEM amp connectors? The two connectors at the factory amp location are S6 and S7. From a post on another forum, I've already soldered pins 2 and 9 from S7 together as apparently those are accessory lines in and out, and if bypassing the factory amp, failure to tie those pins together will leave the accessory wire from the factory radio connection inoperative. I suppose I could cut that solder job and do a 3 way connection with S7 pins 2 and 9 plus the accessory/red wire from my camera hookup.

 

[gregnash]

Damn - I should have looked at my backup camera details earlier.

The Alpine I'm using utilizes a long common lead that brings the video, ground, and reverse or accessory wires together to the front of the car. The good news is it's a fairly sleek package that should make fishing the wire through to either tailgate easy at least relative to bigger packages. The bad news is I don't have a choice of tapping into the reverse lights in the rear without running a second, dedicated reverse tap all the way from the front to the back along with the camera wire.

It's got to be easier to just find a reverse wire around the front passenger side kick plate. Anyone know where that might be? There are several large size wire bundles... I can't imagine a reverse wire isn't in there but I'm also not super excited about digging in there to cut wires. Is there something on the driver side that is easier to locate?

Anyone have the EWD for a non-nav 2000 LC handy? I'm hoping there is an accessory power in one of the OEM amp connectors? The two connectors at the factory amp location are S6 and S7. From a post on another forum, I've already soldered pins 2 and 9 from S7 together as apparently those are accessory lines in and out, and if bypassing the factory amp, failure to tie those pins together will leave the accessory wire from the factory radio connection inoperative. I suppose I could cut that solder job and do a 3 way connection with S7 pins 2 and 9 plus the accessory/red wire from my camera hookup.

There is... in one of the linked threads in the original post, there is a post about tapping into the reverse wire at the drivers kickpanel. There is a lower, separate small block of wires that you tap into a Blue with Red strip (I think, confirm with thread) and that becomes the trigger wire for the backup at the stereo. Mine has something similar, a BACK wire and then the camera RCA has a power wire just off it. When I was testing everything to ensure it worked, I found that trigger wire then loosely spliced it and the hot wire from the camera RCA together. This triggered the camera sensor on AND powered it at the same time. Other option is that if the camera RCA has a power wire like mine, use the power wire from the stereo to power it. While this will give constant power to the camera it SHOULD only trigger when the camera/head unit sense the signal from the Reverse wire.

 

[kgrove]

There is... in one of the linked threads in the original post, there is a post about tapping into the reverse wire at the drivers kickpanel. There is a lower, separate small block of wires that you tap into a Blue with Red strip (I think, confirm with thread) and that becomes the trigger wire for the backup at the stereo.

Thx. Easy question ... I found that thread and diagram. The reverse wire is pin#12 in the iD1 connector by the driver's kick panel, which is labeled as "R-B" wire color. Before I start cutting and testing, is R-B Red-Black or Red-Blue? The comment above says Red-Blue, but what appears to be the #12 wire is Red-Black. One of the photos I saw of a reverse wire back by the tail lights is also Red-Black (not blue).

What's the best way to test a wire without cutting it?

 

[kgrove]

Thx. Easy question ... I found that thread and diagram. The reverse wire is pin#12 in the iD1 connector by the driver's kick panel, which is labeled as "R-B" wire color. Before I start cutting and testing, is R-B Red-Black or Red-Blue? The comment above says Red-Blue, but what appears to be the #12 wire is Red-Black. One of the photos I saw of a reverse wire back by the tail lights is also Red-Black (not blue).

What's the best way to test a wire without cutting it?

Answered my own question... on my 2000 LC, the wire is red and black, not red and blue. I think i found it in a couple locations, but the one I'm going to use is by the ECU behind the glove box. It's the second pin from the bottom on the second connector from the bottom. I confirmed it was reverse by removing the connector from the ECU, sticking a paper clip in the connector at that pin location so I could connect a voltage meter, and then checking the voltage change as I put the car in reverse. I wasn't sure at first as the voltage meter was picking up a small voltage (I think it was 100-200 mV) when the lights were turned on, etc., but the voltage rose to 11.3V only when the car was put in reverse.

 

[gregnash]

Glad you found it... In my EWD book (1998) I believe the RB is Red w/ Blue stripe but I could be misremembering. Instead of trying to search for one in the dash area I figured I would just pull from the one that everyone else has used (I hate electrical by the way). I ran test wires and everything just to ensure that I had everything working prior to actual hookup and things were good.

It is actually Red w/ Black Strip (there are blue rings around the wire as well).
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

 

[gregnash]

Took me about 3 1/2hrs last night to get everything all buttoned up and route all lines. Fairly simple install for the most part, only problem I ran into was the corner grab handle above drivers headrest. Ended up one of the bolts stripped out so gonna have to deal with that at some point.

Starting at tailgate, I routed all lines along existing lines, connections were wrapped in TESSA tape to help keep things together and from rattling to much.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Power and video lines were fished separately through the boot. Cut at lift gate end then routed through coupler at body. This time instead of trying to muscle the video line through, I remembered I had some SIL-GLYDE in my toolbox. That made stupid simple work out of it! Ima idiot!
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Then once all the lines were through, end was wrapped in TESSA tape.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

 

[gregnash]

From there I popped the side panels enough to start routing power wires down towards the tail light.
As much as I hate them, I used wire taps. I secured with some electrical tape to keep them from spinning on the wire.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

From there I just routed just inside of the trim panel along the roof/headliner all the way down the A-pillar to the dash.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Of course to do this properly I removed the steering wheel and dash cluster so I could route everything...
Ran video wire ontop of the large wire loom already there. Camera has its own dedicated power wire and then the trigger wire which I coupled together and then ran back behind the cluster (red wire) and down the side panel fishing the line as close to the kick panel as possible.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

WAHLA!! I now have backup camera....
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Only problem/gripe I have is the stupid ground loop issue with the stereo, it affects the video slightly in the you can see lines through the image. Not bad, but just enough that I can notice. Of course this will be remedied once I bypass the amp and install a new one, thus getting rid of that as well as the audio hiss.

 

[Gnarwgn]

Thanks for the great comments on this thread, helped me figure out an unsolved mystery finally!

Hopefully the following helps someone down the line - my rear hatch was leaking last winter. The fast diagnosis was the third brake light seal had failed, so quickly fixed that but the leak issue persisted. Upon close investigation, I found that the rear backup cam had been installed (by Best Buy, never use them btw) to circumvent the rubber wire loom at the top of the gate. The gap left by the backup cam wire at the base of the wire loom was causing the loom to not sit flush, which waterproofs the wire loom to the vehicle body and gate frame. This was the source of the ongoing leak.

So - after reading through this string someone suggested manhandling the camera wire through the wire loom, which I had not considered due to the large diameter of wire already existing within the loom. Its a tight squeeze. What I discovered was that there was just enough room in the loom to work the wire through, it was the same idea as working a buried drawstring in a pair of shorts or sweatpants back to the drawstring openings. From there I was able to reinstall the bases of the loom to both vehicle body and frame areas so that they again sit flush and keep the water out. I'm adding a small line/bead of butyl around the bases just to make sure I don't have this issue again.

Lastly - the deck is a Pioneer 4200 NEX, which comes with an integrated backup camera. I did not have to tie into the reverse signal for the backup cam to work, thought I would mention that is it saves a step. I've been happy with the deck, and I think they have since improved to even nicer options, but the integrated backup cam seems to be the key.