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Backup Camera Wiring Issue

8K views 24 replies 7 participants last post by  BrutalB83 
#1 ·
Audio gurus, I need help! Trying to install a backup camera. The Audiovox camera I bought is set up with the camera having a section of wiring that includes two wires to tap in to the reverse bulb in the taillight and then terminating in a yellow RCA female (pic 1). I'm good with what to do there.

My question involves the other piece of wiring that goes from the rear section to my head unit. It consists of two male RCAs on a lengthy piece of wire. Also on both ends are two little red wires coming out of the yellow RCAs (see pic 2) Do I need to do anything with those, or can I just cap them off? What's the purpose of those? Is it to optionally allow me to run power to the stereo or somewhere in the front of the car?

Thanks!
 

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#2 ·
Okay, so after further research, I see that this is indeed what it's for (running power to the front of the car so that you can turn the camera on whenever you want). So now, my question is, where I should I splice that wire to? Can I integrate it in to the radio harness, like the red 12 volt accessory line?

Also, do I still tap the black wire in the rear in to the the tail light reverse bulb so that it receives an activation signal when the car is in reverse? Or what do I do with it?
 
#3 ·
When I wired the Pioneer setup on my old car all it had was a + that you tap into the reverse light and a - to the same reverse light. Then the wire ran to the back of the head unit with 2 male red/white RCA plugs. I wouldn’t worry about the throttling the camera on while in drive. Sorry its been a few years since I’ve wired one.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, that's basically what this is. The rear part of this setup has the + and - to tap the reverse light, and then it plugs to the yellow RCA, which plugs in to the back of the head unit. In that second pic, the RCA that goes to the head unit has those little red wires coming out of the ends. I THINK that that's an optional power cord that runs the length of that yellow RCA that allows you to get power from somewhere up by the radio instead of at the tail light so that you can activate the camera whenever you want instead of only having it come on when the the reverse light is on.

What I'm wondering is, what do I connect it to?

For the rear, do I just connect it to the red + on the camera's harness instead of connecting that positive to the tail light? And then what do I do with the -? Still connect that to the appropriate wire on the tail light?

For the front, what do I do with it? Can I connect it to the 12v accessory wire on the radio harness to get constant power? Or is it better to find some other source?
 
#5 · (Edited)
Got the camera installed and routed in to the car tonight, btw. I love that there's a factory rubber grommet back there to run it through!
 

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#6 ·
So after further reading, I'm thinking that this is mostly for if you have a reverse signal wire coming from your head unit?

Is there any way to set up a backup camera so that it does automatically trigger when the car is in reverse, but so that it's also viewable on demand?
 
#9 ·
So when I installed the reverse camera for my pioneer headunit there was the RCA wire, a ground, and a red power wire. I ran all of them to the front of the car and connected the red power wire into the same 12v accessory wire as the radio. My camera didn't have a wire to connect into the reverse light, but my stereo had a wire which I connected to the reverse light power wire running through the center console. With this setup my stereo would auto display the reverse camera when I put my car into reverse, but I could also switch to it at anytime when the car was one which helped with setting up the reverse camera parking lines.
 
#14 ·
Okay, yeah, that's what I'm hoping to do also. I think what I can do is just run that red power to the 12v accessory wire on the radio harness instead of tapping the tail light, and then still attaching the black wire at the tail light for a signal. Do you think that will work to produce the desired effect?

I'm not 100% sure, but I'd imagine that wire would suffice. Any wire should work really. Your signal wire should be the black one. I just made it easy on myself and ran the signal wire to one reverse bulb, and the power to the other bulb lol.
Yeah, I think this should work, right? Attaching the red power at the 12v accessory wire at the radio harness should give it a constant power source for when I want to turn it on, and then tapping the reverse bulb should give it the reverse trigger...hopefully?
 
#11 ·
Mine is tapped into the Reverse Light, so anytime i put it in reverse the camera is triggered and comes on on my head unit. I ran the wire through he rubber grommet as well but I warn you to make sure it is positioned correctly because water can leak through that area if the grommet is not put back in perfectly.
 
#12 ·
Oh, yeah, I think I'm good with the grommet. This camera I bought was a pain in the ass...there was the yellow RCA and then two little plastic things along that wire that I had to push through that grommet...not fun. I ended up just ripping all the factory electrical tape off of it and then rewrapping it all. It's positioned back in there snuggly.
 
#13 ·
I just did mine last month. My stereo is a JVC that had a wire labeled reverse. I think it was purple.
The rear, you hook up the RCAs and run them to the front. The red power cable I spliced into the reverse light.
Behind the Head unit, connect the RCAs, the red cable, I connected to the reverse cable on the stereo, AND I ran a small piece of cable to the reverse wire under the steering wheel. Now it automatically triggers when I put it in reverse.
 
#15 ·
Does the reverse wire on the stereo actually do anything installed in our cars, though? There isn't one on the car harness side, so I don't think it receives a signal.
 
#20 ·
Ah, yes, you're right. I see what you're saying.

I'm wondering why you hooked up power at the tail light but ran the reverse wire all the way to the front? Is that just the way your camera was set up? Mine seems to be setup to tap the tail light for a signal AND for power, but also with the option to run the power up front if you want.

What camera did you use, btw?
This is the one I used: https://www.ebay.com/itm/CMOS-Car-R...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I didn't run the reverse wire. The RCA cable has red wire coming out of it on both ends. I hooked up the RCAs alone, and would not get a camera signal. I connected the red wire on the RCAs behind the unit to the "reverse" cable, and would STILL not get a signal, so that's when I found the reverse cable under the dash, and I spliced into it. I connected all three of them and Voila, the camera finally powered on. Might just be my camera, but that was the only way i was able to get it going.
 
#21 · (Edited)
This is the one I used: https://www.ebay.com/itm/CMOS-Car-R...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I didn't run the reverse wire. The RCA cable has red wire coming out of it on both ends. I hooked up the RCAs alone, and would not get a camera signal. I connected the red wire on the RCAs behind the unit to the "reverse" cable, and would STILL not get a signal, so that's when I found the reverse cable under the dash, and I spliced into it. I connected all three of them and Voila, the camera finally powered on. Might just be my camera, but that was the only way i was able to get it going.
Gotcha. Yes, that seems to be the same type of setup as my camera. I was assuming that that red wire was optional to run power to the front for a constant power source in case you want the option of viewing the camera at any time. That's what the instructions seem to indicate, but they are quite vague.
 
#25 ·
I don't know exactly what your kit looks like, but the power and the reverse trigger are separate. If you really want to, you can hook both to the reverse light at the rear of the car (meaning the camera will only be powered when you're in reverse), but ideally you'd want to hook the power to a constant 12v source, tap the reverse light using that single red (I presume) wire that runs the length of the wiring and then attach the other end of that wire to the reverse signal wire coming off of the head unit. This way, the camera always has power available whenever the car is on (so you can manually switch to the camera view if you want) and the reverse light power is just functioning as a signal for the head unit to activate camera view when you go in to reverse.

I recommend using some sort of connectors that you can unplug for the head unit connection so that the radio remains plug and play. If you don't care about that, then splice or solder away.
 
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