Oldsports

I am installing an aftermarket radio on my 2001 LS430 (non-Nav) that has backup camera capability. At first I was not going to install one but I am thinking about changing my mind. I need to connect the aftermarket unit to the Reverse signal on the car. Can someone tell me where I can tap into a Reverse feed? Is there a connection on the shifter that I can connect to? Is there a feed on my existing radio harness that is not being used since I don't have an OEM camera installed?

Also, any thoughts on whether to install a wired or wireless camera? If I go wired, I have to find a way to run wires from the front console to the trunk. Wireless has the benefit of not having to run wires but I am curious about picture quality. Also, I guess I have to find a power source for the camera in the trunk- any ideas where to tap into?

SBlexus

You can tap into your reverse lights power

Oldsports

OK - tapping into the reverse light power to power up the wireless camera makes sense.

What can provide the Reverse signal to my head unit in the front console? This is used to let the head unit know that the car is in reverse so it can display the camera on the screen. I am hoping that there is a Reverse signal somewhere close to the front console that I can tap into. I would prefer not to have to figure out how to run the reverse light signal from the trunk to the front console.

rkw77080

Oldsports

rkw77080,

Thanks - this is exactly what I am looking for!

SBlexus

If you go with a wired camera you would still have to run wires for this to work. If you go wireless this set up should be fine.

Oldsports

SBlexus,

I am going with a wireless camera. I will use your idea to power the camera/wireless sending unit from the reverse tail lights and I will power the receiving unit from the radio harness. I will run a Reverse feed from the switch in the picture to the radio and that should take care of all of the connections. Once I settle on a camera unit and get the parts I will give it a try. Thanks!

SBlexus

Good luck with your project, post DIY pictures. Please

Oldsports

I purchased a camera from e-Bay for $20. The kit includes the camera and the wireless sender/receiver:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252238567418?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=551067881631&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I decided to go ahead and install the camera on the back of the car. I cannot complete the job until I install my new head unit and I am waiting on another part before I am ready to do that. However, I figured I could install the camera and hook it up to a monitor to make sure it works.

First thing to do was to remove the trunk insulation. There is a cover over the lights that simply pops off when you pull it. Next, there are 2 black plastic fasteners that have to be removed; I used a screw driver and wiggled them back and forth until I got them out. Finally, insulation is held to the trunk top by a set of white plastic hooks. I did not realize they were hooks at first; I thought they were attached to the insulation and pushed into mounting holes in the trunk. After I popped a few of them off the trunk I realized that I could have simply unhooked them. No issues - the mounts popped back into their holes without a problem.



I did not take the insulation off completely - just enough to expose the camera mounting hole and the wiring harness for the reverse lights. My car has a black plastic blank in the spot where I assume the factory rear camera would have mounted - it is on the passenger side of the trunk near the license plate light. It is held on by two nuts on the underside of the trunk that are exposed after you remove the insulation. I was able to remove the nuts by hand. I took out the blank and drilled a hole to mount the camera. I put the blank back into the trunk, routed the camera mount and wiring through the hole and fastened the camera in the hole with the washers and nut supplied in the kit. I could not get a tool in place to tighten the camera nut so I had to do it by hand. The camera has a sticky film on the mounting surface (covered by a white piece of paper) so that helps hold it in place. It took a while to tighten the camera nut by hand but it feels solid.




Next I needed to power the sending unit through the reverse lights. The harness for the lights is easily accessed after the insulation is removed. The harness feeds the turn signal light, brake light and reverse light. The reverse light power is fed to the light by the Red-Blue wire and the ground is the White-Black wire.




As you can see from the close-up picture, I decided to tap into the power and ground from the other side of the connector because I felt like it would be less obtrusive. The wires on the other side are NOT the same color - match up the pin connections to be sure you are tapping into the right wires. I forgot to take a picture of the wires I tapped into.

Now that the camera was mounted and the power was connected I was ready to test it. With my kit, the camera has a black plug that fits into a Y-adapter that goes to the sending unit. This is where it gets its power from (red connector) and where it sends the camera output (yellow RCA connector) to the sending unit. The picture is a little blurry, but you can see the black camera wire/plug on the left, the adapter in the middle and the sending unit on the right.



To test the camera, I connected a small monitor to the camera output signal with a long RCA cable so I could look at the monitor while in the car. I started up the car, put it into reverse and... SUCCESS!! Each time I put the car into reverse I received the camera feed and when I took it out of reverse the feed went away. This confirms that the camera is properly powered by the reverse light.

I mounted the sending unit to the top of the trunk with some picture mounting strips - the kind that can be removed and not leave a mark. I tied up the loose wires with a wire tie and then re-attached the trunk insulation.

The receiving unit gets its power and ground from the radio harness. Since my new head unit is not in the car yet, I was able to connect the power and ground easily. The output of the receiving unit is a yellow RCA plug that connects to the reverse camera input on my head unit. Once I install the head unit, I will be able to test the wireless component of the camera. I will post again once that is done.

SBlexus

Nice, I'm glad everything is working out for you. Great job so far.

Oldsports

I thought I knew where the Park/Neutral switch was but apparently I don't. I thought it was somewhere near the shifter but I cannot find it. Can someone direct me to it? Specifically I am looking for the green reverse wire so I need to know where the harness is so I can tap into it. Thanks!

rkw77080

Oldsports

Thanks for the picture. How does the wire harness make its way from the switch to the ECM in the engine compartment? Does it come into the cabin of the car or does it go directly from the switch to the ECM from the outside of the car? I am looking for a reverse signal in the cabin that I can tap into and connect to my radio head unit so it knows when the car is in reverse. I am hoping to avoid getting under the car to tap into the switch directly and then trying to find a way to get the signal into the cabin.

Is there something on the gear shift mechanism inside the car that provides a signal when the shifter is put into reverse?

rkw77080

Here's what I can find so far. It appears that the wiring harness does not enter the passenger cabin.





Alternatively if you decide to route the reverse signal from the trunk (as opposed to directly from the PNP Switch under the car), refer to the attached Satellite Radio Tuner installation instructions. It shows how to route wires from the trunk into the cabin.

Oldsports

rkw77080,

Thanks for the instructions for routing wires to the trunk. Someone gave me instructions via another thread which routed the antenna through one of the openings next to the subwoofer on the back deck instead of through the rubber grommet in your instructions. That was a little easier for me so I ended up doing that. I suppose I will tap into the reverse light through the trunk and follow a similar path.

I am very surprised that there was no way to tap into the reverse signal in the cabin. I purchased a wireless rear camera because I wanted to avoid trying to figure out how to run wires from the trunk to the front console. Had I known this, I would have purchased a wired camera!