Help Wiring Reverse Camera to New Head Unit

onetwothreefour on 22/05/2022 - 19:42
Last edited 24/05/2022 - 13:29 by 1 other user

Hi all,

Asking for some assistance from any auto-electrician or anyone who knows about wiring up reverse cameras.

I recently bought a new head unit for my 2014 Fiat Freemont, it came with a new reverse camera but I am trying to wire up the existing camera to hopefully make the job easier.

I contacted the seller in AliExpress who said I should be able to connect the grey connector in the picture to the connector on my existing camera

https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/63008/95914/1448590698…

But I do not have any connector that fits that one and the way my reverse camera is wired is like this

https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/63008/95915/ae_1653183…

I showed this to the seller and they said it doesn't look like that is the original connector and I should open the cars player panel to check but I'm not sure what that is.

My questions are:

Is there anyway I can connect my existing camera to the new head unit?
Would it be easier to wire up a new camera? I do have a new camera that came with the head unit. If this is the easiest option then could I make use of any of the wires already running through the car from the existing camera?

Thanks for any help.

Tldr: please help wire up a new/existing reverse camera.

Automotive Reverse Camera

Comments

  • jizmo on 22/05/2022 - 20:25

    Are you getting 12V from the yellow and black leads when you put it in reverse?

    • onetwothreefour on 22/05/2022 - 20:26

      Sorry, no idea? On the existing camera or the new one?

  • jizmo on 22/05/2022 - 20:38

    from the TFT STM32 I thought your trying to hook the video stream too

    • onetwothreefour on 22/05/2022 - 20:41

      Ah no, that's the old unit that I want to replace. Just not sure how to plug those reverse camera connections into the new unit when AliExpress says I should be able to use that grey rectangle shaped plug in the other picture.

  • spackbace on 22/05/2022 - 20:42

    "Rerverse video" 😂

    Please tell me you paid more than $50 for the head unit…

    Most these days will have a simple rca connection for the camera

    • onetwothreefour on 22/05/2022 - 20:44

      Reverse video is on the old unit that I want to replace. Yes, the unit was about $350.

      Yes the new unit has an RCA connection but that plugs into the grey rectangle plug which AliExpress says should plug straight into my current reverse camera but they think my connection is not the original connection.

  • jizmo on 22/05/2022 - 20:52

    the grey connector fits or came with the new head unit??? plug that into the head unit and plug the yellow RCA into one of the 3 leads. The head unit should have 3 cameras to choose from flick from 1-3 till you get the right channel RCA.
    Just getting power to the camera would be the other thing that could be a barrier if I have the above correct.unless it is already powered.

    • onetwothreefour on 22/05/2022 - 21:05

      It came with the new head unit.

      There is a 8 pin plug that fits into the back of the head unit with a Yellow RCA connection, the grey connector has 3 Yellow RCA connectors and one is labelled cam so it's connected to the head unit but I just have nowhere to connect the grey plug to the current camera connections.

  • Euphemistic on 22/05/2022 - 21:48

    So the existing unit has two power wires and an RCA (round, yellow) lead? That would be the most common aftermarket connector. If you want to connect to the new grey play you’ll need to get the pin out for the grey and connect the rlelvant wires to your existing RCA and two power wires. (Like chopping off the rca plug)

    • onetwothreefour on 23/05/2022 - 09:56

      So the existing unit has two power wires and an RCA (round, yellow) lead?

      That's correct.

      Not sure if I want to chop that grey plug, I might try to install the new camera I have.

  • DragoBoyz on 23/05/2022 - 21:25

    Is the old camera an aftermarket camera? The seller may be confused if they've sent you connector that would usually fit into a factory installed camera.
    What wires are running to the unit from the camera? Do any of these wires have a plug?

    • onetwothreefour on 23/05/2022 - 22:11

      I don't know, it was in the car when I bought it.

      In the back of the old head unit there is one yellow RCA connection and two power wires which are hard wired into the back of the head unit. There are no other plugs near the head unit. I haven't looked at what connections are close to the camera end.

      You can see the connection is this photo https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/63008/95915/ae_1653183…

      • DragoBoyz on 24/05/2022 - 01:01

        From what I can see the reverse camera operates from 3 wires (power, return and the camera feed). The grey plug with the three rca connectors doesn't appear to be important for what you want. You should be able to plug the rca cable currently in the vehicle directly into the female rca cable coming out of the new head unit.
        Try to locate the positive and negative wires coming out of the new head unit. Is the new camera already wired into it?

        • onetwothreefour on 24/05/2022 - 12:52

          I haven't wired up the new camera at all.

          I tried plugging the RCA from the vehicle direct to the new head unit but I am not sure where the power cables need to go. When I do this the head unit recognises that the car is in reverse but the screen says no video signal.

          • DragoBoyz on 24/05/2022 - 13:05

            @onetwothreefour: On the back of the new head unit I imagine there will be either two wires sticking out (like the old one) or maybe a 2 pin plug that is built into it. I imagine it will say reverse camera or the instructions will say which one it is.
            If you can find that and know which one is positive and which one is negative you can join them on there. If you don't have crimping bits or a soldering iron just wrap the copper around tape over it and see if it turns on

          • spackbace on 24/05/2022 - 13:10

            @onetwothreefour: yep, RCA will go into the head unit, pos/neg wires will usually just connect to the reverse light at the back of the car (piggy-back off the wires), so it gets power when you're in reverse

            • onetwothreefour on 24/05/2022 - 16:21

              @spackbace: Yeah that would be for the new camera, would be nice if I can just rewire the power wires from the existing camera to the new head unit.

  • Broke-Ken on 24/05/2022 - 14:28

    Your old headunit is also an aftermarket one with an aftermarket camera.

    Can you link the product on aliexpress for us? I have found in the past that their product page lists a lot of information including wiring diagram.

    Were you provided with instructions as to how to hook up the new camera? I think it will be there same. Forget the grey adaptor, from the image of your old headunit, use the Yellow plug and plug that directly into the back of the new headunit. the Yellow plug is the signal wire which send the image. but the camera needs power to run, which is the red wire that has been taped up to the brown/orange wire at the back of the old headunit.

    • onetwothreefour on 24/05/2022 - 16:19

      Link to the unit I purchased:

      https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKHU3nC

      Link to the photo they sent me on how to wire up the existing camera, not the new one they sent me:

      https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/63008/95951/screenshot…

      Thanks, any help would be appreciated.

      • Broke-Ken on 24/05/2022 - 22:15

        On the "RCA Cable", there is an extra blue wire, ask them if this is the power wire for the camera, or if it isn't, which wire should you use to power their supplied reverse camera.

        https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/H0b675f5dd6bd40968145f5843b808cad…

        In this photo, there are 2 "reverse" wires, ask them which is the correct one to use, and is it a trigger wire or power wire

        https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/U3689de61f2af47d889ad0ce379c993ab…

        • onetwothreefour on 26/05/2022 - 14:10

          The two blue wires just add wifi and Bluetooth signals according to the seller.

          Where do you see 2 reverse wires in the second picture? One in the plug above the red fuse, where is the other one?

          They say they have taken my photos to an engineer and the factory and confirmed that my stereo is aftermarket. They recommended to install a new camera which i am considering doing.

          • Broke-Ken on 27/05/2022 - 09:26

            @onetwothreefour: The plug with the red fuse and then the wires coming out on the side(don't know why that's even there, so far all the pictures they have provided are of all different units)

            https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/77921/96019/20220527_o…

            My guess is to hook up the red wire from the old cam to this "02 Reverse" wire. But you need to do your own check and research first, I'm not going to be liable if connecting these two wires together sets your car on fire :P

            Invest in a multimeter.

            • onetwothreefour on 27/05/2022 - 10:02
              +1

              @Broke-Ken: Oh I'm coming for you if this goes wrong haha!

              I think they are the same wire, not different. On the actual unit, there are no wires coming out of the side. They are also all labeled the same in the list at the top and the list at the side.

              I'm just thinking of getting someone from Airtasker to do it, seems like people are quoting around $80 - $100 to install a camera, might be safer just to get someone who knows what they are doing. I don't mind having a go at things but by the time I've bought a multimeter, wire connectors etc it's probably not worth me risking it.

  • jizmo on 24/05/2022 - 19:43

    Can you power up both H/Us in the car at he same time. Have the original still working with camera on. Then disconnect RCA lead and plug into new HU as you know it's working just need to find correct RCA and is already powered. Once you've found the channel that makes it work mark the RCA lead.
    After that you may need to work out the new power source from HU

    • onetwothreefour on 24/05/2022 - 19:46

      Well I only have one power plug so I can only power one up at a time.

      I have plugged the rca from the old unit into the new one and then put the car into reverse and it changes to the camera screen but just says no video signal. I guess I need to remove the hard-wired power cables from the existing head unit and wire them up to power somewhere else?

      • Euphemistic on 25/05/2022 - 05:44

        Needs power to the camera.

        • onetwothreefour on 25/05/2022 - 06:13

          But from where or to where?

          • DragoBoyz on 25/05/2022 - 07:10

            @onetwothreefour: In the new wiring loom you need to find the part that plugs in to the new camera. From this information we will be able to help you find the correct wires. It is very difficult for us to tell which wires it is from generic pictures of the looms/plugs that are blurry or give no useful information.

            Do you have any experience in hard wiring things up? I'm getting a feeling you haven't done something like this before. Please consider just running a new wire. You will be able to follow the existing route along the old wire. I can give you tips on how to do this as well if you'd like.

          • Euphemistic on 25/05/2022 - 07:26

            @onetwothreefour: That’s the hard part!

            You need a wire that is +12v when the car is in reverse. Given the car already had a reverse cam, there should be something in the current wiring. you could test it by running a wire from the reverse light.

            • onetwothreefour on 25/05/2022 - 07:51

              @Euphemistic: If I have to run a wire from the reverse light I might as well install the new camera, but I was trying to avoid that.

              • Euphemistic on 25/05/2022 - 08:16

                @onetwothreefour: Sometimes the camera is powered from the reverse light and then a reverse trigger is picked up in the cabin or somewhere closer to the front. Saves running the extra wire all the way from back to front.

                Just depends how your existing cam was set up.

              • spackbace on 25/05/2022 - 17:21

                @onetwothreefour: We're basically fighting a losing battle if you're trying to combine old shit with new shit.

                Wire up the new reverse camera and just run the RCA through the car, and connect it's power leads to the reverse light

                Would save so much of all this hassle

  • [Deactivated] on 25/05/2022 - 00:14

    In the item description, it says you need the high version if you have a factory camera. Maybe you don't have the right cables?

  • jizmo on 25/05/2022 - 17:10

    Are you using a multi to trace things?

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