I recently got an in dash gps unit and will be installing a backup camera.

The install instructions call for hooking up a wire to the reverse lamp. Being that I have a crew cab I am looking for an easier place to tap into something that is triggered when putting in reverse that is in the cabin

 

The backup lights circuit originates at the underhood battery junction box (BJB) and continues all the way to the rear of the truck. One feed goes in the cab to the rear view mirror as well. Tap it at any convenient point.

 

Why not put it on an upfitter switch and be able to turn on whenever you want?

 

I have an 08 SD that has no power at the camera. Any ideas? Can I get the power from another area.

 

are you sure that you can use the factory camera to work with an aftermarket nav. system?

 

The answer here is yes. The Ford backup camera outputs a standard NTSC video signal. You can also feed the output from any other standard backup camera into the Ford system for display, i.e. the backup camera on your camper/trailer.

 

Fuse F73 in the underhood BJB:

 

thanks for the wire diagram. I do have power coming out of the fuse block under the hood, but nothing at the camera connection.(broken wire!) What I was wondering is if I can put power to the
hot side of the camera. Currently I only get a blue screen on the mirror for a few seconds and the it goes out. It was like this when I bought the truck. Also is there a way to hook the camera to the uplifter switch to turn it on manually when you want to check the hitch while driving?
thanks for any help.

 

First, you should track down the possible broken wire. Most of the camera wiring run is in a larger harness with a lot of other important wiring like brake lights and trailer wiring, if the harness is damaged you could start to have problems with those items as well. It could just be a damaged connector though and you have several after the point where the camera feed separates from the rest of the harness you could check.

If you have the mirror display you can use an upfitter switch to enable it manually. The GN-BN reversing lamp feed going to the electrochromic mirror is what enables the video display (and also disabled the mirror dimming). You can't just connect the feed from the upfitter switch to the GN-BN circuit or you will turn on the backup lights when you try to turn on the mirror. You will need to cut the GN-BN circuit and insert a diode to prevent power backfeed to the backup lights. The feed from the upfitter switch will connect on the mirror side of the diode. I'm sure there is an article somewhere that shows this in more detail. This mod will not work with the nav-radio backup display as it does not use a backup light connection, it determines reverse mode from messages sent to it over the CAN bus.

 

Well I installed the wiring today and it is definitly not green/brown stripe. I tapped into that and nothing. I then took apart the rear lens and it was green with a muave/pink wire.

I checked wiring under door flap covering wires on both sides and no such color. there was not a gree/brown stripe wire under flap either. Figured I already had rear lense taken apart, I tapped into that and it works.

I have a 2008 Job 1 so I guess the wiring is different.

 

I have an '08 F250. I used the reverse activated Green wire with Brown stripe for my Pioneer back up camera. I had a hard time tracking the wire down because I was looking in the wrong place. It was not down on the floorboard or in the door sill.

My truck has the back up sensors. There is a box that the back up warning beep comes from. It is located up behind the Emergency brake release lever on the driver's side. Unplug the harness that connects into the box. There is a Grey (16pin I think) plug that connects to the black alarm box. With the plug unhooked, the back up alarm will not sound, verifying you have the right plug and harness. FYI, if your doing this solo, put the tailgate down so the back up alarm will activate.

Look at the two rows of wires on the plug. One row starts with a solid yellow wire, next is Brown with a Blue stripe, THIRD IS THE GREEN WITH BROWN STRIPE. This is the reverse activated wire for your back up lights, and only powers on when the gear selector is in reverse. Tap into this wire and your in business.

Btw, your shoulders will get cramped and maybe your arms too, the longer you lie on your back on the floorboard.

 

Thanks, I have an SPDT switch coming tomorrow and will need to install it plus the steering wheel control adapter. When the stereo is pulled out again I will look for it and rewire. I'd like to just get rid of the long wire running from the back.

I also went to harbor freight yesterday and bought a circuit tester I can stick into the wire vs splicing into it. Cheap tool that I will not use a lot. I was looking at the reverse sensor switch and there is that green with brown strip in it. I will probe that one and see if it works and post back

 

Guys i know this is an old thread but i am also having backup camera issues no matter when or how i start my truck when i put in reverse i get a totally blue screen for a few seconds then it goes away even if the truck is still in reverse the dealership always automatically assumes you need a new camera but seems like the video signal is lost IMO any help at this point is greatly appreciated the camera makes hooking up to boat soooo easy id like to keep it

 

Hey guys, just a couple quick questions.
I have almost everything figured out except which diode I should use in this setup. Any input on that?
And if I install the switch to the mirror side of the diode, if I have the switch turned off when I put it in reverse the camera should still come on, correct?
And id want to wire the switch to an acc+ so when the truck is off the mirror won't come on?

Thanks guys!