Can someone tell what I am doing wrong? when I am backing up in the dark I cannot see anything in the camera, it is on but dark I have to go into the camera settings and turn on the light on the tailgate, On my 2013 I could see with the reverse lights but not the 2017.


Thanks

 

Something is not right. The tailgate spotlight is not supposed to turn on with the camera, nor is it intended to supply light for the camera. The reverse lights are supposed to supply lighting for the camera, along with the brake lights. I also know of no setting to "turn on the tailgate light" when reverse is selected.

Mine works fine based upon the reverse lights being on.

 

I noticed that my backup camera view early in the morning before daylight appears very grainy looking. During the daytime it seems to be fine.

 

Also note you need to keep these camera lenses clean. In the morning, they might have dew on them that makes them grainy. I give mine a quick wiper with my finger frequently.

 

If the rear view camera is useful at night with the tailgate light ON but not when OFF, then I would suggest checking the camera lens and/or having someone help you verify your truck's back-up lights are working. I find even our XLT's back-up lights fitted with lowly regular ol' incandescent bulbs to be quite bright and effective.

Here's a picture of our rear view camera display that I took at 9:21 PM last night using my iPhone; this looks OK to me. The only illumination is the back-up lights and (maybe) the brake lights.



If this doesn't help, then you may need to visit your dealer. I found nothing in the OM about adjusting the camera sensitivity.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

Yep, that lights up very well. In some ways the incandescent reverse lights make a better camera image because of the warmer light tone.

 

I have the trailer tow camera package. I've found that when I put my truck in reverse to back into my garage, and my backup camera comes on it's almost black and I can't see anything. This is with the tailgate view on the left side of the screen, and the 360 degree view on the right. If I go into my camera settings on the touch screen and select the tailgate camera, everything is lit up and I can see. I end up with the same screen view as SDcrewzer posted. A bit of a pain, but it solves my issue.

 

Do you have the dash set all the way to the lowest brightness setting? I noticed the other day it was hard to see mine as well and adjusted the dash brightness up and it became much better.

 

Thanks everyone, I do the same thing that jim01250 is talking about, the truck is parked in a metal building when not driven and I have verified that the brake and backup lights are working and all the lens are clean. in the daylight I can see in the camera great but as soon as I back into the dark building I cant see until I go into the settings.
Thanks again

 

OK. Our truck is fitted with just two cameras (CHMSL and tailgate), and I can only view one at a time. There's no conflict between them.

I suspect these cameras auto-adjust for ambient light but don't have a very wide dynamic range. There may be a single real-time gain setting for all active cameras in a multi-camera system. When it's (relatively bright) daylight outside and you're backing into a (relatively dark) garage, the system gain may be reduced to keep the front-and two side cameras from washing out. This could cause the tailgate camera to "go dark" while peering into the dark garage.

Turning off the front- and side cameras immediately after placing the truck's transmission into "R" may allow the system to adjust gain for what the rear camera alone sees.

What happens when only the tailgate camera is selected and you attempt to back into the dark garage? I would expect for the garage "hole" in the display picture to initially be dark but then brighten up once the sensor (In the camera? On the dash?) is also "in the dark".

HTH,
Jim / crewzer