Backup camera wiring

[ncyrider]

Have a license plate frame backup camera I want to put on my '01, and I'm wondering if there is a reverse wire in the trailer-hookup wiring harness I can use to splice into and power the camera? Or do I have to use one of the reverse light wires in the tail light assembly? My sport trac has the stock flat wiring plug-end to connect a trailer by the 2" hitch, and it used to have a round plug-end as well, but it was removed, so the wires for that type of trailer connector are still there behind the bumper.
Also, what is the best/easiest way to ground the backup camera (where should the ground wire go)?

 

[sickwilly]

Stock was only a 4 flat -- no reverse circuit. If someone previously wired in a 6 round, then that wiring should give you a reverse circuit.

One of my boat trailers has a brake lock out circuit, so in my old Sport Trac I had to tap into the reverse wire on a tail light, Once it warms up, I plan to add a camera like you are and taping in a 5 flat too. It was some years ago, but it was easy. There are numerous places to ground to back there. Frame, hitch, etc. That should not be hard. Exposed metal that connects to the frame.

 

[ncyrider]

Tried to install the camera yesterday. There are 2 wires coming out of the trailer wire harness, before they go into the plug (4 flat), and I'm not sure if they are something the original owner of this Trac did as a modification. The wires are just hanging out of the harness with these long caps on the end. One (black) has a label that says "AUX ground", and the other is black with a red stripe. I first tried connecting the camera's red positive wire to that red stripe wire because I thought it might be the reverse for a 6-round trailer plug, which used to be on this truck, but it had no wires going into the actual plug. There's also some other random/unfinished extra trailer wiring on my truck, such as a trailer brake controller.

Anyways I haven't been able to get the backup cam to work at all. I connected the video cable to the yellow "R Cam" input on my Kenwood (DDX372bt?) touch screen, then the yellow "video out" input. Either way the head unit didn't pick up anything when I had the truck in reverse. Which reverse light wire should I splice into for the camera's positive wire? Because I tapped into the black/red-stripe wire in the left side reverse light and it's still not working. I grounded the camera's black wire to the hitch, drilled a hole and made threads so I have a bolt for the ground that stays in place nicely. I did a "quick" sand-job on that little area, but maybe it wasn't enough? It is bare metal. I can post some pics. Should I use the black reverse light wire to connect the ground to instead? BTW I didn't disconnect the battery for this job...should I do that?

The backup camera I have is the "E-sky" license plate frame camera from Amazon. Quality is pretty good, especially for the price, except for the positive/ground wires which are very thin. Makes connecting these 2 wires sketcky. Please let me know what I should try to do here to get my camera working. Any and all info is very helpful because my truck is sitting with wires hanging right now.

 

[ncyrider]

Doing some reading, and maybe I missed this part....Do I have to give the Kenwood head unit a signal for reverse, by tapping into the black/pink wire behind kick panel? Where would that connect to on the head unit?
I thought the camera being powered on by a reverse light wire just sends a signal to the head unit?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...-for-the-2001-sport-trac.399821/#post-3253431

 

[sickwilly]

I tapped into the reverse wire by pulling a taillight. You can splice in and drop a wire easy enough. I wired in the 5 flat I needed for my boat at the same time.

My camera wiring had a little red wire coming out near the yellow video rca plug. That wire I attached to the head unit lead for reverse. When you wire to the reverse power in the rear near the camera this will power that other small red wire too.

If you don't have that, I would think you need to find the reverse circuit in the front or bring a wire all the way there from the rear.

 

[ncyrider]

https://www.amazon.com/Esky-Viewing...ell&keywords=esky+lisence+plate+frame+camersa
That's the camera I have. The only wires coming out are the yellow RCA video wire, and the wire that splits into the red and black skinny +/- wires.
Based on the manual for my Kenwood, the purple 'reverse' wire coming out the back of the H/U connects to a reverse wire/signal on the truck. I missed that step so I ran a wire from that purple connect down to the driver's kick panel (left of parking brake), now I just need to find out which wire in there is the reverse wire to splice into, and I'm done. I read on multiple threads it's one of the black/pink wires, I guess there are 4? Can anyone tell me which one to tap into?

 

[sickwilly]

Sorry I can't help with that. I don't have a factory manual with our wiring diagram. If you got your head unit from crutchfield give them a call. Their specialists are pretty darn resourceful.

 

[sickwilly]

NC did you get it working?

 

[Tobashadow]

https://www.amazon.com/Esky-Viewing...ell&keywords=esky+lisence+plate+frame+camersa
That's the camera I have. The only wires coming out are the yellow RCA video wire, and the wire that splits into the red and black skinny +/- wires.
Based on the manual for my Kenwood, the purple 'reverse' wire coming out the back of the H/U connects to a reverse wire/signal on the truck. I missed that step so I ran a wire from that purple connect down to the driver's kick panel (left of parking brake), now I just need to find out which wire in there is the reverse wire to splice into, and I'm done. I read on multiple threads it's one of the black/pink wires, I guess there are 4? Can anyone tell me which one to tap into?

The easiest way is to probe the wire with a meter or even just a light tester and make sure it is off in all settings but reverse.

My power probe showed the correct wire as grounded with key on and 12v positive while in reverse.

I had to use that wire and run it from the head unit all the way to the camera on mine due to only getting 10v at the backup lights even while running which wasn't enough to power the camera but good enough to power the bulbs.

 

[Thadigus]

So on the camera: the black wire gets grounded and the red wire goes into whatever light you want to have on at the same time. If you want the camera on when you have the reverse lights on then have the + going into the + of that light. That's simple. Then obviously you need the yellow RCA going to the head unit. But on the head unit you want the wire labeled "reverse" wired into a wire under the kick panel for the reverse. This simply lets the head unit know when the vehicle is in reverse so it knows when to display the video feed over anything else. Are these all correct and you're still not getting any video?

 

[ncyrider]

Which wire under the kick panel is the one for reverse that I connect the head unit's "reverse" to? Wondering if I can locate it by finding out the color of it and/or the other wires that it's with...

 

[Thadigus]

Which wire under the kick panel is the one for reverse that I connect the head unit's "reverse" to? Wondering if I can locate it by finding out the color of it and/or the other wires that it's with...

Look at this and see if it looks like the same harnesses. It should be the same but if it's not then I'll do some looking on my sport trac. Just wire it in like he has. You will probably need to get some wire if you don't have any and i would suggest soldering all connections and heat shrinking them. Good luck and I hope this works well for you.

 

[Thadigus]

Look at this and see if it looks like the same harnesses. It should be the same but if it's not then I'll do some looking on my sport trac. Just wire it in like he has. You will probably need to get some wire if you don't have any and i would suggest soldering all connections and heat shrinking them. Good luck and I hope this works well for you.

by the way it shows it at 0:47, sorry about that.

 

[Tobashadow]

On my 02 I took the plastic push pin out and removed the cover then under that was a rubber cover I folded out of the way and there was a bundle of wires with no connector going vertically. I gently cut the tape bundling it and the black with pink stripped wire was in the inside of the bundle nearest the pedals about three wires deep.

 

[ncyrider]

The wiring was different on my '01 than what's showed in that F150 video.

On my 02 I took the plastic push pin out and removed the cover then under that was a rubber cover I folded out of the way and there was a bundle of wires with no connector going vertically. I gently cut the tape bundling it and the black with pink stripped wire was in the inside of the bundle nearest the pedals about three wires deep.

Is there only one black wire with pink stripe in that bundle? I just did the same and that black/pink wire was on the outside of the wire bundle, facing pedals, so I spliced into it. I didn't search through those wires that well, but I didn't see any other black/pink ones (besides a pink with black stripe) so I just went for it. My backup camera works now, for the first time...but my head unit screen does not switch over automatically when I put it in reverse. I have to do a 1-second hold on the R-Cam button (before or after going into reverse), not really a big deal, but I know the point of the black/pink wire is so it switches automatically, right? So is there more than 1 black wires with a pink stripe, and I hit the wrong one?

 

[Tobashadow]

Did you also hook the wire to the reverse wire on the head unit?

Here's my wiring.

Black/pink on kick panel hooked to reverse wire on head unit + the positive wire for camera

Black on camera to ground.

And also on my Kenwood DDX373bt I had to turn on the reverse interruption setting on the head unit in the backup camera settings. The menus are different but I'm sure the setting is there. It won't switch automatically with it off.

 

[ncyrider]

Yea the black/pink wire is connected to the head unit's purple reverse wire. I had to add in a couple inches of wire to reconnect the 2 ends of the black/pink wire that I cut so I could get butt connectors on, and I have a 2nd wire coming out of one of those butt connectors that goes into the head unit's reverse wire. I was trying to post a picture of it, but photobucket isnt working for me right now.
I only have the camera's positive wire connected to the truck's reverse light wire, not that black/pink wire in the kick panel. I guess this is why the screen wont automatically switch the display?
But is the black/pink wire in the kick panel the reverse light's positive wire, it just runs all the way back? Because that reverse light wire is black with a pink stripe too, if I remember correctly.
Other than that the camera works good, I just have to press a button.

 

[rpoppert]

Have a license plate frame backup camera I want to put on my '01, and I'm wondering if there is a reverse wire in the trailer-hookup wiring harness I can use to splice into and power the camera? Or do I have to use one of the reverse light wires in the tail light assembly? My sport trac has the stock flat wiring plug-end to connect a trailer by the 2" hitch, and it used to have a round plug-end as well, but it was removed, so the wires for that type of trailer connector are still there behind the bumper.
Also, what is the best/easiest way to ground the backup camera (where should the ground wire go)?

Yea the black/pink wire is connected to the head unit's purple reverse wire. I had to add in a couple inches of wire to reconnect the 2 ends of the black/pink wire that I cut so I could get butt connectors on, and I have a 2nd wire coming out of one of those butt connectors that goes into the head unit's reverse wire. I was trying to post a picture of it, but photobucket isnt working for me right now.
I only have the camera's positive wire connected to the truck's reverse light wire, not that black/pink wire in the kick panel. I guess this is why the screen wont automatically switch the display?
But is the black/pink wire in the kick panel the reverse light's positive wire, it just runs all the way back? Because that reverse light wire is black with a pink stripe too, if I remember correctly.
Other than that the camera works good, I just have to press a button.

 

[rpoppert]

I posted this on another thread couldn’t figure out how to share the link. Just some info on reverse cameras. With a reverse camera you need power to the camera itself while only in reverse. (I.e. reverse wire to tail light) You also need a reverse signal to your head unit in most cases so it knows to switch to the rear view camera. The rear camera video input (yellow rca) is also needed. In the settings of the head unit you may need to enable the reverse camera as well to show it’s installed. When the head unit sees the 12v on the reverse input wire of the head unit it shows the camera video on screen. In my case I had no connections by the camera at the rear of the vehicle, it was all done at the head unit. Also if you don’t have a manual for the head unit google it for the information. Usually on manufacturers website it can save hours of headaches. I hope this helps.


I know this is an old post. I installed a reverse camera for my aftermarket radio last week. Inside the cab of my 2001 sport trac there is a central security module (csm) located behind the top front dash right side under the trim panel that covers the defroster ducts. You can access the csm by removing the glove box and passenger side air bag. Unscrew 2 screws holding csm. When it’s off you will see 2 connectors A262 plugged into the modUle. To tap in to the reverse wire follow the wiring harness about 3-4 inches to the right and pull the harness up and find the 20 gauge black and pink wire. Check with an idiot light or multimeter for 12v while in reverse then tap into it. NOTE: You have a central security module if you have keyless entry only. ALSO verify your location of the csm. A couple of points with wiring. 1. When it says Bk/Pk that means it’s a solid black wire with a pink stripe, it’s not a pink wire with a black stripe. 2. Note the gauge of wire. This wire is a 20 g not 18 g so it is easier to spot.