Rearview Camera Problems | Page 26 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Well, it couldn't have been scripted any better.

I dropped off the Ex at the dealer on Tuesday, and of course, when I pull in, the rear camera when the vehicle is put into reverse, worked just fine. Fortunately, I filmed the screen from a day earlier to prove that it was indeed happening. To confirm it, I also filmed the calendar which showed the date and time.

The service manager said they were stumped and even tried to solicit help directly from Ford engineers. Nothing (frightening, actually). He walked me to my car, started her up, backed out of my spot using the camera just fine. I said thank you and drove away. So I'm off to get a quick haircut in Caldwell, come out, put truck in reverse to pull out and whala, "rear camera not working, please contact your dealer". I could hear the gremlins under the hood giggling.

I will pull fuse 29 AND 34 for no other reason than I simply don't know what to do. Ford is not even of any help. As many of you know, this feature is incredibly useful when backing up to hook up your trailer. I'm back to the good 'ol days of getting it close and a few of us manually hooking up the hitch, unless it's an "on" day, when I can just use the rear camera. Luckily, my youngest is 13 and tall, so I should see her in my rear view mirror when backing out of the driveway.

Ercole

Hi Ercole, I know its been a few years but this post is exactly what I might write because I'm experiencing the exact same problem with my 2014 XLT. It's VERY disappointing to know that my car is 3 years newer and the problem with the Ford back up camera still exists. We're even in the same area and probably use the same dealership LOL. Did you ever find a fix for the problem?
 



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I have been reading the forum since I am having these issues with my 2011 Explorer XLT. My wife was rear ended last year and we figured that is what caused the camera to stop working. The body shop we took it to replaced the camera and fixed the wiring. The camera worked, but the lines and squares never started working again. I recently it started giving the “visit dealer” message more and more frequently. I tried the fuse pull and settings menu methods and successfully got the camera to come on. I am going to try and recalibrate the camera using forscan since I have a laptop I can use in my shop. If that doesn’t work I am going to try to get the local dealer to look at it. Thank you to everyone for all of the great info! I can totally use this at the shop I work at!
 






I want to join this discussion.
I have a stock RVC in my 2012 Explorer and its working fine. Only the guide lines connected to the steering angle are missalinged. If the steering is straight, the guidelines show right turn.
Actually the guide lines are one full turn off target.

I tried BCM reset and all other BCM Service Procedures provided by FORScan. Nothing helped. Furthermore I tried a reset of APIM, ACM and of course the parking module. Needless to say that I had no success.
The mentioned FORScan service procedure "BdyCM – Rear Camera Calibration” is not available in my FORScan version (which is the latest available version).
Maybe someone had this issue in the past and a solution.
 






I have been reading the forum since I am having these issues with my 2011 Explorer XLT. My wife was rear ended last year and we figured that is what caused the camera to stop working. The body shop we took it to replaced the camera and fixed the wiring. The camera worked, but the lines and squares never started working again. I recently it started giving the “visit dealer” message more and more frequently. I tried the fuse pull and settings menu methods and successfully got the camera to come on. I am going to try and recalibrate the camera using forscan since I have a laptop I can use in my shop. If that doesn’t work I am going to try to get the local dealer to look at it. Thank you to everyone for all of the great info! I can totally use this at the shop I work at!
Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
When a camera is replaced, it must be programmed to the vehicle in order for all features to work. Good luck.

Peter
 






My 2016 Explorer Platinum with front and rear cameras is at the Dealer right now with this problem. I get the famous 'Camera not available, see Dealer' window on the Sync screen and neither the front or rear cameras work. If I restart the car the cameras work again. I sure hope there is a error code set that they can read so something actually gets repaired.

Edit: With BOTH front and rear cameras not working when this happens it seems like the APIM would be the prime suspect, rather than having two cameras quit simultaneously, right? These cameras have the normal and wide-angle view, unlike the basic rear-only camera setup.
 






My 2016 Explorer Platinum with front and rear cameras is at the Dealer right now with this problem. I get the famous 'Camera not available, see Dealer' window on the Sync screen and neither the front or rear cameras work. If I restart the car the cameras work again. I sure hope there is a error code set that they can read so something actually gets repaired.

Edit: With BOTH front and rear cameras not working when this happens it seems like the APIM would be the prime suspect, rather than having two cameras quit simultaneously, right? Besides, they worked on the APIM about 18 months ago. These cameras have the normal and wide-angle view, unlike the basic rear-only camera setup.


As expected the cameras worked and there were zero DTC's so the Dealer didn't do anything.
BUT: I reminded the Service Advisor about both cameras not working and it was possibly more than a simple camera going bad and that they had worked on the APIM about 18 months ago, he now has me scheduled for 9/24 for another look-see into this and other problems. At least I get a loaner each visit.

My 3/36 Bumper-to-Bumper warranty is over at the end of this month so I'd like to get any existing issues dealt with ASAP.
 






I want to join this discussion.
I have a stock RVC in my 2012 Explorer and its working fine. Only the guide lines connected to the steering angle are missalinged. If the steering is straight, the guidelines show right turn.
Actually the guide lines are one full turn off target.

I tried BCM reset and all other BCM Service Procedures provided by FORScan. Nothing helped. Furthermore I tried a reset of APIM, ACM and of course the parking module. Needless to say that I had no success.
The mentioned FORScan service procedure "BdyCM – Rear Camera Calibration” is not available in my FORScan version (which is the latest available version).
Maybe someone had this issue in the past and a solution.


Just to update the comunity on my issue.
The previous owner had the vehicle in a workshop and they replaced the clockspring. Unfortunately the workshop assembled the clockspring wrong.
Today I removed the steering wheel and I turned the clockspring one revolution. Now the guide lines match the steering angle.
 






Is there a definitive repair to a back up camera that only works sometimes? It seems reasonable that the camera is probably fine being mine is only 4 years old and work perfectly 50% of the time.
 






Is there a definitive repair to a back up camera that only works sometimes? It seems reasonable that the camera is probably fine being mine is only 4 years old and work perfectly 50% of the time.
I would think that in order to find a definitive repair, it would depend on narrowing down the actual problem part. When your rear view camera fails, is there a message that pops up to see the dealer? If the camera is intermittent, I'm guessing the only 'fix' is to replace it. When it fails, have you tried taking it out of reverse and then back in to see if the display comes on?

Peter
 


















All cameras have to be programmed to the vehicle in which they are installed. You can have the dealer do it or you can do it using Forscan.

Peter
how do you do it with ForScan? Somewhere I saw a hint to use a service procedure called "Rear view init" but in my forscan (newest version from them) this one does not exisit.
 






how do you do it with ForScan? Somewhere I saw a hint to use a service procedure called "Rear view init" but in my forscan (newest version from them) this one does not exisit.
Sorry, can't help you there. I'm not a 'Forscan' guy.

Peter
 






My camera is also not working and has come on and off a couple of times. It has been off for awhile now so I was going to replace it but when I was taking the camera out to get a part number I noticed one of my license plate bulbs wasn’t working. When I touch the bulb it turns back on. Both of the bulbs were doing the same thing at one point so it makes me think it isn’t the camera but something is wrong with the wiring. Could this cause the camera to not work?
 






My camera is also not working and has come on and off a couple of times. It has been off for awhile now so I was going to replace it but when I was taking the camera out to get a part number I noticed one of my license plate bulbs wasn’t working. When I touch the bulb it turns back on. Both of the bulbs were doing the same thing at one point so it makes me think it isn’t the camera but something is wrong with the wiring. Could this cause the camera to not work?
Welcome to the Forum Mason.:wave:
I don't see the connection between the camera and the bulbs. Given that you have a 2012, it is more than likely that the camera needs to be replaced. If doing that yourself, remember that the camera has to be programmed to your Explorer after installation. You can apparently do that using Forscan or have the dealer do it.
As for the bulbs, it could just be that it is a 'seating' or grounding issue. If you can remove them, check to see that the sockets are clean and the bulb connections as well.
Good luck.

Peter
 






Mason,
When I was in the process of getting my rvc issue fixed I noticed the same symptom of the licence plate lights working intermittently which made me think it may have been the wiring harness that was the culprit. Ultimately I think it was a combination of a faulty camera, and lackluster splicing by the Ford "technician" but I would say most likely that if the harness is untouched and intact then the faulty camera could be messing it all up. I had the camera replaced twice, and I'm now going on 6 months without a hiccup.
Welcome to the Forum Mason.:wave:
I don't see the connection between the camera and the bulbs. Given that you have a 2012, it is more than likely that the camera needs to be replaced. If doing that yourself, remember that the camera has to be programmed to your Explorer after installation. You can apparently do that using Forscan or have the dealer do it.
As for the bulbs, it could just be that it is a 'seating' or grounding issue. If you can remove them, check to see that the sockets are clean and the bulb connections as well.
Good luck.

Peter
 






Peter I had a similar issue with the bulbs and I think it is just because they share a harness so depending on the wiring the camera may be messing with the voltage to the bulbs? I'm no master tech, but like I said I had a very similar issue.
Welcome to the Forum Mason.:wave:
I don't see the connection between the camera and the bulbs. Given that you have a 2012, it is more than likely that the camera needs to be replaced. If doing that yourself, remember that the camera has to be programmed to your Explorer after installation. You can apparently do that using Forscan or have the dealer do it.
As for the bulbs, it could just be that it is a 'seating' or grounding issue. If you can remove them, check to see that the sockets are clean and the bulb connections as well.
Good luck.

Peter
 






my rear/reverse video camera works intermittently! Any ideas on how to fix please?
 






my rear/reverse video camera works intermittently! Any ideas on how to fix please?
Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
Your thread was merged with this existing one.
Are you also getting a pop-up message saying to visit the dealer? It could be a loose wire/connection but chances are that your camera may need to be replaced. Some members have done it themselves others have had the dealer do it.

Peter
 



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First post but been following for a while. I have a 2011 Explorer Limited. Original camera (BB5T-19G490-AD) starting acting up as I have read on this thread. I replaced it myself with EB5Z-19G490-A. Picture quality is great but no active assist lines as I expected (again from reading this thread). I really didn't want to reconfigure it myself so I took it to the Ford dealership. $109 and 2 trips later they can't get the active assist lines to work. They say either the camera is defective or the wrong camera. They say BB5Z-19G490-A is the correct replacement camera. Any thoughts?
 






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