Rearview Camera Problems

[peterk9]

I was told the ESP wouldn't cover it.

Ford's Premium ESP covers "Reverse Camera and/or Sensing System".

Peter

 

[FordService]

45416 miles.

...They said it would cost around $300 to replace the part and get it working...

Hi, folks!

You have PMs from me in your inbox; check 'em out and I'll do what I can to help.

...So this week the camera is intermittent, the A4 nav chip is erroring, and the battery failed on a thanksgiving trip in perfect weather...

Hi rnengnr,

You can always give a different dealership a try. If you need help locating one, enter your ZIP code here: http://www.ford.com/dealerships/locate/ As always, I'm happy to escalate you to your CSM; I'll just need a PM from you with your current mileage and a verification of your best daytime phone number.

Your navigation concern will be best addressed by our in-vehicle technology reps. Here's a link to their profile here on the forum: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/member.php?u=181992 Send them a PM and they'll help you out.

Crystal

 

[nwin]

You haven't stated what the mileage is. It does seem odd that the majority of failures are now occurring on the 2011 models. On the bright side, $300 is a lot less than what an ESP would have cost you.

Peter

I stated my mileage in my original post just a few posts above. I'ts 43,500 at time of the original incident.

 

[peterk9]

My mistake. I guess I didn't go back far enough. I see that Crystal is looking into what if anything can be done to help out. Good luck.

Peter

 

[jahnny]

'11 Explorer Limited

Checked many, many forums and searched multiple times with not actually finding anything specific regarding the "actual" problem.

Bout 3 months ago, out of nowhere it now says "Backup camera unavailable. Please contact your dealership."

First the dealership looked at it and didn't know what it was and said they needed it all day to figure it out.

Pulled all appropriate fuses and battery disconnected to see if that would help, nothing.

Did the reset thru the radio and still same error message.

Pulled out the camera and it's getting power and ground and a reverse signal. Don't know what all the other multiple wires are for so didn't know what kinds of values they should see.

Anyone know what the "actual" problem is? Is it the camera? Some module or the main Sync unit?

I have a degree in electronics and a 17+yr affiliation with the industry so I have a pretty good idea. This has baffled me and no one seems to know what the problem is.

Thanks

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum jahnny.:wavey:
I have merged your thread with existing one. You will see that others have had the same issue and in most cases the camera had to be replaced. This problem seems to be coming up more and more lately, especially with the 2011 models.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

I read a couple of threads on the guideline problems and some posts say it is a problem with the camera. There is another post, I'll copy here;

"NOTE: The rear video camera guidelines will not display if the rear video camera is not configured.

Carry out the video camera configuration using a scan tool under Body > RVC Configuration"

This is from post 94 in the thread;
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=318879&highlight=guidelines

Peter

 

[peterk9]

It's a little late now but I would have insisted on 2 keys when the vehicle was purchased. I would also be a little concerned that there might be another programmed key 'out there' somewhere. With only one original key you really had no choice but to have the dealer program the new one. Now if you get another spare, you should be able to do it yourself.
Good luck.

Peter

 

[Sunny32_1967]

Just an update. I requested that my service person look into the problem instead of returning the car (I wasn't going to accept that a satellite radio program change caused my backup camera to stop working). He fixed the problem, but this was the explaination: "It had something to do with something plugged into your USB port. I cannot explain how I fixed it, but now it is fixed."

Huh?

Well, the only thing plugged into a port was my lowly Ipod (not even an Ipod Touch, mind you). So now, I guess my IPod can cause my backup camera to puke out. (I have not plugged it back in to see what happens.)

In addition, my car was returned and all of my settings are back to the factory setting, so now I will spend another half an hour going through and figuring out what needs reset to my preferences.

I am glad it is fixed, and I know there are bugs, but really...

I am not sure if it had anything to do with IPOD but I got in to something similar two weeks ago when i bought my new ExSport 2015. I use to have a USB Flash in my Hyundai Santa Fe 2010, which I was using for music. It was FAT32 formatted. Once I got the Explorer, just inserting that flash drive use to drive MFT wacko. In addition the USB drive was never recognized. I could never imaging that USB Flash could be incompatible. My Navigation system will hang up and cause unexpected issues. Found out that my SANDISK was not compatible. Bought PNY Flash and copied the music and now MFT works like a charm.

 

[BMETFerg]

Has anyone seen a backup camera look so washed out?

 

[peterk9]

I'm guessing there should be a picture?
If the lens is clean and the picture is washed out, you probably require a new camera. Many cameras on 2011 models seem to be failing now.

Peter

 

[jahnny]

Checked many, many forums and searched multiple times with not actually finding anything specific regarding the "actual" problem.

Bout 3 months ago, out of nowhere it now says "Backup camera unavailable. Please contact your dealership."

First the dealership looked at it and didn't know what it was and said they needed it all day to figure it out.

Pulled all appropriate fuses and battery disconnected to see if that would help, nothing.

Did the reset thru the radio and still same error message.

Pulled out the camera and it's getting power and ground and a reverse signal. Don't know what all the other multiple wires are for so didn't know what kinds of values they should see.

Anyone know what the "actual" problem is? Is it the camera? Some module or the main Sync unit?

I have a degree in electronics and a 17+yr affiliation with the industry so I have a pretty good idea. This has baffled me and no one seems to know what the problem is.

Thanks

I replaced the camera and it works again. Problems now are that it won't zoom in like it used to and when you turn the guidelines on the screen used to turn with the wheel, no it only shows the red/yellow/green lines. I got the camera from LKQ online and they didn't know. They said to check with the dealer to see if the camera is the issue. Rather not waste my time with them since they didn't know what was wrong in the 1st place.

Is this replacement camera now defective or what is causing it not to do what the original one did?

 

[jmr061]

I replaced the camera and it works again. Problems now are that it won't zoom in like it used to and when you turn the guidelines on the screen used to turn with the wheel, no it only shows the red/yellow/green lines. I got the camera from LKQ online and they didn't know. They said to check with the dealer to see if the camera is the issue. Rather not waste my time with them since they didn't know what was wrong in the 1st place.

Is this replacement camera now defective or what is causing it not to do what the original one did?

Assuming it is the correct camera for your vehicle it still must be run through the dealer RVC, rear view camera configuration which is through the dealer IDS software

 

[jahnny]

Assuming it is the correct camera for your vehicle it still must be run through the dealer RVC, rear view camera configuration which is through the dealer IDS software

So there is more than 1 backup camera for the Sony system in the '11 Explorer that fits/plugs perfectly into the harness? Sounds like typical dealer B.S requiring a OEM camera to b programmed by a scan tool. Thanks Ford for being so considerate and wasting $ for no real reason!

Thanks for the info. I'll spend more wasted time with the dealer tomorrow on this issue. Just like when I told them about the power steering update, they told me my vehicle wasn't required to have one. Then a month later I received the paperwork from Ford telling me I do. I love dealerships. They are always on top of things and know what needs to be done!

 

[peterk9]

I would think that the camera is the same on all models but the software is not. If you don't have Active Park Assist then you don't get the curving lines. If you do have that APA option then your camera is set up to show them. In some cases, a camera replacement didn't show any lines at all. It has been posted before that a camera has to be set up by the dealer to correspond to the vehicle it is installed in.

Peter

 

[jahnny]

Ok thank u. It does have APA so I'll check with the dealer.

 

[nlopez2518]

I replaced the camera and it works again. Problems now are that it won't zoom in like it used to and when you turn the guidelines on the screen used to turn with the wheel, no it only shows the red/yellow/green lines. I got the camera from LKQ online and they didn't know. They said to check with the dealer to see if the camera is the issue. Rather not waste my time with them since they didn't know what was wrong in the 1st place.

Is this replacement camera now defective or what is causing it not to do what the original one did?

How did you replace the camera? Is there a write-up on how to properly replace the camera?

 

[jahnny]

Not sure about a write-up. Very easy to replace. Underneath the trim there are 4X 10mm bolts that need to come out, can easily see them when you look under the trim. Then on the liftgate there are 2 nuts that need to come off at the very end of the trim on the inside. Once you get that off there are some clips that hold it on so gently use a plastic pry tool to remove the trim/clips and pull the whole unit off. You can see how the camera comes apart once you take that trim piece off. There is a torx screw with a clip holding the camera into the housing and you can unclip the connector for the camera once you have that retaining piece out. If you are handy and have the tools it should be pretty simple to replace.

 

[nlopez2518]

Not sure about a write-up. Very easy to replace. Underneath the trim there are 4X 10mm bolts that need to come out, can easily see them when you look under the trim. Then on the liftgate there are 2 nuts that need to come off at the very end of the trim on the inside. Once you get that off there are some clips that hold it on so gently use a plastic pry tool to remove the trim/clips and pull the whole unit off. You can see how the camera comes apart once you take that trim piece off. There is a torx screw with a clip holding the camera into the housing and you can unclip the connector for the camera once you have that retaining piece out. If you are handy and have the tools it should be pretty simple to replace.

Ok thanks a lot. The dealership is trying to charge me $450 to replace the camera when the camera itself only cost 125 from them.

 

[jahnny]

Yeah what a joke! Typical dealer B.S. It takes not even a half hour to do so should be a snap as long as you are careful not to pull too hard on the trim piece when removing it.