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Adding backup camera to 2012 non-nav Prius 2 with touch screen

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by our1vue, Aug 31, 2013.

  1. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    Mike,
    It is a white wire. Where are you trying to tap into it, in the headliner of the kickpanel ?
     
  2. DumbMike

    DumbMike Active Member

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    I'm trying to do the easiest way. While reading through this thread, people say they hate going through the headliner. So, I guess I'm going through the kickpanel.

    Thanks.

    Mike
     
  3. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    Mike,
    In append #5 of this thread, Jonathaneugene's guide in the dropbox link had excellent pictures of wires in the kickpanel.
    I went the headliner route. The wire runs are shorter, but sometimes it is hard to get a good connection to the wires. The
    kickpanel seems to be a more fool proof way to go.
     
  4. JJsCarAudio101

    JJsCarAudio101 New Member

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    This was a very informative question and answer. I learned two new locations of accessing the factory camera wire harness. I like to use WD40 whe running wires through rubber grommets.
     
  5. NPG

    NPG New Member

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    I am about to tackle this on my new to me 2013. I would like to go though the headliner and would really like to use the existing connector and wiring but I am not sure how bad I want to spend 45 buck for three pins.

    Googling the pin part# I came across this from a similar thread on a Rav4 forum:

    Has anybody seen or tried this? I have used Metra stuff in the past for aftermarket HU installs and I have never had a problem.

    I don't have enough posts to add any links but would appreciate if someone who as done this mod could take a look at the Metra part and let me know what they think.
     
    kc5dlo likes this.
  6. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    I don't know about Metra, but someone in the thread bought some non-prius pins and they didn't make contact with the male pins
    in the other half of the connector. They wound up using t-connectors instead. They looked like they should have worked, but I
    don't know if the pins were too short or maybe the openings were a little to big.
     
    kc5dlo likes this.
  7. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    After 14 months and 23K miles, my camera died.It looked pretty beat up considering it is protected by
    the hatch overhang. Little by little, the picture was getting cloudy around the edges. Then after the last rain, the camera died. After a few days, it started to work again, but the picture looked like you were in a very dense fog. I don't think this waterproof camera is really waterproof. My guess is the water got in where the wires enter the case.
    IMG_2810.JPG

    My EE friend was kind enough to help me remove the old camera and put in the new one. But this time, I put in my "bathtub" camera. I put flowable silicone to seal up the seams. Have to see how long this one lasts.

    IMG_2808.JPG
     
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  8. dan456

    dan456 Junior Member

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    from dan4500:
    I just logged in after a long-long hiatus to see what was going on in this thread. Sorry to hear of your camera pooping out. Glad that your fix was relatively easy. My installation is still running like a champ after more than 2 years. We don't have the ice, snow, and salt in Texas that looks like you got hit with.

    Have to give you super kudos for keeping thread this going. 30,000 hits is quite an achievement. I think that's what I saw.

    dan4500.
     
    wildiin likes this.
  9. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    Dan4500,
    Welcome back ! For some reason, electronics don't like salty water :) I was looking on ebay and the majority of the cameras they are
    selling are the "bathtub design". Guess there were problems with the other design. If my second camera dies, I'm moving south.
    I just noticed this thread had 30K views ! It wouldn't have been possible with out the help of you and other people who figured it all out.
    I was just the scribe (with great material to work with)
     
    wildiin likes this.
  10. blacksapphirez

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    I have a factory rear camera i want to tap the signal(video) into for my new headunit.

    any idea?
     
    #110 blacksapphirez, Aug 10, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2015
    toyolla86 likes this.
  11. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    Is your head unit going to be providing power to the camera ? The factory camera wants 6.5 volts. The
    red and black wires coming out of the camera are the video signal. Also are you doing this yourself ?
     
    #111 our1vue, Aug 11, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2015
  12. blacksapphirez

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    yea doing it my self. I am getting a lot of support but just kinda confused.

    I am sure it will all make a lot of sense after i'm done with it though lol
     
  13. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    I don't know how much info you have ready, but here is the basics:
    There are 4 wires coming from the car/HU to the camera:
    White wire - This is the +6.5 volts for the camera power
    Orange wire - This is the return for the camera power
    Red wire - This is the Video+ signal for the camera
    Black wire - This is the Video ground signal for the camera.
    So first the easy part. There should be a video RCA plug that is usually yellow. The red wire will go to the center wire of that plug and the black wire should go to the ground of that plug. That gets the video signal into your new head unit.
    The next step is to get 6.5V to the camera via the white and orange wires. To do that, we need to know how your new head unit works.
    Some head units have a wire that they use to power the camera when the car goes into reverse. Some units assume the the camera gets power somewhere else and they switch to reverse camera mode when they see a video signal on the video input. We need
    to know which method your head unit uses. Either way the power supplied is usually 12V. You are going to need a converter
    to convert the 12V to 6.5V for the camera. For that you can build your own to buy a converter already made.
    So the question is how does your head unit power/switch to reverse camera mode ? Given that we can offer more
    details of what to do next.
    See append #9 in this thread to see a pre-built power converter.
     
  14. wildiin

    wildiin Junior Member

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    Hello all, I'm getting ready to install this in a friends car. I've had mine working great for close to 3 year now.
    This is very interesting trying to remember how I did this the first time back when the original feed was still in its infancy.
    The fun will be building DAN456's circuit again. I'm glad this feed is still here and helping more people install their cameras.
     
  15. MoDianePrius2013

    MoDianePrius2013 Junior Member

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    Hello! We are on our second previously used Hertz rental 2013 Prius II. Just wanted to throw in my $0.02 with a simplified backup camera installation. So in a nut shell, no dis-assembly required in the front dash, no DC conversion needed for this generic CCD camera, and no expensive pins required. Just plug in by crimping butt connectors and creating a video RCA male connector to the factory harness in the back seat head liner. Drill a hole for the factory camera black plug and tweak the camera by tilting with a cut rubber hose for best results. Without the tilt, you see more bumper. I also drilled a hole in the thin sheet metal for the camera wire harness and installed a rubber grommet for protection. I bought a generic camera from Amazon (click) for $27 after a little research and determined the $120+ kits are not needed plus voltage requirements will not be an issue. I tested the camera with a small 12V SLA battery and used a DC buck convertor adjusted to 6.5V and all the way to 3V. See pix. Some of these cameras say 12V required and others say 3-12V but they all have the black "hump". Camera is clear at all voltages from 12 to about 4V. Around 4V and below the image gets noisy and goes blue. Certainly works Prius supplied 6.5V and a perfect match! Took about an hour or so to install and the results are great!
     
  16. MoDianePrius2013

    MoDianePrius2013 Junior Member

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    I'll try to make video since one of my buddies has the same Prius and we'll install the same camera soon!
     
  17. Chuck815

    Chuck815 Junior Member

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    You have a good simple approach! I have installed three systems on 2011-2014 Priuses and like the way you did it.
     
  18. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    You are powering the camera via the 6.5V from the head unit ?
     
  19. Chuck815

    Chuck815 Junior Member

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    On a friend's 2012 and my 2014, I built a simple regulator to replace the in-line "bump" that gives out 3.3vdc to the camera with as little as 4.5vdc input. So it works fine with the 6.5vdc from the audio display. On my 2011, I replaced the standard audio unit (without display screen) with a Kenwood unit and that camera operates on 12vdc without any mods.
     
  20. Felice

    Felice New Member

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    Hi guys, great thread!

    I'm writing here because I've installed a Pumpkin android 4.4 system on my 2011 Prius and I'm still struggling to connect the OEM rear camera, so I need your help.

    I live in Europe so I have a European Prius, and the four wires that come out of the OEM camera are red, black, white and striped black/white (the latter is the ground).

    I have located the other extermities of the remainig 3 wires inside the dashboard (bottom right).

    Assuming that the red and the black wires are for the video signal, I guessed that the remaining white wire was to power the camera.

    But there's a problem: when I put the car in reverse, there's no voltage between this white wire and the striped black/white ground wire.

    Any hint ?