Backup camera conundrum

[pag04]

Hi,

The backup camera on my 2004 4Runner with factory nav and backup camera has stopped working. At first it was intermittent. Sometimes the display would be just static but would clear up. Then it gradually got worse until finally there was no display at all. The odd thing now is that once in a while, I mean like months between occurrences, the backup camera will come for a little bit but then not work again. One time I screwed up shifting on the highway. I realized I was not in 5th, went to shift up and shifted into reverse. The camera came on!

So, now I don't know if it is a problem with the camera or the circuit. I went to the dealer and asked if they could troubleshoot the problem but they just wanted to replace the camera. I'm not convinced it is a camera problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions about how to troubleshoot this? Does it sound like it could be a camera issue and not a wiring issue.

One maybe important bit of information. I had an iPod connection installed that plays through the factory head unit. That was installed months before the camera started having problems so I don't think that has anything to do with it.

 

[gshadow325]

sounds stupid, but put it in reverse and bang on the dash around radio.

or

open and close the tailgate while the truck is in reverse.

what you are doing is trying to isolate the problem to see if its in front at the radio or in the rear at the tailgate.

 

[macoyle]

Ok lets start here. What are your abilities? Also FYI...WHY THE #*&@ did you put it in reverse on the highway hahahaha ok I couldn't help myself

What I would do FIRST!!!
First thing I would do is the easiest, put the truck in reverse and on your OEM camera unscrew it and put a multimeter to the power wire to see if your camera is getting a signal or not. If it is, and your not getting a picture then it could be your camera, or it could be the video feed. If your not getting any power then you need to start tracing the wire back to the head unit


Pull the radio out and look at all of your connections. You can take a multimeter to the camera wire connection to ensure your getting 12V when in reverse and also verify the video connection is connected properly.

If all of your connections are good, and your getting the correct voltage readings then your camera may be bad.

If you are not getting the right voltage readings, you either have a bad connection at the head unit or camera. If its not a connection thats bad, you will need to trace your wires to see if there was a break in the wire or a grounding issue

 

[mikebontoft]

Check the harness for damage but it likely will need a camera.

 

[pag04]

The shift back to drive was a lot quicker than the shift to reverse! Absolutely nothing happened when it went into reverse. I figured there must be a lockout. I've considered trying that test again to see if the camera came on again but figure it's probably not an approved trouble shooting technique.

Does the camera unscrew from the outside? I pulled the hatch apart so I could get at the camera to look for loose or broken wires. Could I have done that by just iunscrewing the camera?
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[pag04]

The shift back to drive was a lot quicker than the shift to reverse! Absolutely nothing happened when it went into reverse. I figured there must be a lockout. I've considered trying that test again to see if the camera came on again but figure it's probably not an approved trouble shooting technique.

I've got a multimeter. What are the wires to the camera? I assume a power, ground, anything else?

Does the camera unscrew from the outside? I pulled the hatch apart so I could get at the camera to look for loose or broken wires. Could I have done that by just unscrewing the camera?


Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[macoyle]

Yea you could have just unscrewed the camera and gotten to the wires, no biggie. You will have 3 wires and a video feed, power, ground and the signal input wire. What you want to verify is that when shifting in and out of reverse your signal wire gets 12V and when not in reverse its a 0v.