Installing OEM backup cam

R.L.K. · Nov 30, 2016

friedmas said:
I have a 2013 Dodge Ram (Express, I think). I have installed the complete tailgate camera and wiring harness from FallsMoparCity. I have a Kenwood DNX6990HD for the headunit
I get a display with the grid lines and the grid lines move with the steering wheel, however, the display is extremely dark, even in the bright sunlight. I have attached an image to show this...

Any thoughts?
Chris

#1 Did you have this back up cam kit installed at all with an OEM radio ?
RA2 or RA3- 4 If so was it dark then ?

How long have you had it installed with this head unit ? Was it ever nice & bright if so for how long ?

If it's been installed a while with this head unit and just went dark one day , then I'd suspect the camera itself OR the 3 wires going from the camera to the radio . There are 4ea disconnect points .
1) sockets 31 ,32 ,33 @ the radios C-1 connector.
2 under the dash .
3 @ tailgate disconnect
4 @ the camera harness inside the gate .

Hope this helps !

Welcome to the forum from Tennessee!

00R/T · Nov 30, 2016

friedmas said:
I have a 2013 Dodge Ram (Express, I think). I have installed the complete tailgate camera and wiring harness from FallsMoparCity. I have a Kenwood DNX6990HD for the headunit

I get a display with the grid lines and the grid lines move with the steering wheel, however, the display is extremely dark, even in the bright sunlight. I have attached an image to show this...

Any thoughts?

Chris

How is the camera connected to the aftermarket radio? Aside from being dark, the grid lines don't look right. They should be red, yellow, and green.

R.L.K. · Nov 30, 2016

I was thinking the same thing

friedmas · Dec 1, 2016

This is all new. My truck came with the RA1 radio. The HU i have had for 4 years. I can connect a regular license plate camera directly to the HU and it looks fine.
I have triple checked all of my connection points:
1) the pigtail at the camera
2) the harness under the tailgate handle to under the tailgate
3) the red/black wires under the hood (I thought it might have been a bad ground)
4) the 6 pin connector under the dash and the purple wire connection
5) the 3 pins at the Maestro harness which terminates with an RCA connector

I originally had a Metra harness for the radio, but changed it to the Maestro harness over the weekend.

Thanks

R.L.K. · Dec 1, 2016

friedmas said:
This is all new. My truck came with the RA1 radio. The HU i have had for 4 years. I can connect a regular license plate camera directly to the HU and it looks fine.
I have triple checked all of my connection points:
1) the pigtail at the camera
2) the harness under the tailgate handle to under the tailgate
3) the red/black wires under the hood (I thought it might have been a bad ground)
4) the 6 pin connector under the dash and the purple wire connection
5) the 3 pins at the Maestro harness which terminates with an RCA connector

I originally had a Metra harness for the radio, but changed it to the Maestro harness over the weekend.

Thanks

Looks like you did a great job installing the OEM backup camera kit ! Congratulations , unfortunately the OEM Backup Camera add on kit is designed to work with the OEM RA2 , RA3 or the RA4 Factory radios . Or the OEM Video mirror

I'd remove it and put it up for Sale here ( won't last long ) and install the license plate cam kit for your aftermarket radio OR install an RA4 8.4AN OEM radio , or an OEM mirror & rout it there .

Hope this helps !

00R/T · Dec 1, 2016

My guess is that either there is a problem with camera itself or the Kenwood uses different contrast settings than the factory radio. The factory radio is likely optimized for the factory camera, and the Kenwood radio may be optimized for the typical aftermarket camera. Those two cameras may be different.

I did find a post on a Ford forum where a guy had the same issue with that model radio and the factory Ford camera. There was no responses, though.

Your best bet at this point might be to get an aftermarket camera and splice it into the factory wiring in the tailgate.

friedmas · Dec 11, 2016

I was able to get the camera replaced and all is well now...It is great to have the grid lines turn with the steering wheel on the Kenwood.

R.L.K. · Dec 11, 2016

friedmas said:
I was able to get the camera replaced and all is well now...It is great to have the grid lines turn with the steering wheel on the Kenwood.

That's Great news ! Can you please post a picture?

nprbob · Dec 14, 2016

it is probably in this thread someplace...... I have a 2016 1500 Big Horn - any way to know if it is prewired for the camera? can I use the existing harness, install the camera and get the dealer to recode the radio (Uconnect 5.0)?

Mpgrimm2 · Dec 14, 2016

nprbob said:
it is probably in this thread someplace...... I have a 2016 1500 Big Horn - any way to know if it is prewired for the camera? can I use the existing harness, install the camera and get the dealer to recode the radio (Uconnect 5.0)?

Post 10 had links to just about anything you need in one shot. (Including the 4 connectors to check for possible existing wiring, post 228?)

Sent from my non-flammable Galaxy S7!

R.L.K. · Dec 14, 2016

nprbob said:
it is probably in this thread someplace...... I have a 2016 1500 Big Horn - any way to know if it is prewired for the camera? can I use the existing harness, install the camera and get the dealer to recode the radio (Uconnect 5.0)?

It is in this thread many times

But here it is Sir . Look at this connector.

It's located under the bed , aft of your spare tire on the back wall and going ultimately inside the tailgate .

☆☆☆☆☆EDIT☆☆☆☆☆

If it has 8ea wires your in good shape and most the way there imo , if it has 2ea wires then your not in good shape . Those two are only for the locking tailgate .

Oh and the dealer doesn't recode the radio , your RA2 radio is already set up for the camera , the dealer Flashes in a Sales code to your trucks computer that essentially wakes up a sleeping signal so to speak .

Good luck , but very few trucks are prewired .....

R.L.K. · Dec 14, 2016

Ha ha , mpg you and I posted that at the same time LOL

Mpgrimm2 · Dec 14, 2016

R.L.K. said:
It is in this thread many times

But here it is Sir . Look at this connector.

It's located under the bed , aft of your spare tire on the back wall and going ultimately inside the tailgate .

If it has 8ea wires your golden , if it has 2ea wires then your not . Those two are for the locking tailgate .

Oh and the dealer doesn't recode the radio , your RA2 radio is already set up for the camera , the dealer Flashes in a Sales code to your trucks computer that essentially wakes up a sleeping signal so to speak .

Good luck , but very few trucks are prewired .....

Remember, even if there are 8 wires at the tailgate i550, the wires may not make it all the way to the cab, could just be a wear-out extension, and there are still 2-3 more connectors to verify.

Post 228+ Install issues with MTGTS's 2500 & pictures of the connectors to check for verifying existing wiring against the schematics (also has pn's to verify proper harnesses in the tailgate).
Note he had the short i550 Tailgate Extension issue (Also look at post 231, 234, & 254)

Post 912 and Up - Notes about DannyMk2's 2015 Ram 2500 missing camera wiring at "Inline-Body/IP" connector (vs i315). Originally began around Post 694 (another good reference for verifying if you have existing wiring or not).

R.L.K. · Dec 14, 2016

Yes Sir , ... but if you have 8 there the big part is in place and to my knowledge we still can't purchase the long body harness.
The rest is pretty short and simple . Great post as a reminder !

Hemi395 · Dec 16, 2016

I'm going to start this off by saying this is an extremely minor problem but I figured I'd ask the backup camera gurus. Noticed at night my grid lines have a "ghosting" effect. My wife's Grand Cherokee doesn't have this at all. Any idea what could be causing it or where to look?

Thanks!

R.L.K. · Dec 16, 2016

Hemi395 said:
I'm going to start this off by saying this is an extremely minor problem but I figured I'd ask the backup camera gurus. Noticed at night my grid lines have a "ghosting" effect. My wife's Grand Cherokee doesn't have this at all. Any idea what could be causing it or where to look?

Thanks!

Hey Hemi395, nice to see ya here.
Wierd ghosting effect you got there Sir , was this on a Full Moon

Actually my wife's 16 Challenger does this at night only . I just figure it's the camera . I'm gonna have the dealer replace her camera .

Is your BU cam factory installed or did you install it yourself ?

Hemi395 · Dec 16, 2016

R.L.K. said:
Hey Hemi395, nice to see ya hear.
Wierd ghosting effect you got there Sir , was this on a Full Moon

Actually my wife's 16 Challenger does this at night only . I just figure it's the camera . I'm gonna have the dealer replace her camera .

Is YOU BU com factory installed or did you install it yourself ?

Actually yes it was a full moon

I installed it myself with the help of you and MPGrimm. Camera works great otherwise and I'm so glad I put it in just curious if I might have not got the ground right or something....

R.L.K. · Dec 16, 2016

Ah yes I kinda remember now .
Has it ever done this in the past ? Or just recently ....

You may verify the ground by the PDC , and the integrity of the camera shield wire at all disconnects would be my guess .

Have you recently installed anything else like high amp drawing lighting wires and routed them with the BU cam wires ?

Hemi395 · Dec 16, 2016

R.L.K. said:
Ah yes I kinda remember now .
Has it ever done this in the past ? Or just recently ....

You may verify the ground by the PDC , and the integrity of the camera shield wire at all disconnects would be my guess .

Have you recently installed anything else like high amp drawing lighting wires and routed them with the BU cam wires ?

To be honest, I don't really drive it at night very often until it started getting dark early so I'm not sure if was doing this right after I installed it or not. No other electrical work or otherwise has been done. Only thing I did back in October was Fluid Film my truck which included the inside of the tailgate...

So I'll check the PDC ground and the tailgate connections to make sure I didnt get FF into a connector...

Jared4.7 · Dec 16, 2016

Brightness knob turned all the way up under the headlight switch???

Installing OEM backup cam

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