Backup cam woes

[RamInfo]

Backup cam went on the fritz after lowering the tailgate and loading a few hundred lbs of boxed metal cabinets and hauling them home with the tailgate down. The initial symptom was a screen full of squiggly lines when reverse was selected. After inspecting and cleaning the camera lens I jiggled the wire harness in an attempt to see if this wa# possibly a bad connection, and now on reversing I get a darks screen that after 20sec or so changes to a amber color, but no picture.

Part # for the camera is 68274731AC, which I think has been superseded by 68274731AE—are these still available? Or is this more indicative of a radio problem? I’ll be opening the tailgate to start tracing wires and connectors and if that doesn’t solve the issue I’ll either need a new OEM camera or start researching aftermarket.

Thx,
RI

 

[mrack]

Clean and reseat the connector at the tailgate, that’s the usual cause.

 

[GTyankee]

Open up the tailgate, remove the tailgate inspection cover.
Both the Camera connector & the electric lock connection are close together.
Look at the connections & wiggle them just a little.
Then close the tailgate, leave the inspection cover off for now.

the wiring comes out of the bottom of the tailgate & passes through a slot, that slot should have a rubber rectangular piece that sort of hides the wires.



In back of the license plate, there are is at least one electrical connector. Check that out as best that you can, unplug & reconnect the connections.

I suggest that you purchase a can of

or
another electrical contact cleaner

Every electrical connection that you unplug
spray some quick drying electrical connector in both the male & female connector.

After you reconnect each plug, try your radio to see if you found the problem.

AFTER the connections are back together

Try one more thing, it may sound strange

Open the Trucks Trailer Plug Cover
Look for corrosion & dirt
Then spray the heck out of the terminal plugs

Please keep us informed of the results
Good Luck

 

[RamInfo]

Thanks, GTYankee! I should get time to look at this tomorrow. Pretty sure now the issue is a connector, as the camera came back to life today but wigged out again after I opened/closed the tailgate. Inside face of the tailgate has been spray-lined, so might be interesting getting it open. Will update here after I clean all the connectors.

Best,
RI

 

[GTyankee]

When Line-X sprays the trucks bed
They remove the tailgate & lay it on stands, then they remove the Inspection Cover from the tailgate.
They then spray everything separately & it takes 3 minutes to dry.
Then they reassemble everything.

By the way, when i mentioned spraying contact cleaner into the Trailer Plug.
The reason for that is all of the trucks wiring is connected to the trailer Plug.
If the plug gets corrosion in it, it can affect all the front lights on the truck !!

 

[Runaround]

I’m having what sounds just like RamInfo’s problem along with the guidance lines have disappeared from my screen now. This is on my 2018 Laramie with the touchscreen radio. My screen never goes yellow, mine goes blue at times and say camera unavailable. Sometimes it is a dark screen with squiggly lines, sometimes blue with the message and sometimes it works fine. I don’t have to touch my tailgate or camera for it to change. It changes after driving.

 

[RamInfo]

I haven’t abandoned this thread, I’ve just been busy moving- and waiting for my tool chest to get unloaded from a locked trailer. I plan on following this weekend the steps outlined in post# 3 by GTyankee. I did open my trailer connectors and spray them down with electrical contact cleaner, but before I did that my camera started working again so my focus went back to the moving project. Will check back in after I pull the tailgate access and clean all the connections.

Best,
RI

 

[GTyankee]

Like i mentioned above,

Inside of the tailgate, as soon as the Inspection Cover is taken off the tailgate.
There is a Tailgate Camera pigtail, 1 end plugs into the camera & the other end plugs into the Power Locking Tailgate pigtail.
the Power Locking Tailgate pigtail, goes from the tailgate locking mechanism down to another connection that is pretty close to the License Plate.
IF you cared to follow that pigtail, the far end of it is located at the Trucks Frame, at the Left Rear Tire.

The connection at the License Plate, sometimes get water inside the plug, check it for Corrosion