Detailed Rear Camera Installation
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 13
Okay, I finally got around to installing my rear camera this weekend. I really wanted a factory installed look so I started off by looking at the Japanese Outie for reference:
Overview:
I have broken this installation down into four parts - Part 1 details the mounting of the camera in the hatch. Part 2 details running the camera cable to the front via the headliner. It is a very easy install and in my opinion easier then going via the floor. Part 3 details the wiring including making/modifying the wiring harnesses for quick disconnect should you decide to remove at some point in the future. Part 4 is a wrap-up inlcuding a couple of pics of my install.
Part 1 - Mounting the Camera
I went with the very slick Pioneer ND-BC2 - it is full colour CCD with low lux provisions and an incredible 135 degree wide angle and 100 degree vertical. It is among the very best cameras out there and well worth the extra bucks. You can buy cheap cameras off eBay but you get what you pay for. The ND-BC2 is MSRP $250 but you can find it on eBay for much less.
The rear of the vehicle pre-hack. This install requires a bit of patience and a steady hand.
Once you remove the inside rear hatch panel, there are a number of nuts and two bolts that need to be removed in order to remove the exterior plastic trim piece. In order to access all the bolts, you will need to remove the rear wiper motor mount bolts and then rotate the wiper motor assembly.
Okay, once that is done you can go ahead and remove the exterior trim piece. It is plast and has a number of snap connectors. Gently exert some pretty good pressure to free it from the hatch. Here is the bare hatch with the trim removed:
Said trim piece (pre-hack):
Alright, if you flip over the trim piece and loot at the underneath, you will see a scoredoutline of where the Japanese camera is mounted. You can also see this while the trim piece is still mounted on your Outie - it is right next to the left license plate light.
Pull out your Dremel and cutout an appropriate opening for your camera.
Test fitting camera:
Once you are satisfied with your camera opening in the trim piece it is time to bore some holes to mount the camera bracket. Depending on how you want to mount your camera you likely need two holes - one for the bracket and one to pass the camera cable through. Once drilled, paint the inside of the holes so you don't have any bare metal exposed (Don't worry about keepoing this pretty, it all gets covered by the trim piece - see my screw up below).
Fitting the camera bracket mount and trim piece is a lot of "trial an error" to get the mount in the ideal location. I originally tried modifying the bracket that came with the camera but found it caused the camera to stick out too far and pushed on the trim piece. I made my own bracket out of steel strapping you can get from any hardware store. Piece of cake and works very well. My bracket is on the left:
Final fitting and installation of camera:
Once you have the camera mounted and installed, it time to run the camera wiring around the hatch:
At the top of the hatch are two waterproof boots through which all wiring (as well as rear washer line) from the vehicle runs. Pop out the left boot and fish the camera wire through. The boot is very flexible and fairly short so you can use a stiff wire to fish the camera cable through.
Part 2 - Running the Camera Cable Under the Headliner
The first thing we need to do is release the headliner at the back of the vehicle. There are three fasteners back here but we only need to remove the left and centre fasteners. To remove the fasteners, wrap something flexible and strong (I used 20 gauge wire) around the fasteners and pull sharply down. They will pop right out.
With the fasteners removed, feed the camera cable thorugh the boot hole and into the roof space. Running the cable under the headliner requires no tools and trust me when I say you don't need small hands and fingers to do this. Gently pry back the weather stripping and pull down the headliner to snag the cable - run it to the left side of the vehicle and past the rear pillar.
Keep working the cable down the length of the vehicle, gently prying the headliner when needed to feed the cable.
When you get to the rear door, you will need to pull back the weather stripping to expose the headliner edge. No worries, the weather strip is very flexible. Continue running the cable all the way to the A pillar and then run the cable down the inside of the A pillar - again you can just use your fingers to tuck the cable in behind the A pillar and down to the fuse box. Once you get the cable to the fuse box it is time to move on to wiring this puppy.
Part 3 - Wiring it Up
Here is a picture of the rear of the head unit - there are instructions somewhere around here on removing the head unit so just do a SEARCH. The key here is the connector in the upper right - it is not actually connected to anything so go ahead and unplug it and cut the five wires - we are going to make a video signal quick connect out of it. In addition, on the lower left of the unit is the connector which has switched power and a ground. We are going to splice in quick co
Overview:
I have broken this installation down into four parts - Part 1 details the mounting of the camera in the hatch. Part 2 details running the camera cable to the front via the headliner. It is a very easy install and in my opinion easier then going via the floor. Part 3 details the wiring including making/modifying the wiring harnesses for quick disconnect should you decide to remove at some point in the future. Part 4 is a wrap-up inlcuding a couple of pics of my install.
Part 1 - Mounting the Camera
I went with the very slick Pioneer ND-BC2 - it is full colour CCD with low lux provisions and an incredible 135 degree wide angle and 100 degree vertical. It is among the very best cameras out there and well worth the extra bucks. You can buy cheap cameras off eBay but you get what you pay for. The ND-BC2 is MSRP $250 but you can find it on eBay for much less.
The rear of the vehicle pre-hack. This install requires a bit of patience and a steady hand.
Once you remove the inside rear hatch panel, there are a number of nuts and two bolts that need to be removed in order to remove the exterior plastic trim piece. In order to access all the bolts, you will need to remove the rear wiper motor mount bolts and then rotate the wiper motor assembly.
Okay, once that is done you can go ahead and remove the exterior trim piece. It is plast and has a number of snap connectors. Gently exert some pretty good pressure to free it from the hatch. Here is the bare hatch with the trim removed:
Said trim piece (pre-hack):
Alright, if you flip over the trim piece and loot at the underneath, you will see a scoredoutline of where the Japanese camera is mounted. You can also see this while the trim piece is still mounted on your Outie - it is right next to the left license plate light.
Pull out your Dremel and cutout an appropriate opening for your camera.
Test fitting camera:
Once you are satisfied with your camera opening in the trim piece it is time to bore some holes to mount the camera bracket. Depending on how you want to mount your camera you likely need two holes - one for the bracket and one to pass the camera cable through. Once drilled, paint the inside of the holes so you don't have any bare metal exposed (Don't worry about keepoing this pretty, it all gets covered by the trim piece - see my screw up below).
Fitting the camera bracket mount and trim piece is a lot of "trial an error" to get the mount in the ideal location. I originally tried modifying the bracket that came with the camera but found it caused the camera to stick out too far and pushed on the trim piece. I made my own bracket out of steel strapping you can get from any hardware store. Piece of cake and works very well. My bracket is on the left:
Final fitting and installation of camera:
Once you have the camera mounted and installed, it time to run the camera wiring around the hatch:
At the top of the hatch are two waterproof boots through which all wiring (as well as rear washer line) from the vehicle runs. Pop out the left boot and fish the camera wire through. The boot is very flexible and fairly short so you can use a stiff wire to fish the camera cable through.
Part 2 - Running the Camera Cable Under the Headliner
The first thing we need to do is release the headliner at the back of the vehicle. There are three fasteners back here but we only need to remove the left and centre fasteners. To remove the fasteners, wrap something flexible and strong (I used 20 gauge wire) around the fasteners and pull sharply down. They will pop right out.
With the fasteners removed, feed the camera cable thorugh the boot hole and into the roof space. Running the cable under the headliner requires no tools and trust me when I say you don't need small hands and fingers to do this. Gently pry back the weather stripping and pull down the headliner to snag the cable - run it to the left side of the vehicle and past the rear pillar.
Keep working the cable down the length of the vehicle, gently prying the headliner when needed to feed the cable.
When you get to the rear door, you will need to pull back the weather stripping to expose the headliner edge. No worries, the weather strip is very flexible. Continue running the cable all the way to the A pillar and then run the cable down the inside of the A pillar - again you can just use your fingers to tuck the cable in behind the A pillar and down to the fuse box. Once you get the cable to the fuse box it is time to move on to wiring this puppy.
Part 3 - Wiring it Up
Here is a picture of the rear of the head unit - there are instructions somewhere around here on removing the head unit so just do a SEARCH. The key here is the connector in the upper right - it is not actually connected to anything so go ahead and unplug it and cut the five wires - we are going to make a video signal quick connect out of it. In addition, on the lower left of the unit is the connector which has switched power and a ground. We are going to splice in quick co
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 14
From: Illinois
Hi all,
I just bought an 11 Outlander Sport SE. When I bought it they had to take the NAV out and replace it with the 6 disc RF system. They left the backup camera on the back that comes with that package. Here is my question. I really have no need to upgrade to the factory NAV in the future for $2000+ but I want to take advantage of that backup camera. I am going to buy a Gentex autodim mirror with the built in screen and my question is what kind of plug is on the end of the factory backup camera? Is it just a standard RCA plug that can go right into the mirror? If not where would I find an interface that can turn it into a factory RCA plug? I have been looking at page 8 in this thread but I'm just not sure what to do.
I just bought an 11 Outlander Sport SE. When I bought it they had to take the NAV out and replace it with the 6 disc RF system. They left the backup camera on the back that comes with that package. Here is my question. I really have no need to upgrade to the factory NAV in the future for $2000+ but I want to take advantage of that backup camera. I am going to buy a Gentex autodim mirror with the built in screen and my question is what kind of plug is on the end of the factory backup camera? Is it just a standard RCA plug that can go right into the mirror? If not where would I find an interface that can turn it into a factory RCA plug? I have been looking at page 8 in this thread but I'm just not sure what to do.
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 5
Thank you!
Hello,
Thanks for the detailed instructions by everyone. I have an 08 Outlander (US) and successfully installed a backup camera over the weekend. The dealer quoted $900. I got the camera for $26 from Amazon. I tapped the backup lights for power and ran the video cable through the floor on the driver's side. I took photographs while I was doing this, and I'll put them next weekend (I still need to close up some panels on the hatch).
I have some 'after-the-fact' questions:
- While drilling holes at the back for the camera, I see the paint work chipped on the edges of the holes. Ofcourse this is not visible since its covered by the back plate eventually. Also, it was an expected side effect of drilling. How did others handle it? It is not an issue at the moment, but I want to make sure it doesn't spread or rust.
- This is not a big deal but while putting the MMCS back where it belongs, I dropped two screws in the cavity behind. I heard them fall somewhere with a clang. I was running out of daylight on Sunday so didn't open things up to look for them. I put new screws and sealed it up instead. If anyone else found themselves in this situation, what can I open to retrieve them? If it isn't going to a problem, should I just leave them wherever they are? I couldn't hear them while driving.
Thanks!!
Thanks for the detailed instructions by everyone. I have an 08 Outlander (US) and successfully installed a backup camera over the weekend. The dealer quoted $900. I got the camera for $26 from Amazon. I tapped the backup lights for power and ran the video cable through the floor on the driver's side. I took photographs while I was doing this, and I'll put them next weekend (I still need to close up some panels on the hatch).
I have some 'after-the-fact' questions:
- While drilling holes at the back for the camera, I see the paint work chipped on the edges of the holes. Ofcourse this is not visible since its covered by the back plate eventually. Also, it was an expected side effect of drilling. How did others handle it? It is not an issue at the moment, but I want to make sure it doesn't spread or rust.
- This is not a big deal but while putting the MMCS back where it belongs, I dropped two screws in the cavity behind. I heard them fall somewhere with a clang. I was running out of daylight on Sunday so didn't open things up to look for them. I put new screws and sealed it up instead. If anyone else found themselves in this situation, what can I open to retrieve them? If it isn't going to a problem, should I just leave them wherever they are? I couldn't hear them while driving.
Thanks!!
Last edited by mxms; Aug 22, 2011 at 05:11 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 5
Hi all,
I just bought an 11 Outlander Sport SE. When I bought it they had to take the NAV out and replace it with the 6 disc RF system. They left the backup camera on the back that comes with that package. Here is my question. I really have no need to upgrade to the factory NAV in the future for $2000+ but I want to take advantage of that backup camera. I am going to buy a Gentex autodim mirror with the built in screen and my question is what kind of plug is on the end of the factory backup camera? Is it just a standard RCA plug that can go right into the mirror? If not where would I find an interface that can turn it into a factory RCA plug? I have been looking at page 8 in this thread but I'm just not sure what to do.
I just bought an 11 Outlander Sport SE. When I bought it they had to take the NAV out and replace it with the 6 disc RF system. They left the backup camera on the back that comes with that package. Here is my question. I really have no need to upgrade to the factory NAV in the future for $2000+ but I want to take advantage of that backup camera. I am going to buy a Gentex autodim mirror with the built in screen and my question is what kind of plug is on the end of the factory backup camera? Is it just a standard RCA plug that can go right into the mirror? If not where would I find an interface that can turn it into a factory RCA plug? I have been looking at page 8 in this thread but I'm just not sure what to do.
http://i339.photobucket.com/albums/n...ectorcmara.jpg
This means it wouldn't have an RCA video out that you can connect to anything else. However, you can, I think, tap into the video and video ground wires in the stock camera cable and run your RCA cable out from there to channel the signal to wherever you want. Someone with a stock camera can confirm though. If this is indeed the case, the mitsu camera cable would most likely be found terminated somewhere in the dash where the MMCS had been. I understand that the backup camera is already in place and the car is prewired which would make it fairly easy. You should also be able to power the camera up from there. Someone mentioned it expects 6.5v but again, I am not sure about that. I'd first open up the MMCS area to find the 12-pin connector that goes into the MMCS camera input (you can see what it looks like in the very first post). If you can find that, you should be able to access the camera wires for signal and power.
What I've said is from my experience with the 08 Outlander, and hopefully not much has changed. Good luck.
Last edited by mxms; Aug 22, 2011 at 04:36 PM.
Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 63
There was some discussion in this thread back in '09 about '09 models possibly being prewired for the camera in the back door with the F21 connector. Has anyone found this connector on a 2010 or 2011 Outlander? I know they already have the hole in the trim panel but I'm wondering if perhaps the '10 and '11 models also have the wiring (F21).
EDIT: I pulled the rear panel last night, and there is NO prewire for the backup camera (2011 XLS). The harness part # is MZ 607384EX.
EDIT: I pulled the rear panel last night, and there is NO prewire for the backup camera (2011 XLS). The harness part # is MZ 607384EX.
Last edited by Karmann; Aug 25, 2011 at 02:26 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1
Also considering this camera. eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
It says the camera replaces a number plate light, but im not keen in removing a number plate light as this might cause a MOT test failure.
Has anyine tried one of these cameras and fitted it in the cut-out just to the left of the licence plate light?
Thanks.
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 481
From: Montreal area, Quebec, Canada
Same Question Please.
Also considering this camera. eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
It says the camera replaces a number plate light, but im not keen in removing a number plate light as this might cause a MOT test failure.
Has anyine tried one of these cameras and fitted it in the cut-out just to the left of the licence plate light?
Thanks.
Also considering this camera. eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
It says the camera replaces a number plate light, but im not keen in removing a number plate light as this might cause a MOT test failure.
Has anyine tried one of these cameras and fitted it in the cut-out just to the left of the licence plate light?
Thanks.
It replace a light only on the car shown in the instruction.
On an Outlander there is a pre cut (depending on the year, mine is cut) or at least an outlined area for cutting out to the left of the plate light. Have a look at post 151 above, picture 8-9.
This camera should slide in that cutout.
Last edited by Claude_A; Oct 28, 2011 at 03:04 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 124
Is it just me or is the original write-up cut off? I am getting up to the first 4 lines of "Part 3". After "We are going to splice in quick co" I have nothing else. I just want to make sure I get the correct wiring info here!
