Just purchased and installed a nice, 12" camera setup in my 2005 XJR. Great features and relatively smooth install.

Here's a link to the product...WOLFBOX G840S 12" 4K Mirror Dash Cam Backup Camera, 2160P Full HD Smart Rearview Mirror for Cars & Trucks, Front and Rear View Dual Cameras, Night Vision, Parking Assistance, Free 32GB Card & GPS https://a.co/d/ieZ7llN

Happy to assist anyone who decides to install this. You will also need a cheap relay if you plan to hook the rear camera up to turn on and off with reverse gear.

 

PICs, please!

 

Please show us some pics of how to install.

Thanks

 

Did you connect the rear camera hot wire to the back up lights or do you have front and back cameras on all the time?

 

JDog,

I used a relay to connect the backup hot wire to the camera. The camera allows a choice of backup on at all times or just when backing up.
I don't have photos of the install, but if you are installing in an X350, PM me and we can touch base live.

For others who are looking to put this in an F-Type, I would not recommend that. It's too large for that car. Best to wire a backup camera into the existing screen.

Finally, the camera should not be mounted inside the car. It will simply not work well through the rear window.

Anyone who wants assistance, please PM me.

 

Thanks for your post. Please could you provide details for the cheap relay?

 

Here is the relay info from Amazon:

Standard Motor Products RY612T Relay
Good luck with the install.

MEC

 

Thanks MEC,
I can forsee me pestering you again to explain what I am supposed to do with it?!

 

EsRay,

No problem. Happy to assist when the time comes.

 

Hello MEC, When you have nothing better to do, could you please describe how you routed your wiring through the boot (presumably behind the boot headlining), where you drilled and attached your camera and (most importantly) what you did with this relay?
Thank you!
Ray

 

Group,

First, sorry I don't have any pictures. Here's some additional information which should help.

1. If you want the backup camera to come on only when backing up, you need to utilize a relay. The reason is simple; the wiring uses a common negative ground, but the backup lights have 2 positive leads going to them.

2. The rear camera can be set to turn off at a chosen interval. It comes on when you start the car. I selected the shortest shutoff interval (I think 90 secs).

PM me your phone number(s) if there any other questions. The relay wiring is a bit tricky, but it would be easier to speak live to explain.

 

Here's a picture of the camera mounting. Wire is run through a small hole I drilled in one of the license plate lamp lenses (it does not affect the lamp seal).

Wire is far left in picture and run behind license plate holder.

 

Okay MEC, Thank you...I'll PM you when I get my wiring into the boot!

 

Group,

To run the wiring, I removed the trunk (boot) lid liner as well as the deck lid liner and the right side trunk (boot) compartment liner and the right side liner covering the rear lamp access.

I then ran the wiring from back to front following the wiring harness going from the trunk (boot) up the lid hinge to the license plate access for the backup camera.

For the mirror harness, I ran the wiring along the quarter panel toward the rear seat up near the rear deck and drilled a hole through the panel going from the trunk (boot) into the passenger compartment just beneath the rear deck and close to the right side of the car. Then I simply routed the wire along (behind) the headliner all the way to the mirror.

I then ran just the power leads down (behind) the A pillar trim (easiest just to pull that trim panel as well) to the fuse block by the right side kick panel where I found both full-time and accessory-switched 12V to power the mirror as well as the grounding lug.

Hope that all helps.

 

Hello MEC,
Okay I am now at the rear light cluster with my red wire and my relay.
Please see below:






What do I do next, PLEASE!

Regards,
Ray

 

Hi EsRay,

Next you need to find the ground lug in the trunk area and run a ground wire from that lug to the relay backup lamp area. This will be used for both the relay and camera.

Please also send a clear picture of the relay diagram (on the side of the relay) as we want to make sure you get the correct connection sequence.

 

You should also get a 12V test lamp or multimeter to find which wires going to your backup lamp are 12V positive when the lamp is in both the on and off condition. You can do this by checking the leads into the lamp socket when the backup lights are on. Please keep in mind that there will be 2 - 12V positive leads when the backup lamps are off (yes, this is not a typo). One of the leads changes to negative when the backup lamp is on. You should identify that lead as well to insure you get both negative and positive wires identified when the backup lamp is on.

Those 2 leads will be used to power the relay. The lead that changes to 12V negative when the backup lamp is on will be the ground wire for the coil side of the relay. The lead that is 12V positive all the time will be the 12V positive for both the coil side of the relay and the supply side of the relay. The ground wire that you run will be for the camera. The 12V load (positive) side of the relay will go to the camera as well.

To recap; the 12V switching lead (changes from positive to negative when the backup lamp is on) is connected to the ground contact of the coil side of the relay. The 12V positive lead that is always on gets connected to both the positive side of the relay coil and to the positive side of the relay supply.

The positive wire from the load side of the relay goes to the positive side of the camera cable. The wire from the grounding lug goes to the negative side of the camera cable.

Hope that all helps. I'll keep on eye open for any follow-up posts.

 

MEC, I searched this forum extensively and found very little; your post may well be of enormous help to current and future Forum Members wishing to install rear view backing-up cameras?
Do you need a close-up pic of the back of my light cluster?

 

Hi EsRay,

For starters, I'd fabricate the jumper wires in advance with the appropriate female lugs to fit the male relay lugs unless you are using a socket for the relay. You'll need wire taps for the 2 lamp wires in the equation as well. I used a solid ring connector for the grounding lug as well. Regardless of which setup you use, make the connections temporary until you complete successful testing. Also, be sure to test the backup lamp wires in advance to determine which is constant 12V positive and which switches to 12V negative when the car is in reverse. For purposes of this project, the "normal" or "normally" status of the relay is when the car is NOT in reverse. For example, relay contact 5 is normally open (car not in reverse). When the car is in reverse, that contact should close thereby connecting the 12V positive power at contact 3 through to contact 5.

Based on the relay you are using, here is the way I'd wire the relay and camera connections:

A. Wire from lamp that is always 12V positive (whether in reverse or not) should go to relay contacts 2 & 3. You can fabricate a simple wire harness that has a daisy chain jumper between the lamp lead and relay contacts 2 & 3.

B. Wire from lamp that changes from 12V positive to 12V negative when in reverse should go to relay contact 1. Once you finish that connection, you may want to pause here and have someone put the car in reverse (ignition on, but engine not running) while you test the relay to insure you are getting 12V positive at contacts 2, 3 & 5 as well as 12V negative at relay contact 1. You should also hear (and feel) the coil contact lightly click "on" when the car is put into reverse, then it will lightly click "off" when the car is not in reverse (normal position).

C. Wire from chassis ground should go to camera negative power input lead.

D. Connect positive camera lead to relay contact 5 (normally open contact) which becomes energized with 12V positive when car is in reverse.

To test, the relay should have 12V positive at contacts 1, 2, 3 & 4 when the car is NOT in reverse. You can test by using a tester with the negative test lead on the chassis ground and positive test lead on contacts 1, 2, 3 or 4 (4 won't be used for this application).

When the car is in reverse, the lamp lead going to contact 1 should change to negative. You can test this by putting your negative test lead on contact 1 and positive test lead on contacts 2 , 3 or 5. While in reverse, 2, 3 & 5 should all test positive.

Additionally, the relay should click "on" when the car is in reverse and relay contact 5 should test positive with the positive test lead on it (#5) and the negative test lead on the grounding lug. These are the two contacts that will power your backup camera when the car is in reverse.

I hope this all helps. There is a crude schematic below as well. FYI, relay contact 4 is not used for this application.

 

Thank you very much, Mark.
I am going to take a little time to absorb your detailed (and excellent) instructions.
I have no idea how you guys get your heads around this stuff...Give me a spanner and I am your man!
By way of an example, the first thing for me to decipher is which of the 4 light cluster terminals belongs to the reversing light!
Will report back to you soon...
Regards,
Ray