DIY Rear Camera Wiring Route

[drbodzin]

Back-Up Camera Wiring Route

So there are some great forum posts on installing Back-Up Cameras, but I could not find any photos showing the routing of the wire from the head unit to the camera. So here you all go. This is not a full installation explanation. Its simply here to help you route the wire to the back of the car.

This was done as part of my 1998 Boxster Project - Complete Restoration

With the center console remove the wire is routed from the head unit to the rear carpet. (Its the black wire). BTW - That's the new self-contained powered sub-woofer in the background.



I then routed the wire under the foam padding behind the roll bar. Then just continue routing the wire under the foam all the way into the engine compartment (where the convertible top rests).



Along the wall between the engine compartment and the trunk, there is a rubber grommet that you can feed a wire hanger through (white wire). Then use the hanger to pull the wire through to the trunk.



Here is a all the camers wire pulled through to the trunk.



Next, we need to route the wire from the camera into the trunk to connect it.

I drilled a small hole in the bumper cover (see blue tape) and routed the wire hanger to the opening where the left bumperette was removed from. Then I pulled the camera wire through.



You will need to remove the rear spoiler in order to complete this task. Unless someone knows another way.

From inside the trunk (with the spoiler removed) I routed the wire hanger through an opening out to the opening where the bumperette was removed from.



And here is the wire hanger ready for me to attach the black camera wire too.



Once the wire is fished through, the rest is just a matter of connecting the wires.

This is the Back Up Camera I installed. I really like how clean it looks.



And the picture is really super clear.

[DFW02S]

Nice tutorial, thanks for the effort.

[Homeboy981]

A few things about the backup camera install were to make sure and leave plenty of slack in the wire going around the Engine Access Panel on the inside of the vehicle. That is the last place you want to run it tight. I had to re-run the wire there. You want to be able to "stuff" the wire "down into" the factory padding there and around the convertible top area.

Secondly, I did not want to make a hole in the bumper, so I ran the wire through a hole the license plate uses. That wire runs around the inside (or outside of car) behind the bumper and then back into the the trunk. Again, through a holes already there, not the drain holes but a "plastic plugged" hole. I did it in 2 parts because of the Mfr.'s wire length and crimped it in the trunk by the computer.

Sorry, no pics….too busy cursing at the time. These people that make this car must have little-bitty hands!

BTW, love the 'slim cam'! Mine is a little bulkier….the price was only $15 tho!

Here's a pic of the outback.

[FrugalGuy]

@Homeboy981:

I've got a '04 Boxster S that I'm hooking a wireless backup camera to. Wireless in the sense that I still need to run the camera wire from the plate area and into the trunk. There's no wire to run to the front of the car... the signal goes over RF.

Can you tell me more about how you managed this without drilling a hole into the bumper cover? My cover only has the two factory plastic stand-offs into which a Porsche US plate frame can screw. The two screw holes are ~ 10" apart. Into that you screw the plate frame which then has 4 holes and into that you screw the US plate. So, just the 2 holes, and they are filled with two screws. :-(

The car is US spec in *some* ways, but not others. No little rubber bumpers, for example. I'm trying to keep the car stock, so no new head unit, and hopefully no new holes! :-)

[Nimbus117]

Here's my camera (it's between the number plate lights):

[Kenny Boxster]

Originally Posted by Nimbus117

Here's my camera (it's between the number plate lights):

Wow, that's super stealth!

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by Kenny Boxster

Wow, that's super stealth!

Since James Bond came up with the idea first, then I am half impressed

[FrugalGuy]

@Nimbus117,
How do you route the wires into the trunk? Did you have to remove the spoiler, or is there a way to follow the license plate light wires?

[drbodzin]

Originally Posted by FrugalGuy

@Nimbus117,
How do you route the wires into the trunk? Did you have to remove the spoiler, or is there a way to follow the license plate light wires?

Hey,

Did you look at post #1? There a pics showing the routing for the wire.

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by drbodzin

Hey,

Did you look at post #1? There a pics showing the routing for the wire.

I was wondering the same thing

[Homeboy981]

Thought I might be able to help out a bit.

I ran mine up into the license plate light, and in the trunk through the (driver's) left rear tail light. Past that you snake it through and around the trunk wiring and poke a small hole into the compartment by the let side engine deck lid, run down along the driver's side o the passenger compartment and through the console.

Be sure to allow enough 'slack' in the cable to route around the engine access portal. I taped the cable and then taped it in place to ensure it did not snag anything.

Good luck! You will enjoy it! One of the those mods that has 'real world' application due to the relatively poor visibility out the back!

[Nimbus117]

I ran my cables slightly differently.

From the head unit, I ran left (as I have a right hand drive car), down the side under the carpet and removed the plastic oddments tray on the door sill and ran it with another wiring loom underneath. Then I removed the cover that houses the seat belt, ran it upwards - this keeps it well clear of the engine covers. I then put the roof into service mode, removed the rear speaker shelf and fed the wires under the carpet and rain channel under the clamshell. I made a hole in a grommet just below and left of the 3rd brake light which feeds into the rear trunk, then ran the cable underneath the carpet until I found another grommet at the rear of the trunk. I then removed one of the number plate lights and used a piece of wire to pull the cables through, drilled the hole, fed the cables through then finished up.

A word of warning, the trunk floor gets very hot and the connector failed internally after a couple of months. The wires are ok but keep the camera plug up the side where it's cooler.

If you just want the camera view when you reverse, then power it from the reverse lights. If you want to be able to switch to reverse view when driving forwards you have to connect the camera to an ignition controlled feed, the reverse trigger to the head unit is connected as normal. This will automatically switch to reverse view when you select reverse but also allow you to manually switch to reverse view when travelling forward as the camera receives power whenever the ignition is on.

[FrugalGuy]

Thanks, Homeboy. So you went in thru the existing platelight hole.

I dropped the bumper (pretty easy--just 11 screws) and found the existing trunk grommet passing the plate light wires and went in with those. I didn't want to drill the bumper cover, but didn't like seeing the wire going up to the plare light, so I ended up drilling a tiny hole with a grommet after all. :-( I put it in the center under the license plate. I can plastic weld or plug with a blind grommet if I remove the camera in the future.

Thanks for the help.

As for not reading the posts, I think somebody didn't read mine. I asked Homeboy because he didn't drill a hole. All other posts have a hole in the bumper cover, including post #1.

[Swhitcomb]

Thank you for the write up. Used it today to install my backup cam.

[mikesz]

Looks like we have the same HU Swhitcomb. Did you connect any wire from the head unit to the control unit under the seat? I connected the power leads to the camera to the backup light wiring then connected the camera to the HU and it works great but doesn't adjust as I turn the wheel. Any ideas? I thought there was a wire from the HU that needed to be connected to the control unit under the seat but cannot find it now.

[KevinH1990]

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/51283-does-anyone-know-vss-wire-02-bose.html

Mike - Are you looking for the reverse signal wire that is under the seat? I put some pictures of it in this post.

[rlchurch]

I just installed a wireless backup camera and thanks for the guidance. Removing the back bumper was not an obvious move, but it made the process much more straightforward.

The camera manufacturer recommends not connecting the camera to the backup lights, but to a switched 12v supply that is on when the ignition is on. There must be such a supply in the trunk, but if someone could give me some guidance they will save me from just hunting with a multimeter.

[BRAN]

Just stumbled over the same question today as i want to install a WiFi2iOS sender to my backup cam (manufacturer recommends not to wire the sender to the backup lights -->recommends ignition powered connection).
Getting rid of my old and 5lbs heavy Blaupunkt Double-Din...going landscaped iPhone6s Plus as an all-in-one solution connected to a 1.0lbs Bluetooth radio...being a perfect theft protection to boot. No visible Radio anymore and much better than car play.
The Bentley manual wire diagramms are like hyroglyphs to me. Ground is left & right next to the DME.
:ah:

[jcslocum]

Originally Posted by rlchurch

I just installed a wireless backup camera and thanks for the guidance. Removing the back bumper was not an obvious move, but it made the process much more straightforward.

The camera manufacturer recommends not connecting the camera to the backup lights, but to a switched 12v supply that is on when the ignition is on. There must be such a supply in the trunk, but if someone could give me some guidance they will save me from just hunting with a multimeter.

I used the back up light feed, for both the camera and the wireless transmitter. No reason why not!!

[BRAN]

Originally Posted by jcslocum

I used the back up light feed, for both the camera and the wireless transmitter. No reason why not!!

Well, they say the transmitter takes >10secs to set up the Wifi connection. They recommend to let the transmitter/camera run all the time, as soon as ignition is turned on.
Constant power/Dauerplus is not recommended, as it draws too much power, and the backup-light power feed should be too slow.

I guess you don't confirm that.