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So the backup camera is coming! Bought myself a Kenwood CMOS-130, $100 from my radio store. The only thing I need to nail down is where the wiring is going to go. I’m going to mount it above the license plate, as there’s tons of room to mount it there. The only thing I need to figure out is how to get the wires back into the trunk, then get it through my back seat. Any suggestions?
I just ran some new harnesses last month from the Bose amp (in the trunk) to my headrests and it is not as hard as it may seem. You will need section INT (INTERIOR) of the FSM for your car to reference in removing the various trim pieces.
First, for the trunk, you will remove all trim pieces where the spare tire sits. There should be a grommet where the existing wire harness passes from the trunk area to the license plate lights. You should be able to use that junction- just seal it with a good silicone sealant afterwards.
Passing from the trunk to the cabin: I removed the rear seat (bottom) and folded down the seat back. From there I was able to run a harness (one for each side) from the trunk following the existing harness routing. There are several pre-existing holes in the "bulkhead" you can use as a "pass thru." This will save you having to run the wires above the wheel well. From there, the wires will run along the door sill to the front.
It looks daunting but it really isn't. You will have to be a little creative in how you route your wires to make sure they don't get pinched or cut. It took me about 1-1/2 hours to remove the seat, trim, run two harnesses, and put everything back.
I found this pic here in the forum and made some edits. The red circle shows where the OEM harness passes through from the trunk to the cabin (passenger side). I chose not to remove the side trim piece so I ran my one harness along the blue line- straight shot from the trunk to the door sill/runner. All you have to do is remove the seat bottom and you will clearly see where to run your wires. You do NOT have to remove the seat back- just fold it down.
This is what worked for me. Hopefully some others will have different/ better ideas.
Last edited by ILM-NC G37S; Jun 12, 2019 at 09:41 PM.
I forgot to mention, but I’m working on a sedan... seats don’t fold. So I’m gonna wire it up now, I have a ground, I justneed a power line to get the camera running, then I’ll sort out the hiding of wires later
Either way, you still should be able to remove the seat bottom. You can "fish" the wires under the seat back. This will make it much easier to run the wires to the door sill (I had to run 12 wires- 6 each side for my project).
Technically the only wire you should need to run is the IMAGE SIGNAL from the camera. You can tap GROUND and 12V+ REVERSE right in the trunk (unless your camera has different needs).
I havent gone to such lengths yet to hide the wire, I’m gonna tackle that on a better day (raining cats and dogs)
I tapped into the reverse lights at the connector just before it enters the cabin. The wire is just kind of hangin out behind my centre console, lol
This is the camera, it’s a Kenwood CMOS130. Great quality, easy mounting and good picture!
The view from the dash, not bad! I have it aimed so the bottom of the screen is the farthest point of the car for convenience, will have to play with it when I get Moreno used to it.
No comment on the bypass "thingy."
Being a BACKUP camera it shouldn't matter.
The camera itself is only 3 wires, 2 in the trunk for power and ground, and 1 wire ran to the center console/RCA jack. Can be aftermarket or OEM.
Last edited by ILM-NC G37S; Jun 14, 2019 at 09:37 PM.
I do need to mention to run this I had to do the dash work with bypassing speed and parking brake sensors. Can’t post much about this, as it’s a blacklisted topic, but it’s not too hard to do if you know what your doing.
Congrats!
