No image from Aftermarket Reverse Camera

[BigMark]

I purchased and fitted this camera: Car Trunk Handle Parking Rear View Camera fit for Mercedes Benz E Class 2010-18 | eBay It's an absolute perfect fit. And cables are super easy to run through to the front on the C207 E-Class coupe.

I've gone into engineering mode to enable the reverse camera and selected SRVC.

But when I put the car in reverse I just get a blank screen and I have no idea why? I've used a CCTV tester to check that I'm getting an image from the camera, which I am. I've also used the tester to send an image to the car and again I just get a black screen.

I'm going to order another Fakra to RCA cable in case the one I have is faulty, but other than that I'm out of ideas.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Did you try all the video modes on the Engineering mode?

 

[BigMark]

Do you mean SRVC, DRVM, DRVM-PSC?

I only tried SRVC as everything I've seen and read said that SRVC is the only one that will work with an aftermarket camera.

 

[Yettie]

Have you gone into settings on the head unit and selected ‘activate rear view camera on reverse’ ?
I had a similar issue but mine was the double fakra plug on the radio was only taking 1 input.

 

[BigMark]

Have you gone into settings on the head unit and selected ‘activate rear view camera on reverse’ ?
I had a similar issue but mine was the double fakra plug on the radio was only taking 1 input.

Yes I've set it to "‘activate rear view camera on reverse’" Hence why it switches from radio or nav to reverse screen, but it's just black due to no image.


Your issue sounds like it could be the same as mine, what did you do?

Image below shows the back of my stereo before I installed the camera. Any ideas what this cable is actually for?


Image below is where I've attached the camera cable in the empty space.

 

[Yettie]

Hi I simply unplugged the other cable. On my car it is for the MMI plug in the glovebox. Something I don’t use so it was redundant.

 

[BigMark]

Thanks, I might try that after work.

I've not actually had a proper search for the cars MMI plug, I'm guessing it has one as the car came with a pack of 3 leads to plug into one.

 

[KennyN]

Where have you taken the 12v + supply from , and are you getting 12v to the camera when reverse is selected ?

When i fitted mine to my CLS i had to take a "clean" supply to the camera via a relay as there was initially some interference on the screen when the camera was in use.

K

 

[BigMark]

Where have you taken the 12v + supply from , and are you getting 12v to the camera when reverse is selected ?

When i fitted mine to my CLS i had to take a "clean" supply to the camera via a relay as there was initially some interference on the screen when the camera was in use.

K

I've tapped into the reverse wire.

There's no issue with the camera as I used a CCTV tester to check that it and power from the reverse light were working. All ok with a good image. So it look like an issue with either a setting somewhere, or the connection.

 

[KennyN]

All ok with a good image.

Was this with the car running ?

20170429_172541[1] by Kenny Niven, on Flickr

When i fitted mine to the W219 i had to get it coded , via Comandonline, to tell the NTG 2.5 to look for the camera once reverse is selected , whether this is the same with the newer version of Comand i dont know but it may be worth a call.

K

 

[BigMark]

Was this with the car running ?

20170429_172541[1] by Kenny Niven, on Flickr

When i fitted mine to the W219 i had to get it coded , via Comandonline, to tell the NTG 2.5 to look for the camera once reverse is selected , whether this is the same with the newer version of Comand i dont know but it may be worth a call.

K

With NTG 4.0 anyone can enter engineering mode and enable the camera, which I've done. Hence why I'm not sure why it's not working still

 

[geoffus]

When I fitted mine I had to wire in a filter to the 12v power as it caused a lot of noise in the video image.

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[KennyN]

With NTG 4.0 anyone can enter engineering mode and enable the camera, which I've done. Hence why I'm not sure why it's not working still

You could also enter the eng mode on the NTG 2.5 but with the CLS the rear camera had to have the extra coding as the car didn`t come with a rear camera from the factory so this extra coding option had to be added at a higher level than a tick box in the headunit menu.

Not sure if the W212 is the same but a quick call to Comandonline may save you a bit of time troubleshooting.

The reason i asked if the car was running when you checked the image is that mine was clear , until the car was started.

K

 

[BigMark]

When I fitted mine I had to wire in a filter to the 12v power as it caused a lot of noise in the video image.

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Thanks for the link to the Vid.

My only question is that the before and after images of the rear of your unit with the green plug are the same. So did you unplug the factory plug, or just slot in next to it?

 

[BigMark]

You could also enter the eng mode on the NTG 2.5 but with the CLS the rear camera had to have the extra coding as the car didn`t come with a rear camera from the factory so this extra coding option had to be added at a higher level than a tick box in the headunit menu.

Not sure if the W212 is the same but a quick call to Comandonline may save you a bit of time troubleshooting.

The reason i asked if the car was running when you checked the image is that mine was clear , until the car was started.

K

Thanks. I'll drop them a line and see what they say.

I've tried it with both the engine running and off, neither work.

 

[KennyN]

I've tried it with both the engine running and off, neither work.

I was talking about the image quality , engine off clear but engine running loads of interference on the screen.

K

 

[geoffus]

Thanks for the link to the Vid.

My only question is that the before and after images of the rear of your unit with the green plug are the same. So did you unplug the factory plug, or just slot in next to it?

As far as I can remember I plugged the new fakra cable next to the old one.
How have you tested for an image at the comand end ?

 

[BigMark]

As far as I can remember I plugged the new fakra cable next to the old one.
How have you tested for an image at the comand end ?

I used a CCTV tester.

So with it in input mode I connected it to the RCA connector that I'd ran from the camera to the back of the Comand unit. With the car in reverse the camera is powered and I get an image on the tester.

Then with the Tester in output mode I connected it to the RCA end of the Fakra connector that's plugged in to the back of the Comand unit, put the car in reverse so the Comand goes to the Rear view camera screen, but no test image can be seen, just the black screen again.

So it looks to me that for some reason the Comand unit isn't seeing the video signal from the green connector.

 

[geoffus]

I see, so it’s either the faulty fakra lead or the comand unit is not set up to see a video signal.
What year is your car ?

 

[BigMark]

I see, so it’s either the faulty fakra lead or the comand unit is not set up to see a video signal.
What year is your car ?

Exactly! I have a replacement Fakra cable due any day so will try that, and if it still doesn't work I might just remove the Mercedes green connector and plug the Fakra cable in it's place as I don't think I'll ever use the MMI plug in the glovebox.

Car is 2009.