Reverse camera problem

[Number1]

Hi all.
Viano 2012. I have an issue with the reverse camera. It appears very bright and can hardly make anything out, I also think for some reason it turned to black and white? At times when you put car into reverse I get what I can only describe as blobs on the display screen. Could anyone shed any help in resolving the problem , my first thought is the camera? I will check the wiring first. If it is the camera does anyone have a part number.
The blobs on the display do clear eventually I have cleaned the camera from out side.
Any thoughts would be great and thank you in advance

 

[zipdip]

Never owned a Viano but I solved something similar by buying a expensive new rear camera,but I see on ebay a new camera is below £40 my suggestion is to buy it and see,as expenditure goes for sub £40 to fix or not is to my mind worth the risk,but there maybe somebody who knows exactly whats happening.

 

[Number1]

Thank you, my only concern without suggestion Is akng sure the ebay camera has the right connections as I don't want to be cutting wires etc but will play around with the idea.

 

[richard]

I'm not convinced that is a factory camera. Which means you need to find an identical one (unlikely) or replace it with the wiring all the way to the COMAND.

 

[Number1]

I'm not convinced that is a factory camera. Which means you need to find an identical one (unlikely) or replace it with the wiring all the way to the COMAND.

I agree I have searched the net etc for a camera like one fitted for a viano 2012...with no joy, so next step would be to get one from mercedes? I will check wiring on boot door first. When the blobs disappear you can see a faint outline of what camera is seeing that's why I think it's the camera, but hey I could be totally wrong.

 

[richard]

Assuming it is aftermarket, then Factory wont help you - wrong wiring. If it is aftermarket, a new camera will come with new wiring, and you'll have to install the whole new camera and wiring. Unless you can find the same camera, which given how many different aftermarket cameras there are would be rather lucky !!

Richard

 

[richard]

I wonder if that's water blobs (i.e condensation) inside the camera !!

 

[Number1]

I wonder if that's water blobs (i.e condensation) inside the camera !!

It's factory fitted, mercedese part is £370 just for the camera...not unless I can find a better price, might need to live with it for awhile until I get my head round the cost

 

[richard]

Post a photo of the camera from outside (or the msg me the reg, and I'll look up whether it should have factory or not)

 

[Number1]

Post a photo of the camera from outside (or the msg me the reg, and I'll look up whether it should have factory or not)

Hi thank you, I have checked the wiring etc and all looks good even right up to the back of camera, I can only guess that water has got into lense area. After cleaning it etc I now have a picture not great....
WM12HBX

 

[richard]

WM12HBX

That’s a factory camera I believe as the car has FR8 on the datacard It is possible the code has been added as I can’t see the history
R

 

[Number1]

That’s a factory camera I believe as the car has FR8 on the datacard It is possible the code has been added as I can’t see the history
R

Ok, thank you for looking. Guess I will have to dig deep for a merc part...seems allot just to reverse car on to drive....atleast I now know how to get at it ,an hours work....thank you for your time and help

 

[richard]

I'd look on eBay !

 

[2012SLK200]

This is an older post, but others will find it using search engines, and may find it of value.

Have you checked the engineering menu to make sure both the settings and the camera are NTSC and the camera has a clean 12v power supply?

To buy a replacement camera, I found a posting that recommended the following

Camera: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7WY3T6C
Cable: RG316 Fakra Female Angle to RCA FEMALE RF Cable FAST-SHIP LOT | eBay (3 foot length)

I bought them, and together they work fine. There are numerous posts online telling how to replace the camera.

Key tip not well covered in various postings: The green dual Fakra connector on the back of the HU (head unit) is unique. Pull out its magenta tab to unlock the inner connector and do the same on the replacement cable. Insert the replacement cable inner connector into the HU green connector housing, noting there are two holes. One hole supplies video signal to the video feed (not wanted), the other to the reverse camera feed so it activates automatically when in reverse. I found this out when it would not work right. In my case, I had inserted the inner connector into the hole opposite the one with the clip tab and it only worked on video feed. Richard (as above) suggested it might be feeding the wrong input, and he was right. When I swapped it to the other hole, it only comes on when in reverse, and it overrides whatever is on the screen.

Best to power the camera by splicing into the back up (reverse) light cable so it does not drain the battery. If you find you have a fuzzy image, make sure the connections are solidly connected and grounded, and if need be consider a 12v filter.

Make sure your HU software settings are all NTSC and in the hidden Engineering Menu (press buttons to get there*) setting 7.7 HU 22 Parameter (4/16) Rearview camera = SRVC

Cost is well under $100 and takes very little time once you know how to remove the HU and run the wires. If you don't, it's an exercise in frustration that can take half a day. Google is your friend.

* To get to the engineering menu, with the HU turned on, press either the green Call button or the red Hang-Up button (it seems to vary by car, on mine it was the green not the red...) and press the # button and the number 1 button at the same time. Hold for 10 seconds until the engineering menu comes up. Use the Comand Controller to scroll. See https://www.mercedes-benz.ca/content/dam/mb-nafta/ca/owners/operators-manual/2012/command-audio-vc/MY12_COMAND NTG45_EdB_172_166_car204_050411.pdf for how to use the Head Unit.