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Hello gents, please forgive me if this has been asked before... but I can't find any relevant info regarding my situation. I am itching to get my nismo back on road as it has been months nowHave a professionally installed setup that had a plate bracket mounted cam but changing it for license plate lamp mount. Really want to finish this project and here are my questions:
Theres no ground at headunit like the one I had so I need to find an alternate grounding location in the trunk. I don't believe tapping to reverse lamp is necessary because I have a Kenwood DMX906S (2019 model) w/ rear cam interruption. I'm wondering if mounting the black ground wire to this threaded hole in the rear deck would be an option? My dad said to just twist the copper wires around the threaded bolt but I am not sure if thats the best connection? Any suggestions on how to connect wire underneath bolt let me know. They dont make connectors with holes large enough to fit around bolt while still fitting small gauge wire Above my thumb is the black and red wire from the original backup camera
2) As you can see in this photo the old red and black wire from the existing camera plug in from left to right. I am assuming in order to disconnect the camera wires these would need to be cut since they are crimped? I have two red wires coming from the side where I plan to cut the camera wire and I can see it split down middle with black wire. Since this camera has grounding wire in back will have a loose ground wire in headunit unless I leave it connected to old cam wiring. Although once this project is over I plan on simply cutting the old cam off the wire instead of replacing it completely.
Last edited by Ryan_vq35; Sep 16, 2024 at 07:38 PM.
The head unit never had a decent ground. Most folks tap into the dash bar that sits behind the triple gauge pod (above the cubby).
Now for the trunk ground. There’s a main ground on the passenger side of the rear trunk wall. Simply remove the rear center panel to expose it. Piggy back off the factory ground.
Use a terminal ring for the bolt. If the crimp is larger than your wire, strip back 1/2 to 3/4 inch, fold the wire back on itself, twist it, apply some solder and then stick it in the barrel and crimp it. I had to do this for a few wires on my camera install since the awg was 18-22 and my terminal ring was for 14-16awg. No issues with this method. It passed the tug test.
AnthonyJ350 also covers backup camera wiring in a YT video. He shows in detail the ground location I’m talking about.
Final thought. I have a Kenwood DMX908S, you still need the reverse switch wired in for backup cam interrupt. But this is a wire handled on the head unit harness, not the camera itself.
You can wire up the camera to be powered on all the time with accessory power, or you can wire it to only have power when in reverse.
Most people wire it to be powered only when using reverse. In this scenario, you would connect camera +12V and the reverse interrupt tap from head unit to the +12V reverse switch wire. This wire is Green/Yellow in the trunk.
You can find plenty of terminal ring assortments on Amazon with varying sizes to meet your use. Local shops typically don’t have a good selection unless it’s a specialty supply shop.
Since my install is already complete, I can see my guy already connected the reverse switch (purple wire) to the head unit harness. I don't really want to tap into that and since my backup camera has a "CAM" button I'd like to have that available for use when my car is not in reverse. One situation where it helps is on very steep inclines with people who get really close to the rear of the car.
at 1:47... is sanding off around the ground point absolutely necessary?
Good to know about the headunit connectors, I tried pulling them apart from the crimp on each side with needle nose pliers but they wouldn't budge, but I try again tonight.
Thanks for the info regarding how to attach to factory ground!
It looks like you've already completed this, but for future reference if anyone else comes across this, you don't need to run the reverse trigger wire all the way from the reverse light to the head unit. You can access the 12+ reverse wire in the body harness under the driver side dash which eliminates the need for such a long run of wire. The wire color varies between model years, but I found this in another post indicating which terminal it should be:
My aftermarket head unit also has the ability to view the rear camera when not in reverse by accessing the camera function. Not all head units will have this feature. Obviously, to keep this feature, there needs to be a steady 12+ signal powering the camera when the car is on. My guess is that this feature is for people who either can't see out of the back window or they're towing a trailer or something.
Installing new backup cam need advice
