back up camera Backup Camera and Bezel kit without Cabling

[Larry Snyder]

Stumbled across this site from the Facebook Dodge Journey site and its a goldmine!.   I'm in search for the Bezel and Camera only (no cabling) for my 2015 Journey.  Perhaps it's my internet searching skills, but for the life of me I can't find one without the cabling.  Given that the 2015 cabling is already in place (Thank you Guru Bram Frank), I would prefer not to spend the extra $ If I don't have to. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[bramfrank]

IN THEORY (note the caps) all you should require is the bezel with the camera.  But my Crossroad likewise was supposedly pre-cabled.  It would explain why you can't find a kit for the newer vehicles, because you only need to buy the part. 

But there is a risk to buying less than the 2011-2012 full kit with the cabling.  I couldn't find the cabling in the rear.

The bezel with camera can be bought from Quirkparts off eBay (I've bought from them in the past) for $116:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/11-12-DODGE-JOURNEY-W-BACK-UP-CAMERA-LIFTGATE-TAILGATE-HANDLE-NEW-MOPAR-GENUINE/192109734681?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3D26f3a90ef8d042cca102cadb7e48c17b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D322058533395

If you are less of a risk-taker I see a full kit on Ebay available at $200: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-2017-Dodge-Journey-OEM-Back-Up-Camera-System-8221-2553-/272582360141?hash=item3f772cbc4d:g:vb4AAOSwuxFYwFt2&vxp=mtr

If it does turn out that you need to run the cable you'd have it.  But be aware that if you need to run the cabling up to the front I would NOT run the power cable as the instructions direct.  There's switched power out back - simply power the camera from the backup lamp - that's the way it's done in the factory wiring harness.

 

 

Edited March 13, 2017 by bramfrank

[Larry Snyder]

Thanks Bramfrank - I picked up a full OEM kit, so either way I'm covered, crossing my fingers that the harness is just sitting there for me to plug into.  -   I called 3 Dealerships and the prices quoted for programing  were $179 (Dealership where I bought the car), $125 and finally, $60!!!   Hopefully when I show up they won't rescind that price. 

[bramfrank]

Quick note;  The instructions aren't as emphatic as I'd have liked about this:  There is a stud poking out of the bezel that fits through a hole in the inside of the hatch and there's a nut that needs to be removed before that bezel comes off.  The trim comes off first.

It took me 20 minutes of prying and poking before I realised it.

Hopefully I've saved you enough time with this advice to allow you to have an extra beer.

Good luck with the install.

[Larry Snyder]

Thanks Bramfrank -

 

I'm about 90% complete on the OEM camera install on the 2015.  Bezel is installed (I did not find the pre-wired harness for the camera) - I ran the cable to the Head unit, put everything back together, but when I was ready to insert the 3 pins to the connector, they already had pins/wires in them? I assume this was part of the "pre-wired" harness that no one can find?  Not sure how to proceed at this point? Do I remove the 3 pins and insert the ones from the camera kit?  Solder the camera wires to the existing wires? Is there a special tool to extract the existing wires, like a pin extractor?  Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. By the way, I still had the extra beer.

 

 

[bramfrank]

Just like mine.  Yes, those wires do go to the back.  But for the life of me I couldn't find the other end.

In any case someone is going to have to remove those wires.  If you know how to unlock the pins (there's a white plastic bar) then great.  I had my dealer do it since they were charging for an hour and he service manager said that they could get it done in that amount of time.  It took them 90 minutes but they didn't bill me for the extra . . . . .

Note that I connected the camera's power as directed to the cigarette lighter socket up front, but in retrospect I probably would have wired the power to voltage out back, since that's how the OEM wiring does it.  Not serious, though, it works well enough except IMO for the way FCA programmed it;

 I would have turned the camera on when shifted into reverse as it does now, but left it on until the transmission was switched to Dive or Park, since you *might* (in my case that means often) shift to neutral while still rolling.

[Larry Snyder]

Thanks for the quick response - I assumed that was the best approach but wanted to confirm prior to committing...Now I just need another nice day here so I can get it done! 

[Larry Snyder]

So I finished the installation and took it to the Dodge Dealer this morning - they updated the computer but couldn't get the camera to work.  They suspect a bad camera or wiring.  When you put it into reverse it does say "watch your surroundings" or something like that, so it looks like the update took.  When I got home, I once again checked the wiring at the camera - verified that the pins were in the correct holes and nothing was pinched, etc.  Then I took the radio out and verified that those pins were correct (they were) and finally, I double checked the power and ground wires and all looked good (soldered).  Is there a way to connect the camera to a monitor to test it?  My next step would be to ohm out each wire but that's a daunting task as I will have to pull everything out again.

 

Anything else anyone can think of to check? I got a "great deal" on this kit ($200) on ebay - the person selling it said he accidentally bought this but it wasn't compatible because he had the smaller screen. I did notice that he must have tried to install it since he had pinned out the camera side of the wiring.

[Larry Snyder]

I measured 12 volts at the back of the camera so that checks out.  I tested continuity on all of the cables from the radio connector to the back of the camera harness and everything checks out.  My only conclusion is the camera is no good.  Next step is try for a refund and start over - not looking forward to pulling everything out, but by now, I can pull the radio in under 3 minutes!  I've installed after market GPS/Backup cameras in my kids cars so I'm pretty confident I did everything correctly.  If there was only a way to test the camera out of the vehicle. I guess I would need some sort of RCA converter and a video camera with a screen?

[2late4u]

time and money spent.oh well sometimes the cheap comes out expensive....

[bramfrank]

You could have shorted out the wiring harness, or there could be something wrong with the video input of the radio too.

It would be best if you could actually connect a monitor to the video output of the camera to verify that there is no actual signal . . . . . and if there is video, then test where the wiring goes into the radio to localise the problem.

If you bought the part online from a dealer you do have an equipment warranty on the kit.

[Larry Snyder]

Hi  Bramfrank, testing the camera on its own was my next step but not sure how to interface a non RCA connector from a camera to a monitor on my old camcorder? Any advice/insights on that?

[bramfrank]

My situation differs from yours, since I'm in the security industry and have tools and things like portable monitors and pigtail video adapters available to me.

If you have a device with a composite video input you could probably use that and cobble a cable together.  Otherwise you might want to wander by a stereo store that deals with backup cameras to get a diagnosis.