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Reversing Camera for under $60. No Need to Modify CCF!!!

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toxxic

Member Since: 27 Jun 2011
Location: Saskatoon
Posts: 87

2008 LR3 4.0 V6 Petrol SE Auto Stornoway Grey

Reversing Camera for under $60. No Need to Modify CCF!!!

So do you want to install a reversing camera to your Land Rover without modifying the CCF and also you don't want to spend lots of money. Are you sick of reversing a huge car without knowing what is behind you. Are you always afraid you will hit a small child or something while reversing without realising. And ofcourse you would want it done professionally so no wires are shown and it doesn't look messy. Well here is the very simple solution for a very high quality camera. Only thing is you have to install it yourself which is easy and I will guide you how to do it. Even a noob can do this.

First of all the parts you'll need:

Here is the first part you need. The camera from ebay

The camera has a CCD sensor so it produces the highest quality image. Not bad for around $19 CAD.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/CCD-CAR-CAMERA-LAND...35b06414e9

The second part you need is this. The Rear View Mirror/Monitor also from ebay

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/150845796923?ssPage...1497.l2649

This will connect on top of your existing rear view mirror and will show you camera view when in reverse mode. This is the only solution which avoids adding an extra screen in your car and also avoids having to change any CCF files in the car. Since I live in Canada I know that people at LandRover here are not as friendly as they are in the UK and they charge 100's of dollars to do any modifications to the car.

The third part you need is some more wiring.

You'll need a wire extension for extending the power lead from 12V power cable to the reversing light.

Below is the picture of the power wiring that comes with camera.

You basically just need a piece of wire about 1.5meters long black wire with a red and black wire in it. I used a speaker extension wire from my surround sound. Kinda looks like this.

One of the wires has a slight white in it the other one is just bronze. So I connected the red to the white one and black to the bronze one and remembered which one I connected to which wire.

RCA Cable
There is a 5m RCA cable already provided with the camera but that is only enough to bring the cable from the outside camera to the back of compartment. You'll need another 5m long RCA cable which runs from the front (by the rear view mirror) all the way to the back compartment of the car. For extension cable to join together you'll also need two RCA couplers.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/5m-RCA-Male-Male-Co...27c82795ed

RCA Coupler
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2-PCS-RCA-Female-Fe...3cba305784

Now for installation:

Part 1. Installing the Camera. Bring wire from outside to inside. Then from inside up to the roof. Then from the roof back down to the Back Compartment. Then From Back Compartment into the reverse light. Then connect the power to the reversing light.

The camera goes on the right light on the tailgate switch panel. For that unfortunately you have to take out the four mouldings from the inside of the top half of the tailgate door. They are all clipped on except there is one screw to take out from the bottom moulding which is the largest moulding. Also there are four torx screws byt the tailgate switch panel which need to be taken out. Once the four mouldings are out the tailgate switch panel is attached to the tailgate upper door by three nuts which need to come out and then the panel would easily pop out.

Once panel is out take out the light cover and then take out the bulb from the back of it. Put the camera wire through the hole and attach the bulb that you took out to the back of the camera module and then put the camera module into the hole. bring the wire from the back of the camera module through the door and then put the tailgate panel switch back onto the tailgate upper door securing it with the three nuts that you took out earlier. Connect the AV cable and power cable that came with the camera to the camera cable and wire it along the sides of the wire that is already there and bring it through to the top and bring it through the rubber wire protector things into the roof of the car. Wire it through the back and into the side moulding and then push both wires down into the back compartment of the car.

From the back compartment you need only to bring the power cable through to the reverse light switch. To do this you need to take out the left reversing light by unscrewing the two screws that are holding it and then popping it out. You will see a small vent like thing by it. If you lift one of the flaps up you will see a small hole which leads to the back compartment. Lead the power cable through this hole and out through the vent to connect to the reversing light. The red wire attached to the brown/green wire of the reversing light and the black wire attaches to the black wire of the reversing light wiring harness. To do this you need to first splice the wires using a wire stripper (to cut the plastic) and a pair of scissors (to remove the plastic). Once the inside is visible wrap the wire from camera power cable around it and then put electrical tape around it. Once I did power and ground and taped them both individually I taped all the wiring harness with electrical tape together so that wires are not loose.

Pop all the mouldings back in and put all the screws back on.

Part 2. Installing the Mirror/Monitor.

Remove the plastic bit behind the center mirror. They just clip off, you might have the move the ccenter mirror around a bit. Fix the mirror/monitor onto your existing center mirror.

Now open the interior front lighting bit (the one with the switch control on for sunroof) by just pulling it down from the side that is closer to the front wind shield. Then put the wires through from the mirror/monitor so they are hanging down from the bit where the interior front lights are. This is also where you need to start taking a RCA cable and wire it along the top sides of the car into the back left compartment where the camera rca wire is. Then connect the RCA cable to the camera cable. The other end of the RCA cable which should be hanging down by the interior front lights should be connected to the mirror/monitor video input wire which says CAM Input on it.

For powering the mirror/monitor I purchased a piggyback mini fuse holder from canadian tire and took power from fuse 58 (the radio fuse). i took out the passenger side moulding (by pulling down the plastic bit that says airbag on it and then removing the torx screw behind it). I brought the wiring up from there into the interior front lights. For the black ground wire I spliced the black wire from the interior front lights and connected it to that. Make sure that the piggyback fuse is working by checking if the instruments that it is connected to are working. If its not working then pull out the fuses from the piggyback fuse holder and put them the other way round then it should work. So now everything is hooked up and all the wires are hidden all you have to do is put everything you took out back on. Pop the front interior lights panel back in and thats it. I'll post some pics later and also change this guide and write it better with more pics etc later.

P.S. I also purchased a cable from Disco3 website to convert AV from camera to the connections that is needed to connect to the back of the sat nav unit. This is before I knew that you had to modify the CCF file to enable rearview camera. Although to test it I connected it to the sat nav unit. The middle connector is for rear view camera and when I went into diagnostic screen I could see through the camera but CCF needs to be modified in order to enable it automatically unfortunately. So if you got a buddy at LR who can modify the car configuration file (CCF) for you this is probably best option otherwise I would recommend this mirror/monitor screen as 2nd best option since you are not using any additional space.

Last edited by toxxic on 16th Jul 2012 11:14 pm. Edited 5 times in total

29th Jun 2012 4:06 am

Bodsy
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Member Since: 06 Nov 2006
Location: In the Clubhouse
Posts: 21361

2007 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Auto Java Black

Great write up Toxic

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29th Jun 2012 6:36 am

Flack

Member Since: 06 Sep 2006
Location: Preston Lancashire
Posts: 6308

2007 Discovery 3 TDV6 XS Auto Stornoway Grey

Good write up bud a good cheap option.

Flack

29th Jun 2012 6:50 am

toxxic

Member Since: 27 Jun 2011
Location: Saskatoon
Posts: 87

Thanks guys. I also retrofit parking sensors. I phoned up this guys and he quoted me $400 CAD bucks to install them. Turns out I am not very rich so I decided to go for a slightly cheaper option from eBay which cost me $15 CAD bucks and 2 hours to install. I'll do a post include some pics also, It works great, cos I installed the beeper right next to me so I can hear it even when I have my volume on full notch. I don't know how well these sensors would work for those offroader guys who go in river and stuff because it would probably ruin the sensors but for city drivers like me these reversing sensors work great.

Also ordered front parking sensors with a switch from eBay which I'll install and will be controlled via a switch which I'll put on front console. It will have its own beeper also.

Also thinking of installing Blind Spot Assist

. A bit trickier than installing parking sensors but I have an idea. I'll install 1 parking sensor on the back RH of the bumper and 1 parking sensor on the back LH of bumper. The module wud sit in the back and power would be connected to the back reversing lights (Left and Right) but on the wire with the indicator light on only so its only activated when the indicator lights are activated. Therefore, when I'm driving and want to change lanes and miss my blind spot the sensors should activate and the beep would notify me of the blind spot. Just thought of this idea after watching a clip on youtube with a car that had blind spot assist. Only thing is that car had a small light on the side mirrors which lit up also but I can't find an aftermarket system that will allow me to do that.

If I do manage to install the above two I'll be sure to add some photos of installation etc and show them working etc. Should be fun.

Last edited by toxxic on 29th Jun 2012 8:18 am. Edited 2 times in total

29th Jun 2012 8:14 am

nighthawk

Member Since: 24 Jul 2010
Location: Malta
Posts: 1163

2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 Commercial Manual Buckingham Blue

Great writeup.

I used that very same cheap camera but hooked it up to my CarPC touchscreen monitor. I took pics (in my gallery) to make a writeup but never got round to it

My install stops at the C-pillar because I have a commercial model so all the wiring lives under the false floor in the back.

Cheap camera it may be, but it does the job brilliantly. Night time picture isn't great, just adequate enough with the reversing lights on to see that you're not hitting anything, but since when do you need DVD quality picture on a reversing camera?

Dennis

2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 Commercial Manual Buckingham Blue

29th Jun 2012 8:16 am

Windy Corner

Member Since: 23 Feb 2009
Location: South Leicestershire
Posts: 484

2012 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 HSE Auto Baltic Blue

Looks good

So, to be clear in that installation you lose one of the number plate lights ??

Rik Discovery 4 HSE SDV6 Baltic Blue
Discovery 3 S TDV6 Zambezi Silver - Now gone........
Leicestershire & Rutland 4x4 Response

29th Jun 2012 11:15 am

toxxic

Member Since: 27 Jun 2011
Location: Saskatoon
Posts: 87

no because the light attaches to the camera now

29th Jun 2012 11:28 am

anglefire

Member Since: 09 Mar 2010
Location: In the Club House
Posts: 4180

I've done basically this in mine- though I only use it when I tow the caravan.

Only slight niggle is that you can't quiet see the towbar

My monitor also had a switch wire so that the camera can be automatically switched when in reverse - but I didn't bother

Mark.
2006, D3 SE Auto - gone but not forgotten.
2014 BMW 530d M Sport Tourer.
1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500

_________________________________________________
Disco Picture Website Here

29th Jun 2012 7:09 pm

pinhead

Member Since: 20 Dec 2010
Location: yorkshire
Posts: 877

2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 S Manual Adriatic Blue

I have also done this and used the same camera but instead of the mirror monitor I used a head rest screen where the sat nav should be this will be replaced some time with a d4 surround and the garmin 1490 tv

Now what I also did was take my camera apart melt the hot glue and alter the angle as it does not look straight behind the car but straight behind the no plate light ie off center and you cannot see tow ball
Mine now just shows tow ball and a bit of the bumper at each side so you can back up to somthing with mm precision now will see about a pic for you lot this morning when I get up

Click image to enlarge

you can just make out the tow ball above the + button

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated

30th Jun 2012 6:35 am

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