Wiring Reverse Camera into Car

[Berch]

Hello,

As title says, I am looking to fit a reverse camera into my DS3, the car came with the standard single din stereo which has since been upgraded to a double din stereo thanks to a CTKCT04 kit, the stereo has an input for a reverse camera and I'd really like to get one fitted.

I have already ordered and received one which is kind of built into the number plate (the number plate comes off, a holder with a camera at the top goes on and then the number plate sits back into the holder) and all sorted. The only thing I haven't yet figured out how I am going to do, of which I haven't actually tried to looked yet, is how to get the wires from the number plate area inside the car so I can of course wire them to the stereo and also then find a 12V supply somewhere to power the reverse camera itself.

If anyone has an ideas of how I could do this or have done something similar and can share their methods of getting the wires into the car, this would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Dangerousfish]

Only suggestion I have is to look in one of two locations:

1. Registration plate light - There will be a cable that powers this you *MIGHT* be able to route your cable through here

2. Rear window washer jet - This will be a plastic hose that runs the length of the car from the washer bottle, try tracing this. As it comes from the top of the window, I doubt this will be of any use.

Only other option I can think of would be to drill your boot.

[anothadave]

i was going to get a reversing camera myself and was going to pay an auto technician to do it. he was gonna charge £50 as he said its at least 2 hours work.. i didnt think that was too bad since it would save me mucking around with it. might be worth seeing if theres any local guys near you.

i was going to get this cameria. its designed specifically for the ds3. it plugs into the light and takes the power from there as far as i know.

https://incartec.co.uk/Pages/Product.aspx?P=4360

[Funky]

i was going to get a reversing camera myself and was going to pay an auto technician to do it. he was gonna charge £50 as he said its at least 2 hours work.. i didnt think that was too bad since it would save me mucking around with it. might be worth seeing if theres any local guys near you.

i was going to get this cameria. its designed specifically for the ds3. it plugs into the light and takes the power from there as far as i know.

https://incartec.co.uk/Pages/Product.aspx?P=4360

I'd be interested in something like that as mine doesn't have parking sensors. Does it display anything on the centre screen or are there just audible bleeps. If you get one Dave, post up what it's like and a pic of it in place please.

[Dangerousfish]

I'd be interested in something like that as mine doesn't have parking sensors. Does it display anything on the centre screen or are there just audible bleeps. If you get one Dave, post up what it's like and a pic of it in place please.

I think the clue is in the name, "Camera" Funky

[Bigfeet]

Or you could just turn your head....



Best place to mount the camera is where DS & Citroen puts it, on the recess above the rear number plate.

[Funky]

I think the clue is in the name, "Camera" Funky

Jesus Christ!! What a knob I am!!! Thanks for pointing out that glaringly obvious oversight Fish Hahaha. It was early and I've not had much sleep - that's my very thin excuse!!

[Dangerousfish]

Or you could just turn your head....

Doesn't work if you have limo tints on the back

[Berch]

Hiya,

Thanks for all the responses, they are much appreciated. I might actually end up sending the one that I got back as its slightly too large and ruins the look of the car.

i was going to get a reversing camera myself and was going to pay an auto technician to do it. he was gonna charge £50 as he said its at least 2 hours work.. i didnt think that was too bad since it would save me mucking around with it. might be worth seeing if theres any local guys near you.

i was going to get this cameria. its designed specifically for the ds3. it plugs into the light and takes the power from there as far as i know.

https://incartec.co.uk/Pages/Product.aspx?P=4360

Thanks for linking this, it actually looks really good and I imagine it hides away pretty nicely without making anything look too different.

Don't suppose anyone has seen one of these or used one as I am curious about two things.
The first being the angle, looking at my number plate lights, they are a little far up from the silver rim above the number plate so my worry is that it would not actually see anything but the back of a silver rim which of course would be useless. This could just be me worrying about nothing as the picture may make the camera look smaller and it may well go down past the silver rim and see just fine.

My other curiosity was the power, does this use the plug/socket that usually powers the number plate light so that you do not actually need to find anywhere to actually power it from, if it does, does that mean the camera would only be powered when the headlights are on? I've only had my DS3 a couple months as I've only just passed my test so not actually noticed if the number plate lights are constantly powered or are only powered with the headlights.

Also a note to Funky, I've just ordered one of those that anotherdave linked so once I have got it, I will take some pictures of the installing and the camera once its complete and what it can see. Hopefully that will help you.

Regards and thanks again for the help all,
Berch

[anothadave]

this is specifically designed for the ds3 so there shouldnt be any problems with the viewing angle. not sure about the power. i assumed it just replaces the existing number plate light and takes the power from there. you shouldnt have to do any wiring other then unplug your light and plug in the new one. the hard part is the camera to screen connection. i do know it comes with a 2metre extension cable to run to the front of the car to connect to the screen. but the route to take is the hard part. since youve already ordered one then im sure youll be able to confirm soon enough.

[Berch]

this is specifically designed for the ds3 so there shouldnt be any problems with the viewing angle. not sure about the power. i assumed it just replaces the existing number plate light and takes the power from there. you shouldnt have to do any wiring other then unplug your light and plug in the new one. the hard part is the camera to screen connection. i do know it comes with a 2metre extension cable to run to the front of the car to connect to the screen. but the route to take is the hard part. since youve already ordered one then im sure youll be able to confirm soon enough.

Hey,

Yeah I figured it would just be a case of unplug the light and plug in the camera and the only hard part being wiring the lead from there to the stereo/screen.

Also as you mention as this is designed for the car specifically I imagine it works fine in terms of power but I have ordered one as you say so will find out soon enough, it gets delivered Monday so will keep all informed and post pictures then.

Regards,
Berch

[DaveB]

I would assume that the camera is powered from the reversing light supply, as you only need it when the car's in reverse.

[Funky]

Also a note to Funky, I've just ordered one of those that anotherdave linked so once I have got it, I will take some pictures of the installing and the camera once its complete and what it can see. Hopefully that will help you.

Thanks Berch. Be good to see what it looks like from the outside and how you wired it up both above the rear plate and up to wherever you are positioning your screen and obviously if it's any good.

[Berch]

Hello again,

After a fair few hours and stress, mostly trying to get from the license plate light, into the boot of the car, I have fitted the reverse camera and so far am pretty pleased.

To start off with, I removed the black panel in the boot as you open it, which just consisted of removing 2 screws and pulling it off from a couple of clips, I did this in the hopes of finding existing holes to get the cable from the license plate light into the boot, which I did find, although actually getting through them all was a pain in the butt.



I then un-clipped the license plate using something thin to pry it out and then stuck a bright yellow cable tie in there that I could push and shove around and hopefully see through the other end.



I then looked around behind the panel I had just removed and felt behind a black sticker there was a hole, so I cut it out and then had my target to get the cable tie through.



This part is what took the most time because I had to maneuver the cable tie through the license plate light and then through 2 holes which were not lined up and could only get 2-3 fingers in the license plate light hole to try and do that, anyway, after much stress, swearing and coffee I managed to do it and had the cable tie through as you can just about see in the picture the cable tie sticking out from the bumper and inside the boot.



Once I had done this, I simply tied the end of the wire on the reverse camera onto the end of the cable tie, by the license plate light and then gently wiggled and pulled it through into the boot. Took the picture below after completing this.



Once I done this, I had to attach the other wires which power the light that is built onto the side of the reverse camera to keep both lights on either side. However there is no socket liked I first expected and hoped for on the reverse camera just 2 wires to be attached, so I carefully trimmed a gap in the existing wires just above the socket, rather than cut the socket off, just in case I ever needed to re-attach the old light wrapped the wires from the camera light around it and then black taped them up.



Once I done this, I looked to the reverse light bulb wires in order to power the camera, finding this was pretty simple, I just peeled back the fabric around the lightly carefully and found the socket which goes into the lights, identified which one was for the reverse light, which was the white cable and did the same as with the license plate light, cutting into it and wrapping the wire around and black taping it and attached the earth to the close by earth cable where my amp is also plugged into.





Once I had done this, I simply put the fabric back and put the wire through the vent in the boot, where my amp ground also goes through.



After this I just had to run the RCA cable to my stereo, although for me, because I had the single din stereo to start with on my DS3 and upgraded it to a double din stereo, removing my stereo means I have to removal the entire center panel, arm rest and some dash trims.





After that, I was sorted. Started the car up and turned my stereo on and put the car in reverse, hoping everything had gone well and the stereo would automatically switch to the reverse camera input and it did.



I apologize for the grainy picture, it was pretty dark out by this point and even more so while I was reversed onto my drive but you get a rough idea of what the camera can see. I also took some pictures outside of the car facing where the camera would be so you can get a rough perspective of what the camera is seeing.





And finally a picture close of what it looks like on the car, you can just see the camera poking out, I was worried at first about this as I thought the camera is never going to see anything but half the floor and then the silver trim but that wasn't the case.



Overall am glad and will try to remember to post a picture in the day actually in a car park or something, hopefully this wasn't too detailed or not detailed enough and sorry for so many pictures, didn't realize how many I took until I actually put them all in one post.

If anyone has a question feel free to ask and will be happy to help if I can.

Regards,
Berch

[anothadave]

nice write up. so the camera just came with some bare wires for the camera power and light. not a proper socket? thats a shame. they could have just made a socket like on the license plate light thats being removed. but i suppose that would have cost them an extra 50p to make lol.

you just ran the camera wire down the centre of the car then?