Well, guys after seeing one in a thread here, I decided to go with the Alpine ilx-f309 Gps unit. I intend to use it with a backup camera. My question to the group is: Where do I pick up the reverse signal for the backup camera? The tail lights are pretty contained and I don't want go digging through there if there is a better way. Has anyone out there done this before? This is being installed in my 88 s4.

Any help will be appreciated.

Cheers

there is a plug in the spare tire well area behind the plastic cover.

On an '88 with automatic transmission, the output (pin 87) of Relay XXII (the backup lamp relay) goes out of the CE panel at either W21 or U21, the text on the scan of the wiring diagrams is terrible. Confirm in the WSM diagrams, page 2 of the '88 wiring diagrams, 'Lights USA'. One of those connectors should have switched 12V with the transmission in reverse.

Thanks Rob. I looked at mine till I had a headache. Mine is also fuzzy and I just couldn't make it out. Thanks also to Sterling. I believe you are the reason I discovered this thing. I absolutely love this unit. The worst thing yet is having to have 2 different antenna's on the outside of the car. I have both a gps antenna as well as the Sirus XM antenna. I made a long 1k mile trip 2 weeks ago while trying to plan a lighthouse tour for the Porsche club. All I could get on the radio was either ultra conservative radio or ultra religious. I cant think of which one I dislike more. I pledged, I would NEVER do a trip that long without some real music or at least audio books. I am happy with this choice but the install is taking longer than expected. The interior on this car is really nice and I will not tolerate exposed wires. Add to that feeling like crap and you have a recipe to turn a 2 day job into a week long one....Will be worth it when done!!!

Frank --

Keith Widom wrote about mounting the GPS antenna inside the third brakelight housing. On my DD, it's mounted in the top of the dash pretty much right above the display unit. The Sirius antenna is on the roof, broadcast antenna is a diversity setup in the two rear quarter windows. Decide what's best while poking the fewest number of holes in the body.

Look at CE connection at U21, a black-with-blue-tracer to find the camera trigger signal.

Note that this guidance applies only to auto gearbox cars, where there's a backup lamp relay to translate the pulled-low signal from the gear selector switch to a high value to light the backup lamps. Manual gearbox cars have a discrete backup-lamps switch on the gearbox, and a jumper in place of the relay in the central-electrics panel. The only place to grab a manual-gearbox trigger will be at the T7 (pin 4) connector in the spare tire well, forward right and protected by that black plastic cover.

Rob, that is a great idea. I will check it out. The gps antenna is very small. Smaller in fact than the Sirus antenna. Man, had to take one side of the hatch loose to get the wires through the gap. God, that was a bear to do by yourself. Now, to figure out how to run the backup camera wire. Gona go crawling under right now.

Thanks to all you guys for your help and suggestions. Rob, I hope you wont mind if I borrow your idea for the gps mount??

Ok, I am thinking about going through the tow hook hole behind the license plate to run the backup camera wire. I will probably never use the tow hook and it is in the perfect place...

I bought a taglight camera combo on eBay and replaced one of my tag lights. Works pretty good, I’m happy with it. Had to dremel a little bit, as the one I bought is a tad larger...looks good tho’

Yeah, I bought a pretty high end camera but it attaches to a plate across the top of the license plate. So the camera is almost directly in front of the tow hook hole.

Pics or link?

Let's see it!

Sterling:

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...thread-10.html

post #142 has a pic of the assembly and where I had to dremel out.

here is a pic of the wire and if you zoom you can see the assembly also hanging...

Here’s the camera as installed. It’s quite a wide shot and the passenger side bumperette is visible in the camera shot. Can’t post a pic of the actual view at the moment, the stereo is dead. Hope to replace it before Frenzy.

Thanks for those posts guys. They are awesome. Sterling, I just cant seem to get the hang of taking pictures and also doing the work. The damn camera is in the way, they are so easy to break and it just interrupts my way of thinking. I wish I was as good at it as Dwane but just am not. I will post some pics when finished. You guys rock and this would have taken forever without you. Did I mention im doing this with a broken shoulder????

You are doing more than I would with a broken shoulder. Looks great though! Any info on where to buy?