celiawessen

I came across a 08 Cayenne with a factory reverse camera. The ones that are installed in the black trim under the rear window and pops out when the vehicle is in reverse. This indicates that the car originally came with a PCM from the dealer.

A previous owner had replaced the head unit with an aftermarket stereo using a CAN-BUS adapter, but now the new owner wanted to put in a GPS navigation unit. He had all the stereo wiring done - easy since there was a aftermarket head unit there before, but couldn't figure out where the power signal wire was to activate the camera to pop out. He came to me, cuz he knew I owned... electrical stuff, like multi-meters and such.

Well, a multimeter comes in handy, but I thought it's not going to help much in finding that wire. But then, I think I found an extra Ground and Remote wire on the CIII-plug (blue in some cases, I,II,&III maybe one big piece if you don't have the CD changer).

Now... if these are the Ground and Remote wires for the reverse camera, where do I connect the Remote to? If I connect it to the same Remote as the Antenna or Amplifier, the camera is going to stay popped out while the car is on. Would the Reverse wire work? Does it have the right amount of juice?

Does Porsche offer these cameras as a Tequipment retro-fit? Then I'd be able to get a hold of an installation manual!

Anyway, I thought I'd post here before I go electrify the wire and fry a fuse or something irreplaceable.

Andy E.

This procedure was discussed in depth on Renntech.org with little success. One member even went as far as purchasing all the components and wiring only to find out that the vehicle's wiring harness is VIN-specific and nothing worked.

You'll need more than a multimeter to access the Cayenne's sophisticated electronics and wiring. Many on this board can attest to this fact. If by chance you find a way to make this work, please share your procedure with us! Good luck.

celiawessen

Thanks Andy,

I guess RennTech.org is the more tech oriented forum. I'm registered there too.

Of course I'd let the whole world know if it works!!

Celia

celiawessen

I've found out that on the Becker CIII Plug, the Brown wire was a Ground wire and the Blue wire was a +12V CONST wire. When the Blue wire made a circuit with ANY Ground wire , the camera popped out of the back.

To test the video feed, I made a Mini-59 to RCA cable... and it worked. The camera popped out and I had a mirror image on the after-market navi screen.

I needed a mechanism that kept the circuit open during ignition off/idle condition, but closed the circuit when the car was put into reverse... some kind of open relay switch that was activated by a traditional purple reverse wire or the CAN-BUS reverse signal. The factory PCM must have had this function built-in, which read the signal from the CAN-BUS and closed the circuit on these two wires.

This particular car HAS a CAN-BUS adapter with a working reverse signal wire (navi has a diagnosis screen!). I'm thinking a Bosch style relay should get the job done... I don't have one laying around, so I'll have to go get one - and some extra wire. And I'm hoping the reverse signal wire from the CAN-BUS adapter has enough juice to pull the circuit closed.

If it all works, I'll have to come up with a way to fit all the wires behind the dash.

*** UPDATE ***

Aghk The head unit was giving a false positive reading on the reverse signal. After testing each lead from the CAN-BUS adapter, this particular unit was not transmitting REV and P-BREAK.

Since this is a CAN-BUS equipped vehicle, I'm guessing it doesn't have a reverse signal wire under the driver's seat. I'll probably have to get it from the reverse lights when I take a look at the amp.

celiawessen

Ok, so it works with a 30A 4 pole Bosch-style relay. Circuit closes when the reverse light goes on -> camera pops out. Since it's just one 18 ga. wire that is rarely energized, I tucked it in the rubber along the window... nobody's gonna open the door and hang off the side when the car is in reverse, right?

I noticed that the MOST+CAN combo cars don't even have a fuse in the passenger side fuse box for "Reverse lights". Where could it be???

matli

Hi. Just to clarify. I also have a Cayenne 2007 and installed a new after market head unit. The blue wire that you have mentioned to have the camera to open, is it the wire as indicated in the attached image?

I would want to get me original installed rear view camera to work again as well.

Km1.8t

2007 Cayenne?

mudman2

no wonder theres a problem

hahnmgh63

I never did trace the wires to the headunit when the Camera went bad on my '06 turbo S, just the Video wire. There is a controller module under the rear hatch cover which supplies voltage to the factory Camera as well as the motor which opens & closes the Camera extension mechanism. The Motor is powered open & powered closed. The Video wire is a standard video feed to the front with a Fakra connector. I just replaced my camera with a Similar $19.99 Ebay Chinese camera and used a RCA to Fakra adapter. The cheap camera has as good if not a better picture than OEM. One gotcha is that if you use the factory control module under the hatch, the Video power output is only about 6.5Volts. I bought two Ebay cameras, one would work on the 6.5V (cheaper one $19.99) and the other would not ($29.99). Seems the threashold voltage was about 8Volts for the other Camera to work as I originally tested them with a 9Volt battery and they both worked great.

ltc

RoW...

There was a single 2007 US Cayenne ... It is part of Larry's private car collection. It is only driven on Friday the 13th, after having served as the hearse at his funeral.

matli

Sure, it would be rather easy for me to get a new cheap camera, I was already considering this, however the original installed camera is still still okay, thus I would like to try to retain it. I'll guess I will be looking at the wires in more detail.

@Km1.8t: Its a year 2007 Cayenne Turbo

matli

Okay, project factory pre-installed rear view camera continued.

Confirmed from my earlier post and photo while performing some measurement tests, the blue wire (as seen and highlighted in my previous post and photo) connected to ground does actually activate the original factory installed rear view camera. The camera moves and the video signal is present at activation.

What I will do now is to make a small circuit and install it into a small housing. The trigger signal to activate the relay can either come from the CAR DVD player or from the reverse light signal.

I will install the box first and see what signal to use best. Attached the simple idea. So far my new DVD player with integrated NAV, TV, Internet, iPod support works perfect. The only outstanding issue is the rear view camera and I am about to solve this issue too.

More details and photos to follow-soon.

SOOK

Hello All,
If like me you was struggling to get the original slick (foldable, factory) cayenne camera to work with your all new tech aftermarket audio unit then your google search has finally payed off

First of all credit due to Matli above for the innovative idea although he was a *** trying to get in touch with for assistance, i had to figure the rest out on my own

To confirm to you guys the idea works. What you will need in addition to your new tech audio unit is 3 additional pieces; a 12v relay as mensioned, a FAKRA male to RCA male adaptor, and a long electrical wire.

Confirming from above post the blue wire in the pic is the camera function wire whereby when connected to ground (GND/car chassis) the camera motor operates and it is powered to give a video signal. i tested this by cutting this blue wire and connecting it to a bolt inside the unit void area give it a go to understand. The relay is then required to be connected as mentioned in Matli's wanderful sketch, the blue wire +ve goes to the POLE/COM/V0/(30) pin of the relay while the reverse signal wire +ve goes to the coil input signal connection pin (Vs/(85)) with ground (any wire to chassis bolt) -ve connect on the other two connection pins (86 and (87a /NO). Pin (87/NC) is redundant and doesn't need any connection. See Matli's diagram and download a typical relay diagram online to understand the above references.

The reverse signal wire location was a b**ch to figure out, but finally i found a great location that doesn't require opening up all the interior compartment to take it from the rear lights to the audio unit area to connect to the relay pin.

In the boot of the cayenne open up the spare tire compartment and imminently close to the bumper (below the tire compartment hatch holding rod) is a thick black fabric coated wire containing a bunch of electrical wires, the BLACK and BLUE-stripe wire is the reverse light signal wire you are looking for!(I used a tester while in reverse to figure that out) now cut a snippet into the plastic of the wire only exposing the copper and connect a long thin electrical wire by wrapping it up on the copper soldering it in place and insulating with insulation tape. Then wrap the wire adjacent the thick black fabric wire to stop it moving out of place and locate the wire neatly around the spare tire up on to the boot edges and through the rear left passanger seat edge to below the door foot area simply push-tuck the wire under the plastic door edge hiding it securely away do the same as you take the wire to the front passenger door foot area right the way through to the glove box compartment, open all the screws for the glove box to take it out a do a neat job tracking the wire to the back of the audio unit and simply connect to the relay (Vs/85) pin and solder in place. Dont forget to connect the ground wires pins to the chassis bolt inside the audio unit void/ or a gnd wire if your new unit has one).

Now the video signal part, the cayenne camera video out connection is the green connector that is on the original PCM and the wire connector is FAKRA so it requires a FAKRA to RCA adapter to connect it to the new audio system. I recommend you get this as it would be best for quality of image, however if like me it is difficult to obtain you can make your own adaption by cutting the fakra wire and any old RCA male wire and connecting them physically and soldering in place. (luckily i didn't notice any quality loss). Now mate the adapted RCA male to the RCA female on the audio system and make a baby . Try the connection before putting everything back behind the unit neatly. Put the car in reverse gear the camera should operate and the video signal should be received to your new audio system screen.

Your Welcome
SOok

Ben Tan

Just one question, when out of reverse, the slick stock camera will retract back to closed position?