Backup camera cable placement f430

Has anyone installed a backup camera on their f430 that’s wired to any aftermarket screen/stereo? Specially trying to get ideas on where you run that cable to get it from the rear to the stereo.

I have a spider which means the roof storage area is an extra obstacle… but I’m curious spider or coupe, if anyone who has it can give guidance on where their cable is running - pics or video would be super helpful.

When it comes to fixes, accessories, etc, I am pretty handy… my handiness stops when the car has to be lifted and I have to touch the expensive stuff.

Any insights help!

 

On my 360 there is a rubber port from the bottom of the psgr side engine bay to the compartment behind the psgr seat where all the relays are located, I fished my camera wire through there. Super easy and no permanent mod.

 

I have done it in my 430 coupe. I ran it thru the rubber grommet on the passenger side in the access panel behind the seat. There is a grommet for wires on both sides, but the passenger side seemed to have less wires and I had a clear view of it from the rear compartment. From there I crossed over to the compartment behind the drivers seat and then too off the side entry covers to run it to the front and under the dash. I used a 14 gauge household solid copper wire to push thru the grommet to the other side and use as my snake wire. Then just tape on the camera wire and pull thru. I did cut off the end to minimize the hole thru the grommet and the soldered it back on later.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

360 was different … my access grommet was under the car.

nice pics!

 

great instructions and pics! A couple questions:
1. Did you drill any holes for the camera itself or did you just squeeze the cable in through the license plate light or something like that?
2. is that grommet accessible in the lower compartment behind the seats where the ECUs are? I’m new to my car, I’ve only explored so much. I’ve been in those compartments and I think I saw those there?

 

I didn't drill any holes at all. I ran it behind the license plate frame and then thru the wire mesh below, see pics. I also then ran a wire loom down to protect the wires from heat. You can easily run a wire down behind the structural beam in the back compartment to get to the area below the license plate. At least with a coupe anyway. In the pictures it looks like you can see the wiring from behind, but the license plate actually hangs down and cover it up. the photo is taken at an angle from below so you can see the wire.

Backup cam is a must in my opinion these cars are very difficult to see out of when backing out of a parking space.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

@btshat This is exactly how I did it on my spider as well! No holes drilled.

 

Some people drill thru the reverse light cover and route thru there, which is probably a technically cleaner install, but I found running behind the license plate to be a better option for me.

 

Sorry forgot abut the second question. Yes that grommet is in the lower compartment behind the passenger seat where electronics and ECUs are. Then I ran under the center console area into the drivers side compartment and made my way to the front from there. You could probably just go to the front on the passenger side, you will just have to navigate around the glove box area.

 

awesome! Again, great pics! Last question (I promise)… did you wrap the cable in anything to protect from heat? Did you just run it along the side behind the panels on the side of the engine bay?

 

For the backup camera I bought a spare lic plate light.. I installed the camera in the lic plate light like oem.

 

No problem, any questions are welcome.

I did put it in a wiring loom. I snapped a photo below. Its the darker black cable running along the structural beam. I zip tied it to the other wiring loom and the hose. You can get the loom at auto stores or amazon. I used 1/2" so I could put the video connector inside. It runs into the side panel area with the other wires and then forward to the grommet location. I did take the side panels out so I could route the wire further away from the heat and out of sight.


Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I ran mine similar to the others except through the drivers side. Then through the center console and up to the stereo.

 

Looks clean. And you were able to do this all from above? Didn’t need to get under the car at all?

 

Yes I did everything from above. That's why I went to the passenger side, I could see the grommet to get thru. The drivers side has other stuff blocking the view, so I wasn't confident I could pull the snake wire thru. And I didn't want to take the bottom pan off I don't really have the right stuff to do that. I was a bit nervous going thru the firewall, but it was fine. just be careful to get off to the side of the rubber so you don't nick the wires.

 

ok last question for real this time… what power source did you use for the camera? Meant to ask…
This is awesome info though. I was thinking along the lines of what you did, but just wanted some validation that there was a clear path through the firewall… people quoted me $700-$1400… even though they admitted to never doing this on a f430 before. I figure “if they’re going to be guessing, I might as well do the guessing.” But now I feel like I know more than these supposed “professionals.” ;-)

 

you can definitely do it yourself. It sounds scary but its not that hard. I got power from the reverse light, so the camera only powers when in reverse. I may actually change that because my head unit allows me to select the camera anytime, but I can't see anything because its powered down unless in reverse. There isn't much need to see out of it at other times so I haven't bothered to find a new source. If I remember correctly the reverse power wire was light blue. I used an electric meter and found it. If you wanted constant power I suppose you could run a power wire all the way to the head unit and use accessory power or constant power lead. Its just as easy to run two wires up there as one.

 

Reverse should be red with black stripe. The nearest practical source of key power would be the exhaust bypass valve solenoids.

 

Mine is a Garmin wireless which comes up on the sat nav screen, mounting the box of tricks under the wing. Works well

 

Yes you are correct, I pulled the cover and checked the wires, Positive is red/black and neg is solid black for reverse light wires.

 

I really like the idea of being able to manually select the camera whenever I want instead of it being tied to reverse light. I am even fine manually selecting the camera when I go to back up, I just prefer the option of being able to drive with that camera feed on (visibility is crap in the spider if you have the roof up).

That said, I’m not sure what that means for my wiring. My backup camera has a yellow video cable (that I understand) and then a 12V DC black cable with an exposed red and black wire. If I don’t care about powering from reverse, does this mean I just get an ext. for the red/black 12v DC wire, run it all the way to the head unit with the video cable, and connect it to the unit?
If so, I can attach the red line to either accessory OR the wire on my stereo harness called (rear backup camera power)… I’m assuming the latter works like accessory.
But what I’m not sure is what I do with the black wire at the head unit… does that attach to the black “ground” cable on the wire harness? That is labeled as “Ground (-)”. So I’m assuming that means it’s the negative wire?

lol… sorry, I realize how confusing this must all be to follow, but I feel like I’m soooo close to having a plan…

 

Yes you can run a wire up to the head unit and connect the red lead to constant power. Any of the ones you described should work. Certainly the constant power lead from the head unit. Black can go to the black wire on the unit or any grounded bolt in the area. You can actually ground it at the back of the car to the frame or to the black wire at the tail lights, and just run the red wire forward.

 

So go figure, whoever last installed this battery wayyyy over torqued the bolt that attaches the negative clip… I cannot seem to get this thing off. So now my question is, if I use the battery cut off switch in the frunk, is disconnecting the negative battery clip necessary still to install my stereo? Is it redundant? Or do I somehow need to get this stupid thing disconnected…?

 

Battery cutoff in the front is fine. That’s what I did, never disconnected the actual battery cable.

 

The battery switch is on the negative side