02-05 Rear View Mirror Backup Camera

[tomsmall1952]

Backup camera in. Installed an Auto-Vox T1400 mirror cam ($150 on Amazon). This is a wireless setup. Here is a list of materials:
1) Auto-Vox T1400 mirror cam
2) mini add a fuse( goes in #18 in passenger side fuse panel (this is a switched outlet and doesn’t cause battery drain when car is off),
3) pack of quick connect connectors (red),
4) one ring terminal (blue) to fit on + battery terminal,
5) one female add on lighter socket (to plug mirror power supplyinto)
6) wire (used multilead trailer wire I had on hand 16ga)
7) one RL45 relay (this is due to Tbirds having a positive ground on the lighting in rear( Amazon or any parts house.

I had installed a 5” screen system up high on windshield for another system, but it seemed obtrusive. The mirror screen looks like a regular mirror. You lose the courtesy lighting in the OEM mirror though. Was anxious about removing the OEM mirror and snapping off the mount. I went to the Safelight place up the street and they popped it right off with no damage, time or cost.

Another thing you need to do is locate the black/green wire coming out of driver side rear lamp assy. Do not cut it. Lay back the tape wrap and use a red line tap to access the wire.



Including the wiring diagram for the relay. Trigger is line from above black/green wire. Questions?

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[biddle]

You can also replace your radio and add a back up camera as noted here- https://forums.fordthunderbirdforum...arplay-android-auto-2002-2003-2004-2005.9433/

 

[philtanner76]

tomsmall1952,

“Another thing you need to do is locate the black/green wire coming out of driver side rear lamp assy. Do not cut it. Lay back the tape wrap and use a red line tap to access the wire.”

Can it be the black/green wire on the passenger side rear lamp assembly? (I’ve already got it isolated.)

 

[doug7740]

I installed a Auto-Vox wireless backup camera on my 2004 Thunderbird. I thought that the intallation was quite easy. In a normal situation you could power the camera by tapping off of one of the backup wires so the camera turns on when in reverse. However in a Thunderbird all of the rear lights have voltage and the rear electronic module supplies the ground to illuminate the lights. Because of this a relay has to be installed to supply voltage to the camera and to trigger the relay when in reverse, you have to tap into either the black/green wire coming out of driver side backup light or the black/red wire coming out of passenger side backup lamp.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[philtanner76]

Doug 7740
Thank you for the very nice reply/post. It was very helpful. My T-bird is in NC and I live in SD but work part time in NC so I am trying to get this resolved here in November. I bought a screen/monitor with Apple CarPlay that broadcasts sound through an FM channel and has a dash cam attached to the external headunit/screen. It has a backup camera too and that is what I was inquiring about in my post in early August. I've got an RL45 relay. I've isolated/identified the black with red stripe wire coming out of the right/passenger rear taillight assembly (my negative/ground trigger) and I am planning to wire it to post 85. The backup camera comes with a ~15 ft cable that plugs into the screen via a mini audio-type plug. There is a male/female connector about 2 feet from the back-up camera end with a 3-4' red wire with a bare tip coming back from the male end that is supposed to be connected to the taillight power source. I intend to attach this to post 87. When I was trying to sort out the correct connections in early August, I opened the black camera cable. Inside, there are four wires: a bare wire, a red wire, a yellow wire, and a white wire. There also seemed to be a foil-type coating around all of the coated wires and the one bare wire (as a bundle) underneath the black external coating. I'm assuming the yellow and white wires carry the video signal. I believe the red wire carries the positive current and the bare wire carries the negative/ground. Since I don't think I should have gotten in to this cable, I've done my best to seal it back up and restore it to the original. I am confused, however, as to how to reconcile what seems like my connection of the red wire to post 87. Do I need to somehow ground the backup camera to the car frame? The black coated video cable simply runs directly in to the back of the backup camera that I have attached to a metal license plate holder but it is not connected to the bare metal car frame anywhere. As I reviewed a few YouTube videos on using relays (and I reviewed your post above with the schematics, it seemed wise that I connect both post 86 and post 30 to an inline fuse before it is connected to the positive on the battery. I can't find a recommendation for an inline fuse to use. 10 Amp? One with a wire coming out of both ends and the fuse in a holder in the middle or one that taps in to a fuse box slot? Sorry to ask more questions but I thought it best to try and get things figured out on paper before I go out to the garage to tackle this later this week. Thanks again for the help! Phil

 

[philtanner76]

I installed a Auto-Vox wireless backup camera on my 2004 Thunderbird. I thought that the intallation was quite easy. In a normal situation you could power the camera by tapping off of one of the backup wires so the camera turns on when in reverse. However in a Thunderbird all of the rear lights have voltage and the rear electronic module supplies the ground to illuminate the lights. Because of this a relay has to be installed to supply voltage to the camera and to trigger the relay when in reverse, you have to tap into either the black/green wire coming out of driver side backup light or the black/red wire coming out of passenger side backup lamp.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

View attachment 31748

View attachment 31749View attachment 31750

Doug 7740
Thank you for the very nice reply/post. It was very helpful. My T-bird is in NC and I live in SD but work part time in NC so I am trying to get this resolved here in November. I bought a screen/monitor with Apple CarPlay that broadcasts sound through an FM channel and has a dash cam attached to the external headunit/screen. It has a backup camera too and that is what I was inquiring about in my post in early August. I've got an RL45 relay. I've isolated/identified the black with red stripe wire coming out of the right/passenger rear taillight assembly (my negative/ground trigger) and I am planning to wire it to post 85. The backup camera comes with a ~15 ft cable that plugs into the screen via a mini audio-type plug. There is a male/female connector about 2 feet from the back-up camera end with a 3-4' red wire with a bare tip coming back from the male end that is supposed to be connected to the taillight power source. I intend to attach this to post 87. When I was trying to sort out the correct connections in early August, I opened the black camera cable. Inside, there are four wires: a bare wire, a red wire, a yellow wire, and a white wire. There also seemed to be a foil-type coating around all of the coated wires and the one bare wire (as a bundle) underneath the black external coating. I'm assuming the yellow and white wires carry the video signal. I believe the red wire carries the positive current and the bare wire carries the negative/ground. Since I don't think I should have gotten in to this cable, I've done my best to seal it back up and restore it to the original. I am confused, however, as to how to reconcile what seems like my connection of the red wire to post 87. Do I need to somehow ground the backup camera to the car frame? The black coated video cable simply runs directly in to the back of the backup camera that I have attached to a metal license plate holder but it is not connected to the bare metal car frame anywhere. As I reviewed a few YouTube videos on using relays (and I reviewed your post above with the schematics, it seemed wise that I connect both post 86 and post 30 to an inline fuse before it is connected to the positive on the battery. I can't find a recommendation for an inline fuse to use. 10 Amp? One with a wire coming out of both ends and the fuse in a holder in the middle or one that taps in to a fuse box slot? Sorry to ask more questions but I thought it best to try and get things figured out on paper before I go out to the garage to tackle this later this week. Thanks again for the help! Phil