Dash Cam can it be powered from mirror?

[BradnChristine]

I have a dash cam that plugs into the cigarette lighter like most dash cams do. I think the problem with hard wiring the camera is that the voltage from the plug in at the lighter is reduced to 5 volts before it goes to the dash cam. Check before you put direct 12 volts by cutting out the connector, I'm just guessing that might be a problem.

Dash cams come both ways...5 volt and 12 volt. My wife's Maverick has a 12 volt dashcam, while my Maverick has a 5 volt dashcam. Our Transit has a 5 volt as well. Buck converters are used in our 5 volt versions.

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[Seancasey]

You can buy on Ford accessories website. You then can pay for installation like 90 bucks for front and or 150 bucks for front and rear camera install.
Rear camera bundle installation pricing is good deal since they have to do some work to get rear camera wiring thru. Drop headliner etc at least that’s what they did on my Mustang.
I have front camera in Maverick and front rear in Mustang. Both have memory cards but front rear combo can also Bluetooth to phone for video.

 

[Defconxzero]

Yup. Not for the faint of heart to wire, but there is a 12 pin connector to the assist camera. Get a plug, a new socket and 8- 22 ga wires and affix your 12 volt socket or a 5 volt buck converter to pins 4 (power) and pin 5 (ground). I have dashcams for both my Mavericks and my 2020 Transit connected this way with patch cords. The Mavericks also have the Kia mirrors wired from this socket. You should be able to find the part numbers here with a search.

I already did this to power the auto dimming mirror. Do you think I can split it again and also power a dashcam or is that too much..?

 

[Mr Pibb]

Just to clarify... You are saying the purple wire (4) in 12VDC hot, and the black (5) is ground. Is that correct. Don't understand about needing a plug, new socket, and wire.... I would just use a crimp on tap connector.
Any recommendations for dashcam?
Any more info on the Kia mirror?

Don't tap into the camera wiring, you can cause some issues. If you gotta tap into the overhead light connector instead. If you're even more handy just make a pass through plug that you can wire into instead.

 

[Toddman45]

Use a proper hardwire kit for dashcams, many camera manufacturers offer they're own hardwire kits that utilize the OBD port and have a passthrough adapter, that still allows the OBD port to be used while the hardwire kit is installed.

Cobra is one company that does this, but again take the time to do it right. I've installed many hardware kits for myself and family members without any issues. Its not that hard or time consuming to do it right.

 

[BradnChristine]

I already did this to power the auto dimming mirror. Do you think I can split it again and also power a dashcam or is that too much..?

Not too much. My dashcam and mirror run off of the patchcord I made, so as to not cut into the wiring. Afterall this time, I'd probably just tap into the wires if I had to do it again. ZERO issues. Just be sure you use the right voltage for your dashcam. My 2024 Maverick was a 12v dashcam, and my 2023 uses a "buck converter" to produce 5v as it is a 5V dashcam. I made the same patchcord for my 2020 Transit, but just for its dashcam/rear cam combo unit.

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