DIY How-To Video: Hardwire Front and Rear Dashcam

[Johnkn]

Thanks - this is great!

Is anyone considering using a rear dashcam that doubles as a rearview mirror replacement? I think you can get ones with the screen that fits over the existing mirror or that replaces the mirror itself.

My new L2 '22 TRX comes stock with a dual-function rear view mirror. Push a button and it's a standard mirror, push again and it displays the image from the rear-facing outside camera. Not a fan and almost makes me a little motion sick feeling when trying to use it.


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[LelandJ]

I went to hardwire my dashcam today and found out that I'm actually a total dumbass.

I didn't realize I'd need a micro 3 fuse tap. The kit I bought had an assortment of sizes, but no micro 3.

Side note, There's already a ground wire connected to a bolt behind the trim on the lower right side of the passenger footwell. The L-shaped trim is a pain to take on and off, but it's a very solid grounding point for a dashcam. Just loosen the bolt a little and wrap the new ground wire around it and re-tighten. I should have taken a photo while I had everything torn apart, but it slipped my mind at the time.

 

[Mojorayy]

Just stumbled across your edits. I have another hardwire kit on the way. Probably going to poke around at a few options over the weekend.

It is weird that it happens exactly every other time I turn my car on. And if I disconnect and reconnect the cable going into my dash cam GPS mount, it powers up as normal.

Ended up replacing the hardwire kit and got a new one. Everything is good to go now. Believe it was just a bad crimp job on my part. Should have just snipped those connectors off and used Wago connectors.

So much more convenient to hardwire to the fuse box and have it tucked away.

Now to hopefully receive my auto dimming mirror in one day and get that wired in, too.

 

[Random]

So I am adding this message to the five different threads I have been in.

I had this issue: Interior lighting when door opens not working which turned out to be the Deep Sleep issues a lot of us have been seeing. Well resetting the battery sensor as shown in this post fixed my issue (at least for now).

I've been thinking about this and I had disconnected and reconnected my battery a number of times when installing my HomeLink mirror and when installing my dashcam. I did not do the reset after, but if I had maybe I wouldn't have the issue. This is a big maybe as it took a few months to happen after the installs.

Just food for thought if you have the issues and disconnected the battery previously.

 

[Maverick2023]

What is the down side of using the plug in cigarette lighter? Wouldn’t it shut off the dash cam when the key is out of the ignition?

 

[clavicus]

What is the down side of using the plug in cigarette lighter? Wouldn’t it shut off the dash cam when the key is out of the ignition?

Yep that’s totally the easy way to do it, with a normal 5v USB adapter to plug a USB cable directly to the dashcam. The only downside is having the dashcam cable out in the open.

If you’re going to hide the USB cable from the cig adapter behind trim, or painstakingly use adhesive clips all along the dashboard, you might as well do the hardwiring to a fuse and actually have it hidden. Just my two cents after doing it, it’s really not much trouble, just $30 or so for the kit and fuse tap. Easily removable or changeable once you’ve done it once.

The hardwiring is for 2 main reasons:
1. To hide the wires
2. If you want a constant power source for parking mode

 

[Mav4Hogie]

Kind of off topic, but do any cars have a dash cam as an available option from the factory? It seems like manufacturers are leaving money on the table but not offering it as an option. I wouldn’t even mind a USB port by the mirror to power one without a long wire to 12V outlet or running wires through the headliner.

when I spoke to support for my dash cam I asked the same question when purchasing the hard wire kit and the tech said (for what it is worth) that there is not enough draw for the camera on the USB/USBc outlets and that it needs the 12V outlet (cig lighter) ...

 

[Krrr]

Would getting the Dash cam as part of MY23 order, then replacing the cameras with better ones and only using the factory installed cable work? I do not know the cable harness configuration in the factory wiring.

 

[clavicus]

Would getting the Dash cam as part of MY23 order, then replacing the cameras with better ones and only using the factory installed cable work? I do not know the cable harness configuration in the factory wiring.

The Ford store option is kinda overpriced doodoo compared to the most popular economical models of dashcams (they are better, and cheaper).

I’m not sure if the OBD2 power cable would be compatible with other dashcams or not.

 

[clavicus]

when I spoke to support for my dash cam I asked the same question when purchasing the hard wire kit and the tech said (for what it is worth) that there is not enough draw for the camera on the USB/USBc outlets and that it needs the 12V outlet (cig lighter) ...

For a minute I was going to say that tech is saying bs, but actually it depends on what the native USB port power rating is on the Mav. Apparently some older car USB were only 0.5 amp or 1 amp at 5v. Barely enough to keep a phone topped up. I have a feeling the mav has better output but I am not 100% sure.

Dashcams use between 1 and 5 watts depending on what model and features are actively being used.

 

[JustDoIt]

Having an odd issue.
Have my dash cam with accessory and always hot with the fuse jumpers as shown in my image.

most of the time the dash cam will turn on when the truck does. Sometimes it doesn’t.
It’s so strange that it’s not consistently one or the other. Any ideas?

 

[clavicus]

Having an odd issue.
Have my dash cam with accessory and always hot with the fuse jumpers as shown in my image.

most of the time the dash cam will turn on when the truck does. Sometimes it doesn’t.
It’s so strange that it’s not consistently one or the other. Any ideas?

Thanks for the pics those are helpful. So it looks like you're plugged into Fuse #3 for ignition-only power, and #20 for constant power.

My first thought is to check if there's any way to be sure that you don't have the hardwire kit wires plugged into the wrong fuse. By that I mean, possibly having the "accessory" labeled wire plugged into the constant battery fuse tap.

If that's not it, then I might suggest disconnecting the rear camera (if you have one) and see if that affects the failures to (re)boot (from parking mode?). That could eliminate a potential issue with rear camera.

Another thought: maybe also try unplugging the hardwire kit and using the USB cable that came with your device. That might narrow down if the problem is with either the hardwire kit, or how the software is interacting (maybe experiencing a weird condition) with your ignition-off voltage vs. ignition-on voltage from those circuits or something.

EDIT:
Actually--do you use parking mode? Have you checked your video to see if parking mode video is being recorded for the time periods you think it should? Do you ever get "deep sleep" warning messages through the FordPass app due to the truck thinking your battery voltage is too low?

This is a terrible thought, but I wonder if the voltage is sometimes too low in your ignition-only wire because it possibly could have damage somewhere along the line, and that's causing the resistance to be high, and voltage appearing to be low to the hardwire brick that detects low voltage for power cutoff?

 

[JustDoIt]

All great info, thank you.

I will check those out when I have a bit of time to do the troubleshooting steps for each.

I do know the plug is securely into the camera, so that's not it. I also know that the cam worked fine direct to USB outlet (no hardwire) but at that time I had not yet connected the rear camera. I'll also disable the rear for a bit to see if things change here.

It does have parking mode but I've not received any alerts for low battery via the app nor have there been any "incidents" to track parking mode success of vehicle-off activity. I do wonder if there's something with the parking mode in-line "box" that I may not have done properly - mounting? position? interference? etc.

But for now you've given me some great suggestions for incremental troubleshooting to help narrow down the problem variable.

 

[JustDoIt]

Quick update

1) parking mode was off. I’ve set it to “on impact” with no success. Guess I should try the time options?

2) the manual shows fuses 3 and 10 to both be 10a. But the manual for the hardwire kit says: “Note: Use an ACC power supply of 15A to 25A. Use a constant power supply below 30A.”

This means my constant is fine but ACC is probably low? Should that matter?
If I remember, the “spare” fuse numbers are not actually hitting power and just hold a a spare fuse? But the radio is 20a so moving to 23 satisfies the tech req

I am blown away at the randomness of working or not so maybe the fuse size being too small is really the issue.

As for when parking mode should record. If it’s on a “time” setting it should record as if the truck is on and turn off if battery is down to a certain voltage?

Thanks for the pics those are helpful. So it looks like you're plugged into Fuse #3 for ignition-only power, and #20 for constant power.

My first thought is to check if there's any way to be sure that you don't have the hardwire kit wires plugged into the wrong fuse. By that I mean, possibly having the "accessory" labeled wire plugged into the constant battery fuse tap.

If that's not it, then I might suggest disconnecting the rear camera (if you have one) and see if that affects the failures to (re)boot (from parking mode?). That could eliminate a potential issue with rear camera.

Another thought: maybe also try unplugging the hardwire kit and using the USB cable that came with your device. That might narrow down if the problem is with either the hardwire kit, or how the software is interacting (maybe experiencing a weird condition) with your ignition-off voltage vs. ignition-on voltage from those circuits or something.

EDIT:
Actually--do you use parking mode? Have you checked your video to see if parking mode video is being recorded for the time periods you think it should? Do you ever get "deep sleep" warning messages through the FordPass app due to the truck thinking your battery voltage is too low?

This is a terrible thought, but I wonder if the voltage is sometimes too low in your ignition-only wire because it possibly could have damage somewhere along the line, and that's causing the resistance to be high, and voltage appearing to be low to the hardwire brick that detects low voltage for power cutoff?

 

[JustDoIt]

Just to follow up in case anyone else is a big dummy like me.

I connected yellow as acc and red as hot instead of the reverse which is correct. Maybe too much home wiring lately and seeing red as hot and load vs yellow made me go the other route.

with red as ACC and yellow as hot it joe functions just as it should in every way.

moral of the story - double check colors. Don’t assume. And don’t be a dummy like me.

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