Back-up / reversing camera (whatever it's officially called) "rolling" - any advice?

[TimCv1]

Sorry if this is a repeat - searched but didn't find much. My back-up camera is "rolling" like when you're sort of tuned-in to a UHF channel and have to turn that clicky dial on the rabbit ears (sorry if you are too young to understand this but I'm not sure how else to describe it).

It used to do this once in a while but then be fine. Car now has 65k miles and it's decided to do it every time I back up.

Is there some kind of reset to do, or unplug/replug/bad connection type thing, or is this basically it's gone TU?

 

[TimCv1]

And yes I already thought of smearing it with Vick's Vapor Rub.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Have you tried rabbit ears?

 

[cb1111]

Sounds like some sort of interference. Try the easy things first.

Are you using a plug in phone charger? Unplug it from the port, turn off (and reboot) the radio. Turn your phone off.

Does the backup camera misbehave in all locations? Even when backing up in the middle of a corn field?

What year is your car and which radio?

 

[akimmel]

I have noticed this when installing a backup camera in a work truck, and it was due to improper grounding. Not sure how relevant that is, but could be worth checking on.

 

[TimCv1]

Sounds like some sort of interference. Try the easy things first.

Are you using a plug in phone charger? Unplug it from the port, turn off (and reboot) the radio. Turn your phone off.

Does the backup camera misbehave in all locations? Even when backing up in the middle of a corn field?

What year is your car and which radio?

2016 GTI, um whatever the factory radio is that has "Fender" branded speakers and a sub in the spare tire. I don't do bluetooth and have never connected phone, and in fact don't like music/anything on while driving anyway, so I've never used the stereo really other than to go "well that does sound pretty decent for factory" when I got the car. The grounding thing mentioned by akimmel could be a thing, I should probably nose around connections and such.

How does one "reboot" the radio? Or is that just bluetooth part?

 

[George Ab]

How does one "reboot" the radio? Or is that just bluetooth part?

Hold the on/off button for 10 seconds. If it was me, I would replace the hatch camera assembly. Not cheap at $200 used. If that is not the issue you can always resell.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Hold the on/off button for 10 seconds. If it was me, I would replace the hatch camera assembly. Not cheap at $200 used. If that is not the issue you can always resell.

Wouldnt it be far wiser to actually find out what's wrong first?

 

[cb1111]

Wouldnt it be far wiser to actually find out what's wrong first?

Nawwww, just swap out parts until it is either fixed or you run out of money.

Ground is unlikely unless the OP has sone some work to the car or there has been damage, although I guess a leak could cause issues.

 

[TimCv1]

Well so first it fixed itself again - but like I say this was the longest its gone (a few days) consistently having the issue before doing so. Next yes the car had hail damage so stuff has been apart - and the shop that did it turned out to be quite bad despite a really strong recommendation. In fact, the leak hypothesis in the last comment could have some bearing, considering they broke stuff with the rear washer system and it was leaking some into the door. Soooo...that bit is pretty interesting, maybe a connection has some corrosion or something. And no I won't just throw parts at it, now it's a matter of waiting till it happens again then diagnosing...maybe it's time to get in there with some Caig's pro gold and unconnect/reconnect the connections....

 

[britinor]

I had intermittant problems with a scrolling image and a message "parking pilot not available" The problem first occured during a 113F heatwave. I assumed it was heat related, but the fault also occured in cooler weather. The fault became permanent about 3 weeks ago, so I had to try to fix it. I removed the tailgate trim and located the wires going to the hatch release and camera. There were two connectors . I assumed the thinner wire connector would be to the camera. With the tailgate open and the ignition on and in reverse gear I could see the scrolling image I separed the connector and the screen went blank. I reconnected and the fault was resolved . As the fault had previously been intermittant I was not convinced the fix was permanent. Two weeks now and no problem. If it occurs again I will try cleaning the connector contacts before reassembly

 

[cb1111]

Well so first it fixed itself again - but like I say this was the longest its gone (a few days) consistently having the issue before doing so. Next yes the car had hail damage so stuff has been apart - and the shop that did it turned out to be quite bad despite a really strong recommendation. In fact, the leak hypothesis in the last comment could have some bearing, considering they broke stuff with the rear washer system and it was leaking some into the door. Soooo...that bit is pretty interesting, maybe a connection has some corrosion or something. And no I won't just throw parts at it, now it's a matter of waiting till it happens again then diagnosing...maybe it's time to get in there with some Caig's pro gold and unconnect/reconnect the connections....

Yep - they probably didn't put everything together tightly

 

[TimCv1]

I had intermittant problems with a scrolling image and a message "parking pilot not available" The problem first occured during a 113F heatwave. I assumed it was heat related, but the fault also occured in cooler weather. The fault became permanent about 3 weeks ago, so I had to try to fix it. I removed the tailgate trim and located the wires going to the hatch release and camera. There were two connectors . I assumed the thinner wire connector would be to the camera. With the tailgate open and the ignition on and in reverse gear I could see the scrolling image I separed the connector and the screen went blank. I reconnected and the fault was resolved . As the fault had previously been intermittant I was not convinced the fix was permanent. Two weeks now and no problem. If it occurs again I will try cleaning the connector contacts before reassembly

Yep it happened again so is definitely way less intermittent than it was. Is getting the trim off just a matter of careful prying in logical order (I have a trim removal tool from like Crutchfield somewhere too)?

 

[George Ab]

Yep it happened again so is definitely way less intermittent than it was. Is getting the trim off just a matter of careful prying in logical order (I have a trim removal tool from like Crutchfield somewhere too)?

There are four screws that need to be removed, before you start prying things apart. As mentioned in video, the corner pieces are tricky due to angle they have to put back in.

 

[TimCv1]

There are four screws that need to be removed, before you start prying things apart. As mentioned in video, the corner pieces are tricky due to angle they have to put back in.

Thanks for this vid - definitely clarifies a couple "hmm how to get this off/back on" nuances. Camera was back to full-time rolling, so did this, unplugged/replugged everything that looked like could be camera-related - it seems to be back. We'll see for how long.

One thing's for sure, it's probably a good idea to have spare metal clips on hand, esp if this stuff has already been apart - seems every time something like this is apart something gets tweaked, clip breaks/goes missing/etc. One shot out somewhere, I was able to find it and figure out where it came from. Another stayed stuck in the hatch rather than coming along with the plastic piece, so I had to get it out then reshape it (from the getting-it-out process).