Back-Up Camera Not engaging

[csugar21]

Lately my back up camera hasn't engaged when in reverse, sometimes it shows a black screen or just stays on the regular display and sometime it works fine. Has anyone else had this issue?

 

[TonyWilliams]

That's a new one! Any computer-ish type glitches, I would disconnect the negative 12 volt battery wire (with the car off) for a few minutes, then reconnect and try it.

 

[csugar21]

Its in the shop for the back shocks and they are checking the camera as well, will see what they say.

 

[tridub]

My 2012 RAV started having the same problem right after I bought it in July of 2016. Of course, it wouldn't misbehave when I took it to my local Georgia Toyota dealer, who had never even seen a RAV4 EV, by the way. It happened a few more times today, then the back-up camera was normal again. Did the dealer fix your camera problem? If so, what was causing it?

Thanks,

 

[Philly RAV4 EV]

I have been having a similar problem, the screen is blank in reverse but I go to the back camera and tap on it and the screen comes on.

 

[tridub]

My 2012 back-up camera has been behaving lately, but now my 2014 is starting to act up. I had always assumed these problems were simply caused by some switch in the "transmission" not fully engaging to provide power to the camera, but it's getting more complicated with my 2014. Instead of only two possibilities (normal camera function or the totally "black screen of death"), now I'm getting a third option: a crappy, dark image with lots of distortion and horizontal lines through it. The next time this happens, I will try to remember to take a picture of it.

Anyway, I now have an extended warranty on the 2014, and the camera problem is frequent enough that it might just act up for the dealer too. However, I would still like to know what causes this camera problem so I can fix it myself if it comes up again on my 2012.

By the way, I would really like to hack the back-up camera to turn on whenever I wanted, including while driving forward. Does anyone know how to do that?

I also really miss the "Around-View" monitor on my old LEAF, which provided panoramic views all around the car, via 4 cameras. If my RAV's had that feature, I might keep them forever!

 

[n3ckf]

ive had the problem of the backup camera not working for brief periods but its always gone away.

I assume its just an intermittent connection somewhere (maybe in the door at the camera)? It was happening pretty often about a year ago but for some reason its been completely solid and functioning for the last year, so i've never taken it apart to figure out whats wrong.

I think you could make the camera come on all the time by faking the "car is in reverse" signal to the head unit. (on previous head units i've installed myself there's a lead that signals this to the stereo unit and if you ground that lead, it thinks the car is in reverse). However i havent looked at the wiring harness for the toyota so this is just speculation on my part. Thats how most "aftermarket" units work. The camera is probably *always* powered, its just the video signal isnt switched to unless the 'reverse" line says the car is backing up.