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2006 Prius, 39k miles, Rear Camera Problems

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by nobodyknowsme, May 10, 2012.

  1. nobodyknowsme

    nobodyknowsme Junior Member

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    I bought a used 2006 Prius Package 7 from an estate sale with only 37k miles not too long ago. The car was serviced regularly and looks brand new. It now has 39k miles and is due for an oil change in a week or so.

    I have been having some problems with the reverse camera yesterday and today. I was so happy with the Prius until this issue...

    Yesterday morning, when going in reverse, I saw a black screen with some faint outlines of the objects behind me with a moving vertical ribbon bar moving left to right. After turning the car on and off a few times and driving about 15 miles to work, it started working again!

    It was great... until tonight. After accidentally overfilling the car at the pump (not going to that station again), the camera had an issue again. Same thing. Drove 15 miles home and turned the car on/off a few times...along with checking reverse mode a few times along the drive while at stop lights...and it still didn't work.

    Is there any way I could check to see if the connection is loose? I've seen threads for modding the Prius and all, but I honestly just want the car to function as normal. Any easy way to access camera connection? Would like to diagnose if it is the camera or a connector...

    I'm a new SoCal resident, so I don't know any of the cheap maintenance shops yet, but I figured if it's simple...I may just do it myself! Also, I live close to the beach. Would that make a difference on my Prius? My car just gets more dirty with dust/sand during some periods...

    I don't think the overfilled gas tank correlates with the reverse camera. But needless to say, I have had better days with my "new" Prius. Been getting 45mpg steadily :)
     
    #1 nobodyknowsme, May 10, 2012
  2. climateguy

    climateguy Junior Member

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    You mention having seen threads for mods so maybe you've already seen this, but if not darelldd did a nice write-up about how to get to the connections. He did it to tap into the reverse camera's feed, but it will give you a good idea of what wires are involved. I don't remember if package 7 had the JBL sound system, but if so going through the center speaker should be easy. Otherwise, removing the dash components is not difficult but does take some time.
     
    #2 climateguy, May 11, 2012
  3. Jim Porta

    Jim Porta Junior Member

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    My two cents.

    I used the backup camera a lot when I first got my Prius. Then I backed into a pole that must have been 20 feet away! Since then, I glance at it occasionally, but use the mirrors and look back when backing up.
    I wish the lense was not so "convex". A clear image directly behind would be more useful than a panorama.

    Enjoy the rest of the car.
     
    #3 Jim Porta, May 11, 2012
  4. nobodyknowsme

    nobodyknowsme Junior Member

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    I had actually not seen that link. Thank you! Now if the camera works perfect like 40-50% of the time, then what could be the issue? Is there any easy way to verify if it is the connection or the camera itself?
    Would warranty cover this? I guess I am only under the 10yr/150k miles emissions/battery warranty now. Although, do you think they'd cover anything since I only have 40k miles?

    I have noticed that the camera is pretty inaccurate with distance. However, I have mainly used it for parallel parking here. It's pretty accurate when you are trying to figure out how close you are to the car behind you! There are some tight parking situations near the beach...
     
    #4 nobodyknowsme, May 12, 2012
  5. climateguy

    climateguy Junior Member

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    I doubt that it's going to be covered by any warranty since the car's 6 years old.

    If it were me, I'd take a look at the connections into the back of the MFD and the condition of the feed wires as far as you can see them in that area (not too far, unfortunately). Jiggle things around, see if anything's loose or if there are any places where the insulation on the wires has been compromised.

    If those things don't identify the problem, maybe try looking at the connections into the camera itself. I've never looked at that end, so I don't know how it comes apart. But it must come apart somehow, right?

    If none of that worked, I'd probably take Jim Porta's advice and not worry about it. But if it's important to you, you can decide if it's worth getting a professional to fix it. (Or maybe someone here will have some additional ideas.)
     
    #5 climateguy, May 17, 2012
  6. tdelker

    tdelker Junior Member

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    Not knowing where the camera is, is it per chance in the hatch? If so, look for the rubber boot that the wires run through from the main car to the hatch. In my wife's subaru these were broken because of repeated opening/closing of the hatch causing fatigue.

    Just a thought...
     
    #6 tdelker, May 17, 2012
  7. nobodyknowsme

    nobodyknowsme Junior Member

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    The camera is located in its default slot along the same horizontal line where you would use the handle to open the trunk. I will try to check the connections going to the camera.

    Lately, it has been working as it should. I thought I spotted a trend over the past week. It has been working during the afternoons but seems to have issues during the morning/evenings. I parked my car in the garage a few times since then and it seems to work about 90% of the time after that. I think it has something to do with moisture (dew/humidity?) in the air? My first guess is that some sort of moisture builds up inside the camera through some leak somehow and then dries up as the car operates or heat from the sun and then starts working again. Hmm.
     
    #7 nobodyknowsme, May 17, 2012
  8. The Transporter

    The Transporter Driver

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    If ypu get the Sun shinning right into the camera lens, then it will whash out the picture, and you just can't see anything on the screen. (looks like broken).
     
    #8 The Transporter, May 17, 2012
  9. nobodyknowsme

    nobodyknowsme Junior Member

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    Yeah, except this is different. It also happens at night time when there is no sun/moon. It literally looks like a black screen with a vertical stripe going from left to right and u can faintly make out the outline of some objects. This is the same view that comes on during the day.

    Of course, all this is sporadic and I haven't been able to nail down a cause for this. I will try to open things up and check the connections next week after my oil change.
     
    #9 nobodyknowsme, May 22, 2012
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