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Ideas about the Rear-View Camera for 2008-2010 CTSs

179K views 349 replies 89 participants last post by  FAL 
#1 ·
Hey Everyone,
After following the thread at http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum...ussion/218361-cadillac-cts-2011-nav-disc.html, it's quite evident that the latest NAV software update contains the provisions for the rear-view camera.

I have not performed this mod (and don't even know if it'll work), but I thought I'd pass on some information I looked up that might help someone else find a solution.

I'm 99% sure the Nav hardware unit (AKA the GM Silverbox... you can see here: http://www.sandyblogs.com/techlink/2008/02/integrated-center-stack-ics.html) is identical for 2008-2011 CTSs. That leads me to believe that the inputs existed, but were never used.

I looked up the pin-outs in the Service guide for both the 2011 and 2008 CTS.

There is a 20-pin gray connector that attaches to the back of the nav unit. This connector has provides various audio and voice inputs to the nav system.




Pins 5 and 15 provide signals from the rear-view camera to the system (Circuit 6972 and 6973).





In the 2008, I checked Pins 5 and 15, and noticed something interesting. These pins are not listed as NOT USED (such as Pin 12), but rather as COAX, as well as wiring colour. This leads me to believe that these two circuits are undocumented, but exist (In the pin-out list, there are other COAX connections that lead to other components in the car, such as the USB input and Nav display).





The big question is: Is there wiring already place that terminates to these pins, or would new wiring need to be installed?


I also checked the pin-outs of the camera. The 2 camera circuits (6972 and 6973) directly terminate to the camera. This tells me that there are no other components to the camera and the camera is simply providing an analog video source to the to the nav system.








Something to note is that along with the ground/drain wires, there are 2 other circuits that would have to be tapped: The Backup Lamps Supply Voltage (most likely to indicate when to turn the camera on), and the Ignition Voltage (so the camera is only powered when the vehicle is on).

So this leads me to a couple questions to anyone wants to look into this:

Does the wiring harness in 2008-2010 vehicles already include the 2 wires for the rear-view camera?

Are the other circuits the camera requires, already available in the rear of the car?

Hopefully this may help someone eventually install a camera in their car.
 
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#235 · (Edited)
Has anyone found any late build 2010's to have the wiring for the camera in the body harness already? I'll be taking delivery of a 2010 CTS Premium this week that was built in 6/2010, so it's almost the end of 2010MY production, and I'm hoping that they ran out of 2010 harnesses and had to use a 2011 harness (I Know, I won't hold my breath). Either way, I'll be adding hte camera, but it would make it MUCH easier if the wiring was already there.
 
#236 ·
Looking at the difficulty of this mod, I would like to ask why the rear camera is preferred over a $25 rear sensor kit to locate rear obstruction? I'm just curious if it's for kid safety, trailer line up, or just gadget upgrade; because one of the reasons I got the base model was to avoid the popup camera.;)
 
#239 ·
Difficulty is relative. For me, this should not be hard, just time consuming. On my Cougar, I've replaced the entire body harness to add the keyless entry functionality from a 96 or 97 car, so there were differences in the harnesses that needed to be dealt with. I also replaced the 95 PCM with a 96/97 PCM, which required modifying the dash harness to move the rear O2 sensors out of the engine harness and into the transmission harness. A few years later I swapped in a 2004 Mustang GT PCM which required modifying the body harness to accommodate a Mustang engine harness. Right now I've got a DOHC motor on a stand for it with a Mach1 harness that's been modified to work with the body harness in the car.

On my truck, I converted it from a 2004 LLY engine with the 5 speed Allison to a 2006 LBZ engine with the 6 speed Allison, which required replacing the ECM, TCM & GPCM, along with the engine harness & body harness. This was a cake walk though as it was 99% plug and play with only a few pin changes on one connector.

As for why, everyone's reasons are different. In my case, my car has the NAV (which I wanted, even thought it's not the *BEST*, plus good luck finding a Premium car with Keyless ignition but no NAV), and I want a backup camera. Simple as that. And While one of those $25 Ricerzone specials might be acceptable in my 18 year old Cougar, it is not acceptable in a 2010 Cadillac IMO. And everyone's opinion is different.


No cameras until 2011 MY.
That would be correct. I'm HOPING (But I won't hold my breath) that this car is close enough to the end of 2010MY production that they ran out of 2010 body harnesses and it has a 2011 harness.
 
#243 ·
I just got finished installing the rearview camera in my 2010 CTS4 Sedan. I found that for my 2010, the howto posted is not quite accurate. The grey 14-way connector indicated did not have a pink 'IGN1' wire in position 1 - it had a yellow wire in that position that is for the left front tweeter speaker. Being 'somewhat' anal retentive when it comes to this kind of thing, I started digging into the schematics to see how it is usually wired from the factory on the 2011s. In doing that, I found that the circuit that it uses for 'IGN1' from the factory, #639, comes through connector X225 in position 2 (X225 is the middle grey connector on the passenger side of the dash). In a factory setup, it actually spits at that terminal and heads back to the camera. In addition to the IGN1 circuit, the backup lamp power circuit is also available in the same connector in position 4 (Stock wiring actually does splice in at splice J379 which is where the howto says to splice, but I didn't feel like digging into the harness in the middle of the car), and a ground is available on the A pillar right below the dash. So I ended up tapping all of the circuits I needed right there at the Passenger side A Pillar and running them all straight to the back along the passenger side inside their own piece of wire loom to keep them protected.

Incidentally, I also found about six or eight wires that were being pinched under the rear seat on the passenger side. Apparently someone at the factory wasn't paying attention... None of them had broken through yet, but it could have been 'fun' if I hadn't found them. I might have just saved GM a lot of warranty money depending on what the pinched circuits were for.

Only projects remaining now are the oil catch can for the PCV and the Gen9 OnStar module and I'm done with modifications to this car for a loooong time.
 

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#247 ·
Doubtful. I guess it depends on the service department, but mine had no issues with me adding the camera, upgrading to a gen9 OnStar module or adding a RX oil catch can.

To be honest, while the original writeup is good, it makes it a bit more difficult than it needs to be. AS I posted after I put it in mine, all splices can be had behind the cover on the passenger side of the dash and on the way A pillar on the way down under the carpet. I was then able to run the wire in a seperate loom all the way down the passenger side with only removing the rear seat... AFTER I had removed the drivers seat expecting to take that route. I would suggest replacing the push in retainers in the trunk with new ones though (they are cheap - a box of 25 was like $3 at a local auto body supply store).
 
#253 ·
I have a 2010 CTS4 AWD Wagon with NAV. From what I have gleaned, if all the wiring is there (and possibly likely since a 2010 wagon), then I need to buy the trim piece containing the camera, install the trim piece, and then take it to the dealer to enable the camera using the TRM2WEB. Is that correct?

I can use the detail of the connector pin out (or count the wires) to see if the proper number. Is that correct? Again, it is dependent on the model year. It is a log shot, but with my driveway, I have a very difficult time seeing out.
 
#259 ·
It's not exactly a 'normal' install. It think it cost me $250 including the trim piece with the camera and the 2 day TIS2Web subscription. The thing is, to do it and have it look factory, you need to drill new holes for part of the trim, enlarge the hole that the wire runs through, run new wires to the front of the car and put a new connector on the harness on the trunk - things Dealers don't normally do.
 
#261 · (Edited)
I used the 2011 Sedan trim that included the camera, so unless you start digging, you'd think the car came with it. Works perfectly fine for me - Some complain about the image quality, and I'd agree, it's not awesome, but IMO, it's plenty good enough for what it's meant for. You're not trying to shoot 1080p HD movies with it or anything...

I needed:
Trim: p/n 22945149
connector: 13577789
10 of: 7114-4618-02/27 (That's Terminal/Tray)
for the video into the radio, two of: SAIT-A03T-M064/14 (That's Terminal/Tray)
one run of shielded SINGLE-pair 20 or 22 ga wire (I think I got 20' which was more than needed) <- Note Correction SINGLE pair, not two pair
one run of ~18-20ga wire for each of: Ground, +12, reverse light power. As noted in a previous post, I got all three at the junction inside the passenger side of the dash.

The terminals can't be looked up. Generally, you need to go to your parts department and ask for the trays that have the terminals (in this case you'd need trays 27 & 14). Some places are nice and have no issue with it, others are less than friendly about it. Some won't give them to you at all. Since there is no lookup for them, they never know what to charge - I've gotten pins for anywhere from free to like $1 each.

Once it's all in, you need to have your dealer or someone with the required equipment reprogram your NAV with the calibration that includes the backup camera.
 
#264 ·
I used the 2011 Sedan trim that included the camera, so unless you start digging, you'd think the car came with it. Works perfectly fine for me - Some complain about the image quality, and I'd agree, it's not awesome, but IMO, it's plenty good enough for what it's meant for. You're not trying to shoot 1080p HD movies with it or anything...

I needed:
Trim: p/n 22945149
connector: 13577789
10 of: 7114-4618-02/27 (That's Terminal/Tray)
for the video into the radio, two of: SAIT-A03T-M064/14 (That's Terminal/Tray)
one run of shielded SINGLE-pair 20 or 22 ga wire (I think I got 20' which was more than needed) <- Note Correction SINGLE pair, not two pair
one run of ~18-20ga wire for each of: Ground, +12, reverse light power. As noted in a previous post, I got all three at the junction inside the passenger side of the dash.

The terminals can't be looked up. Generally, you need to go to your parts department and ask for the trays that have the terminals (in this case you'd need trays 27 & 14). Some places are nice and have no issue with it, others are less than friendly about it. Some won't give them to you at all. Since there is no lookup for them, they never know what to charge - I've gotten pins for anywhere from free to like $1 each.

Once it's all in, you need to have your dealer or someone with the required equipment reprogram your NAV with the calibration that includes the backup camera.
Hi Cougar: the 2011 trim you refer to, is that the chrome above the license plate they would house the camera?
 
#267 ·
I know this is an old thread, but I want to go ahead and do this mod. I am having trouble with the original posting part numbers, most of them are no good at gmpartsdirect or any other place online. Can anyone tell me how/where I can find the new part numbers? Also about the trunk aplique with camera; what does with passive entry mean? Thank you
 
#268 ·
post #205 has some good info on getting the terminals and pins

I probably mention this earlier in the thread too but dealers don't normally sell the terminals and pins
they are usually treated as special tools since they are usually ordered from the special tool supplier
for instance at our shop the trays with this terminals and pins are in the service department not in the parts department
when a tech/mech needs some they get them on their own without coming to me as they would for just about any other part
some other dealers might have these trays in their parts dept but still not sell them to the public (for various reasons)
some dealers might sell them to the public though, so it might be worth you time calling around a bit and seeing if any of the local dealers are helpful in this regard
if not, you've only wasted some time and you'll have to order them on you own (again see post #205)

good luck, this is not a very easy mod (but at least you know it's do-able)
 
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