Pioneer AVH-P4200DVD Question

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

I've had this unit installed for a month or so now and I love it. I bought the HD radio module and the bluetooth module along with it and it's awesome.

I have everything working beautifully EXCEPT for the rear view camera. And I don't get it. I have the Violet/White wire from the HU hooked up to the correct color (in my 07 Ford Five Hundred's case, green) wire on the PAC C2R-FRD1 factory wiring harness adapter according to the PAC install instructions. I've got the camera spliced into the backup light wire so that it only comes on when the backup lights come on (which only happens when put in reverse).

There are two things on the HU you have to set in order to use a rear view camera. In order for the HU to detect whether you are in reverse or forward it detects a change in polarity of the power is either Battery or Ground in the settings menu and then you have to tell the HU to "turn on" the camera function in the Source menu. You can't actually "turn on" the camera function if the camera polarity setting says Off. Makes sense but I'm just trying to make sure I've covered everything I know about the situation.

The problem I'm having is that when you start the car and the radio comes on, after a few seconds the screen goes black (only because the power to the camera is not on unless I'm in reverse) with the "Screen Image May Appear Reversed" warning at the top when I'm in anything other than reverse. Park, Forward, low gears and Neutral all do this.

The first thing I tried was changing the camera polarity setting from Battery to Ground. I even turned the car on and off between each setting change and re-tested. If I start the car with the camera polarity set to Battery then I can change the camera polarity setting to Ground and it does the same thing. If I set the camera polarity to Ground and restart the car then I can't get the HU to come off the rear view video screen at all. I have to reset the HU to get it to the point where I can see the screen again.

What the hell is going on? What am I missing? The only thing I can think of is that the installation manual for the HU shows a fuse resistor between the Violet/White HU wire and the factory wiring harness adapter wire which is not there. Of course, it doesn't tell you what kind to use but that is the only thing I can think of.

Any thoughts? Anyone have any experience with this?

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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[jsampsell 10+ year member]

Actually, I'm looking at the factory wiring diagram for the 24, 16 and 8 pin connectors to the back of the stock HU which the PAC C2R-FRD1 adapter hooks up to. I'm also looking at the wiring diagram in the installation instructions for the PAC adapter. The "Reverse Light (Green)" wire doesn't actually hook into either of the 24, 16 or 8 pin connectors. It goes into the plastic module but it doesn't come out to the pins. I see where the "MS CAN+" and "MS CAN-" wires from the 16 pin connector get hooked into the same plastic module. I'm wondering if the plastic module has some computer chip that interfaces with the computer through those MS CAN wires. If that's the case then the problem is in whether or not the PAC module is communicating the correct thing to the computer. If I have the regular screen up on the HU and then put the car in reverse it does bring up the RC In display and shows the video from the camera but it seems like instead of getting a change in polarity from a wire it's getting a signal from the computer that the car is in reverse. That could be a problem if I'm right. I'd have to splice into the backup lamp power wires for it to work the way it's supposed to.

Again, any thoughts on this would be welcomed.

 

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

Ok, so I just noticed that the installation guide for the PAC C2R-FRD1 actually says that, among other things, the reverse output is driven by the data bus (see below). So, I was right. I wish I would have read the guide a little closer before embarking on the mystery solving but, hey, when I figure out the answer, it'll still possibly help other AVH-P4200DVD owners that want to run a rear view camera in the future.

So, I have contacted PAC about the situation. The question now is how they output the reverse signal. The HU needs to detect a voltage change. And since it stays on the entire time no matter what gear or polarity setting, I'm thinking it is not a voltage change. Either that or it is such a small change that the HU is not detecting it properly. If they come back and say I'm out of luck because I decided to purchase a HU that "isn't compatible" with that part of their product then I'll have to run the reverse light signal up to the back of the HU. I'll see what PAC says but I'm thinking that this is what I'll end up having to do.

View attachment 26517567

 

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

By the way, this more than likely only applies to Fords that the PAC C2R-FRD1 works for. I think it's pretty much all newer model Fords with the CANBUS connector so it would really **** if that's the case.

 

[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

i got a 4000dvd,the cam.has 2 wires a hot and ground.the hot i ran to a switched 12 volt.and switched the headunit to positive.

i found the wire at the taillight that goes from ground to plus 12 volts,ran it to the reverse lead of the radio.

in your case,it looks like the radio thinks you in reverse all the time.

 

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

Sorry pickup1, your post wasn't nearly as helpful as jonusb's. He cleared it right up for me.

Actually, you are right pickup1, it does seem like the radio thinks I'm in reverse all the time. I'm surprised that PAC hasn't responded to my question yet. I didn't know that there was a ground to 12 volts wire. I'll check into that.

 

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

pickup1 - What do you mean by a "ground to plus 12v" wire? And where would that be in the circuit? Below is a portion of the wiring diagram for my car. I see the ground and I see the power (white/yellow) but how do you know if the ground wire goes to plus 12v? This may be obvious to someone who knows what they are doing but this is new to me.

I'm basically just trying to figure out a wire I can use to hook into the HU for the reverse sensing. The manual only says that it looks for a voltage change. It doesn't say anything about how much voltage. I assume that running it to the backup lamp power wire (white/yellow) should be sufficient but I'm only guessing.

Any help you could give me on this would be appreciated. And anyone else for that matter.

Here's the wiring diagram:

 

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

I finally got to talk to someone at PAC. He was very nice and helpful. He even offered to walk me through some diagnostic stuff over the phone but I called while I was at work and could not do that. He said that the green wire is a 12v out. I'm not completely sure that it answered my question but he recommended putting a voltmeter to the green wire and make sure it is outputting 12v just to make sure the PAC module is working correctly. After that I have to diagnose it as a Pioneer problem. Unfortunately, Pioneer's manuals don't say anything about what that reverse signal is looking for in the way of voltage. It just says it's looking for a change in voltage when the vehicle is in reverse. I'll update when I figure it out.

 

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

Ok, so I tested the green wire from PAC and it was outputting nothing at all while in reverse. No problem. I'll just run a new wire from the HU back to the backup lamp wire that's powering the camera. I know that works since it's powering the camera. So I run the wire and connect both ends and test. Same **** problem. The HU just continues to show the reverse camera screen. WTF?!?!?! Now it's a problem with the HU? I'm pissed. I don't get it.

 

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

Well, I hate to admit it, but it's the truth. The problems were user errors.

The problem I had with the new wire was my fault because I didn't crimp one of my connections well enough. I re-crimped and sure enough the HU worked the way it is supposed to.

I also found out that what I was doing as far as settings on the HU were concerned was a little wrong too.

As I stated in the original post, there are two places in the HU that are for the rear view camera. One is in the source menu that turns the rear view camera on and off. The other is in the settings that tells the unit whether to detect the reverse signal from the battery or the ground.

It was my assumption that the first setting was to allow the rear view camera to be used and then the polarity setting was for the reverse detection only. It seemed that both worked in conjunction in order to function.

I was wrong.

Apparently the settings for the polarity are only for the unit to detect whether or not the vehicle is in reverse so that it can display the rear view camera screen when it detects the signal. That works independently of whether the source menu rear view camera button is turned on or off. The source menu rear view on/off button is so that you can view the rear view camera image while in any other gear if you wanted to.

So it was two errors on me that made this situation what it was. I'm an amateur. What can I say? It certainly has been a learning experience.

Thanks for the help.

 

[pkathee]

Jsampsell,

I just came across your post regarding Pioneer AVH-P4200 DVD and Rear View Camera functionality issues. Trust me, I’ve spent days on the net trying to find out if there is an answer to the issue that I am experiencing and it seems like you went through similar frustrations and finally figured it out.

Anyway, I am having exact same problem per your original post. I have the camera hooked up right (to the reverse wire) and I can see rear view as needed but the issue is with the constant and annoying message "Screen Image May Appear Reversed".

I would like to know how the user settings need to be. Should the polarity be on ground or battery? Source rear view camera on or off? Is there any specific user setting that I need?

You can even call me (801-696-1844). Your response will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[jsampsell 10+ year member]

Jsampsell,I just came across your post regarding Pioneer AVH-P4200 DVD and Rear View Camera functionality issues. Trust me, I’ve spent days on the net trying to find out if there is an answer to the issue that I am experiencing and it seems like you went through similar frustrations and finally figured it out.

Anyway, I am having exact same problem per your original post. I have the camera hooked up right (to the reverse wire) and I can see rear view as needed but the issue is with the constant and annoying message "Screen Image May Appear Reversed".

I would like to know how the user settings need to be. Should the polarity be on ground or battery? Source rear view camera on or off? Is there any specific user setting that I need?

You can even call me (801-696-1844). Your response will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

pkathee, to my knowledge, the message "Screen Image May Appear Reversed" is something that will always be there. That was never my issue. It's a legal issue I believe. Since Pioneer can't control what camera you use or how it's wired, it has to cover it's butt by displaying this message every time. I don't know this for sure at all but it seems that would be the case with a large corporation like Pioneer and the fact that there are multiple ways of installing a camera. I remember that my camera has a wire that you are supposed to cut in order to swap the image if you need to. Anyhow, all that to say that I'm pretty sure that you aren't going to be able to remove that message. I think it's hard-coded in that signal input for safety's sake.

Sorry that I wasn't any real help to you. If you have any other questions, I'm happy to help if I can.