Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Add a rear-view camera to a 2012-2013 Hyundai Elantra for $80 and a couple hours of labor

We recently bought a 2013 Hyundai Elantra as an extra car for She Who Must Be Obeyed, and in particular, for Sarcastic #2 Son to use to drive to school. My wife loves the rear-view camera in our Chevy Volt and wanted one in the Elantra, but the factory camera is only available in a particular option package we didn't need. The dealer told us that aftermarket installs cost $800 or so, which I felt was a bit excessive.

So I did some research, and ended up at AliExpress, the consumer portal for the big Chinese B2B site Alibaba. What I found was quite interesting; if you're willing to do a little research, you can obtain and install your own camera system for about $80, and install it in about 2 hours.

What you need are:

  • A rear-view camera with wireless transmitter and receiver (otherwise you'll be stringing cable from your trunk to the front of the car). I found this one for $40 that is specifically made for the 2012-2013 Elantra. If you have a different car, you can find one that fits yours and adapt these instructions.
  • A small LCD panel you can mount in the front of the car. There are zillions of them; I picked this one for $35 because it would fit nicely into the dashboard in the pocket which contained the cigar lighter socket and also had a suction mount, in case I changed my mind.
  • A cigar lighter adapter plug that terminated in a standard jack. I happened to have one in my junk box. If you have one that doesn't have the right jack, you can just splice it directly into the LCD power connector. Make sure it's a basic one that isn't doing any voltage conversion!
  • A couple of tap splices for grabbing power from the rear backup lights.
  • Two pair of wire connectors of some sort.
You will also need some basic tools:

  • A Philipps screwdriver.
  • Wirecutters and strippers.
  • Pliers.
  • A soldering iron.
  • A multimeter.
Expect that the parts coming from China will take about 3 weeks to arrive. Did I mention postage is included? When they do come in the mail, check them to make sure they work, and then log on to AliExpress to confirm receipt (the seller does not get paid until you're happy).

Here's my breadboard setup, using a 12v battery.


The center nipple on the cigar adapter is positive (+), and the springy things on the side are negative (-). To assemble the LCD screen and video receiver, you cut one of the wires coming out of the plug, strip both ends, and test it to see if it connects to the center nipple. If so, you twist the two ends together again, along with the red power wire from the receiver. If not, you twist them together with the black wire. If you get it right, when you apply 12v of power to the cigar adapter, the green light on the receiver will light up. The LCD screen may brighten a bit, but it won't show a picture unless the transmitter is on and sending something.

Solder the wires together and insulate them with tape, plug the cigar adapter plug into the red power plug of the LCD, and the receiver output into one of the video inputs (most of these LCDs have two inputs, it doesn't really matter which you use unless you also want to use the screen for other things).

When you're all done, you'll have something that looks like this:


Now out to the car. Pop open the trunk and take a look at the plastic bolts holding the top liner to the trunk lid. Unscrew them most of the way and then they pull right out. They consist of a central bolt and an outer flange. To replace them when you're all done, just unscrew them completely, squeeze the outer flange tabs a bit, insert it through the liner into the trunk lid, and push the bolt back in -- no screwing required!


You'll have to twist around to see the square cover that hides the hole where the camera goes. Just squeeze the tabs one at a time and wiggle and it'll come out. Remember to save it in case you need to restore the car to factory condition (such as at the end of a lease).


Here you can see the hole from the outside. When the trunk is closed, the hole is parallel to the ground.


The camera has two small tabs on one edge and a big spring-tab on the other edge. You just feed the wires through the hole and click the camera into place.


Now for the slightly tricky part. Find the connector that powers the white backup and red brake lights. It has 3 wires, black, green and blue. Remove it by squeezing a tab and pulling it gently -- a small pair of pliers makes this much easier, because it's in an awkward position.


Use your multimeter to figure out which wires feed the backup lights (not the brake lights!). These lights are on anytime the car is in reverse. On the Elantra, the blue wire is positive (+) and the black wire is negative (-). Check carefully; I got it wrong the first time, which is why I connected a red wire to the negative lead. Get a couple of short lengths of 14-gauge wire and use the tap splices to connect into the car's wires. Don't connect the transmitter power wires directly; they are too small and you may not get a good connection!

To use a tap splice, your new wire goes in the completely closed hole in the splice, and the existing wire slots into the half-open slot, then you push down on the metal tab with pliers.

Once you've done this, put connectors on the other ends of the wires, and also on the power wires coming from the transmitter.



Plug the transmitter into the camera (video and power), and connect it up to your new power wires. Then get someone to turn on the car and put it into reverse; you should see the power light on the transmitter come on.

If at this point you get run over, either you're an idiot or someone doesn't like you very much.

Now go and plug your receiver assembly into the cigar plug in the dashboard. If all is well, a second or two after you put the car into reverse, the LCD will light up and show you what's behind your car.



Assuming all is OK, go back and thread all the wires in the trunk lid nicely, and use cable-ties to keep everything neat and in place. In particular, position the transmitter so that when the trunk is closed, the little antenna has good line-of-sight to the receiver in the front of the car. Conveniently, there are two small holes in just the right place to make this easy.



Oh, and don't forget to plug that connector back into the lamp assembly before you put the put the trunk cover back on! And to test it to make sure you haven't messed up the lights.

Then all that remains is to tidy up the cables in the front of the car. For now, I'm just tucking them behind the LCD screen, which just fits in the little compartment in front of the gearshift, but next year I plan to get a 3D printer and may fool around with making a custom mount.


The only thing that isn't quite perfect about this setup is that the camera seems to be tilted a few degrees off the horizontal. I may be able to fix that by fiddling with it a bit, but for now it's perfectly acceptable.

Hope this little tutorial helps a few people out!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Terrific post - thanks! Is there a seperate transmitter I need to get? and do I order NTSC or PAL or does it matter? I'm in Australia - have the Elantra Active 2012/13/

MadOverlord said...

The items I got included both tax and rx. I don't recall if they were NTSC or pal specific or whether the display was multiformat -- I think it was or that there are display options that are.

Unknown said...

Hello,

I would like to thank you for such wonderful step-by-step guide, I bought the camera and I installed it on my Hyundai Elantra, its fit just fine.

I replaced the monitor with a rear-view mirror which includes: built-in antenna (for camera), Bluetooth, FM transmitter and more. I connected the mirror's cable to the overhead lights cables.

Below is the mirror link:
http://anlud.en.alibaba.com/product/338291910-212434528/ALD100B_Bluetooth_mirror_with_3_5_wireless_reverse_parking_camera_parking_sensor.html

Thank you again my friend :)

Cheers

MadOverlord said...

I'm glad you found the post helpful.

Unknown said...

I thank both MadOverlord and Haitham for their valuable info. I am trying out something hybrid.
Buying camera and Transmitter as suggested by MadOverlord in his link.
Buying the mirror with inbuilt LCD - I did not want BT, FM etc as they are standard in my Elantra GLS Option package 2. The mirror/monitor is from ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310393860071?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I have not got this parts yet but have a few questions.
1) Since I just need to provide power to mirror/monitor as 2.4 GHZ receiver is built in, I am planning to use add-a-circuit to power from fuse.
http://www.amazon.com/Littelfuse-FHA200BP-ATO-Add-A-Circuit-Kit/dp/B0002BGELQ
a) which fuse tap point is best and what should new circuit fuse rating be (2.5A, 5A, 7.5A ...?)
b) I looked at Hyundai - Service manual http://www.hemanual.com/crash_pad_repair_procedures-1981.html but without prying any trim I want to tap a ground point. Where is that available anywhere near the fuse box by the driver ? I know the whole car body is grounded but I want a point where without using any tools the car body is exposed near fuse box that I can use to ground!
If that is not easily available my plan is to remove "Crash Pad Side Cover Replacement" (see hyundai link I gave above) and from there I will ground it to any exposed body but this involves prying tools which I do not have. Any tips here is appreciated on how to open the Crash Pad cover?

2) Since I am getting the wireless Tx from one vendor (2.4 Ghz) and the mirror/monitor with inbuilt 2.4 Ghz from different vendor I WONDER if they both inter-work for making a wireless connection. My concern is like buying cordless phones from two manufacturers with phone extensions. They will not work though they are in 2.4 GHZ range - Any body can tell me if my backup camera/monitor hyndai-mirror project would work?

Anonymous said...

I thank both MadOverlord and Haitham for their valuable info. I am trying out something hybrid.
Buying camera and Transmitter as suggested by MadOverlord in his link.
Buying the mirror with inbuilt LCD - I did not want BT, FM etc as they are standard in my Elantra GLS Option package 2. The mirror/monitor is from ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310393860071?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I have not got this parts yet but have a few questions.
1) Since I just need to provide power to mirror/monitor as 2.4 GHZ receiver is built in, I am planning to use add-a-circuit to power from fuse.
http://www.amazon.com/Littelfuse-FHA200BP-ATO-Add-A-Circuit-Kit/dp/B0002BGELQ
a) which fuse tap point is best and what should new circuit fuse rating be (2.5A, 5A, 7.5A ...?)
b) I looked at Hyundai - Service manual http://www.hemanual.com/crash_pad_repair_procedures-1981.html but without prying any trim I want to tap a ground point. Where is that available anywhere near the fuse box by the driver ? I know the whole car body is grounded but I want a point where without using any tools the car body is exposed near fuse box that I can use to ground!
If that is not easily available my plan is to remove "Crash Pad Side Cover Replacement" (see hyundai link I gave above) and from there I will ground it to any exposed body but this involves prying tools which I do not have. Any tips here is appreciated on how to open the Crash Pad cover?

2) Since I am getting the wireless Tx from one vendor (2.4 Ghz) and the mirror/monitor with inbuilt 2.4 Ghz from different vendor I WONDER if they both inter-work for making a wireless connection. My concern is like buying cordless phones from two manufacturers with phone extensions. They will not work though they are in 2.4 GHZ range - Any body can tell me if my backup camera/monitor hyndai-mirror project would work?

MadOverlord said...

Sorry, I don't know the answers to either of those questions.

Unknown said...

Thank you for this article and for everyone's comments as well. I am buying an Elantra this week and would love to have a back up camera, but don't necessarily want to spend 2,000 additional shekels. Seriously, this had eased a lot of stress!!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm looking to purchase the same wireless camera from AliExpress but there are two "sensor" options: "Port A (Car DVD)" and "Port B (GPS Nav)". They are the same price. What is the difference??

MadOverlord said...

TBH I don't know the answer to that question, but if you are also installing a small LCD, then my best guess is you want the DVD option.

Unknown said...

MadOverlord, this was a great find!
I linked your blog to the hyunda-forums site, I'm sure everyone there will thank you.

I had a similar question to Anonymous about the port thing.

unfortunately, the website isnt clear about the Port A, Port B, DVD vs. GPS thing so I was wondering which one you purchased?

There are four options on the website, and its simple enough to knock it down to two options since wireless is definitely the way to go, it seems as though there is a Transmitter and Receiver with this kit? but whats the difference with the DVD & GPS option?

weird

MadOverlord said...

The difference between the two types is in the output connections on the receiver. If you are going to drive an additional monitor, you want the DVD version (PortA). If you are going to plug it into an existing GPS with an external video input, you probably want the GPS (Port B) version.

Here's a snapshot image from Alibaba of the device I got: http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/208181890.html

The DVD version has an RCA plug and unterminated power wires (you have to provide power via the cigar lighter). The GPS version has an RCA plug and another plug that probably provides power from the GPS as well.

Unknown said...

Thanks dude!
I'm putting my order in for this tonight. Now I just need to find the right rear view mirror with LCD built in :D

mmulad said...

any good rear view mirror with gps that you know rocks with the wireless backup camera mentionned above? thanks romy

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emily.boda said...

Not sure if I'll get a reply, but are you able to close the lid on the compartment that you have the monitor in? I'd love to tuck the monitor away since I live in a city and leaving anything mildly expensive-looking visible is just asking to get your car broken in to.

MadOverlord said...

@emily.boda: It has been some years since we've had the car, and I don't recall if the lid closed. However, you can probably measure the thickness of the compartment using a few sheets of cardboard (keep adding until it won't close), and then compare that to the listed size of the display you decide to use.

emily.boda said...

Thanks for the reply! I ended up installing it and the display does fit, but two notes: most of the cheap 4.3" displays (regardless of where you buy them from) end up being almost the same version. Make sure you get one with a removable hood, because if there hood is on you can't close the lid. The other thing is, I want to be able to power the display with the cigarette lighter in the little compartment, but I can't seem to find a plug that's short enough to allow the display to fit inside. If I power it from somewhere else it would be no problem.

Other than that, everything works great! I ended up going with a wired version of the camera.