Focus Mk3 Fitting Reversing Camera

[Albacore]

I have a 2014 Focus Estate with Sync 1 and the 5" colour monitor, park assist and GPS. It was first registered in March 2014, so I guess probably built in the latter half of 2013.

I would like to fit a reversing camera, but I'm slightly confused about the options available, especially since many of the guides on here seem to have lost their pictures.

I suppose the simplest is to fit a non-OEM camera (does the Estate need a special one to fit the tailgate release?) and separate monitor - are the ones that replace the mirror any good? Do they interfere with normal mirror usage? Or has anyone put a display above the mirror? Are the cameras and displays usually 4:3 or 16:9?

Or what are the options to use the centre display and also integrate successfully with the park assist?

Thanks,

Lance

[Tommo17]

16 hours ago, Albacore said:

I have a 2014 Focus Estate with Sync 1 and the 5" colour monitor, park assist and GPS. It was first registered in March 2014, so I guess probably built in the latter half of 2013.

I would like to fit a reversing camera, but I'm slightly confused about the options available, especially since many of the guides on here seem to have lost their pictures.

I suppose the simplest is to fit a non-OEM camera (does the Estate need a special one to fit the tailgate release?) and separate monitor - are the ones that replace the mirror any good? Do they interfere with normal mirror usage? Or has anyone put a display above the mirror? Are the cameras and displays usually 4:3 or 16:9?

Or what are the options to use the centre display and also integrate successfully with the park assist?

Thanks,

Lance

There is plenty of posts on here with the pictures still. Have another look. 

Just put sync 3 in and connect any rear cam seems to be the best bet. 

[Albacore]

Thanks, but conversion to Sync 3 sounds like a rather ambitious and expensive project for me.

Having done a bit more research, I've found that I have the older 5" screen with the beige connector (sod's law!) - EM5T 18B955 DA, so I either need to upgrade that or buy the Russian reversing camera module.

The upgrade seems to be more cost effective. I've read that the screen I need is the F1BT 18B955 DC. I've seen an F1BT 18B955 DA for sale. Does anyone know if that will work?

[Albacore]

Slow progress!

I've now got a display F1BT 18B955 DC, but not fitted it yet. When I look behind the current display, there is a green Rosenberger 4 pin connector in the loom, taped up and not connected.

I've tried to trace where the cable goes, but it disappears into a loom the size of a small ash tree and despite my best efforts I'm not sure where it goes. I've looked behind the glove box and I'm pretty sure it doesn't go that way; I've had that centre console side panel off and can't see a termination for it there either.

Does anyone know where it terminates? I appreciate it probably doesn't go as far as the rear of the car, but it would be nice to pick it up somewhere on the way.

[Dozz]

I'm doing exactly the same as you except I also upgraded from a non sat nav unit. It really seems hit or miss on what wires you have behind the unit. Mine is 2012 and like yours was the brown plug on the display. So I've fitted the screen with the green plug. Taped up behind the screen was the pink, blue and black Fakra leads. I also luckily had the wires to get voice to work but no green plug. Finding a female blue 4 pin plug is proving difficult unless you want to wait for the slow boat from China. I've ended up fitting a camera moulded into the boot handle but is rca cabled. Cost about 8 quid from amazon. So I've got to make a patch lead. I've successfully coded everything but have left it without camera for the moment as it plays havoc with the park pilot display having it switched on but not connected. Let us know how you get on. 

[Albacore]

17 hours ago, Dozz said:

I'm doing exactly the same as you except...

Good to find someone else on the same road - I was starting to feel lonely on here! I was hoping that one of the experts on here might have shed some light on my cable routing problem, but if not, I'll just cut the cable to the green connector and use the connector and a short length of the cable and connect it to a newly routed camera cable, either with a female phono or simply by soldering.

Can you give me a brief outline of the coding you did to get things working? Did you use Forscan?

Also it sounds like you have park pilot, which I do as well - I don't want to lose its display - does it continue to work with the camera display with the non-oem camera?

Camera-wise, there seem to be some non-oem ones that do dynamic lines by some clever trickery.

[Dozz]

So my camera isn't working. I'm waiting on a plug for the back of the display. When I went in and changed the coding for the camera I was presented with the screen just turning black. With the park pilot it was quite funny. I have sensors front and back. With the camera disconnected the screen went black but showed the picture of the car for the pilot........ Only the front half! From the centre of the roof back it had vanished. So once I get the camera sorted I'm not sure what I'm going to get. I've heard that some of the sync 2/3 conversion guys have managed to get it working but doing something the architecture but WHOOOSH! That's way over my head. I didn't use forscan for the coding I used FoCCCus but used forscan to delete error codes etc. I had to tell my car that a, it now has a camera #99, b the screen was now 5" from 4.2 #172 and c, my branded stereo was now with sat nav #214. Once the lead turns up and the camera is working I'm thinking there maybe one more setting I'll try which is number 157 which is currently bt/vc phone interface+usb which I think needs to be bt/vc+info+navigation. As for camera it has tiny little wire which I'm meant to cut if I don't want lines but I don't think that has anything to do with the Dynamic set up

[JW1982]

On the Ford MFD system (either bluetooth Voicecontrol based or SYNC 1.0/1.1 based) the active/dynamic parking lines will only work if an original rear view camera and module are used (on very late MK3 versions and MK3.5 versions the rear view camera module is integrated into the BCM). The rear view camera communicates with the rear view camera module by a LINbus network. The rear view camera module projects the active/dynamic parking line overlay onto the camera image. 

An aftermarket rear view camera does not have the ability to communicate with the rear view camera module. It is not possible to project the active/dynamic parking lines onto the video image of an aftermarket rear view camera. This is not a problem because most aftermarket rear view cameras have fixed parking lines. 

 

When a rear view camera is connected to the Ford MFD system (either a original or aftermarket camera) the rear parking sensors are no longer displayed on the FCDIM (display). Only the front parking sensors are displayed. The rear parking sensors only have the audible warning (beeps). The visual warning is replaced by the camera image. 

[Botus]

10 hours ago, JW1982 said:

When a rear view camera is connected to the Ford MFD system (either a original or aftermarket camera) the rear parking sensors are no longer displayed on the FCDIM (display). Only the front parking sensors are displayed. The rear parking sensors only have the audible warning (beeps). The visual warning is replaced by the camera image. 

even more reason not to bother....  

by far the best set up was the big BM screen under a big hood from the dash (as in e89 and e60) full of (the similar to ford but adult sized) traffic light display.  Here each corner had a massive very accurate display and distinctive tones front to rear which just worked.. in comparison to a camera subject to road filth and the screen full of sun reflections (which makes it a total and utter waste of space).

I never had the camera on my merc and thought it would be a decent upgrade that I ought to fit.  I sourced secondhand parts relatively cheapy, getting hold of the original crazy money parts (including the very expensive active line module £1300, camera £750 and loom £ 350) then paid silly money to get it coded and calibrated only to find its about 10% fit for purpose.... if merc weren't so retarded fitting front and rear sensor visual indicators in different places on the car and a volume level 1/3 of what's required, I now know I would never bother fitting one again.

on a merc….all the noises are the same and almost inaudible and then the sensors only come in when its almost too late to react..... so you end up staring in three mirrors, four corners, whilst wobbling your head about trying to look around the steering wheel spokes to see the speedo for the fronts sensor info, the top of the rear window for the rears and the screen for the camera….   all in, you'd be better off just driving it like an adult

[Dozz]

So I've got everything hooked up to tonight. However the camera still doesn't work. Before once I had coded the car even with the camera disconnected the screen would go black and the park pilot would launch as a smaller graphic on a black screen. As already stated the rear half of the park pilot disappeared. So while I was waiting for my lead to turn up I changed #99 back to no camera and I've left it at. Now tonight I connected it all up , changed #99 to with camera and sat back to bathe in my ultimate knowledge. Bollix! The screen isn't even going black. It's like I've got it coded for no camera. I've read the bcm, rewrote it again still no joy. I've even changed the ipc to mirror the bcm. So I'm stumped. Got grumpy drank beer and sulked.

[JW1982]

After changing the configuration you have to lock the car and wait approximately half an hour. This way the FCDIM (display) will enter sleep mode. When unlocking the car the FCDIM reboots and will adapt to the configuration changes. 

If everything is connected and configured correctly the rear view camera should work after a reboot of the FCDIM. 

[Dozz]

JW................ can I have your babies????? 🤣 went out this morning and working all fine 🤣

[Jocoll]

Hi Folks !

i was interested in this post as I’ve just bought a 19 reg Focus Titanium Estate  which has the sensors but not the reversing camera.

would this have the wiring to the boot area already for the camera, or would I need a suitable kit.

i don’t suppose Ford provide these as they don’t encourage aftermarket fittings normally .

Thanks in advance for any help forthcoming .!

[Albacore]

On 8/17/2019 at 8:20 AM, JW1982 said:

After changing the configuration you have to lock the car and wait approximately half an hour. This way the FCDIM (display) will enter sleep mode. When unlocking the car the FCDIM reboots and will adapt to the configuration changes. 

If everything is connected and configured correctly the rear view camera should work after a reboot of the FCDIM.

Well, I haven't got that far yet, but I made a start and swapped over my original FCDIM EM5T 18B955 DA to the new F1BT 18B955 DC

It displays radio details BUT the Park Pilot is only showing the rear sensors on the display, even though I have front as well, so I've put the old one back for now. I had assumed that because I was swapping a 5" Navi display for another 5" Navi display I wouldn't need to change anything.

Is there a setting I need to change or do I need to reset FCDIM ECU in Foccus, or just do the lock and wait?

Thanks

[Tommo17]

30 minutes ago, Albacore said:

Well, I haven't got that far yet, but I made a start and swapped over my original FCDIM EM5T 18B955 DA to the new F1BT 18B955 DC

It displays radio details BUT the Park Pilot is only showing the rear sensors on the display, even though I have front as well, so I've put the old one back for now. I had assumed that because I was swapping a 5" Navi display for another 5" Navi display I wouldn't need to change anything.

Is there a setting I need to change or do I need to reset FCDIM ECU in Foccus, or just do the lock and wait?

Thanks

Yes you need to run focccus the new nav display looks like it came from a car with only rear. Set it to both and you should be good to go. 

[Albacore]

30 minutes ago, Tommo17 said:

Yes you need to run focccus the new nav display looks like it came from a car with only rear. Set it to both and you should be good to go

Thanks, but isn't Park Pilot set up in Foccus #59, Parking Assistance, which is independent of FCDIM?

And I haven't changed #59, so not sure what I should change

[Tommo17]

2 hours ago, Albacore said:

Thanks, but isn't Park Pilot set up in Foccus #59, Parking Assistance, which is independent of FCDIM?

And I haven't changed #59, so not sure what I should change

You need to tell the display you have both or you’ll only get 1. Like you are. 

[JW1982]

There is no need to change the configuration. The new FCDIM has to reboot first before it adapts itself to the Central Car Configuration of the car. 

After installing the new FCDIM just lock the car and wait approximately half an hour. After unlocking the car the FCDIM will reboot and afterwards the front parking sensors should be displayed on the FCDIM. 

[Tommo17]

21 minutes ago, JW1982 said:

There is no need to change the configuration. The new FCDIM has to reboot first before it adapts itself to the Central Car Configuration of the car. 

After installing the new FCDIM just lock the car and wait approximately half an hour. After unlocking the car the FCDIM will reboot and afterwards the front parking sensors should be displayed on the FCDIM. 

Did not know this 😂

wizzard JW

[Albacore]

 

Progress!

12 hours ago, JW1982 said:

There is no need to change the configuration. The new FCDIM has to reboot first before it adapts itself to the Central Car Configuration of the car. 

After installing the new FCDIM just lock the car and wait approximately half an hour. After unlocking the car the FCDIM will reboot and afterwards the front parking sensors should be displayed on the FCDIM. 

Thanks JW, you are the Focus Guru!

I did as you said and sure enough, Park Pilot returned front and back. I then temporarily enabled the reversing camera in Foccus (that program scares me when the Engine Malfunction message comes up on the instrument display!) and was pleased to see the front mini Park Pilot - no camera yet so no image, though it did say camera out of range or similar.

Also some good news on the wiring front; I managed to trace the green Rosenberger connector to a connector C23 in the passenger footwell, from whence it goes to a 6 pin connector in the offside pillar next to the tailgate (wagon) - green (earth) and blue (signal) wires.

It threw me somewhat because I was looking for a screened coax type cable, but it's not, except for near the FCDIM.

For some reason the white +12v cable in the connector is not live, so that's the next thing to look at, along with deciding what camera to get.

JW, I seem to recall you made a fancy arduino based gadget to power off the camera after a while or at a certain speed? Are there any easier solutions? I notice Park Pilot goes off when a certain speed is reached and wondered if that trigger signal could be picked up somewhere and used, with just a little relay driver circuit?

Lance

[JW1982]

On the Focus MK3 /MK3.5 the speed signal is only available as a digital CANbus signal. There is no analog signal that can be used to switch a relay with a simple circuitry that counts speed pulses to switch the relay. All speed depending functions are CANbus controlled. 

This is why I built myself an arduino based CANbus relay. This relay constantly listens to the communication on the CANbus network. If the reverse gear is selected or the PDC or Active Park Assist buttons are pressed the power to the rear view camera is switched on. If the vehicle reaches a speed of 15 KM/H or after 3 minutes (unless the reverse gear remains engaged) the power to the rear view camera is switched off.

The main reason why I built the CANbus relay is because I do not like to have the rear view camera powered on constantly while the ignition is switched on. This usually reduces the life expectancy of the (Chinese) rear view camera drastically. 

 

By the way I am currently developing a more advanced version of my CANbus relay that has the ability to control both a rear view camera and a front camera. The image of the rear view camera is displayed when the reverse gear is selected. The display of the front camera is displayed when the 1st gear is selected. Next to this it is also possible to switch between the camera images by pressing the PDC button. Another functionality I am working on is an overlay that projects active parking lines based on steering angle on top of the camera image.  

[Albacore]

Sounds good, JW! Are you selling the pre-programmed arduinos?

Lance

[Andyp73]

hello all focus nuts!!! And gurus. I have reading these for a while so that I can sort out my reversing camera on my2015 st3 estate. I have fitted a new gen. Ford camera and wiring loom in the tailgate. Switched on the camera using forscan but I can’t get the camera to work. Have put it into Ford but they aren’t interested in looking as not fitted from factory.! Anyhow do I need a new bcm or something to get this going? I really need the help now 

many thanks

andy