GEN 1 2012 nav aftermarket upgrade

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OP
OP
O

Ol'cank

Member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Posts
20
Reaction score
0
I'm doing the install again and everything is going much better but I can't figure out the back up camera and radio antenna. Could you walk through what you did?
I have just done this very install into my 11 screw. More than happy to share some of the lessons I’ve learned if you want.

DNX874s, idatalink maestro, retained factory BU cam, usb, and aux. no sync used anymore. All kenwood functionality.


Paul


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

inetjanitor

Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Posts
13
Reaction score
1
I'm doing the install again and everything is going much better but I can't figure out the back up camera and radio antenna. Could you walk through what you did?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk



The radio antenna is pretty straightforward, just get a Best kits BAA20 radio antenna adapter.

The backup camera is already powered by the truck so you only need to deal with signal. 2 wires, positive and negative are in the 10 pin harness that is not connected to the new maestro harness. You need an male rca jack to connect to these wires. Center pin is positive and the shroud is negative. Look for the white wire with green stripe and the brown wire with purple stripe. I cut mine from the harness, but you could do a splice just as easily.

Splice RCA positive (inside wire) to the white/green wire
- Splice RCA negative (outer wire) to the brown/violet wire

Connect the rca to the camera input on your new head unit.

I recommend you solder and heat shrink these wires. I don’t like bulky butt connectors or taps. You may have to cut back the loom on the factory harness to get enough wire out, but just go slow and try not to nick any of the other wires in there.

The maestro harness provides reverse trigger in the harness so if you hook that up to the reverse wire on your deck, you should have a happy camera when the truck is put into reverse. The only thing different is that my truck would keep the camera on once triggered in any gear up to about 10mph. That was a head unit feature that the Kenwood doesn’t replicate. However it does have a button to turn the camera on whenever you want, so I think it’s an ok trade.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
OP
OP
O

Ol'cank

Member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Posts
20
Reaction score
0
Im just now realizing that this may have been a bad idea but I've tried every combination of every white/green and brown/violet wire I could find and cannot get this camera to work.
The radio antenna is pretty straightforward, just get a Best kits BAA20 radio antenna adapter.

The backup camera is already powered by the truck so you only need to deal with signal. 2 wires, positive and negative are in the 10 pin harness that is not connected to the new maestro harness. You need an male rca jack to connect to these wires. Center pin is positive and the shroud is negative. Look for the white wire with green stripe and the brown wire with purple stripe. I cut mine from the harness, but you could do a splice just as easily.

Splice RCA positive (inside wire) to the white/green wire
- Splice RCA negative (outer wire) to the brown/violet wire

Connect the rca to the camera input on your new head unit.

I recommend you solder and heat shrink these wires. I don’t like bulky butt connectors or taps. You may have to cut back the loom on the factory harness to get enough wire out, but just go slow and try not to nick any of the other wires in there.

The maestro harness provides reverse trigger in the harness so if you hook that up to the reverse wire on your deck, you should have a happy camera when the truck is put into reverse. The only thing different is that my truck would keep the camera on once triggered in any gear up to about 10mph. That was a head unit feature that the Kenwood doesn’t replicate. However it does have a button to turn the camera on whenever you want, so I think it’s an ok trade.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

inetjanitor

Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Posts
13
Reaction score
1
Im just now realizing that this may have been a bad idea but I've tried every combination of every white/green and brown/violet wire I could find and cannot get this camera to work.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

So, no disrespect intended, but let me ask a couple questions.
1. Is the truck on while you are testing? ACC is not going to always cut it.
2. How are you testing the wires? If you happen to be trying to push the stripped wires of the RCA into the front of the connector, for instance, it will not work. You are going to have to strip a little insulation off of them and then twist in the leads.
3. what year is the truck? I believe that 10-12 are largely the same animal, but I could be mistaken. those wire colors worked on my 11. I cannot speak to other years.

-Paul
 
OP
OP
O

Ol'cank

Member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Posts
20
Reaction score
0
I've tried in in ACC, on, and running. Even tried shifting into reverse. Unit goes to rear camera but it's just black.

They are stripped and twisted (at the least, I just went ahead and used a connector the first time as I over confident.)

The truck is a 2012. I'm fairly sure the 11's are the same.

I just don't get it and I've been googling for an hour trying to figure it out.
So, no disrespect intended, but let me ask a couple questions.
1. Is the truck on while you are testing? ACC is not going to always cut it.
2. How are you testing the wires? If you happen to be trying to push the stripped wires of the RCA into the front of the connector, for instance, it will not work. You are going to have to strip a little insulation off of them and then twist in the leads.
3. what year is the truck? I believe that 10-12 are largely the same animal, but I could be mistaken. those wire colors worked on my 11. I cannot speak to other years.

-Paul

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

inetjanitor

Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Posts
13
Reaction score
1
Any chance the camera is bad? Did it work recently? i guess it could be a bad RCA, but that is really unlikely. Did you verify RCA wire polarity with a volt meter? Maybe swap the leads real quick and see if they are reversed someway.
 
OP
OP
O

Ol'cank

Member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Posts
20
Reaction score
0
The camera was working fine right up u til I started the install. I've tried swapping the leads and even other RCA's I had laying around. I guess my next step is to buy a brand new RCA and see if that works.
Any chance the camera is bad? Did it work recently? i guess it could be a bad RCA, but that is really unlikely. Did you verify RCA wire polarity with a volt meter? Maybe swap the leads real quick and see if they are reversed someway.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

inetjanitor

Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Posts
13
Reaction score
1
I swear we are missing something simple here. It is possible to have a bad RCA, but i can't think of one time where that was actually the cause of my issue. Take a look at this link, there are some pictures of the harness plug and the wires that need tapped. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/...unit-which-retains-factory-backup-camera.html

There were more than 3 wires in mine, but i am certain that is based on what options your truck has installed.
 
OP
OP
O

Ol'cank

Member
Joined
May 11, 2018
Posts
20
Reaction score
0
That's exactly what I did. Mine also had more than three words but I put a RCA right on those two wires and plugged into the rear camera connection. I couldn't stand to look at it anymore today so I put it all back together. I haven't tested everything yet but as far as I can tell I have full functionality other than the camera.
I swear we are missing something simple here. It is possible to have a bad RCA, but i can't think of one time where that was actually the cause of my issue. Take a look at this link, there are some pictures of the harness plug and the wires that need tapped. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/...unit-which-retains-factory-backup-camera.html

There were more than 3 wires in mine, but i am certain that is based on what options your truck has installed.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

mimcat

Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Posts
5
Reaction score
3
I recently upgrade my factory nav on my 2012, I installed a Pioneer AVIC 8201 NEX together with the iDatalink Maestro RR, what I needed on top was the FM antenna adaptor and the F01 harness, as I had already the nav I was able to retain the factory dash however I had to buy a metra kit for which I needed only the bracket. Cutting the plastic bar was very easy and the unit fitted at first try (I guess I was lucky here). I retain the factory back up camera as thanks to some googling I was able to trace the wires behind the dash, I so used the pioneer camera as a front camera.
I'm happy to report that all the center dash switches including the volume knob still works!!!!

If you are upgrading the factory nav you must install a radio compatible with the idatalink maestro otherwise you won't be able to set the A/C properly.

front camera.jpg

rearcam.jpg

press.jpg

gauges.jpg

start.jpg

maps.jpg

climate.jpg

camera.jpg
 
Last edited:
Top