New to the forums here, have a few issues, but one that bothers me and dealers cant figure it out. I bought a camper shell for my truck and wired in for the electronic lock, lights, and brake light. ever since the install I have no backup camera, dealer recommended to replace the camera, so I bought one from ford, OEM, and replaced it myself. The park sensors work, the screen says, "rear camera unavailable contact your dealer." What could I have done wrong? Is it possible I just got a bad camera? I am at a loss on what to do, I have taken the connectors apart and cleaned them out, then put dielectric grease in

 

Unless something has changed, the camera has to be programmed to/in the car.

 

I will call my local dealer today and ask if programming is necessary, then will update on it.

 

How did you wire the camper shell lighting? If you used the trailer wiring that maybe the trouble, the truck thinks you have a trailer and disables the camera. Just a thought. Myself I would go back to original wiring and see if the camera comes back to life. Did you get that error when this first happened or after you swapped cameras?

 

I didn't wire the camper, I had it done, but the place of business is no longer so I know not who wired it in, or how. the issue occurred definitively after the camper shell install, with both cameras.

 

Did you get that same message with the original camera? Or did it just not work and the message started with the replacement camera. Ford doesn't have a brake light wire under the rear of the truck for a cap/shell brake light, it has to be run from under the hood.

 

Yes I got the same message with the original camera, there was no change in anything by changing the cameras.

 

I see you looked at the plugs, were these under the rear of the truck? With that message its like the camera is disconnected somewhere. There should be a plug under the rear near the spare tire.

 

yes i unplugged, blew out, and put dielectric grease in every connector and got no results further than the camera still inoperative.

 

If everything is plugged in then they probably tapped into the video shield as ground or connected to one of the video wires in some way. I would find where the camper shell wiring is tapped in, disconnect one wire at a time and see if your camera comes back on.