I have a 2016 xlt screw. In the past 2 weeks, my camera started to only works half the time. When it doesn’t work, it shows ‘rear camera is not available’ or a similar message. I took apart the tailgate and disconnected the camera, cleaned the connections and re-assembled but no difference. I also checked the wires underneath and behind the license plate and it all looks good (it’s a pavement princess truck). When it’s not working, I tried to move / wiggle the wires and it didn’t seem to make a difference. I plugged in my obd reader and saw some generic warnings but I don’t think it gives a specific cause (ex camera vs wire vs pcm?) any suggestions?

 

It had totally stopped working so I got back under and pulled apart the connector by the spare tire. It all looked good so I sprayed contact cleaner on it and reconnected it. No change. I wiggled all the wires again and no change. I took apart the tailgate again and disconnected the camera (again). I plugged it back in and it worked?! I pointed a go pro at the dash and watched from my phone as I shook and wiggled everything. It kept working without any changes. I turned it off and switched from
park to reverse 20 times and it all worked.

If disconnecting the power somehow fixed it (or reset something), I would have expected disconnecting the coupling (?) by the tire to have the same affect.

Not sure if the best solution is to just get a new camera from Amazon? I’ve seen mixed instructions on if something needs to be programmed/ calibrated.

 

If you grab a replacement from Amazon, you may loose the dynamic driving lines in the display but you can use Forscan, to run the whachamacallit on the whatsit and they'll return. That's what I had to do.

 

I have the test pattern screen intermittently. Sometimes it happens by shifting into reverse fast, heavy precipitation, car wash, and being exposed to direct sunlight for an extended period of time. I have replaced the camera 3 times, two aftermarket and one OEM camera. I have replaced the wiring from the frame to the camera. I have had the Ford dealer reprogram the camera. None of those things worked.


2016 XLT Supercrew 2.7 L 4 X 4

 

Thanks but that’s not reassuring. At least now I know I’m not special
I just ordered a 3rd party camera from Amazon and will report results

 

If you find solution I would appreciate your post of the solution.

 

So it started to work again but then randomly stopped/started over the past few days. Then 1 time my whole radio did not turn on which got me a bit scared. Since I needed an oil change anyways, I booked it into the dealer. They spent an hour testing / probing but found no problems. They switched it from park to reverse repeatedly and it finally stopped working so it didn’t seem to be related to a physical connection. Scanning the computer found the same code that I had seen earlier. They reset/ cleared that part of memory ?using their special computer? (they were purposely vague) and it started working again immediately. So it seems like it wasn’t a physical connection and was something in a computer. They guessed the radio not turning on was unrelated. Anyways, I haven’t replaced the camera and am hoping this is a permanent fix

 

That's the 'no idea what we did' answer.
If it acts up again, I'd replace the camera with an oem, aftermarket electronics tend to bring new issues. My 2020 has a recall on the camera, I simply have never taken it to them as it works 99% correctly. Hopefully your troubles are fixed.

 

I replaced the camera with a food camera and it didn’t solve the problem. If I park it in the sun headed east with the tailgate in the west I get the bad test pattern. And if I take it to the car wash or heavy rain.

 

IMO, you need to check all electrical connections under rear of truck. Unplug, spray clean, replug. WD40 is a great water displacement spray. Many like wd40 electrical cleaner.