I've been dealing with this issue pretty extensively. I'm too stubborn to pay Ford for an OEM replacement and the aftermarket ones won't work with the OEM guide lines and zoom functions.

-Tech info for those interested -
The stock camera communicates with the APIM via a one wire LIN bus. I tapped into it and sniffed the bus to see if I could see any issues, or manually force the camera to work. Part of my reason for doing this is the whole dissappearing guidelines issue that happened before my camera started flickering and going out. I was hoping to manually send the right message on the bus to always force the guidelines to stay on.

Anyway, best I can tell is that the messages from the camera unit or the APIM are getting garbled up at some point causing the image issues. It's hard for me to really tell since I don't have a decoded list of the messages, but I've found several sequences that appear to be related. I do see a difference in the messages when the camera is working vs when it isn't, but that doesn't tell me if it's a bad message from the APIM or if it's a bad response/ack from the camera. I haven't been able to identify what sequence actually activates the camera/settings yet, but I'm hoping I can brute force it while the camera is not connected to my truck to see if I can get it working on it's own. That should tell me if its an APIM issue or a camera issue.

Note: I've tried the ForScan module reprogram. Doesn't have any affect.

 

Yeah, that's the one. Is there another behind the dash that is easy to get to?

 

Parts came in today. Pried off the emblem, and was actually able to save it. Unplugged the camera, plugged it back in, just to test. Dead. Put in the new one, worked like a charm. Can't zoom or get rid of the lines, which seems odd. The buttons under the screen do nothing. But at least it's working again, and for 1/3 what the dealership wanted to charge me. I will ask them about the zoom and lines not working when I get an oil change next. Those don't really bother me as I never really used either of them.

 

Try unplugging the battery and running a jumper from positive to negative wires on truck. Leave it this way for minimum of 10 minutes. This will reset the system.

 

Would removing the positive cable and pressing the brake do the same thing? Or is that a process for something else?

 

I have no clue if pressing the brake would drain the capacitors. People have said leaving the headlight switch to on does but I don't know if it actually does. I know for sure jumping the positive to negative wires for the truck (NOT THE BATTERY) does drain the capacitors.

 

You can just disconnect for 15 minutes, no need to worry about draining.

 

What camera did you end up buying to replace it? The guidelines and zoom features are built in to the actual camera itself, not the touchscreen/mirror. The APIM just sends the control signals to the camera to tell it to add the lines or zoom to the video feed.

If you didn't replace it with the same model OEM camera, you won't have the zoom or guidelines

 

It's an OEM camera, I have the lines, just cant make them go away, or zoom. The screen has icons that designate the buttons under the screen should activate/deactivate those features. I push them and nothing happens. It's not a huge issue as I normally left the lines on and didn't ever use the zoom. Just thought it weird and wondered how to fix it.

 

You might have to run the Rear View Camera Configuration module in Forscan to set the new one up.