Aftermarket headunit with OEM backup camera not working after battery disconnect?!

Alright, I need some help. I have a 2016 CX5 touring with Bose. I replaced the head unit last year with a pioneer DMH-2660NEX from Best Buy and the wiring harness plus back up camera adapter (step down unit from 12v to 6v) from crutchfield. After the install everything has been working great. OEM backup camera worked without issue.

Now, I disconnected the battery to clean the terminals and replaced the battery hold down which was corroding. After reconnecting everything I expected some settings on the headunit to need tweaking, but I was surprised to find that when I put the car in reverse, no back up camera! What?! Like, it doesn’t even register its in reverse on the head unit and try to pull up the back up camera. It just stays on the same screen as before.

So first I gave it some time but it never came on when I put the car in reverse. Looking at the AV menu, Camera was an option and if I clicked on it would switch to the camera but there was no picture, just a black screen. Not even the backup lines used for guidance. But no matter what I did it wouldn’t register when the car was in reverse.

So I park, and I wait like an hour. Come back and turn the car on and I get a quick warning message on the head unit that something in the camera wiring is wrong before it disappears and the whole head unit reboots. I think it mentioned the polarity. And the battery is connected correctly, so I didn’t mess that up.

So I go through the pioneer head unit settings and change the camera polarity from Battery to Ground and still nothing. Change it back, nothing.

Turn the car off and turn it back on, same message pops up but says on the screen for longer and then it restarts again.

Decide now to unplug the neutral from the battery and wait. Waited and hour then reconnected.

Now, when I put it in reverse it switches to the back up camera BUT NO PICTURE?! No guideline or anything, just black. So frustrating. I’m not totally sure what to try next. Any ideas?
 
I would guess that the power to the camera has failed. Either wiring issue, or the 6V adapter has failed.
 
Oh hey RedBaron - I followed your walkthrough to get this done. Thanks for being so clear in that post. I used the Axxess AX-MAZCAM-6v instead of the one you made but was really happy with how straightforward and complete your walkthrough was.

I'll pull the console and take a look at the wiring and check for 6v coming from the adapter. I've added a picture for reference it that helps anyone.

Thanks, and will report back once I get the console open.
 

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Awesome! It worked. Opened up the dash, exposed the harness and controller. Disconnected the neutral from the battery, disconnected the controller and waited. After a few min connected the controller back, then the battery and it worked! Much appreciated.
 
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