- :
- 2013 CX-9 Sport
Aftermarket Camera Installation for 2013 CX-9 Sport
I installed an aftermarket camera in my 2013 CX-9 Sport with a non-Bose audio system and thought I'd share how it went for me in case there are others out there who would like to try to do the same. There are options listed in the CX-5 forum that seem like they would be completely compatible with the CX-9. The one issue I had with that is that all of those options required drilling holes into the tailgate which I didn't want to do. So, I opted to get a camera that mounted to my license plate screws, although at this point, I think any 12 volt camera will work with how I did it.
I'll add the standard disclaimer that while I was able to do this myself, I had the confidence to do it because I used to be an installer. If you're not comfortable or confident about what you're doing, don't try this yourself.
I bought a camera off of Amazon and, after a few tries, found a seller on eBay who was willing to just sell me the wiring harness without the camera. So, that made things easier on me. One issue I identified before getting started is that the camera port on the back of the factory radio supplies power for a camera, but the output is 6 volts while most cameras available are 12 volts. I got my 12 volt camera and ran some tests in my home. I connected it to my TV and powered up the camera using 4 D batteries lined up in a row (1.5 volts each bringing me to 6 volts). And the image came right up on the screen. But, when I used 8 D batteries (to get 12 volts), the image was noticeably better on a 42" HD TV. Would this matter on the tiny Mazda screen? Not so much. I don't know if powering a 12 volt camera off of a 6 volt radio output is bad for the radio. I did try it and it worked, but ultimately I was afraid to risk it for the long run. Didn't care about needing to buy another $30 camera, but don't want to buy another $500+ radio. Could I have converted the 6 volts to 12 volts using a relay? Probably, but I thought it could be bad for the radio. I probably could have used a relay to trigger the camera from that radio output, but I thought that was overkill. So, it's hooked up with switched 12 volts now.
Tools I used:
-#2 phillips screwdriver
-10mm socket wrench
-Straight pick (or small screwdriver perhaps)
-My hands
-A band-aid (because I used my hands)
-Camera harness I found on eBay
-Backup camera
-30' or so of 18 gauge automotive electrical wire.
-RCA video wire (needed 25-30 feet, my camera only came with 18)
To take the dash apart, I followed the steps outlined in a very helpful video on YouTube (http://youtu.be/AzEKzh0yLpU). However, I found that it was better to remove the shifter trim before the trim around the sides. On my CX-9, the side trim was tucked ever so slightly behind that shifter piece and I could see the very bottom getting scratched. Aside from that, I followed his steps and had no problem. The piece around the shifter came off fairly easily. I pulled straight up starting at the cupholder side. There were two clips there and then I gently worked the sides up with my fingers and it came loose. There was a little light connected on the left side of the shifter trim. I needed a pick to pop that light out so I could move the trim out of the way. The shiny trim panels on the left and right were intimidating to remove, but I was able to simply pull them straight back using only my hands. Place them somewhere where they won't get scratched.
Be very careful not to scratch your radio, shifter, clock display screen or anything else. I brought a soft blanket out to protect the radio screen while I worked. As a former installer, it's pretty easy to make one wrong move and your pretty screen has a scratch in it.
Photo removing shifter trim
Photo of side trim after removal. Note clip locations
Photo of radio after trim removal
Next I removed the pocket and lighter plug. There was only one screw directly below the lighter plug holding this piece in place. Then it pulled straight out.
Photo of lighter and pocket with screw mostly removed
From there, make sure you have removed the two screws toward the top (as indicated in this image) you need to gently remove the larger piece with the a/c controls, etc starting from the bottom and working your way up. There are three plugs behind the A/C controls which were easy to remove by hand. There is one additional plug behind the hazard light button that was much harder to unplug. You should have a pick or screwdriver handy to assist with pushing in the button to release the plug. Once the entire dash piece has been removed, place it somewhere where it will be out of harm's way. It's big and it's heavy, but it doesn't feel terribly durable. You'd hate for someone to accidentally sit on it and crack it.
The radio was held in place with four screws and one 10mm bolt.
Radio screw/bolt locations
Once those were removed, it pulled right out. The factory radio is a Sanyo KA300.
On the back of the radio, there were several plugs and there was already something plugged into the camera port. I assume there is wiring run to another point in the car that may have allowed me to skip every single thing I have outlined up to this point. But, I'm already here and, well, you live, you learn. So I unplugged the existing plug and replaced it with the one I bought from eBay.
Backup camera jack location
Here is a good diagram of the plug that was posted in the CX-5 forum.
My camera plug side 1
My camera plug side 2
This is where my photos I took during the process end, but I may try to go back and take some more to improve the post.
I tried a few scenarios for powering the backup camera. As I mentioned, I didn't feel comfortable powering the 12 volt camera off of the 6 volt output although it did work. So, I did not use the 6 volt output from the radio. I tried connecting the camera power to the 12 volt wire to the reverse light. HOWEVER, the car needs to sense that the camera is connected while the radio is initializing and the camera needs to be powered up for this to happen. So, unless you shift into reverse immediately after starting the car, the radio doesn't know that the camera is connected and it won't work. So, I opted to power the camera off of the switched 12 volt lighter plug that I had already removed when taking the dash apart. I got some 18 gauge wire, spliced it into the yellow wire from the lighter plug in the dash (the lighter plugs in the center console and in the trunk area are NOT switched, so they have power all the time and the camera would remain powered up when the car is off). I bought 40 feet of wire and probably needed close to 30 feet of it.
From the dash area, I ran it down to the floor on the driver's side. The carpet pulled back easily and I ran it right under there. I removed the plastic nut from the driver's kick plate (I didn't actually take the panel off). I removed the plastic pieces along the bottom under where the driver's side doors are. I fished the wire around the kick plate and under the bottom of the b-pillar panels and otherwise tucked it nicely under the carpet. Once I got to the 3rd row, I simply tucked the wire under the side panels as well as I could and kept on running it back. I lifted the floor cover in the trunk area and ran the wire along the outside of the cargo area. The storage compartments lifted up pretty easily and allowed me to get the wires around there without much trouble. I popped the panel going across the bottom of the back/trunk door up just a bit on the left side to allow me to fish the wire underneath it. I pulled the rubber stripping back which allowed me to fish the power and RCA wires right up to the top where the grommets are leading to the back door.
This is where the fun started. Trying to squeeze the RCA cable through the rubber grommet with the other wires already in there was a chore. I don't have a good tip. Just bring some patience with you. Took me a good 20 minutes.
Pop the top center panel off of the back door. There are a good number of clips holding it on. Probably 6 or so metal clips as well as plastic clips on each side holding it to the adjacent panel. I used my hands to get this off, but a prybar might work more easily. Just be careful not to snap the panel. Once that's off, pop both ends of the grommet off from the body and the door using a pick. Getting the center latch as well as one on the side freed it up enough to pop it out. I suggest running the wires through the passenger side grommet since the wires will run down the passenger side, but perhaps the driver's side grommet could be easier to get through.
Then you can remove the panel on the back door running down the passenger side. There is one round clip that needs to be removed first. Pop the little center circle out using a pick and then the rest will slide out. Unsnap the rest of the panel. I think there were two metal clips holding that on. I wrapped the wires along the existing door wiring as I went down. I was able to pop off the little access covers for the tail light as well as the one in the center, so I never removed the large, main door panel. I shoved my arms in and pulled the wires through to the tail light and from there over to the center of the door.
At this point, you'll want to get your camera mounted. Again, I used a camera that mounted to my license plate bolts. I popped the plate light out and ran the wire into the door from there. One small notch in the door to keep the wire from getting pinched is all the cutting you'd need to do. I just shoved the light back in, so the wire's getting pinched, but I'll likely fix that sooner rather than later.
From here, I connected the RCA wire I ran from the radio to the wire on the camera. I connected the camera power wire to the wire I ran from the yellow wire at the dash lighter plug. You could ground the camera's ground wire to anything metal in the car. I hooked it up to the negative wire on the reverse light.
Start the car, put it in reverse and see how it works. If all is well, you can start putting it back together.
I hope this info is helpful to people out there. There was a lot of interest in this topic for the CX-5 people on the Internet. I hope my interest in it as a new CX-9 man can help others upgrade their systems for cheap. The dealership quoted me a few hundred dollars to do this. I spent $80 total.
Good luck!
(Edit: This started as a question about installing the camera before I started. I decided to just update my existing post instead of starting a new one. That's why the first response doesn't really make sense in relation to this post.)
I installed an aftermarket camera in my 2013 CX-9 Sport with a non-Bose audio system and thought I'd share how it went for me in case there are others out there who would like to try to do the same. There are options listed in the CX-5 forum that seem like they would be completely compatible with the CX-9. The one issue I had with that is that all of those options required drilling holes into the tailgate which I didn't want to do. So, I opted to get a camera that mounted to my license plate screws, although at this point, I think any 12 volt camera will work with how I did it.
I'll add the standard disclaimer that while I was able to do this myself, I had the confidence to do it because I used to be an installer. If you're not comfortable or confident about what you're doing, don't try this yourself.
I bought a camera off of Amazon and, after a few tries, found a seller on eBay who was willing to just sell me the wiring harness without the camera. So, that made things easier on me. One issue I identified before getting started is that the camera port on the back of the factory radio supplies power for a camera, but the output is 6 volts while most cameras available are 12 volts. I got my 12 volt camera and ran some tests in my home. I connected it to my TV and powered up the camera using 4 D batteries lined up in a row (1.5 volts each bringing me to 6 volts). And the image came right up on the screen. But, when I used 8 D batteries (to get 12 volts), the image was noticeably better on a 42" HD TV. Would this matter on the tiny Mazda screen? Not so much. I don't know if powering a 12 volt camera off of a 6 volt radio output is bad for the radio. I did try it and it worked, but ultimately I was afraid to risk it for the long run. Didn't care about needing to buy another $30 camera, but don't want to buy another $500+ radio. Could I have converted the 6 volts to 12 volts using a relay? Probably, but I thought it could be bad for the radio. I probably could have used a relay to trigger the camera from that radio output, but I thought that was overkill. So, it's hooked up with switched 12 volts now.
Tools I used:
-#2 phillips screwdriver
-10mm socket wrench
-Straight pick (or small screwdriver perhaps)
-My hands
-A band-aid (because I used my hands)
-Camera harness I found on eBay
-Backup camera
-30' or so of 18 gauge automotive electrical wire.
-RCA video wire (needed 25-30 feet, my camera only came with 18)
To take the dash apart, I followed the steps outlined in a very helpful video on YouTube (http://youtu.be/AzEKzh0yLpU). However, I found that it was better to remove the shifter trim before the trim around the sides. On my CX-9, the side trim was tucked ever so slightly behind that shifter piece and I could see the very bottom getting scratched. Aside from that, I followed his steps and had no problem. The piece around the shifter came off fairly easily. I pulled straight up starting at the cupholder side. There were two clips there and then I gently worked the sides up with my fingers and it came loose. There was a little light connected on the left side of the shifter trim. I needed a pick to pop that light out so I could move the trim out of the way. The shiny trim panels on the left and right were intimidating to remove, but I was able to simply pull them straight back using only my hands. Place them somewhere where they won't get scratched.
Be very careful not to scratch your radio, shifter, clock display screen or anything else. I brought a soft blanket out to protect the radio screen while I worked. As a former installer, it's pretty easy to make one wrong move and your pretty screen has a scratch in it.
Photo removing shifter trim
Photo of side trim after removal. Note clip locations
Photo of radio after trim removal
Next I removed the pocket and lighter plug. There was only one screw directly below the lighter plug holding this piece in place. Then it pulled straight out.
Photo of lighter and pocket with screw mostly removed
From there, make sure you have removed the two screws toward the top (as indicated in this image) you need to gently remove the larger piece with the a/c controls, etc starting from the bottom and working your way up. There are three plugs behind the A/C controls which were easy to remove by hand. There is one additional plug behind the hazard light button that was much harder to unplug. You should have a pick or screwdriver handy to assist with pushing in the button to release the plug. Once the entire dash piece has been removed, place it somewhere where it will be out of harm's way. It's big and it's heavy, but it doesn't feel terribly durable. You'd hate for someone to accidentally sit on it and crack it.
The radio was held in place with four screws and one 10mm bolt.
Radio screw/bolt locations
Once those were removed, it pulled right out. The factory radio is a Sanyo KA300.
On the back of the radio, there were several plugs and there was already something plugged into the camera port. I assume there is wiring run to another point in the car that may have allowed me to skip every single thing I have outlined up to this point. But, I'm already here and, well, you live, you learn. So I unplugged the existing plug and replaced it with the one I bought from eBay.
Backup camera jack location
Here is a good diagram of the plug that was posted in the CX-5 forum.
My camera plug side 1
My camera plug side 2
This is where my photos I took during the process end, but I may try to go back and take some more to improve the post.
I tried a few scenarios for powering the backup camera. As I mentioned, I didn't feel comfortable powering the 12 volt camera off of the 6 volt output although it did work. So, I did not use the 6 volt output from the radio. I tried connecting the camera power to the 12 volt wire to the reverse light. HOWEVER, the car needs to sense that the camera is connected while the radio is initializing and the camera needs to be powered up for this to happen. So, unless you shift into reverse immediately after starting the car, the radio doesn't know that the camera is connected and it won't work. So, I opted to power the camera off of the switched 12 volt lighter plug that I had already removed when taking the dash apart. I got some 18 gauge wire, spliced it into the yellow wire from the lighter plug in the dash (the lighter plugs in the center console and in the trunk area are NOT switched, so they have power all the time and the camera would remain powered up when the car is off). I bought 40 feet of wire and probably needed close to 30 feet of it.
From the dash area, I ran it down to the floor on the driver's side. The carpet pulled back easily and I ran it right under there. I removed the plastic nut from the driver's kick plate (I didn't actually take the panel off). I removed the plastic pieces along the bottom under where the driver's side doors are. I fished the wire around the kick plate and under the bottom of the b-pillar panels and otherwise tucked it nicely under the carpet. Once I got to the 3rd row, I simply tucked the wire under the side panels as well as I could and kept on running it back. I lifted the floor cover in the trunk area and ran the wire along the outside of the cargo area. The storage compartments lifted up pretty easily and allowed me to get the wires around there without much trouble. I popped the panel going across the bottom of the back/trunk door up just a bit on the left side to allow me to fish the wire underneath it. I pulled the rubber stripping back which allowed me to fish the power and RCA wires right up to the top where the grommets are leading to the back door.
This is where the fun started. Trying to squeeze the RCA cable through the rubber grommet with the other wires already in there was a chore. I don't have a good tip. Just bring some patience with you. Took me a good 20 minutes.
Pop the top center panel off of the back door. There are a good number of clips holding it on. Probably 6 or so metal clips as well as plastic clips on each side holding it to the adjacent panel. I used my hands to get this off, but a prybar might work more easily. Just be careful not to snap the panel. Once that's off, pop both ends of the grommet off from the body and the door using a pick. Getting the center latch as well as one on the side freed it up enough to pop it out. I suggest running the wires through the passenger side grommet since the wires will run down the passenger side, but perhaps the driver's side grommet could be easier to get through.
Then you can remove the panel on the back door running down the passenger side. There is one round clip that needs to be removed first. Pop the little center circle out using a pick and then the rest will slide out. Unsnap the rest of the panel. I think there were two metal clips holding that on. I wrapped the wires along the existing door wiring as I went down. I was able to pop off the little access covers for the tail light as well as the one in the center, so I never removed the large, main door panel. I shoved my arms in and pulled the wires through to the tail light and from there over to the center of the door.
At this point, you'll want to get your camera mounted. Again, I used a camera that mounted to my license plate bolts. I popped the plate light out and ran the wire into the door from there. One small notch in the door to keep the wire from getting pinched is all the cutting you'd need to do. I just shoved the light back in, so the wire's getting pinched, but I'll likely fix that sooner rather than later.
From here, I connected the RCA wire I ran from the radio to the wire on the camera. I connected the camera power wire to the wire I ran from the yellow wire at the dash lighter plug. You could ground the camera's ground wire to anything metal in the car. I hooked it up to the negative wire on the reverse light.
Start the car, put it in reverse and see how it works. If all is well, you can start putting it back together.
I hope this info is helpful to people out there. There was a lot of interest in this topic for the CX-5 people on the Internet. I hope my interest in it as a new CX-9 man can help others upgrade their systems for cheap. The dealership quoted me a few hundred dollars to do this. I spent $80 total.
Good luck!
(Edit: This started as a question about installing the camera before I started. I decided to just update my existing post instead of starting a new one. That's why the first response doesn't really make sense in relation to this post.)
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