Electrical problem (non-Cobra)

[Modena]

Hey all, someone out there may have an idea on this one. I installed an aftermarket reverse camera in my Audi daily driver. The head-unit is the same one fitted to the Lamborghini Gallardo, so with a single digit change in the computer program I told the head-unit that a reverse camera was installed, and hey presto. A by-product of this is that you get the Lamborghini splash-screen at boot-up! The camera plugs into a multimedia box which also serves as as video input for the "TV" input on the head-unit - so you can plug in an iphone/tuner/RCA cable for audio/video. When the head-unit and the multimedia box get 12v from the reverse light circuit they auto-switch to the camera input.

It all works, but the video from the reverse camera is really bad when the car is cold. It's perfect when the car is warm/hot. During summer when the garage didnt go below 25 some nights it was good camera vision in the morning, otherwise when the car is cold the picture is ****.

I thought it was the camera power ground, but I re-did that and it hasn't helped. Could it be battery? I'm on the original battery and the car is now 5.5 years old.

I made a small video showing the problem.

RNS-E after-market reverse camera problem - YouTube

[Modena]

..forgot to say, as I say in the video when the engine is off but ignition is on the picture is fine even when cold, its only with the engine running that there is a problem.

I also tried a couple of ferrite clamps on the video cable but that did nothing.

[sideshow]

Maybe u hooked one wire to the temp sender wire heheh

Sounds like. U might be getting noise thru the wires
I would get the power and earth and run them to battery and start car see if it plays up
Ten also run reverse signal to battery positive aswell to replicate it in reverse and see what happens
U might need a noise filter

I wonder y they charge so much for a Lamborghini and use a crappy reverse camera hahahaha

[FWB]

sounds like there is a magnetic field from an electrical source interfering with either the screen or the feeds to it. shield them and see

[Tommy]

The fact that the symptom is temperature dependent makes me think of two possibilities. One is that the change in temperature is causing something in your camera system to lose contact when it is cold. That could be a very hard problem to find. The other possibility is that some electrical system that only operates when the car is cold is causing the interference mentioned earlier. I'm thinking of something like an automatic seat heater or some engine component that comes on automatically when the ignition is on in cold weather. If you can associate the operation of such a component with the interference, it may be easier to determine what needs to be done to solve the problem.

[gjkrv8]

Ben, I agree with Tommy. Maybe turn off your climate control? Might be fans, AC clutch, etc. cheers Gregg.

Sideshows suggestion will tell you if it's interference or not.

[Modena]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I dont have seat heaters and HVAC is off as a default. Will try the direct run to battery when I get a chance.