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2013 GL 450, Dash Cam, redoing "professional's" install work
Hello all,
I need help. I am a new member and honestly I have not spent the time searching the forum (which I know is frowned upon usually).
I bought a 2013 GL 450 for my wife in 2013 brand new.
This past Friday I took it to Al & Ed Autosound (the professionals) to install a 2 channel Thinkware F800 dash cam.
When the guy opened the box and looked at the 3 wires that came with the hardwire kit he asked "How do you want it connected, to constant or ignition?"
I said "Both"
He smiled and said that it doesn't work that way.
I said "It does, the camera has two modes - Parking and Driving. The ignition wire should go to something that turns on when the car is on, and the constant wire should go to something that gets power even when the car is off"
He said "Right, I have been doing this for years, so I know how it all goes together"
Then I showed him how the rear camera wire plugs into the front camera.
Red Flags, I know. I should have just turned around and left, but I figured maybe he is just unfamiliar with 2 channel cameras and those that continue to record when the car is off.
3 hours later and $270 poorer I had picked up the car.
Issues:
1. One of the upper panels on the rear Hatch is not securely reinstalled, it is hanging down at the top. Not sure if the clip is broken, or the panel.
2. The bottom panel (with the handle) of the rear Hatch was reinstalled incorrectly with one of the "retaining hooks" (not sure if that is the name) sticking out on top of the center panel.
I believe he removed the bottom panel, got discouraged about pulling down the center one, and yanked the right side top panel out without removing the middle one. Then he couldn't reinstall it correctly.
3. I am still not sure where he connected the wires to, but I believe it is somewhere on the passenger side. I don't know how to get to the fuse box. But when I popped the hood I noticed one wire going to the fuse box in the engine compartment. It simply went over the edge of the box, and I believe he wrapped the end of the wire around one of the legs of the fuse. Then when the box cover was reinstalled it pinched the wire. The insulation is almost cut all the way through in the spot where the box cover seals against the edge of the fuse box.
4. The camera only records for 10 minutes after the car has been turned off, but it does say "Starting parking mode" when the ignition is off.
My understanding is that the wire running to under the hood fuse box is the constant wire he extended. And that he connected it to something that only continues to get power for 10 min after the ignition was turned off.
My understanding is that I will need to find a better source of constant power, preferably inside the cabin.
I believe the car uses ATC fuses so I bought Tap-A-Fuse ATC extensions (coming today)
Since he stole my panel pryers and I ordered a new kit (coming today) I believe I will need to remove the bottom, then the center, then the top hatch panels to see why the top one was not properly clipped in.
I can't find the locations of fuse boxes in the manual. But it refers to charts located at the trunk/cargo fuse box.
My questions:
1. Where is the cargo fuse box?
2. Should there be any materials referring to other fuse boxes and fuses inside that fuse box?
3. Which fuse to tap for constant power?
4. How is the top hatch panel connected to the hatch? Should I order some retaining clips?
Thank you in advance. I want to get this resolved as soon as possible (preferably today), at least some of it, like connecting the camera correctly.
Igor.
I bought a hardwired kit for my dash cam and was going to tap into the fuse box located on the passenger side next to the glove box. Not sure which fuse off hand but here is a pic from my 2015 GL550. It opens easily, just open the glove box and pull the edge of the fuse door outward.
Is it true that somewhere in the car there should be a booklet with location of fuse boxes and designation of each fuse?
Or if I cannot find it, which fuse in this passenger side fuse box can be used for ignition-on power source?
Last edited by ikrinitskiy; 08-12-2018 at 02:53 PM.
So, no luck on getting it working with tap-a-fuse.
But I did repair the hatch panel hanging down. The "professional" bent one of the spring clips all the way down, and left 2 more in the hatch. So the panel was only held on at the top by connection with the other half. I was able to straighten the bent clip and take out the other two, reinstall all 3 (the other 2 that go to the side were fine), and reinstall the panel.
Want to see how this professional removed the panel on the bottom of the door well?
This is after I straightened out the tab
This is how all tabs that were supposed to be straight looked.
Notice he actually tore plastic.
Here is the bottom of the hatch. He clearly used something metal, instead of the plastic pry kit I provided (also not returned, and obviously not used). He got discouraged at the middle panel (which I removed and reinstalled today), and simply ripped out the top one. Which is why two of the clips were left in the hatch. And when he reinstalled the top panel he bent the middle clip completely.
After I specifically asked to not touch the wiring, and to use tap-a-fuse kits (which he never used or returned), notice the wires the camera was connected to. One was spliced and a piece of the dashcam wire was still on it, but it wasn't used.
Here is how I was trying to tap into the fuses, but for some reason the camera wouldn't power on. I was trying to use #15 for constant (red wire) and #21 for Ignition-On supply.
Alright, for now I disconnected everything from the fuse box and ordered a circuit tester and some 3amp and 5 amp fuses so I can connect it right - the right direction and with the lower amp fuse in the top slot and original in the bottom of the add-a-circuit extension.
On the lower fuse holder - hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the circuit is open. Have you tried putting the fuse in the top slot? Normally, the top fuse slot of the tap-a-fuse holder powers the wire going to your dashcam and the bottom slot powers the original circuit.
Also, all the fuses in that fuse bank at the end of the dashboard are "constant on". The "on with ignition" fuses are in the bank under the hood and in the bank under the second row seat.
On the lower fuse holder - hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the circuit is open. Have you tried putting the fuse in the top slot? Normally, the top fuse slot of the tap-a-fuse holder powers the wire going to your dashcam and the bottom slot powers the original circuit.
Also, all the fuses in that fuse bank at the end of the dashboard are "constant on". The "on with ignition" fuses are in the bank under the hood and in the bank under the second row seat.
Thank you. Yes, that picture shows what I was trying to accomplish, but the AAC kit came with 20 amp fuses. I only know enough to use the original amp for the low slot and lower amp for the top slot. That is why I ordered 3amp fuses. I also dont know if going with 5 amp in both slots would be ok.
I tried using just the top slot when testing but I dont know if I positioned the AAC correctly.
had no idea all those fuses are for constant power. 21 says central display. I didnt see anything else going through it.
they should unhinge lengthwise and should hold tubular glass fuses inside. If the fuses are transparent, you should see thin wire inside the glass tube. If the wire inside is broken, the fuse is blown. You don't need these fuses anyway, as the curcuit is now fused by the tap-a-fuse you added.
they should unhinge lengthwise and should hold tubular glass fuses inside. If the fuses are transparent, you should see thin wire inside the glass tube. If the wire inside is broken, the fuse is blown. You don't need these fuses anyway, as the curcuit is now fused by the tap-a-fuse you added.
So, I assume those sections could be cutoff if the fuse is fried? one of those fuse holders is marked with "const." that is how I knew which wire needed constant and which ignition.
Also, since you mentioned that all the power on the side of the dash is constant on, and that I will need to extend the cables to run them to under the rear seat, which gauge wire do you recommend to extend with?
Last edited by ikrinitskiy; 08-13-2018 at 02:46 PM.
Yeah, you can definitely get rid of these fuse holders. As for the wire gauge - not sure exactly, but it shouldn't matter much, just get about the same thickness as the original wire.
Yeah, you can definitely get rid of these fuse holders. As for the wire gauge - not sure exactly, but it shouldn't matter much, just get about the same thickness as the original wire.
Thank you,
I just ordered another hardwire cable because it will be exactly the same gauge and I can use it not only to extend, but also to test if the camera will turn on at whatever fuses before I run under the trim.
The camera is Thinkware F800Pro.
Last edited by ikrinitskiy; 08-14-2018 at 08:24 PM.
used the new hardwire cable, connected to fuses under the rear seat, add-a-circuit extension on both - ignition and constant - connected ignition to Cigarette Lighter fuse (which was burnt out) slot. Used a new fuse (20 amp instead of original 15 amp because that is what I had) and 5 amp for new circuit (top slot in add-a-circuit). The constant I connected first to 3rd row seats fuse. It is constant on from using both a test light and multimeter. I used the original 30 amp in the bottom slot of add-a-circuit and a new 20 amp fuse in the top slot for the new circuit.
ran the wire under the carpet to the door, then under the panels to the front and connected the constant and ignition wires to the previously installed cable.
when ignition is on, the camera starts right up. Turn ignition off and open the door and the camera beeps and shuts off instead of saying starting parking mode and staying on.
so I switched the constant connection to trailer hitch fuse (20amp original into bottom slot, 5 amp into top slot) same thing. Camera shuts off when ignition is off.
used both the test light and multimeter at add-a-circuit top fuse, bottom fuse, and where I connected the new hardwire cable (constant) to old hardwire cable (constant). Power is flowing at least to this point and I am getting 12.36v.
so not sure why the camera is shutting off.
I reset the camera to factory settings - same thing
verified the parking more is on and the battery protection mode is off - same thing.
so it seems that either I am still using a wrong connection for constant power. Or maybe not enough, or maybe the constant wire in the old cable is broken somewhere, or maybe the camera is busted somehow...
Hi All,
With mercedes fuse boxes are also being a SAM module, I would be very careful when taking constant power source.
It is not the old days dumb fuse box, it is a signal acquisition module too which may have some smart features detecting a load above normal....maybe.
If ignition-on >>> power-on taken from a cigarette socket, that would be safe as it would be designated as "power supply" of up to X amps, but it is not constant power.
Like my E400 2014, it has the Hyundai Mobis smart battery chip at the negative battery terminal, I believe that chip is also part of the algorithm which tell the SAM to cut off power to my entertainment system when voltage too low ( battery too depleted ), I think it was 12.2volt or something.
What I am trying to say is, this is no more dummy fuse box we are dealing with which will let you suck power till battery died. There could be intervention by the preset algorithm of the car.
I do not know to what extend the Hyundai Mobis battery chip actually controls overall car's electrical parameter, but a single dash cam easily is a 4 watt hour device, which means 48 watts in 12 hours of parking .
If this chip is so smart as to be able to detect parasitic load, it may tell the SAM to cut off power when it detects a consumption on a device which the Mobis knows, supposedly is not in operation...because your dash-cam taps power from this fuse/source.
I would leave the constant power connected to one of the fuses in the dashboard - these fuses are known to stay powered when the ignition is off.
I can try putting the constant back onto the dash, but as I mentioned, right now the power seems to be flowing all the way to where I connected the two cables together.
I will report back if the behavior changes when constant is on dash
Hi All,
With mercedes fuse boxes are also being a SAM module, I would be very careful when taking constant power source.
It is not the old days dumb fuse box, it is a signal acquisition module too which may have some smart features detecting a load above normal....maybe.
If ignition-on >>> power-on taken from a cigarette socket, that would be safe as it would be designated as "power supply" of up to X amps, but it is not constant power.
Like my E400 2014, it has the Hyundai Mobis smart battery chip at the negative battery terminal, I believe that chip is also part of the algorithm which tell the SAM to cut off power to my entertainment system when voltage too low ( battery too depleted ), I think it was 12.2volt or something.
What I am trying to say is, this is no more dummy fuse box we are dealing with which will let you suck power till battery died. There could be intervention by the preset algorithm of the car.
I do not know to what extend the Hyundai Mobis battery chip actually controls overall car's electrical parameter, but a single dash cam easily is a 4 watt hour device, which means 48 watts in 12 hours of parking .
If this chip is so smart as to be able to detect parasitic load, it may tell the SAM to cut off power when it detects a consumption on a device which the Mobis knows, supposedly is not in operation...because your dash-cam taps power from this fuse/source.
Just my 2 cents.
very interesting and would not be surprising. But like I said, I tested the flow and it seems to be pulling the power down the wire. The fuse is "on", the wire is "live" but the camera is off nonetheless.
08-12-2018, 01:18 PM
