W221 2006 Backup camera stopped working
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,430
Likes: 187
From: USA
W140 Mercedes S350, W221 S550 sport
the days when a Mercedes was styled like a taxi and built like a tank ended in 1990, today they are less reliable than a 1978 Lada that's been through 10 harsh Russian winters... with the current stylist, they tend to look worse these days as well !
since 1980 the only thing that matters in life is marketing... your life its far better now !, 1/3rd the pay, no future and the planets dead... but remember the marketeers tell you its better
since 1980 the only thing that matters in life is marketing... your life its far better now !, 1/3rd the pay, no future and the planets dead... but remember the marketeers tell you its better
Member
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 119
Likes: 33
S600
A note about break in wire!
So my S600’s camera started flickering intermittently over the last couple weeks (a couple time going totally black) so I followed the instructions in this post before losing power completely… and low and behold exact same spot on the left trunk arm.
What I noticed though is that the break occurred on the outer wiring and there’s a second layer of wiring seemingly protected by a clear epoxy or rubber.
My initial thought was to just make a clean cut at the break point and make a new connection for both the damaged outer layer and the inner layer.
I thought I had some wire in my garage but didn’t so I just left the perfectly intact inner layer and simply exposed about an inch of fresh wire on each side of the break and twisted both ends together and wrapped with black electric tape!
Good as new!
The stealership quoted me almost $2,000 to fix. Just to make a point, I wanted this to be a completely $0 fix so instead of buying wire I stripped an old iPhone charger and used about 5 inches of wire and voila.
What I noticed though is that the break occurred on the outer wiring and there’s a second layer of wiring seemingly protected by a clear epoxy or rubber.
My initial thought was to just make a clean cut at the break point and make a new connection for both the damaged outer layer and the inner layer.
I thought I had some wire in my garage but didn’t so I just left the perfectly intact inner layer and simply exposed about an inch of fresh wire on each side of the break and twisted both ends together and wrapped with black electric tape!
Good as new!
The stealership quoted me almost $2,000 to fix. Just to make a point, I wanted this to be a completely $0 fix so instead of buying wire I stripped an old iPhone charger and used about 5 inches of wire and voila.
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
S550
Camera wire
So my S600’s camera started flickering intermittently over the last couple weeks (a couple time going totally black) so I followed the instructions in this post before losing power completely… and low and behold exact same spot on the left trunk arm.
What I noticed though is that the break occurred on the outer wiring and there’s a second layer of wiring seemingly protected by a clear epoxy or rubber.
My initial thought was to just make a clean cut at the break point and make a new connection for both the damaged outer layer and the inner layer.
I thought I had some wire in my garage but didn’t so I just left the perfectly intact inner layer and simply exposed about an inch of fresh wire on each side of the break and twisted both ends together and wrapped with black electric tape!
Good as new!
The stealership quoted me almost $2,000 to fix. Just to make a point, I wanted this to be a completely $0 fix so instead of buying wire I stripped an old iPhone charger and used about 5 inches of wire and voila.
What I noticed though is that the break occurred on the outer wiring and there’s a second layer of wiring seemingly protected by a clear epoxy or rubber.
My initial thought was to just make a clean cut at the break point and make a new connection for both the damaged outer layer and the inner layer.
I thought I had some wire in my garage but didn’t so I just left the perfectly intact inner layer and simply exposed about an inch of fresh wire on each side of the break and twisted both ends together and wrapped with black electric tape!
Good as new!
The stealership quoted me almost $2,000 to fix. Just to make a point, I wanted this to be a completely $0 fix so instead of buying wire I stripped an old iPhone charger and used about 5 inches of wire and voila.
My camera switches between flickering black and white and completely black.
I found small damage on the cable, but not sure if it is broken or not.
Does it look broken to anyone? Should I try to cut the cable and rewire it?
Front of cable
Front of cable 2
Damage behind the cable.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 5,275
Likes: 1,662
S500
wire breaks are stress fractures from work hardening with repeated use - they deliberately route cables so all the stress occurs on the same point with routing that exacerbates the strain at once specific point till inside under the insulation they snap
the outer sheath kinks in your pics is likely nothing to do with it...
the outer sheath kinks in your pics is likely nothing to do with it...
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
S550
Okay, got it!
The previous owner told me that the camera broke when he damaged the shark fin antenna, but I can still use an FM Bluetooth transmitter without any problems.
Therefore, I think that there might be something with the cable.
Do you know of any other places where it might be broken?
The previous owner told me that the camera broke when he damaged the shark fin antenna, but I can still use an FM Bluetooth transmitter without any problems.
Therefore, I think that there might be something with the cable.
Do you know of any other places where it might be broken?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 5,275
Likes: 1,662
S500
shark fin is part of the nav, radio and phone antenna
it should have zero relationship to the rear camera... the camera cable breaks wires where the stress of the boot opening and closing stresses the wires - this is normal on all mercs (they designed them to break)
the camera on the early ones (is aluminium) and can be taken apart (kind of) by unscrewing the 4 bolts holding the two halves together - its gets damp inside and the aluminium goes all white and furry inside and the unit plays up, careful cleaning drying out and delicate application of ACF-50 on circuit boards can get them back to life
it should have zero relationship to the rear camera... the camera cable breaks wires where the stress of the boot opening and closing stresses the wires - this is normal on all mercs (they designed them to break)
the camera on the early ones (is aluminium) and can be taken apart (kind of) by unscrewing the 4 bolts holding the two halves together - its gets damp inside and the aluminium goes all white and furry inside and the unit plays up, careful cleaning drying out and delicate application of ACF-50 on circuit boards can get them back to life
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
S550
shark fin is part of the nav, radio and phone antenna
it should have zero relationship to the rear camera... the camera cable breaks wires where the stress of the boot opening and closing stresses the wires - this is normal on all mercs (they designed them to break)
the camera on the early ones (is aluminium) and can be taken apart (kind of) by unscrewing the 4 bolts holding the two halves together - its gets damp inside and the aluminium goes all white and furry inside and the unit plays up, careful cleaning drying out and delicate application of ACF-50 on circuit boards can get them back to life
it should have zero relationship to the rear camera... the camera cable breaks wires where the stress of the boot opening and closing stresses the wires - this is normal on all mercs (they designed them to break)
the camera on the early ones (is aluminium) and can be taken apart (kind of) by unscrewing the 4 bolts holding the two halves together - its gets damp inside and the aluminium goes all white and furry inside and the unit plays up, careful cleaning drying out and delicate application of ACF-50 on circuit boards can get them back to life
Opened the camera module and cleaned it with 99%. isopropyl alcohol. Is this kind of static a sign of a dying camera or a broken cable? (Think I replied with the same message in another forum post. Sorry about that!)
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 53
Likes: 10
For anyone that comes across this issue, it’s 100% accurate lol. I checked the wire coming all the way from the camera end to nearly under the trunk liner just after the L arm. At first I didn’t see any breaks but then I removed the bottom liner where it goes inside the roof of the trunk and THERE IT WAS. The break was clean. The whole black cable was snapped apart. Time to fix!
I attached a video of it. Hope this helps someone one day
I attached a video of it. Hope this helps someone one day
