Hi,

Often its quite useless to write here but may be at least one of you have had such issue and it will be easy to explain

When put into reverse only black window appears for one second and goes back to audio display. The same black screen appears when i put into drive after reverse but this time i use joistick to return to audio mode.

My camera part number is a221 820 03 97 but i tried on 221 820 33 97 taken from 2008 w221. This cameras shell is a little bit different possibly replacement part). It didnt help, the same issue.

Checked wiring by electricians and all wires show signal.

Do you have any suggestions? Modulator? Do i have to replace exact part number?


P.S.

Merc is the most ****ty car i have ever owned. Hate this crap car. Lexus the best!!!

 

Hahaha are you this frust guy in his lexan , that I smoked the other day ???

Good Luck !!!!

 

Hi, as i said, camera cable has signal. There are 2 things, unit & modulator. I will try to connect later from other car.

 

Hi boyz.

This time Im more useful tham all of You

Changed replacement camera - nothing, changed unit - nothing. Rechecked the wiring and it was cut. Fixed the same wire. 110$ repair cost

 

charge your batteries.

 

Just wondering. On w221's with factory rear cameras. Is there a fuse for the camera anywhere?

 

Camera control module - 141 (5A) @ rear SAM

 

Thanks, is the rear SAM located in the middle of the trunk area?

 

N10/2 located behind left trunk panel.

Panel removal (shown on CL550, same for S550) http://workshop-manuals.com/mercedes...ar/page_14823/

 

Thanks! And rear sam is in same location for 10-13 w221's too?

 

As of MY09 located behind the paneling in the center of the trunk, on the partition wall between the passenger compartment and the trunk. When the center armrest is folded down, the rear SAM control module with fuse and
relay module (N10/2) is accessible from inside the interior compartment.

 

Oh wow, that's easy. Just open the armrest and there it is!

Is it still # 141 (5A) @ rear SAM for 09+ too? Thanks again,.

 

Yes

 

If you just a black screen with the reverse camera guidelines coming up once you are in reverse gear you have a broken cable.

most common place of this break is looking in towards the trunk is the left hand quarter panel.

remove the bottom boot liner and rear plastic moulding, then the left hand rear quarter lining panel and you will see a single black solid type of cable approc 3-4mm thick. follow with your land and see if you can see the damage which is normally just behind the left boot hinge. normally this is a clean break if no picture is showing or if power is lost then a few cables within it may be damaged.

the 4mm cable has inside it 4 separate cables so if you want a simple job and not having to buy a new cable and open up the whole car to run it just use connector blocks and around 6" of cable and do the repair.

you will need approx 6" of cable in a few colours so i just striped down normal household flex cable and used that.

plastic 3 amp connector blocks and stripped the original cable and connected it all up and it worked fine.

easy fix and took about 2 hours to find the break and strip the car and put back together but i did this first time with no clue on what i was looking for

so now with these instructions i would say around 30-50mins max time needed but saved myself around £300 by doing a DIY job

car was a S350 Bluetec 2011 W221 model.

 

Great thread thanks, the break was exactly the same on my car. Here is a picture that may be of use to someone else of the cable as I prepare to repair it.

 

I have w221 S550 2008 you diagnostic and fixing help was quite helpful. I have the same issue the camera cable was broken I splice with my own wire piece and now it is working perfectly.

 

Anyone ever get a BLUE SCREEN?

 

I had the same problem, guide lines showing but a black screen. I removed the left panel (pain that was lol) and I had to remove the grocery bag holder and pry away the left side of the top lining. Sure enough a break in the wire.
It's just after the hinge of the boot lid but right before its clipped to the body of the car. I can see why its a common problem. So I just re twisted the 4 wires (encased in a black cable) together and sealed them individually with insulation tape and voilà!! It works!. So thank you for posting the tip!

 

great post really saved me a lot of money,thanks

 

Same issue with my 2009 S63. Black screen with check your entire surroundings. So, this Is not a fuse issue? Okay...great. By the way where is the fuse for the Backup camera for 2009 s63?

Would their be a display if there was A blown fuse?

Thanks.

 

cable breaks at the point it flexes for the boot lid movement is normal on such well designed Mercedes, bit like rain water rolling off the boot lid and dripping copious amount in the car

NOTE:

very different camera on the later cars - cheaper and better

 

So this Merc S500 is supposed to be probably the most sophisticated car of its time and should have been built to last a lifetime. My car is a 2007 model with a genuine 161.000 Km on the clock. It has been properly serviced and kept in tip-top condition.
I sent the car in to a Mercedes mechanic to see if he could fix the rear view camera. I was quoted ZAR31.000-00, equivalent of US$2.067! I was told that it could be much more than that when they had stripped the car! I found that amount of money ludicrous and I took the car back. For that amount of money I could live without a reverse camera.
Yesterday was a public holiday and I set aside time to strip and find out what may be causing the problem. It should be noted that I do not have a computer programme for the car so I would only be able to check connections, etc. However I do have a sophisticated multimeter and therefore would be able - in the old-fashioned way like when we had proper technicians and mechanics and not just 'fitters' - to check the continuity of the wires.
Removing all the covers was a fair bit of tedious work and then we started checking the connections. We did not have to go far when, lo and behold, we found that the single wire from the camera that was attached to the curved boot hinge was broken, just under where the boot lid meets the car body. I tried to find out what could have caused this cut but could not see anything obvious.
The fix was very easy. We stripped both ends of the wire and connected the ends together.
When I put the car in reverse the camera worked 100%.
I am very surprised that the normally fastidious Engineers from Mercedes Benz could have allowed such a stupid and easily remedied problem to occur in such a luxury motor car.
I subsequently went on the internet and found that this problem with the reverse camera seems widespread. A lot of people have replaced cameras and computer boxes only to find that the camera still did not work!
I am even more surprised that I cannot find a Mercedes Benz bulletin advising owners of these older cars about this problem.

 

What were the symptons? BLUE screen?

 

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

as for the first post swapping the aluminium camera for the better half priced plastic one …. the 4 wires need to be re pinned.... then it works just fine. The E class camera is the same physical part, but another $100 cheaper however the removable mounts is different

 

Nope, not blue, the screen just went black.