Can you use pre-existing camera wiring with new camera? (front)

I've googled and searched this with many different ways of wording and cannot find the answer. If wiring has already been ran for backup or front cameras and someone wants to get a new camera, can you use the Pre-existing wiring from the old install with a new camera ? I had my install done at best buy. have never liked the placing of the front camera that the installer chose and now have a new grille and even more challenging mounting situation. Would like to try another camera but also the wiring and all is already ran to my head unit, firewall etc.

 

Look and see if the camera has jacks within a few feet of the camera. Mine has an rca Jack and a coax power plug. From there back to the relays at the head unit it’s continuous wires. All you need to do is unplug those two connectors and take the camera out to get a match for the connectors. If it uses the oem harness then you’ll need to look for one that’s plug&play for your model/year. I found mine for the rear at camera source.

 

Oh all mine is aftermarket as I have a 2008.. they didn't even make backup cameras OEM until 2009.
i'll take a look tomorrow when it's daylight. the whole thing is hoooked up in loom and the installer also didnt leave me much slack with which to work with on the existing wiring.

but aren't there wires with these cameras that have other loops and stuff that people cut ? can u spllice into those wires with a new camera ? I know speaker wire well but I know nothing about video wire.. if that makes sense

*side note: the installer didn't even hookup my backup camera the way I wanted it as it only comes on with reverse but my old one I could activate at any time.

 

The loops are usually wires that enable/disable guide lines or other features. They’re not meant as splice points. I guess it’s possible to solder rca connectors and power jacks but if it’s a kit then there’s a chance you won’t need to. To have the cameras activate anytime you need 2 x 5-pin relays. One determines which camera feed is used (default is rear so the reverse gear behaves normally) the other interrupts the reverse gear signal from the ecu to the head unit and allows you to fool the head unit into thinking your in reverse. Since both switches trigger this relay the switches have diodes that prevent back signals from fouling it all up. The front switch triggers both relays to give the forward picture. It sounds complicated and is until you can wrap your head around it but if you can get a kit with the proper HU jumpers already made and the schematic it’s not terribly difficult. It’s just messy because at least on my second gen much of the dash paneling had to come off to get behind the HU.

 

Also these video wires are still just 2 conductors but it’s coax instead of parallel side by side. The other wire pair is power/ground for the camera to generate the video signal.

 

ah I see what u mean.. great explanation dude! yeah I feel ya. on the 2nd gen having to get behind that dash and then tuck everything in with ZERO room to spare and then jam the head unit back in there is no bueno! yeah my head unit has like buttons u can push to see the front or rear and then tap the screen and it shows u the other one. yeah man I bought this sweet package last year from bestbuy (Feb 2020) .. for $199 this tech package and they would install anything almost for free ... also included like geeksquad service and stuff... but... of course right after I buy it luckily I get an install in before COVID happens..b/c then.. all install services like stopped for the year . so they send me an email last week saying oh hey we are gonna renew u again for a year i'm like HOLD THE F UP! ur gonna renew a service that I couldn't even use for the majority of the year !!?? why the hell do I need this service again ? they wouldn't budge so I said eff em lol.... had huge plans for major installs last year and I do stuff on my own too but like I wanted something kinda done nice ya know... and I paid the damn money for the service... was gonna do dash cams, all kinda shit but nope !

**SORRY for rant u didn't ask for! **

 

@bagleboy not sure if this pic shows everything but it may not be this model but something kinda like it I think

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-ne5SWY0bpbf/p_110BCAM200/Jensen-BUCAM200J.html?XVINQ=GLX&awkw=905429378535&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=434678428305&awdv=t&awug=9013927&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqoLErbnA7gIVQdbACh1MygOdEAQYAiABEgLPCPD_BwE

 

Mine is very similar to that. You can see the yellow rca Jack and red power plug. The other bundles extend those wire to the HU and power source. Look to see if your camera has those plugs. You may still be able to relocate your existing camera if the wires have slack that was bundled behind the HU. If the connectors are too far away then a new camera might not solve the problem if the new camera wires aren’t any longer than the old ones.

 

You don’t want to use a backup camera for the front because rear facing cameras reverse the image in order to keep left/right correct when viewed facing forwards. Some have a wire you can snip for that but some don’t.

 

yeah i'm not sure if this one did or didn't have instructions... I took all the boxes to the bestbuy install bay and of course they disposed of them ha. googled the manual online and it's such a shotty camera I dont think the instructions even went that deep lol. it was an extra thrown in when I bought my Kenwood Excelon from this guy on Amazon. I prob shouldn't have asked to have it as a front cam and gotten something better, but it was thrown in the box and was there.
I was able to schedule another bestbuy appointment next week like right before my yearly tech subscription package ends so i'm gonna hopefully get things tied up before it renews and cancel that hoe.