DIY: Front/Rear Dashcam & Hardwire Install on '17 Hatchback

[onions]

i'm about to attempt this. anyone have a part number for the green clips?

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[Riko]

i'm about to attempt this. anyone have a part number for the green clips?

forgot

Just googled it, green tab civic x or something

Also, it simply helped to just take a picture and send it to every honda dealer in the vicinity and wait

 

[GermanCivic]

Did anyone of you guys disconnected the battery before hardwiring a dashcam? I did not because of the whole recalibration of the car.
But I'm asking because while securing the ground to a bolt, I had a some little sparks, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

 

[Riko]

no

 

[Squonky]

Did anyone of you guys disconnected the battery before hardwiring a dashcam? I did not because of the whole recalibration of the car.

No, I try not to disconnect battery unless absolutely necessary. E.g. when messing with stuff that can’t be isolated by simply pulling a fuse.

But I'm asking because while securing the ground to a bolt, I had a some little sparks, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

I’m guessing you used a bolt with existing ground wires - like the one I found. Thats where you have to be careful. If you’re undoing a bolt that grounds a bunch of circuits, you dont really want to haphazardly and repeatedly disconnecting/reconnecting the ground to some/all of them while you’re jangling about with the bolt. Sounds like some of those ground wires were carrying current from live circuits. Hopefully it was just the lamp in the luggage compartment.

Rather than risking ‘glitching out’ any ECUs, it’s better to just disconnect the battery and be done with it. But, if you’re careful when undoing the grounding bolt, you can slip a split ring terminal under the bolt and re-tighten it while keeping the bundle of terminals jammed against the bolt/chassis.

I once wired an auxiliary fuse box into the 230V AC feed into a house without disconnecting the main fuse. Still here!

 

[N0TYPR]

Based on the pictures we do not need a fuse tap? Am i right? I never done anything with the wiring and fuses before.

 

[Riko]

Based on the pictures we do not need a fuse tap? Am i right? I never done anything with the wiring and fuses before.

Just your fingers, a little fiddling and patience

 

[aymehr]

Hi all, I'm making an attempt to do this today, but I want to hear from those of you who have done it: have you noticed any new rattling from your camera wire after the installation? Wondering since it seems like the wire will not be secured after being tucked under the headliner.

 

[Riko]

Hi all, I'm making an attempt to do this today, but I want to hear from those of you who have done it: have you noticed any new rattling from your camera wire after the installation? Wondering since it seems like the wire will not be secured after being tucked under the headliner.

Euhm, make sure no exces wires are left in the trim and zip tie the exces.

Logic....

 

[aymehr]

Euhm, make sure no exces wires are left in the trim and zip tie the exces.

Logic....

well no kidding... I'm already aware of that. I'm talking about the rear camera cable that is blindly being tucked under the headliner. I want to know if I should take the whole interior apart to secure the wire like I do on A-pillar or not.

 

[Riko]

This is what i said above....this is where i left my exces cable...and thats what i tied together.
And thats the only panel i removed

My diy is clear and idiotproof, just follow it

 

[jgreen16]

Thanks to the OP for the detailed write-up. The toughest part was getting the rear camera cable through the rubber tube, but I did manage using two zip ties. My rear camera connector is a bit on the large size for the tube and the pre-existing wires in there, so it took some patience to get it through without tearing the rubber tube.

I also managed to pop the hatch trim panels off for wire routing without breaking any of the attachment tabs, so that was a plus. I'm just using the 12V socket for power for the time being.

 

[MadMage]

Love this write-up, but one thing I didn't see was any detail on the fuse tap. It's actually very important how you get power. If you do it wrong, you camera and car will not be protected by the fuse. You want to make sure you do not directly into the hot side of your fuse panel. There is a good video and discussion of various options in this video. Time should be good, discussion takes about 2 minutes.

 

[ez12a]

Love this write-up, but one thing I didn't see was any detail on the fuse tap. It's actually very important how you get power. If you do it wrong, you camera and car will not be protected by the fuse. You want to make sure you do not directly into the hot side of your fuse panel. There is a good video and discussion of various options in this video. Time should be good, discussion takes about 2 minutes.

This is something i wondered as well. Although I'm not sure if you'll be"unprotected" per se. Instead of blowing one fuse, if you happen to have a short on your camera wire you'll blow two fuses instead, although if you have a lower amp fuse in A/B it should blow first. Regardless of the orientation there will be at least one fuse between the power supply and the negative terminal, no?

Imagine if the polarity is swapped in the diagram. It'll have to go through C/D and A/B to get to E... In no orientation is the hot terminal connected to E directly bypassing any fuses. i could be wrong though. I'm not an electrician lol.

 

[MadMage]

This is something i wondered as well. Although I'm not sure if you'll be"unprotected" per se. Instead of blowing one fuse, if you happen to have a short on your camera wire you'll blow two fuses instead, although if you have a lower amp fuse in A/B it should blow first. Regardless of the orientation there will be at least one fuse between the power supply and the negative terminal, no?

Imagine if the polarity is swapped in the diagram. It'll have to go through C/D and A/B to get to E... In no orientation is the hot terminal connected to E directly bypassing any fuses. i could be wrong though. I'm not an electrician lol.

If you are using a fuse tap, you are correct, not a problem which orientation you insert it. As you say, if you insert it 'backwards, then your camera will be protected by two fuses. And as the video says, your camera fuse needs to be less/lower than the one you are replacing. The taps I bought include 5amp fuses, so those will blow before the one being replaced. (My Blackvue says it uses 1-2 amps)

The problem comes for those folks who use a jumper or just wrap the wire around the existing fuse prong. If you happen to just wrap the wire around the fuse prong and then just stick it back in without knowing one side it hot or not, then you have a 50% chance of connecting directly to the hot side, and therefore not having any protection.

Fuse taps are cheap, and easy to use. (Though you do have to get a pin connector or similar to connect your wire to the fuse tap. But those are cheap too.) Spend the extra few bucks and the extra 15 minutes to do it right

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