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Here is an installation guide for fitting a reverse camera to an Astra J with Navi 900. If you have the DVD 800, the installation is similar but you will probably need a RGB interface box instead of the GVIF interface used in the Navi 900. I presume Navi 600 is the same as Navi 900 as far as reverse camera's go but I cant be sure about that. You could also try installing the genuine Opel/VX camera without an interface box directly into the stereo head end unit but that is more expensive and will require a VCI code from the dealer and many owners including myself found dealers less than helpful for this.
You will need:
- GVIF interface box (mine was manufactured by FOSP purchased from CarSolutions)
- reverse camera with 6m cable
- socket (7mm & 10mm)
- Philips head screwdriver
- drill for camera hole
- soldering iron and solder (or crimp fittings and crimping tool)
- heat-shrink and heat gun or tape
- large cable ties
- wire cutters
- silicone and possibly a rubber wedge for camera mounting depending on the camera chosen
- multimeter for checking for 12v
- plastic strip or coat-hanger for routing the cable
You need to decide where to fit the interface box. I chose above the glove box under the passenger airbag. It won’t interfere with the airbag (which fires upwards) and is close enough to the screen.
To remove the glove box there are 4 screws (7mm hex). 3 are visible when you open the glove box and you will need to remove the small trim panel next to the glove box to expose the 4th. The small trim panel can be removed just by pulling firmly on it – there are clips that need to snap away – you won’t break it. (For those who have an airbag deactivation switch on this panel it may be more complicated).
There is a thread here by @tucpal.
After removing the glove box screws, pull out the glove box, disconnect the wiring to the glove box light and remove the glove box.
Now you need to remove the stereo to get to the connectors behind the screen. There is a excellent thread here by @Rusty2009 on how to do that.
Or there is also a helpful video here.
A few tips for removing the dash
- be really careful not to drop the screws as you are removing or inserting them. I was very careful but still dropped one into the back of the dash and will probably never find it again.
- pull the main facia off gently but firmly working your way from bottom to top. The only two screws for the facia are below the gear shift. When re-installing go from top to bottom
- the flaps under the air vents expose two hidden screws. Gently swing the flaps back from the centre of the dash outwards
- assuming you don’t want to use the CANBUS for any fancy features, the goal is just to get to the GVIF connector on the back of the screen so you don’t need to disconnect the main stereo unit – just pull it out enough to get to the screen.
You need to disconnect the light blue GVIF connector on the back of the screen and insert the light blue GVIF connector from the interface box into the screen. The cable that was going to the screen now goes to the interface box. So the interface box is now intercepting the signal going to the screen.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]73[/ATTACH]
You will be routing the cables around the back of the dash, I used an old bicycle tube to provide a bit more protection for these cables so they don’t rub against anything and damage.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]74[/ATTACH]
To power the interface box, tap into the +ve power cable leading into the back of the 12v socket in the console. You can also tap the negative cable here also but I chose to get the –ve from a nut on the steel chassis bar above the glove box.
The interface box will have a wire input (trigger) to tell it that reverse is selected and the camera image needs to be sent to the screen. For my box it was the green wire.
My GVIF interface came with a CANBUS box but it didn’t work (and you don’t need it) so I had to cut some of the wires on the loom between the boxes to get directly to the +ve, -ve and trigger wire.
Now the camera. You can choose a number plate light replacement (lots on ebay) or a small one like mine which fits into the hatch handle. Either way they are very cheap.
Make sure you chose a camera that is a ‘reverse camera’ so that this image is inverted left to right (most are). A front camera will not have this inverted image although some cameras are switchable for either.
For those with a 3 door (VXR/OPC or GTC) the hatch handle is not really an option so you may need to choose the number plate light.
It’s a good idea to connect the camera up before installing it to check everything works. My first interface box was faulty and it is easier to diagnose this when you haven’t installed the camera into panels etc. The interface box will come with instructions on how to configure and connect it so you’ll need to read those. It’s not rocket science though so don’t be put off.
I used the genuine Opel reverse camera installation instructions as a guide for the camera installation. This is very useful even though you are not using the genuine camera.
http://www.ifz-berlin.de/ins_pdf/13391275.pdf
As per the Opel instructions there are lots of panels to remove to route the camera cable. Note the hatch lining has a screw behind each of the interior grab handles. Once these 2 screws are removed you just need to pry the lining of the hatch body. See link.
Remove the small hatch panel with the six 10mm nuts and disconnect the wire to the hatch release switch. Gently pull the hatch panel from the car body.
To fit the camera into the hatch handle you will need to drill a hole into the handle for the cable.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]75[/ATTACH]
Once you have fitted the camera to the panel, refit the panel and you now need to get a 12v power to the camera.
The camera will be powered from the reverse light and as per the Opel instructions you tap the green/white wire going to the light assembly. I initially used a wire-tap connector that pierces the wire with no need to cut the existing wiring but that proved to be a very poor contact so I cut the green/white wire and soldered the camera +ve power to it. My camera got its –ve from the RCA video connector to the interface box so I had no need to find an earth (negative) for the camera.
When fitting the camera to the hatch handle I found that the camera needed a wedge under it to push the camera into the optimal position so that the car body panel didn’t show up on the image. I cut a rubber wedge from a rubber bike light mount that I happened to have at hand – drilled a hole in the rubber so it slid over the screw on the back of the camera.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]76[/ATTACH]
It will help if you have something to help thread the cables through the various cavities. I used a plastic strip yellow tongue from chipboard flooring as used by most electricians. Tape the camera video cable to one end and pull it through. A coat-hanger wire could also do but could also scratch paint.
After removing the door sill panel, you will notice that there are plastic wiring boxes protecting the cabling under each door sill. They are tricky to open but you need to in order to route the video cable safely through. Some installers just tuck the wire under panels but I did it the hard (err... proper) way.
Once you have routed the video cable up to the front of the car, under the dash, connect it to the interface box. The camera video cable will also have a wire for sending power from the camera to the interface box. Connect this wire as the trigger wire on the interface box (so power from the reverse light powers the camera which triggers the interface box to switch the video signal to camera). Heat shrink or tape over all soldering points.
I cable-tied the interface box to the large round steel bar traversing under the dash. You will need to position the box at just the optimal angle (not quite level – tilted forward) to squeeze in under the glove box.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]77[/ATTACH]
A final stage is aligning the camera. Once in the optimal position, tighten the nut holding it and apply some silicone around the base to seal it. Reinstall all the trims back on the car.
End result..
if you have the silver multimedia video interface box from xcarlink follow this how to
https://www.vxoc.org.uk/forum/Thread-Mul...ia-astra-j
You will need:
- GVIF interface box (mine was manufactured by FOSP purchased from CarSolutions)
- reverse camera with 6m cable
- socket (7mm & 10mm)
- Philips head screwdriver
- drill for camera hole
- soldering iron and solder (or crimp fittings and crimping tool)
- heat-shrink and heat gun or tape
- large cable ties
- wire cutters
- silicone and possibly a rubber wedge for camera mounting depending on the camera chosen
- multimeter for checking for 12v
- plastic strip or coat-hanger for routing the cable
You need to decide where to fit the interface box. I chose above the glove box under the passenger airbag. It won’t interfere with the airbag (which fires upwards) and is close enough to the screen.
To remove the glove box there are 4 screws (7mm hex). 3 are visible when you open the glove box and you will need to remove the small trim panel next to the glove box to expose the 4th. The small trim panel can be removed just by pulling firmly on it – there are clips that need to snap away – you won’t break it. (For those who have an airbag deactivation switch on this panel it may be more complicated).
There is a thread here by @tucpal.
After removing the glove box screws, pull out the glove box, disconnect the wiring to the glove box light and remove the glove box.
Now you need to remove the stereo to get to the connectors behind the screen. There is a excellent thread here by @Rusty2009 on how to do that.
Or there is also a helpful video here.
A few tips for removing the dash
- be really careful not to drop the screws as you are removing or inserting them. I was very careful but still dropped one into the back of the dash and will probably never find it again.
- pull the main facia off gently but firmly working your way from bottom to top. The only two screws for the facia are below the gear shift. When re-installing go from top to bottom
- the flaps under the air vents expose two hidden screws. Gently swing the flaps back from the centre of the dash outwards
- assuming you don’t want to use the CANBUS for any fancy features, the goal is just to get to the GVIF connector on the back of the screen so you don’t need to disconnect the main stereo unit – just pull it out enough to get to the screen.
You need to disconnect the light blue GVIF connector on the back of the screen and insert the light blue GVIF connector from the interface box into the screen. The cable that was going to the screen now goes to the interface box. So the interface box is now intercepting the signal going to the screen.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]73[/ATTACH]
You will be routing the cables around the back of the dash, I used an old bicycle tube to provide a bit more protection for these cables so they don’t rub against anything and damage.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]74[/ATTACH]
To power the interface box, tap into the +ve power cable leading into the back of the 12v socket in the console. You can also tap the negative cable here also but I chose to get the –ve from a nut on the steel chassis bar above the glove box.
The interface box will have a wire input (trigger) to tell it that reverse is selected and the camera image needs to be sent to the screen. For my box it was the green wire.
My GVIF interface came with a CANBUS box but it didn’t work (and you don’t need it) so I had to cut some of the wires on the loom between the boxes to get directly to the +ve, -ve and trigger wire.
Now the camera. You can choose a number plate light replacement (lots on ebay) or a small one like mine which fits into the hatch handle. Either way they are very cheap.
Make sure you chose a camera that is a ‘reverse camera’ so that this image is inverted left to right (most are). A front camera will not have this inverted image although some cameras are switchable for either.
For those with a 3 door (VXR/OPC or GTC) the hatch handle is not really an option so you may need to choose the number plate light.
It’s a good idea to connect the camera up before installing it to check everything works. My first interface box was faulty and it is easier to diagnose this when you haven’t installed the camera into panels etc. The interface box will come with instructions on how to configure and connect it so you’ll need to read those. It’s not rocket science though so don’t be put off.
I used the genuine Opel reverse camera installation instructions as a guide for the camera installation. This is very useful even though you are not using the genuine camera.
http://www.ifz-berlin.de/ins_pdf/13391275.pdf
As per the Opel instructions there are lots of panels to remove to route the camera cable. Note the hatch lining has a screw behind each of the interior grab handles. Once these 2 screws are removed you just need to pry the lining of the hatch body. See link.
Remove the small hatch panel with the six 10mm nuts and disconnect the wire to the hatch release switch. Gently pull the hatch panel from the car body.
To fit the camera into the hatch handle you will need to drill a hole into the handle for the cable.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]75[/ATTACH]
Once you have fitted the camera to the panel, refit the panel and you now need to get a 12v power to the camera.
The camera will be powered from the reverse light and as per the Opel instructions you tap the green/white wire going to the light assembly. I initially used a wire-tap connector that pierces the wire with no need to cut the existing wiring but that proved to be a very poor contact so I cut the green/white wire and soldered the camera +ve power to it. My camera got its –ve from the RCA video connector to the interface box so I had no need to find an earth (negative) for the camera.
When fitting the camera to the hatch handle I found that the camera needed a wedge under it to push the camera into the optimal position so that the car body panel didn’t show up on the image. I cut a rubber wedge from a rubber bike light mount that I happened to have at hand – drilled a hole in the rubber so it slid over the screw on the back of the camera.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]76[/ATTACH]
It will help if you have something to help thread the cables through the various cavities. I used a plastic strip yellow tongue from chipboard flooring as used by most electricians. Tape the camera video cable to one end and pull it through. A coat-hanger wire could also do but could also scratch paint.
After removing the door sill panel, you will notice that there are plastic wiring boxes protecting the cabling under each door sill. They are tricky to open but you need to in order to route the video cable safely through. Some installers just tuck the wire under panels but I did it the hard (err... proper) way.
Once you have routed the video cable up to the front of the car, under the dash, connect it to the interface box. The camera video cable will also have a wire for sending power from the camera to the interface box. Connect this wire as the trigger wire on the interface box (so power from the reverse light powers the camera which triggers the interface box to switch the video signal to camera). Heat shrink or tape over all soldering points.
I cable-tied the interface box to the large round steel bar traversing under the dash. You will need to position the box at just the optimal angle (not quite level – tilted forward) to squeeze in under the glove box.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]77[/ATTACH]
A final stage is aligning the camera. Once in the optimal position, tighten the nut holding it and apply some silicone around the base to seal it. Reinstall all the trims back on the car.
End result..
if you have the silver multimedia video interface box from xcarlink follow this how to
https://www.vxoc.org.uk/forum/Thread-Mul...ia-astra-j