Scion tC gen 1 reverse wire tap

Quick tip. Avoid running a positive wire from the tail light harness to your head unit for a backup camera


this pink wire in the driver side kick panel coverĀ is the wire that provides 12V when the car is in reverse. Plug this into your head unit to automatically bring up the reverse camera

 

its position in the harness is bottom left

here is a photo from the wiring diagram

Here is a photo from further back

11 thoughts on “Scion tC gen 1 reverse wire tap

  1. Sean

    What year tc is that? Mines a 2007 and looks like that but I wanna make sure before I go jacking something up ya know?

    Reply
    1. Tyler Watthanaphand Post author

      Hi, it was an 06. As long as the wires in that connector are all the same color and position, you’ll be OK.

      Reply
  2. Jay

    Wait so does this mean I don’t have to hook up positive and negative wires from the reverse camera to the back up lights? Just tap in to that pink wire and hook it up to the reverse trigger wire on the head unit and the backup cam should turn on when put into reverse?

    Reply
    1. Jesus m

      Wait so the trigger head unit wire to the to that pink wire? And the rca 12v to the head unit 12v? Meaning you don’t need to touch anything in the back or do I still need to hook up something from the back like the rca positive from the camera in the back to another positive or the other rca that has a ground and positive do I have to connect those at all? I’m sorry this has been the most confusing back up camera install for me

      Reply
      1. Tyler Watthanaphand Post author

        Hi, This is just the remote trigger wire to let the head unit know the car is in reverse. I would still tap into the reverse lights on the trunk to get power for the backup camera to turn on. For a backup camera you need RCA Video (a coaxial cable) and power (+12v and GND).

        When you shift the car into reverse, the white reverse lights come on. Tap into that wire to power your camera.

        Run the RCA video cable to the head unit.

        Now connect the pink wire to the reverse sense on the head unit.

        Reply
  3. Bryan

    So, question, im doing this one a 08. Where does the ground connection go after plugging in the positive end with a trap, what wire should the ground/black cable should connect to?

    Reply
    1. Tyler Watthanaphand Post author

      The ground can be any bare metal point on the car, or usually thicker black wires found on OEM harnesses are grounds also. Your questions seems a little odd to me though. This guide is to allow your backup camera to come on automatically on your aftermarket head unit when you shift into reverse. From what I’ve seen, typically these head units don’t have a dedicated ground for the reverse sense wire.

      Reply
  4. Caroline Santiago

    Hi! I have a 2013 Scion TC. I am trying to install a backup camera but can’t get it to work. I have a Scion Pioneer radio with a screen. How can I get the reverse wire?

    Reply

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