Very interesting... Based on your photo's I did a little more research and I think you have found the path and it is right through that plug you pointed out.

Just to get a spacial bearing. Compare the following two photos. The first one is from the outside. Note the characteristics. There is an opening hole with a bolt right next two it (pointed to by red arrows) and circled underneath is a drain plug. Also note the areas I'm point otu are right below a "shelf" formed by the exterior body.

In the second photo (yours) Note same features around "AREA1" The bolt, exterior opening (with a plastic cap in it and bottom plug). Also note the little ridge that forms the shelf from the first picture.

So from comparing these two we have a direct correlation of where we really are with respect to the inside and outside.






Now look at the next photograph and compare to the previous interior photo which is an exterior from a different angle. Where I've label as "Area 1" is the same Area 1 from the interior photo.

Now look at the exterior photo again and refer to "Area 2". If You go back to the interior photo, it would seem that "Area 2" would probably be behind that back panel/bulkhead. Possibly more over to the right. (I've sort of pointed to it). From a spacial perspective it may even be further to the right of where I indicated in the picture.



So now if I compare that to your previous pictures through the tail hole.. I would guess that that "plug" you saw on the right is indeed the same one you pointed out in your the interior. photo..

If so it appears that we can feed the cables through that hole.. Good news !

 

Ok. I had a few minutes before next call, so I went one tiny step further. I selected the plug indicated in the picture below, and poked a coat-hanger through it. It is a weird semi-hard plug, not really rubber like some of the others, so not sure if it will still be there when I pull the wire through! But it is probably the best choice that I can make....



This plug is nicely aligned with the access holes in the back of the taillight slot, and should be an easy pull straight-through. Here's a pic from the other side, showing the coat-hanger coming-through. As far as I can tell this hole / plug is not there for any particular purpose.

To the lower right I point an arrow at a hole in the taillight panel that is close...




What do you think??? Good huh?

I am thinking that once I pull the camera cable through I will use some silicon or other automotive sealer to plug-up the hole just in case there is a chance of water or something making its' way to that location.

Also, now considering a quick-plug disconnect for the camera, so that when I pull the bumper cover off in the future I don't have to do more than separate the plug....

I think I just saved someone a lot of time, right??? hehehe. I may not get to the rest of this project until tomorrow and worst case when I return from traveling next week... we'll see!

 

Ding Ding Ding.. Excellent.. You've confirmed the solution!

So it looks like from your arrows on the inside view it is the top plug and not the bottom plug like I thought.

Yeah I'd put some RTV/Silicon from the inside once you pull the cables through and everything is situated. Just take something small and plastic and work it into the gap from the inside to insure a good seal ..

From a moisture standpoint I guess that plug probably provides a moisture and gas barrier. I'm not sure how much water would make it up there anyway but it certainly can't hurt making it all watertight. But also from a carbon Monoxide perspective probably not a bad idea as well since if you ever had an exhaust leak it could make it up there and into the cabin.

Actually from the entry point into the cabin, cables could be routed up a) Through the side and over the passenger windows (I think this was the route you were going). b) Down through the shelf and behind the seats to the center tunnel or c) back through that compartment area in the picture that looks like it is over the wheel well and through it which I suspects eventually goes down down somehow possibly to the where the rear speakers are located and to the floor. Not so sure about c) as there may be another bulkhead in there to go through.

Looks like a) or b) are the best options. I like your idea of a) and going over the window. But since I've got two camera cables I'm not sure if they will fit as easily. But I suspect there are fewer things to disassemble in that path..

FYI on the CAM 06.. I don't really like the little connector that is on the Camera either, but I'm not so sure on cutting the cable and putting an RCA on it (if that is what you were considering). I think I'm just going to pull the extension cable back through the rear hold to the point where I would disconnect at the bumper and leave the camera part on the bumper. Hopefully with a service loop long enough I can sit the bumper on the ground before I have to disconnect the connector.

Not sure about that connector though, going to need to wrap silicon or something around it so it doesn't get water in it since it will be near the bumper and I suspect it will get wet under there.

Also note if you cut the camera cable, make sure you figure out which one is the "strap". I think there is a jumper /strap in there to turn the camera prediction lines on or off.

Dude, many thanks as you have saved me a lot of time (and more importantly worry)!

 

I took some extra time and pulled the cable through.... tied-it off back in the taillight area.

I then routed the cable from the rear behind the interior trim pieces along the roof-line, then up over the passenger door, pushing the wire up under the rubber weatherstripping. Tons of space under there! I brought the wire down to the glove box, found a trim gap that I pushed it into and came down right where the passenger fuse-box is located. Plenty of slack left in the cable. I intend to run the video cable behind the glove box from this area to the PCM and XG interface. The power will come from an empty slot in the fuse panel... I'll get to more details on that tomorrow.

I also found that the route from the taillight area to the location where the camera will be mounted is a nice big clear shot and will be easy. I will protect the wire from any possible heat exposure before finishing-up. But I haven't cut the hole in the bumper cover yet. They provide a template with the cam, and I will use that... but I have a hole-cutting drill-bit that is just about the right size (7/8" I believe). The distance between the license-plates is just about 4 inches, so target 2" centering for the hole. Should be really easy to cut through.

More to come, stay tuned!

Good luck on your project tomorrow!

 

For the power, the integration harness will provide acc power and ground, so you won't even need to run anything to the fuse box... Pretty much just plug it in....

 

Can you confirm that? NAV-TV told me we should clip off the molex, run power from the battery through a relay. Gotta love the clear directions provided! UPDATE: I was just looking at the XG-CAM directions, and on page 4 states the following: "From the PCM3.1-CAM module, the white/red 'OUTPUT 1' wire supplies 12v with accessory. Using a relay to power your reverse camera is highly recommended as the white/red wire only supplies a 1amp output MAX."

quote: "...for some interfaces, the camera will plug directly into the interface, with the PCM3.1XG in your car, it needs to be hard-wired."

Which was why I was planning on going to the fuse panel for power. Not a fan of tacking-on to batteries. Should be able to just connect red to +12volts and black to ground. I see plenty of open slots in the panel....

The parking lines loop is wrapped in the RCA line. You can see the little loop wire at one end, in my case has a small white tag on it labeled "p.line". I intend to leave that in place for the lines, but you could just sever that loop and you won't have the parking lines....

 

You can do that, but the power is pretty low.. (Well less than a watt which would be less than 100ma, probably closer to 50ma which is nothing) And the wire coming into the harness is right off the accessory bus directly..

So the whole thing, camera + module is less than an amp... (Probably 250ma tops) I looked at it from my elect eng perspective, and honestly can't find any reason to put the camera or the module on a relay.. The relay coil power for a relay (about 100ma)is almost the same required for the camera..

It doesn't hurt to use a relay, so if it makes you feel better then certainly do it. But I'd consider it unnecessary...

 

Ok. Thanks for the comments. The camera is pulling 60mA from what I remember on the NAV-TV site. (Don't you just love the lack of any documentation or labeling whatsoever?) I guess worst case, I wire-up to the power to the harness and try it out and quality or whatever isn't so great. But that would at least give me a baseline. Could always pull the wire and get power elsewhere at a later date if necessary.

 

Yep agree...

And yes the NAVTV docs are beyond pitiful.. Bordering on useless . I think their generalizations as to power and relays aren't really specific to this equipment combo. So they just give you an over conservative recommendation which requires more complexity than is necessary...

Luckily the installation is pretty simple and mostly plug and play... There is an argument that by putting the camera on a relay and a separate fuse..... That if the camera power shorted, you would just pop that fuse.. Instead of the power feeding through the module.. which is on a different fuse. This approach would protect the NAVTV module from 12v output current overload in the event of a short..

But instead what I'm doing is putting a 1a fuse between the NAVTV module and the camera.. This way a short is protected (who knows the cable might get pinched someday) .but is much simpler than using a relay which I believe has no value in this application based on the electrical loads..

 

Hey all- Back from my trip, found some time last night to get back to this project.... I cabled the camera, power, NAV-TV module and harness, and tested! All looks great so far!

I only had to call NAV-TV support once!

I'll have a full DIY write-up to post-up soon, along with the usual detailed pictures and so on.

 

Fantastic, can't wait to see.

ChuckJ

 

Jewells,

Got my install completed.. Haven't had a chance to do a write up. A couple of things before you button it up.

Make sure you get the latest firmware update for the module. Mine had old software on it. Most of the issue I had are because I was using the front cam interface. None of that works with the old firmware.

However.. I think with the newer functionality the backup behaves a little better was well. So my point is make sure you probably want to update the firmware before you button up the PCM part...

I'm going to try to get my write up and photos put together over the weekend. But I think I had a lot more trouble running the cables through that back bulkhead. I simply couldn't get the "plugs out".. Ended up just drilling a hole right next to them with a long drill bit from the tail light. I wish I knew your secret because I spent a whole day just getting that part done. Also, I decided to route the cable under the door weather stripping instead of over. There was a more space there in the channel since I had two cables and I think the cable run is a little shorter as well..

One question I had, maybe you can answer.. On the top of the door weather stripping. I simply haven't been able to get that back in completely. Is there a trick to it?

 

Sorry to revive this one year old thread, but I'm looking at picking up a 2013 C4S Convertible.

Can you confirm if I would need the NAV-TV PCM3.1-AV970 or the PCM3.1 XG-CAM?

Been going through all the posts and I read that the 12.5 and 13's couldn't use the XG-CAM but the NAV-TV website is listing the 12.5 and 13's under XG-CAM now.

I'm looking to install both a forward and rear camera as my wife will be the primary driver of this car and she hates pulling into parking spots cause of the lower front bumper.

Thanks!

 

Yeah, the NAVTV site is pretty bad.. I hadn't looked at it in a year or so since i finished my install, and it is still confusing, useless and mostly wrong. That said, when you email them they are a little more helpful although I think they are geared toward the install shops and I found it cumbersome to get the details I needed. Eventually I figured it out.

Assuming you want a traditional backup cam system it is the PCM 3.1-XG that you want.

My recollection is that the PCM3.1-AV970 is more of an AV switcher intended to allow you to integrate different video sources that can be viewed during driving (for example DVD player). So if you were to use this as a backup camera you would have to do something such as pushing a button to activate the camera on the PCM display.

The PCM 3.1-XG is triggered automatically by going into reverse and you can activate the 2nd cam by pushing the def switch twice.

The other thing I recall is that the PCM 3.1-XG I received had old firmware in it and I couldn't make it work with a second camera initially. Eventually I broke down and called them and found out it needed a firmware upgrade (which I could do via a download and USB cable). So you want to check your firmware if you buy one to make sure it has the latest.

As for will it work on a 2013?.. I'm not sure mine was a 2014.. But my recollection is that it should work. You might give them a call to confirm as I wouldn't trust anything on their website..

As a little background, what I learned is that all of PCM3.1s are setup to work with and external cam. Basically they have an external video input and rely on the automobile databus (an I2C) for a message that indicates that you are in reverse. When the PCM3.1 sees that command it switches in the external video.

The problem is that the automobile databus needs to send the command.... Normally what happens is the porsche must be "coded" or configured and know that a backup cam has been installed. If not configured it will never send the command that the PCM interprets. And part of the problem is some of the early 991 models (i.e. pre 2014) don't necessarily have the capability to send that command which I believe is the compatibility issue.

However, the since the XG-CAM is inserted between the auto databus and the PCM3.1.... it has the ability to "insert" the command and trick the PCM3.1 to switching in the external video. The PCM3.1 also has a discrete input that can be connected to the brake lights and can be used for this purpose. At least that is my guess at how it would work with older 991s.. In theory this would work even with uncoded later 991s.

The reality is you don't even need the XG-CAM for a single camera. If you can code the car, you can simply feed the camera video into the PCM3.1 connector and it would all work (although NAV-TV doesn't tell you this). . Unfortunately the only easy way to get the 991 coded is the dealer and they aren't likely to do this for you, unless they are the ones installing the system. So for one camera systems, often the only reason for the XG-CAM is to code the car for the cam. Once that I believe you could remove the XG-CAM and everything would still work.

 

As an additional note on the forward cam.. I installed a forward cam on mine for the reasons you mentioned. However I will tell you I probably wouldn't again as I haven't found it all that useful. The rear cam of course is very useful and well worth the hassle.