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I have a 2000 hatchback with a 6 speed manual and recently went through the process of replacing the head unit and speakers and added a subwoofer and amplifier. The alpine ILX-W770 head unit had options for 2 cameras so I purchased an alpine camera for the rear. The wiring diagram shows wiring the headhunt reverse trigger wire to the positive wire for the reverse bulb. The problem I a, running into is that when the car is on and not in reverse I am getting a reading of 7 volts without the bulbs being on which is causing the camera to stay on making the headhunt unusable. I swapped the reverse switch on the transmission thinking it mind have been the problem but nothing changed. additionally swapped out the reverse lamp relay in slot 38 of the engine fuse box. The voltage reading does switch to 12 volts and the bulbs turn on when the car is shifted into reverse. I am at a loss as to what could be causing the voltage reading when not in reverse and have made plenty of phone calls and spent several hours online but cannot find a solution. Has anyone else had a similar problem?
I just tried swapping out the factory bulb for a LED that was in the reverse lamps and that was the issue. I would imagine that it’s a resistance issue that is allowing voltage through?
Had the same issue with a friends car, had LEDs in the reverse lights and was having issues with the camera. Put the regular bulb back in and issue was resolved. His car is a 2000 also.
Now from what I have been able to find in the wiring diagrams, the 1997 to 2000 cars need to have a regular bulb for the reverse lights due to this circuit being run into the EBCM. The 2001+ cars are wired different and the LEDs in reverse lights are not an issue. This is due to the updated EBCM used in these cars.
I fixed that LED reverse leakage issue in my 2000 by putting in a sealed incandescent bulb in line before my reverse LEDs so it kills the power when off.
It was something like this but not with LED:
It is sealed so the bulb won't break or be susceptible to weather. have it zip tied somewhere on my rear crash bumper
Constant Voltage at Reverse Bulb Wire
