Backup Camera Useless in Rain
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,500
Likes: 1,449
From: Pittsburgh PA
2025 C8 Stingray of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C8 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Backup Camera Useless in Rain
When the backup camera lens gets wet it's completely useless. Certainly not a big issue, but annoying anyway. 
Has anyone come up with a mod or suggestions to improve this?
Has anyone come up with a mod or suggestions to improve this?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 49,193
Likes: 3,886
From: Best Island in the U.S.
St. Jude Donor '12 thru '17
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 13,602
Likes: 12,864
From: Virginia
or protest returning to the old way?
Anyone remember looking for and/or pulling off the road to use a payphone?
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,960
Likes: 1,106
Things could be far worse. I have a very cool old WWII era letter (on the patriotic paper of the time) from an 80 year old aunt to my father detailing her drive home to the farm from a shopping trip to Peoria, IL. Around 15 miles from home it started sleeting heavily and her windshield wipers failed so she drove most of the remaining distance with her window down and her head stuck out the window.
I think about this tough old lady every time I get ready to gripe about a failure of modern technology causing inconvenience.
But the OP makes a good point and I will make sure that my soon to be driving 14 year old daughter learns how to back up using mirrors because these cameras and display screens can and do fail even when the weather is nice.
I think about this tough old lady every time I get ready to gripe about a failure of modern technology causing inconvenience.
But the OP makes a good point and I will make sure that my soon to be driving 14 year old daughter learns how to back up using mirrors because these cameras and display screens can and do fail even when the weather is nice.
Team Owner
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 45,265
Likes: 8,540
From: Rochester, NY
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Racer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 347
Likes: 119
From: Henderson NV
It's even worse if you drive on a wet road for 100 miles or so. Back of the car gets really dirty due to the aerodynamics, I'm guessing. My camera got so gunked up, I thought it was broken. Wiped it off, and was back in business...
Administrator
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 368,053
Likes: 24,729
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
MO Events Coordinator
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '25
NCM Sinkhole Donor
CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
That's what I do with my '15 Impala with a backup camera. Really not a problem to do that.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,500
Likes: 1,449
From: Pittsburgh PA
2025 C8 Stingray of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C8 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Usually do, but I was parallel parking in a tight spot on a dark city street in the rain. I almost always use the line guides on the back up camera to get close without curbing the wheels. Works great. Much easier than angling the passenger mirror downwards and straining to see where the curb is and then re-setting (1LT no memory). Just looking to see if anyone came up with something to avoid the water on the lens...other than not driving in the rain.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 25,583
Likes: 16,942
We own 4 vehicles equipped from 4 different manufacturers (GM, Infiniti, Jeep, Winnebago) w/ cameras. They all suffer from the same vision distortion problem when wet or dirty.
Last edited by Foosh; Oct 30, 2017 at 09:27 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
Great conversation! Anyone remember what you did BEFORE windshield washers, when on a longish trip in snow and slush (windshield gets opaque and wipers get frozen over)? 
I'd bet all the cold-clime drivers do! 
I'd bet all the cold-clime drivers do!
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 25,583
Likes: 16,942
Doubt that will do much, if any, good. Rain-X works with a smooth, high-pressure airflow, moving water off a slick surface. There's nothing but turbulent airflow on the rear in the low-pressure zone creating as the vehicle moves through the airmass.
Last edited by Foosh; Oct 30, 2017 at 01:13 PM.
