Troubleshooting Furrion Camera That Shuts Off When Truck's Ignition is Turned On

Question:

I purchased a furrion back up camera in December of 2019. I hooked it up to my trailer which was prewired for that specific camera. It works only when the vehicle is off. Everytime I turn the ignition on it drops signal. I know theres power to both because I saw the 4.3 display show the rear of my trailer and the street. I also know theres power to the monitor while its plugged into 12v power inside my truck. I have a brand new 2019 Ford f150 xlt. I also took the camera off the mounting bracket and powered it to the monitor inside the truck to eliminate the idea of transmission problems. Same effect though. Is it possible that my headlights need to be turned on? Ive tried diagnosing this during the day, and I put my headlights on automatic. What do you think. I havent taken a meter to the outlets yet to confirm the correct power, but by seeing it come on tells me there is

asked by: Eric

Expert Reply:

Typically the pre-wired Furrion brackets on new trailers are wired to the running lights circuit, which means the camera for the Furrion Observation System # FOS43TASF will only be fully powered when you have the running lights turned on in your Ford F-150. Since it's the easiest potential fix, I definitely recommend starting by simply turning the headlights on in the truck (with the ignition also on) to see if this powers up everything for normal operation. As you alluded to in your question, make sure you aren't relying on the auto lights feature in the truck if you're testing during the day.

If this doesn't resolve the issue then there's something that's causing a power or signal drop with the ignition running. In this case your next step would be to try and test for voltage on the running lights pin coming from the tow vehicle and on the running lights circuit somewhere on the trailer side, both with the truck off and with the ignition on. Check to see if there is a significant drop in voltage when the ignition is on.

Please just let me know what you find and we can go from there!

expert reply by: Chris R