Front Camera Problems - Am Amazed There Is Not More Discussion On This

[Jim Lewis]

With the exposure of the front grille camera to road dirt and road dings, I'm amazed there hasn't been a ton more discussion about the grille camera.

I've only found a few not-very-long threads on the matter:

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/front-grille-camera-replacement-part-number.18936/

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/front-camera-washer.13554/

I seem to have developed a phantom spot in my front grille camera based on where the gunk appears in my field of view (and it's also in the 360° view):

One might think the spot is caused by the following bit of debris. The debris is in ~the right spot. Still, I didn't notice it when I first tried to clean the grille camera lens with a microfiber cloth of ~that bluish color, so I'm wondering if that debris is a red (or purply-blue) herring and my actual problem is road tar or a scratch on the camera lens. Has anyone actually replaced their grille camera lens yet, and at how much time and cost?

 

[Zaptor]

I see signs of an impact from another vehicle (or something else) below the camera; there are scratches and paint below that match the color of the camera smudge. The camera is pretty cheap and removal and reinstall is relatively straightforward, and a couple of hours tops. There are threads here about how to swap your grill for one like mine, which include removal and reinstall of the camera, and there is a YouTube video of the install of the illuminated Ford badge. Either or both would be helpful toward your goal.
Cheers
Zap

 

[Jim Lewis]

there are scratches and paint below that match the smudge.

There's a lot of bluish stuff floating around. It's been a while since the truck has had a bath (it lives a sheltered life in a garage). Whatever bluish residue there is on the grill might be left over from the Meguiars detergent that I used in cleaning; that's bluish, too (IIRC, I only waxed painted Al surfaces). I've had an accident or two in my day with past vehicles, and you usually do not find residue on ~concave recessed surfaces with the more prominent outer convex surfaces unscathed. I don't see any evidence of a collision looking at the front of the truck. I have heard dings quite a few times from road debris thrown up by vehicles in front of me. That's why I wonder how well the grille cameras will survive as vehicles approach 100K mi, etc.

I seem to remember that Ford advises using only a gentle water spray on the camera lenses, but I'm wondering if there is some other cleaning solution that will remove bug debris and road tar without screwing camera lenses?

 

[Zaptor]

There's a lot of bluish stuff floating around. It's been a while since the truck has had a bath (it lives a sheltered life in a garage). Whatever bluish residue there is on the grill might be left over from the Meguiars detergent that I used in cleaning; that's bluish, too (IIRC, I only waxed painted Al surfaces). I've had an accident or two in my day with past vehicles, and you usually do not find residue on ~concave recessed surfaces with the more prominent outer convex surfaces unscathed. I don't see any evidence of a collision looking at the front of the truck. I have heard dings quite a few times from road debris thrown up by vehicles in front of me. That's why I wonder how well the grille cameras will survive as vehicles approach 100K mi, etc.

I seem to remember that Ford advises using only a gentle water spray on the camera lenses, but I'm wondering if there is some other cleaning solution that will remove bug debris and road tar without screwing camera lenses?

Not doubting your experience or eyes; I only have the one picture of the front to go on, and I imported it into Photoshop and used a selection tool with the appropriate tolerance to select most of the camera 'blob', then had it show me where else those colors appear. You can see the results, colors match in the areas that look like scuffs to me in the picture. Maybe it is just residual detailer as you suggest, but from the image posted, it sure looks like something bumped you there. Doesn't have to have been another car, and obviously not a major impact. Either way, if the lens of the camera is indelibly scuffed, you could try something like Novus plastic polish, but if that fails, you'll want to follow the replacement steps recommended above.
Good luck
-Zap
PS- If you hit something and are posting here for us to cover for you with your partner or boss, just let me know and I'll change my story

 

[bmwhitetx]

Isopropyl alcohol and vinegar are solutions used to clean plastic and glass eyeglasses. Camera lenses should be no different. Buy lens cleaner or make your own. I always start with just alcohol first.

 

[RickLightning]

Try picking it off with your fingernail. If it's paint (which it looks like) it should come off that way before you use chemicals.

Something clearly hit/rubbed on the front of the truck.

 

[subseavet]

With the exposure of the front grille camera to road dirt and road dings, I'm amazed there hasn't been a ton more discussion about the grille camera.

I've only found a few not-very-long threads on the matter:

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/front-grille-camera-replacement-part-number.18936/

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/front-camera-washer.13554/

I seem to have developed a phantom spot in my front grille camera based on where the gunk appears in my field of view (and it's also in the 360° view):

One might think the spot is caused by the following bit of debris. The debris is in ~the right spot. Still, I didn't notice it when I first tried to clean the grille camera lens with a microfiber cloth of ~that bluish color, so I'm wondering if that debris is a red (or purply-blue) herring and my actual problem is road tar or a scratch on the camera lens. Has anyone actually replaced their grille camera lens yet, and at how much time and cost?

I've got 16,000 miles and several very long trips on my 2023 F-150 Lightning Lariat and my grille camera is in pristine condition. I've had to have my windshield repaired due to a rock chip so I've had road debris problems. I don't think this is posted more commonly because I don't think the camera gets damaged easily or often. As others have suggested gently cleaning with lens cleaner or alcohol is a great start. Use a fingernail if it's really stuck on. A good bug and tar remover may also work. You can also use goo gone or similar though that could fog the lens if applied with any pressure so do so at your own risk. Good luck!

 

[chl]

It seems strange to me that the same 'blob' appears on the 'aerial' image.
Since the is no built-in drone w/camera, I assume it is a made up image/view, so one might wonder, why is the 'blob' there too?
I guess the computer generated aerial image uses some of the camera input to generate it.

I don't know the details of the camera, but any lens could easily incur a rock/gravel impact out on the highway that could leave a pit/chip in it, which is what it looks like to me, having seen a similar looking pit/chip in one of my vehicle windshields after a dump truck threw a rock at me out on the highway one time.

In case it is a blob of some substance on the lens and not a pit/chip, some (many/most) types of lenses should not be cleaned with alcohol, it can damage the coating!

Instead, use a diluted dish washing liquid like Dawn in warm water, a lens cleaning fluid, or a microfiber cloth, to be safe.

Good luck.

 

[CD4TNF]

Would a clay bar and clay bar lubricant take off the contamination?

 

[Jim Lewis]

Instead, use a diluted dish washing liquid like Dawn in warm water, a lens cleaning fluid, or a microfiber cloth, to be safe.

Thanks. This proved to be a good suggestion. With some dilute Dawn dish detergent in cold water applied to a microfiber cloth, I gently rubbed off the spot, which appeared to be a bluish blob of some substance that got sprayed onto the lens.

I overdid the detergent concentration by way too much. I hope I didn't remove any lens coatings. Post facto, ChatGPT claims 1 to 2 drops of Dawn detergent in one cup of water is a safe concentration for polycarbonate lenses if not left on too long. I probably used about a 1 to 20 or a 1 to 30 dilution. (Don't know that the lens is polycarbonate; I just decided that would be a reasonable model material type to ask about).

I'm not sure where the stuff on the lens came from. Whether it was there all along and translucent enough that it didn't show up in my camera view and the camera view spot came from other much smaller gunk that I also removed with my cleaning. I took another picture of the front of my truck (see below), and in that picture, you can see that it doesn't seem like the front of my truck has suffered any collision, but the top of a ledge below the lens seems to have some material that has dripped over the sides in some spots (see 2nd cropped, enlarged photo). The bluish color is similar to the blue oval color in the Ford logo. So, whether the blue blobs are left over from the manufacture of my truck or came from road/vehicle debris or a dealer shop accident is a mystery. There was a blue blob on the polished metal part of the Ford logo about where my iPhone camera reflection shows up in the 2nd photo. That blob came off extremely easily with the detergent solution, whereas the lens blob took more effort to remove.

Cropped area from above image (click to enlarge):

 

[Scorpio3d]

Thanks. This proved to be a good suggestion. With some dilute Dawn dish detergent in cold water applied to a microfiber cloth, I gently rubbed off the spot, which appeared to be a bluish blob of some substance that got sprayed onto the lens.

I overdid the detergent concentration by way too much. I hope I didn't remove any lens coatings. Post facto, ChatGPT claims 1 to 2 drops of Dawn detergent in one cup of water is a safe concentration for polycarbonate lenses if not left on too long. I probably used about a 1 to 20 or a 1 to 30 dilution. (Don't know that the lens is polycarbonate; I just decided that would be a reasonable model material type to ask about).

I'm not sure where the stuff on the lens came from. Whether it was there all along and translucent enough that it didn't show up in my camera view and the camer view spot came from other much smaller gunk that I also removed with my cleaning. I took another picture of the front of my truck (see below), and in that picture, you can see that it doesn't seem like the front of my truck has suffered any collision, but the top of a ledge below the lens seems to have some material that has dripped over the sides in some spots (see 2nd cropped, enlarged photo). The bluish color is similar to the blue oval color in the Ford logo. So, whether the blue blobs are left over from the manufacture of my truck or came from road/vehicle debris or a dealer shop accident is a mystery. There was a blue blob on the polished metal part of the Ford logo about where my iPhone camera reflection shows up in the 2nd photo. That blob came off extremely easily with the detergent solution, whereas the lens blob took more effort to remove.

Cropped area from above image (click to enlarge):

So did that clear up your 360 camera view?

 

[Jim Lewis]

So did that clear up your 360 camera view?

Here's a lousy photo of my SYNC screen showing the blob in my OP post is gone. Not sure what's causing the moire effect in the photo, whether in the low-light situation and a slow camera shutter speed.*** My driveway is also full of leaf and acorn debris. When I get a chance, I'll have to follow up with a photo taken with a clean driveway in bright light. The camera view on the SYNC screen now looks normal and unmarred to the human eye both in the forward and the 360° view. The moire pattern also shows up in the X close icon in the upper right of the picture. That icon is presumably a totally overlaid computer-generated image, reinforcing the idea that the moire pattern is an artifact of a slow shutter speed in a low light situation.

***I see now that the moire pattern was in my original OP screen photo, too. I was just so fixated on the annoying blob that I couldn't see the moire pattern. Like the famous psychological experiment where a person in a gorilla costume walks across the court in the middle of something like a fast break play, and most people on first viewing of the film clip never see the gorilla.

Courtesy of ChatGPT: (of course, now that you know about the gorilla suit, it'll be harder to miss):

You can watch the famous "Invisible Gorilla" psychology experiment on YouTube, where viewers are asked to focus on counting basketball passes between players, leading many to miss a person in a gorilla suit walking through the scene. This experiment, designed by psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris, demonstrates "inattentional blindness"—the way focused attention can make us oblivious to unexpected elements in our surroundings.

Here’s a link to the video: Selective Attention Test - YouTube
YouTube

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Gorilla.

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