Tow Bar And Parking Sensors

[Guest Feanor]

I got my car yesterday - a V6 from Nov 2001. I'm not sure if I have a problem or not...

 

I have a tow bar and find that the parking sensors beep intermittently even when there is nothing behind the car. Should they work correctly with a tow bar or will I have to remove the tow bar for them to work properly? I value the sensors more than the tow bar.

 

Before buying the car the sensors were actually turned off (ie unplugged). However the garage said this was because a bike rack attachment on the towbar was interfering with the sensor and the previous owner had therefore decided to do without the sensors. They removed the attachment, re-connected the sensors and said it was working Ok, but I'm not so sure.

 

Any views on this?

 

Thanks in advance.

[HJT]

I have a Ford fitted tow bar on my Galaxy and don't have any problems with the parking sensors. They do beep once when you put the car in reverse but this is to tell you they are on and is normal. Does sound as though there is a problem though if you are getting an intermittant beep. Probably worth taking it back and showing them the problem.

Check that the sensors are clean first though as dirt on them can cause problems.

 

Howard

[HJT]

Just driven home in the rain and my sensors beeped intermittantly when I reversed onto my drive as the rainwater ran over the sensors. Has it been raining since you picked up the car yesterday?

 

Howard

[Guest Feanor]

Howard

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Yes, the problem is worst when it is raining, but there are still some problems when it is not raining. The car has just been cleaned so it should not be due to dirt on the sensors, but I will check.

 

My Ford dealer said the system can be programmed to recognise and not react to a towbar or caravan (not sure how it can be so selective and still detect other obstacles). It may be that the towbar was added after manufacture, and the people who fitted it did not know about this reprogramming option, which is why the sensors were disconnected when I first saw the car.

 

I'll check it out - I hope it is not too expensive to fix.

[Guest ronr]

A fixed towbar may be detected by your sensors. The sensor plate can be adjusted so that the bar is not in the path of the sensors. I fitted a detachable towbar to get round the problem. When the towbar is in place the sensors pick it up so I assume that a fixed towbar will be picked up.

[handy andy]

I have a 2002 Galaxy that I have fitted the Ford Detachable Tow bar to after purchase as I was told by my dealer of potential parking sensor problems with fixed towbars.

 

With the towbar fitted I occasionally get the sensor bleeping.

 

This can be solved.

 

With a factory fitted towbar and european 13 Pin electrics there is a microswitch in the socket. This disconnects the rear fog lights on the car and connects a pin on the parking sensor module to 0V through the cars fog lights. The result is no rear fog lights reflecting on the caravan and secondly the rear parking sensors are disabled. Note the front ones still work.

 

My car did not have the relevant wire from the parking sensor module to the rear of the car. However the connector on the parking sensor module has a contact in the connector housing ready to take a wire. This I ran to the rear of the car and connected to a spare pin on the 12S socket. In the caravan I have connected this to 0V. Now when the caravan is plugged in the plugged in the rear parking sensor are automatically disabled.

 

If you have a copy of the Ford TIS CD just look for the Trailer Tow Microswitch and the parking sensor module in the wiring diagrams. The actual parking sensor module is located underneath the front passenger seat so is easily accessible.

 

Note the cars foglights are automatically turned off when the caravan is plugged in as there is a relay supplied in the Ford Kit.

[Guest Feanor]

Thanks - however to me the parking sensor is more valuable than the tow bar (I don't have anything to tow), so if need be I will get the tow bar removed. Unfortunately it is not a detachable model.

 

However I am not sure it is the tow bar. The beeping really is very erratic. At first, like HJT above, I thought it was the rain causing the problem, but after a couple of days of good operation today it started a continuous beeping and would not stop until I pressed the off button. I checked the sensors were clean, but it continued beeping (continuous tone) even though there was nothing there, other than the tow bar. But it was Ok yesterday.

 

I think I may have dodgy sensors.

 

Also, the front sensor is pretty useless. It starts its continous tone (ie "stop now" tone) about 3 feet from the object, which is way too far away in tight manouvering. On my previous Galaxy the rear sensor (did not have a front sensor) would only give the continous tone about 8" from the object, which is much more useful. Is this typical?

[grifjl]

Sensors should only switch on when you engage reverse and then switch off when you go over 15kmh (or something like that). Hence, your sensors must be knackered if theyr're going off for no reason.

[Guest Feanor]

Just booked the car in with Ford to have the sensors looked at.

 

Thanks for all replies

[Guest simeevans]

I have the same problem with the parking sensors and tow bar. The bar was fitted prior to delivery and is a witter model for the galaxy. Recently the sensor module failed and this was confirmed by flashing the switch on the dashboard. Ford dealer replaced the module and we are back to square 1. The dealer claims that my bike rack tow bar fitting is screwing up the sensors. I am seriously p'd off with the dealer making excuses left right and centre. I'm sure that the sensors are more intelligent that this. These are proprietary modules, fitted to Jags, BMWs etc. I have read the comment about the factory fitted tow bar having a switch in the socket to detect the towed vehicle. There is no such fitting with mine. I shall have another word with the dealer. A removable tow bar seems to be the answer. Do they have them with the bolt on tow ball so I can attach my bike rack adaptor? Good site!

[handy andy]

My Ford Removable Tow Ball is a "Swan Neck" and has no place to bolt anything on. You could use a tow ball mounted bike carrier or if the towball is in use a tailgate mounted carrier. I use the Ford Tail Gate carrier (3 Bikes) which works very well.

[Guest kd035050]

I have an old shape 2000 model 2.3 ghia and I have a fixed towwbar fitted, my ford parking sensors do not cause me much of a problem. Sometimes in the rain when reversing it will give a tone of somesort but other than that they work fine, however I did slightly adjust the mounting of the sensors to make room for the towbar.

 

 

Chris :D

[XN85]

I've just had a fixed towbar fitted to my 03 Galaxy and when you select reverse the parking distance sensors beep once and then constantly. This has only occured since the bar was fitted.

 

Assuming that the sensors are detecting the towball, would fitting a drop-plate to lower the 'ball a couple of inches make any difference? It's booked in to my local dealer next week (for a different problem) so they could look into reprogramming the sensors if lowering the towball is unlikely to work.

 

Suggestions, please?

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Get the dealer to re-programme the sensors; should be a very quick, simple job when you have the right equipment (WDS computer?).

[XN85]

Ooops!

 

Following my last post... and having sat down on the floor looking at the towbar in relation to the parking sensors... I bent the mounting bracket for the electrics in towards the bumper a few degrees. Guess what? Parking sensors work perfectly now!

 

Oh well. It saves me pestering the dealer...

[Sher]

The bending of the holder frame towards the bumper on both sides for the electrical connectors was the exact info given me by Towsure of Sheffield when I fitted a tow bar to my new Galaxy last Oct.

I have also fitted a backplate from them, their cheapest of course ,which did for a short time cause me some problems. Since the system works on Reflection of Ultrasound waves I decided to fit some antislip sponge material with perforations I had around to act as an anti-reflective medium to the backsurface of the plate using superglue. It worked.

I do have problems when it rains sometimes but this is uasually when the sensors/ car are rather dirty.

Note 1. I have a suspision that the system also has an element of self programming about it. When I first fitted the towbar+ electrics it sounded consistently. When I switched off and restarted it was as normal. This prompted me to go to the limit and fit a backplate to protect the bumper.

Note 2. If I nudge the backplate when hitching up to the caravan it sometimes moves it closer to the bumper (it was a cheapy after all). When unhitched the sounder beeps all the time the solution is to pull the backplate out away from the bumper some extra few millimetres.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

You need to bite the bullet and take the car to a dealer; the sensors can be re-programmed to take account of a towbar/ball - and to cut out in reverse when a trailor is fitted.