intermittent parktronic problem

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andy_k

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 23, 2003
Messages
5,204
Location
Bexhill, East sussex
Car
Alfa GTV 3.0
now that the car has thawed out I seem to have developed an intermittent problem with the front parking sensors

Every now and again (seems to be mainly in the first five of minutes after startup) the front parking dislay in the car lights up just the two red bars in both displays and the bleeper for the right hand one sounds. After about 5 seconds, the system switches itself off and has to be turned back on using the rocker switch in the centre console.

Before the recent cold weather and even during it everything was fine, this fault only appeared yesterday when the temp rose above freezing.

Has some damp got into the system somewhere? If so what's most likely to be affected sensors or loom and how easy is it to test the sensors?

Any suggestions/input?
 
The best way to find the faulty sensor is to hook it up to a Star. Sensors do go wrong from time to time.

I have also found wiring faults too as they are quite exposed to the elements.
 
Using actual values the dodgy sensor(s) will show up
 
Star will isolate which sensor. Mine does much the same only intermittant which is a pest. Sometimes Star says one sensor and sometimes two. Careful cleaning and de-waxing round sensors can help. My faulty ones are in the rear although both front and rear sound alarms usually when I drop below trigger speed in light traffic. This scenario lasts for a couple of days then goes away for a month or so. I'm just going to live with it just now cos the rear bumper is a job and a half to get off.
 
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my 210 estate front parktronic has been going crazy over the weekend too .. and only after the thaw following the freeze, just like andy_k's

will wash them properly later and see what happens .. often that really helps
 
thanks guys, i'll wait and see if it settles down - we washed it yesterday so that meant even more moisture to deal with.

I'll try drying them out with a bit of warm air and see if that helps
 
Mine played up like that intermittently for 2 years before it failed completely. It always worked when the dealer had the car so they couldn't find the fault. Once it did fail completely, about nine months ago, they located the fault and replaced one rear sensor and since then it has been OK.
 
Got issues with mine, since we have had cold weather in the last 2 weeks, they have suddenly worked perfectly. Bloody typical. Will keep an eye on them and report any findings.
 

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