Think i have got the same problem StanH had with the scotchlocks as nothing is working as in #96 !!!! but have fitted sensors and run all the wires inside the bumper and up through the rubber grommet so i think it time to get the soldering iron out tomorrow

[quote name='Gary Minty Jupe' timestamp='1354832745' post='220021']
Think i have got the same problem StanH had with the scotchlocks as nothing is working as in #96 !!!! but have fitted sensors and run all the wires inside the bumper and up through the rubber grommet so i think it time to get the soldering iron out tomorrow
[/quote]
I had this problem. The scotch-lok's weren't cutting through the rubber casing of the wires, so no connection was made. Just get a wire stripper/knife (and be careful!) and expose the wire, then solder on and cover it with some electrical tape.

[quote name='Gary Minty Jupe' timestamp='1354832745' post='220021']
Think i have got the same problem StanH had with the scotchlocks as nothing is working as in #96 !!!! but have fitted sensors and run all the wires inside the bumper and up through the rubber grommet so i think it time to get the soldering iron out tomorrow
[/quote]

I tend to give my scotch locks a good squeeze with pliers once I apply them to force them to cut through and make the connection. I find that sometimes just pushing them with your fingers isn't enough.

In anycase I'd advise against scotch locks. They CAN be dangerous. They're mass-produced and have a high failure rate... if you fit a faulty one unknowingly it might lead to some harsh consequences...

Instead I'd recommend crimp connectors. Pretty much what I use with all my electrical mods. Soldering is good too, but it's a lot more difficult and requires a bit more skill than crimp connectors. Can easily go wrong if you're not experienced at soldering.

soldering iron came out as it was the scotchlock not connecting properly, all fitted and working well excellent guide massive time saver

Great guide guys with so much information.......I am thinking of fitting a set of these but am also thinking of putting a inline switch in to the system to turn them off if needs be.
Has anyone done this or knows how to do it?
My thoughts at the moment are a small round toggle switch out of the way near the steering coloum?

Thanks in advance

Crinkley Bottoms(Johnny)

[quote name='Crinkleybottoms' timestamp='1360592600' post='234966']
Great guide guys with so much information.......I am thinking of fitting a set of these but am also thinking of putting a inline switch in to the system to turn them off if needs be.
Has anyone done this or knows how to do it?
My thoughts at the moment are a small round toggle switch out of the way near the steering coloum?

Thanks in advance

Crinkley Bottoms(Johnny)
[/quote]

The live for the system is connected to the live for the reverse light. In other words, the system is only "on" when you engage reverse gear - it's not on all the time (would be no need for that unless you wanted a precise measure of just how far up your arse that Audi is!).

[quote name='GSM' timestamp='1360592739' post='234967']
The live for the system is connected to the live for the reverse light. In other words, the system is only "on" when you engage reverse gear - it's not on all the time (would be no need for that unless you wanted a precise measure of just how far up your arse that Audi is!).
[/quote]

Thanks .... I understand that live is live when reverse is selected but I also pull a small trailer from time to time and would like to turn them off? Just wondered if anybody had done it?
I suppose I could always pull the wire off for the beeper when I connect the trailer.
But was hoping to put a small switch up front somewhere.

Cheers in advance

CrinkleyBottoms

Anyone know if the 'Sea Grey' colour on the ebay auction linked to in the guide is a good match for Ford's 'Sea Grey' on the 08 onwards focus?

How does this unit compare to the OEM parking sensor system? No one mentions it, so I assume its expensive/not available from Ford?

[quote name='Crinkleybottoms' timestamp='1360744820' post='235501']
Thanks .... I understand that live is live when reverse is selected but I also pull a small trailer from time to time and would like to turn them off? Just wondered if anybody had done it?
I suppose I could always pull the wire off for the beeper when I connect the trailer.
But was hoping to put a small switch up front somewhere.

Cheers in advance

CrinkleyBottoms
[/quote]

Very easy to put a switch between the reverse unit , simple two wires from rear of the car to the front or even leave the switch in the back for when you attach the trailer

The sensors i had fitted were great and the visual aid also worked very good , ford OEM is just a bleeper.

[quote name='Preee' timestamp='1360945825' post='236046']
The sensors i had fitted were great and the visual aid also worked very good , ford OEM is just a bleeper.
[/quote]

Cheers Preee.... your focus is moondust silver right? Does that mean you put moondust silver sensors (as stated in the ebay link) on your moondust silver car?

I'm just trying to judge which colour to go for on my sea grey focus.... sea grey being the obvious choice, but it looks slightly lighter.

[quote name='vibeone' timestamp='1360945948' post='236047']
Cheers Preee.... your focus is moondust silver right? Does that mean you put moondust silver sensors (as stated in the ebay link) on your moondust silver car?

I'm just trying to judge which colour to go for on my sea grey focus.... sea grey being the obvious choice, but it looks slightly lighter.
[/quote]

Yes i used the Silver on my (Old Focus) , it was moondust , the sensors were just classed as silver but the match was near perfect , as they are quite small it should not be too bad , but you can't tell from pictures , at the very least you could either go for a set that are paint matched properly or spray them yourself it's its a bad colour match.

I've just bought a set of these with the little crescent moon display box. Going to try fitting them to my mk2 1.6 sport soon, I'll let you guys know how it goes with the live wire placement, whether it's on the right hand side or not. Great info btw!

Would a dremmel 3000 be powerful enough for cutting the bumper holes? 

Would a dremmel 3000 be powerful enough for cutting the bumper holes? 

Bumper is just pretty thin plastic... an ASDA Smart Price drill will do the job.

I take it your kit came with the necessary drill piece?

Haha fair enough :P Yeah it did, I bought this kit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005IZ55TI/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Was only £8.99 so hopefully cheap and cheerful, not quite sure where I'm going to mount the distance display unit yet though.

Haha fair enough :P Yeah it did, I bought this kit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005IZ55TI/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Was only £8.99 so hopefully cheap and cheerful, not quite sure where I'm going to mount the distance display unit yet though.

Make sure you don't slip with the Drill :) , nowhere on the dash  , thats why i place the display by the mirror

I'll try Preee! Yeah the mirror would be good but I have the crescent shaped unit. So I would have to actually stick it to the top of the mirror I guess?

 

Also would these scotchlocks do? I haven't soldered in years and I was never very good at it then haha

 

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-butt-splice-terminals/1017582/

I'll try Preee! Yeah the mirror would be good but I have the crescent shaped unit. So I would have to actually stick it to the top of the mirror I guess?

 

Also would these scotchlocks do? I haven't soldered in years and I was never very good at it then haha

 

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-butt-splice-terminals/1017582/

I'd suggest buying a set of crimping connectors and a crimping tool. Much better alternative to soldering than scotch locks imo.

Provide stronger more reliable connections, less likely to break than scotch locks, and won't destroy your wires. Some poorly manufactured scotch locks cut your wires in half eventually.

Ah good idea, how would I go about crimping the 3 wires together though? I assume I would have to snip the reverse power wire, bare the two ends, crimp them and crimp the power wire for the sensor box, whats the best way of connecting them all afterwards?

 

Or could I snip the reverse power wire and crimp them into the 1 connector?

Ah good idea, how would I go about crimping the 3 wires together though? I assume I would have to snip the reverse power wire, bare the two ends, crimp them and crimp the power wire for the sensor box, whats the best way of connecting them all afterwards?

 

Or could I snip the reverse power wire and crimp them into the 1 connector?

If you get a decent bag/box of assorted crimp connectors you should find that there's a 3-way connector type in there. Can get them pretty cheap from Maplin with a crimping tool included.

So yeah, you'd have to snip the reverse wire and then crimp both ends into the 3-way connector along with the live wire for the sensor.

But if you can't get a 3 way connector then just shove two wires into one side of a normal two-way connector and the other wire into the other side. 

Doesn't really matter as long as they're all securely connected.

Thanks for the info!

 

Also I seen you said about the earth point being on the left hand side of the car while the reverse power lead comes up on the right of the MK2 models, so should I just split the black and red power lead and have the box in the middle? Thanks again!

Thanks for the info!

 

Also I seen you said about the earth point being on the left hand side of the car while the reverse power lead comes up on the right of the MK2 models, so should I just split the black and red power lead and have the box in the middle? Thanks again!

Don't think it's the case with all MK2s, but it is with the Ghia - a few people have mentioned a few minor design differences/component locations/wire colours for the Ghia compared to other models.

With the sport you should be fine to follow the original guide. But I might be wrong.

If you do find that the live is on the right and the earth is on the left like mine, then you could house it in the middle and split the wires (like I did), or you could just use the earth wire from the reverse light. Just means more cutting and crimping of wires, rather than having the convenience of a nice earth point.

Ah well I'll let you know about the placement then, but thanks again for all the help :)

I recently bought myself a set of sensors, and the seller is from another country, so communication is difficult... I have asked him how you secure the sensors in place, and that seems to be a far too difficult question to comprehend.

 

So how did you guys secure your sensors in your bumper? did they just wedge in, almost impossible to remove, or did you need to secure with some adhesive?

The sensors I had , had foam strips in about three places that when pushed in. Held the sensor in place I would not glue them incase they needed replacing

Mine had 3/4 rubber wedges embedded around the circumference of each sensor - so providing the hole you drill is snug, they will keep them in place indefinitely.

No need to glue them.

Thanks guys just double checked my sensors and they seem to have four foamy rubbery strips at 12,3,6 and 9 o clock position so hopefully this should just wedge in. Now the hard part begins of where to drill the holes... Can anyone confirm green and yellow is the correct wire on a cmax?

I just ordered a solder kit and heat wrap as I keep reading horrible things about Scotch locks...

Thanks guys just double checked my sensors and they seem to have four foamy rubbery strips at 12,3,6 and 9 o clock position so hopefully this should just wedge in. Now the hard part begins of where to drill the holes... Can anyone confirm green and yellow is the correct wire on a cmax?

I just ordered a solder kit and heat wrap as I keep reading horrible things about Scotch locks...

Trace the wire and see if it heads to your reverse bulb, only way to be sure without ripping the wire open and testing it.

As I said a few posts ago, I would actually recommend using crimp connectors and a crimping tool as opposed to soldering or scotch locks. Unless you're a soldering efficianado which you're probably not if you've only just bought yourself a soldering kit. Soldering can be tricky, especially having to do it in the boot of a car instead of on a nice working bench, and it takes a bit of practice and skill to get any good and making strong, robust, reliable connections that you won't have to re-do in 6 weeks. 

Crimp connectors are easy as pie, safer and more reliable than scotch locks, but requiring nowhere near the skill level of soldering for a good robust connection.

Thanks again for the reply, are you able to provide any appropriate links to what would be th correct kit that I need?

I have some previous experience of soldering but not has my own kit. Also once the cable goes into the connector, how would I identify that it's then heading to the reverse lights? I suppose I would need a multimeter?

I use a kit just like this, inexpensive and easy to use.

Crimper, wire stripper/cutter, plenty of various sized crimps/bayonet connectors/ bullet connectors and easy to top up from your local DIY store when needed.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/48PC-CRIMPING-CABLE-STRIPPING-AUTO-PLIER-SET-/111001872679?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item19d83a2927

If your going to be soldering on a vehicle  , your best using a Gas soldering gun , mine is an Iroda brought from maplins , it is fantastic , i also have 2x electric and a large soldering gun for the big jobs.

But for me gas all the way :)

Cheers guys, will have to see how it goes... Still need to find a way to confirm the wire is definately reverse, preferably without stripping it on the offchance and connecting it up, but might just have to do that anyway!

just a quick one has anyone bought the cheaper £8 sets in silver... just wondering if its a good match?? dont realy want to have to paint them myself but at the same time i dont fancy paying £40 odd quid for a definate colour match if they are the same as the cheaper sets