43 replies to this topic

[rickycowslip]

hi, I found this forum having been faced with the same question - rear parking sensors on a Fiesta mk7... two hours later and having successfully fitted a working set of £15 sensors from Ebay, I can confidently give some tips and advice

1. Most responses I found on google suggested the need to remove the bumpers. Having no manual in my possession, and faced with a plethora of screws and bolts in weird places, I was averse to doing this on my shiny new car... After a bit of head scratching I realised this was not necessary.

2. The kit comes with a drill bit for cutting the holes in the bumper. I realised that once I had cut the holes, the sensors merely plugged through these holes and the wires dangled down inside the bumper. Lying down under the car, you can wiggle the wires until you can get hold of them.

3. Regards position of sensors, I found this picture as a guide. Tip: don't use permanent marker pens on bumpers, white spirit does not remove it... Regards the drilling, yes scary drilling into your lovely new bumpers, but rest assured the drill bit leaves a very clean hole and the sensors plug in perfectly looking very professional.

4. Inside the boot, pull up the side carpeting to reveal a rubber grommet on each side of the boot floor - handy for pushing the wires through. Push a knife through to make a small hole, then feed the wires from each sensor through these grommets, two on each side. Fiddly, and you get a bit wet in the rain, but you now have nicely fitted sensors with wires neatly found in the boot.

5. Ok trickiest bit - connecting the power wires to the reversing light wires. Again I worried I had to remove the rear lamp cluster to do this. But no, all you have to do is prize off the carpet over the rear light cluster on the passenger side, then look inside where you'll see the wiring plug going into the back of the light cluster. This just pulls out - I say just, but course without being told that I was fearful of breaking it, so I prized it out carefully with a screwdriver. Once out I was able to confirm it just pulls out over a small click.

6. Hardest bit - joining the wires. You now have five wires going into the plug, and a black and a red wire you want to attach from the sensor unit - which two wires do you connect ? Memories of James Bond films spring to mind... An hour of googling gave no joy, and the fact that the Fiesta wires were all duel coloured didn't help. So, I put the car in ignition (not engine running), engaged reverse on the gear box, then pushed the black wire into one of the five holes and tried the red wire in the four remaining holes. If no sound you then move the black wire to another hole and repeat. Eventually the buzzer buzzed and I'd worked out the two correct wires. At this point I should have noted the colours for you. Sorry, I forgot and they're all packed neatly away now so you'll have to follow my handy method... All I can remember is that there were three holes above two holes. The black went into the top middle, the red into the top right - I think...

7. Once you identified the wires, you don't have to cut the Fiesta ones. Merely use a sharp knife to scrape away a section in the middle of the wire to expose the wire itself. Then wrap the sensor wire around the exposed area tightly and wrap it in black plastic insulating tape found in your kitchen drawer. Check you have a clean connection by engaging reverse gear and standing in front of the sensors to get the continuous beep.

8. Once happy it all works, push the lighting plug back in, stick the sensor units to the car body wall just under the carpet, stick the buzzer on the other side, tuck all the wires under the carper and tuck the carpet back in neatly.

There you go - job done. Cost £15. Took me an hour and a half with head scratching - with my learnings above you should be able to do it in under an hour. For those who doubt the quality of a £15 set off Ebay - all I can say is that I bought a similar set for my Mitsubishi two years ago and they've been working perfectly ever since. Good luck, feel free to ask me any questions...

[Tyrefryer]

Pictures ?


Here are my rear sensors, which I mounted into the diffusor !

Works perfect

[JohannG]

Pictures ?


Here are my rear sensors, which I mounted into the diffusor !

Works perfect

I did the same.
Only difference is mine has the rear diffuser and I only installed two sensors. Four would have worked better, but would not have looked as good.
I only did it to see if I can do it. I got the kit for free. The drilling part is definitely not for the faint hearted...
Works well enough.

[rickycowslip]

yeah, in retrospect pictures would have been handy - but it was only after succesfully completing the job I had the urge to post up my experiences... however, I did find some handy little gadgets that make the job a lot cleaner - "Self Stripping Tab Connectors", a pair for 55p at local hardware store. Clips over the existing wire allowing you to insert the connecting wire, then just clips together to make a tight electrical bond. Ok electrical tape can do the job, but any tension on the wire and they can come apart.

[rickycowslip]

ok, I admit maybe my knowledge of car electrics is limited. So, the set works fine during the day, but then when the lights come on at night - nothing. The tail lights being on are breaking the circuit to the sensors. Does anyone know out which the two appropriate wires are ?

[Brayster]

ricky did you ever work this out? I have just ordered some sensors for mine...

[rickycowslip]

yes - I just turn the lights off when reversing ! Course if you can work out the proper wires to connect the red and black to, let me know...

[sentinel]

Hi Folks,
Just noticed you were looking for the proper wiring for the reverse sensors. I put mine on a few months ago and luckily enough I wrote down what wires to connect to. I connected to the rear drivers light cluster so the colours to connect to are for the right cluster only. The black wire from the sensor goes to the blue and black wire on the lamp cluster and the red wire goes to the blue. As rickycowslip says, no need to remove the bumper and the job takes around an hour.I'm thinking of getting a set now on the front bumper as they are great for parallel parking. Happy motoring
Tony

[Lez]

hi i have the ford step by manual if you need it... send me your email in PM and i will sendit to you it will be a PDF file

[Musketter]

It is a simply cure. You have earthed the sensors on the rear light live feed., so when you are driving during the day the sensors earth through the bulb, but when you turn the lights on the bulb is lit and removes the earth. To check this, remove the bulb and the earth should disappear.

All you have to do is move the earth lead for the sensors to a proper earth.

If you need any more help, just ask

Keith

[Cliffhanger]

Useful stuff guys. Has anyone fitted front sensors too? How do these work, are they permanently on? Is this a nuisance in traffic? Ta Iain

[Tato]

hi, I found this forum having been faced with the same question - rear parking sensors on a Fiesta mk7... two hours later and having successfully fitted a working set of £15 sensors from Ebay, I can confidently give some tips and advice

1. Most responses I found on google suggested the need to remove the bumpers. Having no manual in my possession, and faced with a plethora of screws and bolts in weird places, I was averse to doing this on my shiny new car... After a bit of head scratching I realised this was not necessary.

2. The kit comes with a drill bit for cutting the holes in the bumper. I realised that once I had cut the holes, the sensors merely plugged through these holes and the wires dangled down inside the bumper. Lying down under the car, you can wiggle the wires until you can get hold of them.

3. Regards position of sensors, I found this picture as a guide. Tip: don't use permanent marker pens on bumpers, white spirit does not remove it... Regards the drilling, yes scary drilling into your lovely new bumpers, but rest assured the drill bit leaves a very clean hole and the sensors plug in perfectly looking very professional.

4. Inside the boot, pull up the side carpeting to reveal a rubber grommet on each side of the boot floor - handy for pushing the wires through. Push a knife through to make a small hole, then feed the wires from each sensor through these grommets, two on each side. Fiddly, and you get a bit wet in the rain, but you now have nicely fitted sensors with wires neatly found in the boot.

5. Ok trickiest bit - connecting the power wires to the reversing light wires. Again I worried I had to remove the rear lamp cluster to do this. But no, all you have to do is prize off the carpet over the rear light cluster on the passenger side, then look inside where you'll see the wiring plug going into the back of the light cluster. This just pulls out - I say just, but course without being told that I was fearful of breaking it, so I prized it out carefully with a screwdriver. Once out I was able to confirm it just pulls out over a small click.

6. Hardest bit - joining the wires. You now have five wires going into the plug, and a black and a red wire you want to attach from the sensor unit - which two wires do you connect ? Memories of James Bond films spring to mind... An hour of googling gave no joy, and the fact that the Fiesta wires were all duel coloured didn't help. So, I put the car in ignition (not engine running), engaged reverse on the gear box, then pushed the black wire into one of the five holes and tried the red wire in the four remaining holes. If no sound you then move the black wire to another hole and repeat. Eventually the buzzer buzzed and I'd worked out the two correct wires. At this point I should have noted the colours for you. Sorry, I forgot and they're all packed neatly away now so you'll have to follow my handy method... All I can remember is that there were three holes above two holes. The black went into the top middle, the red into the top right - I think...

7. Once you identified the wires, you don't have to cut the Fiesta ones. Merely use a sharp knife to scrape away a section in the middle of the wire to expose the wire itself. Then wrap the sensor wire around the exposed area tightly and wrap it in black plastic insulating tape found in your kitchen drawer. Check you have a clean connection by engaging reverse gear and standing in front of the sensors to get the continuous beep.

8. Once happy it all works, push the lighting plug back in, stick the sensor units to the car body wall just under the carpet, stick the buzzer on the other side, tuck all the wires under the carper and tuck the carpet back in neatly.

There you go - job done. Cost £15. Took me an hour and a half with head scratching - with my learnings above you should be able to do it in under an hour. For those who doubt the quality of a £15 set off Ebay - all I can say is that I bought a similar set for my Mitsubishi two years ago and they've been working perfectly ever since. Good luck, feel free to ask me any questions...

Could you share the ebay link?

[HellsHammer]

Just wanted to thank Lez for the Ford instructions. Using the templates to position the sensors was a big bonus.
Took a little longer than I thought, just over 3 hours. I had to remove the rear bumper completely since there was a large piece of polystyrene behind the bumper that prevented me getting access.

[Tato]

Just wanted to thank Lez for the Ford instructions. Using the templates to position the sensors was a big bonus.
Took a little longer than I thought, just over 3 hours. I had to remove the rear bumper completely since there was a large piece of polystyrene behind the bumper that prevented me getting access.

Any picture of the end result?

[HellsHammer]

Any picture of the end result?

Not the best, it was getting dark by the time I got home.




Sensors purchased from Ebay.