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Guide To Fitting Rear Parking Sensors Focus Mk2.5


Preee
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Okay, got my parking sensors today in the post and fitted them in about 2 hours - would have taken a lot less time had there not been a few complications which I'll divulge for the benefit of anybody else wanting to fit the sensors to a mk2 pre-facelift.

post-30808-0-87122600-1341865057_thumb.j

As you can see, they look great, excellent colour match - barely even visible really, and they work perfectly well :D. I got a set without the screen and just the buzzer, as I'm not a fan of after-market screens clogging up the cabin.

Anyway, here's a few tips for people who want to do the same on a pre-facelift mk2:

1) I'm not sure if Preee's photos are reversed in his guide, but the guide seems to imply that the reverse light live cable is on the left side of the boot (which makes perfect sense as the reverse light IS on the left side of the car) - BUT for me it was on the RIGHT side of the boot space (goes through the grommet and is then routed to the reverse bulb via the bumper - seems silly to me).

I found this out after I originally followed the guide to the letter and taped all my wires up, put a hole in the left hand side grommet and brought the wires through to the boot. After hooking them up to the green/yellow wire on the LHS, I was dismayed to find that the parking sensors only worked when I hit the brake (green/yellow, for me, on the LHS, is the brake light in the spoiler).

2) I moved over to the right hand side and tried the green/yellow wire over there - still no luck, this time it was my fog light which activated the sensor - closer though.

3) Eventually tried it with the other cable running along-side the green/yellow in the right hand side (can't remember precisely what colour - there was 2 black (earths for reverse and fog), one orange (just a plug of some kind), the green and yellow (live for the fog) and then another two-coloured wire which done the trick!

The Haynes manual for my car actually says that the live wire for the reverse light should be green/orange, but it wasn't that colour either!

Now, I might just be a special case, for whatever reason, but if you're fitting sensors to a pre-facelift mk2, then you might just find that, like me, you in fact have to use the live cable running through the grommet on the RHS of the boot space behind the trim/carpet, and that it's NOT the green/yellow live, but the other live.

HOWEVER, the earth point that Preee uses in his guide is STILL on the left hand side in the pre-facelift mk2, and there's no obvious and convenient Earth point on the right hand side (not to a novice like me, anyway).

Luckily the wires were long enough that I could put the earth to the LHS of the boot and the live to the RHS, and just placed the control module in the middle of the boot behind the grey trim at the very mouth of the boot - it fits in nice and snug. And you can still just about place the buzzer anywhere - I made well sure mine was hidden behind as much trim and carpet as possible, as it's a loud wee bugger and needed some muffling to make it bearable.

Kudos and acknowledgments to Preee who's guide was still very useful, if in need of a few amendments for my car at least, and also to Clive for making the measuring up process last about 90 seconds instead of 20 minutes as per his last few posts!

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One question for Preee::

You mention on the first page of your guide in the tool list that you need an in-line fuse, but didn't mention it anywhere else in the guide. Did you fit it? If so, where?

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One question for Preee::

You mention on the first page of your guide in the tool list that you need an in-line fuse, but didn't mention it anywhere else in the guide. Did you fit it? If so, where?

Preee is currently on Holidays in sunny Portugal but will be back with us next Monday

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Preee is currently on Holidays in sunny Portugal but will be back with us next Monday

They have the internet in Portugal, don't they?!?!?!?!?!?!

Kidding, obviously! Lucky for some, eh?

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How could I not buy WiFi Lmao. 15 euro for the week :-).

Now where was I . I used the inline fuse from the reverse live feed to the feed to the main reverse unit box. This was just a precaution.

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How could I not buy WiFi Lmao. 15 euro for the week :-).

Now where was I . I used the inline fuse from the reverse live feed to the feed to the main reverse unit box. This was just a precaution.

Hahaaaa, knew it!

This forum is a hobby, not work! No reason why anybody should avoid it on hols :D.

Excellent, cool. I haven't fitted any such precautions - might do so at a later date, but for now, should be fine.

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Kudos and acknowledgments to Preee who's guide was still very useful, if in need of a few amendments for my car at least, and also to Clive for making the measuring up process last about 90 seconds instead of 20 minutes as per his last few posts!

Glad i could be of some help to you. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Used This great guide yesterday to fit my parking sensors thanks Pree and also thanks to Lenny for pointing out the sensors are already marked out on the mk2.5 made the job 10x easier

Took about an hour to fit.

57130960.jpg

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Leemaxd , nice rear end "Focus" m8 i'm jealous.

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Very smart looking mate :)

If you don't mind me asking what sensors did you buy as they look very flush with the bumper

Also is your exhaust a rear end section or cat back??

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Very smart looking mate :)

If you don't mind me asking what sensors did you buy as they look very flush with the bumper

Also is your exhaust a rear end section or cat back??

The sensors were off eBay mate, £49.99, colour coded to the car.

The exhaust is a back section, custom made by longlife exhausts.

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Used This great guide yesterday to fit my parking sensors thanks Pree and also thanks to Lenny for pointing out the sensors are already marked out on the mk2.5 made the job 10x easier

Took about an hour to fit.

57130960.jpg

Looks excellent mate,

i need to fit a set of these soon myself and i love the duplex too.

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Hi and thanks for a great guide.

I used this guide to fit parking sensors, however they are not working. I have wired it up (not drilled holes etc in case they are faulty - I want to test them first) however, when in reverse, the reversing light comes on as normal but with no beeping. I tested the cable with a multimeter, and was reading 0v in neutral as expected, but only 0.0137v in reverse, nowhere near the 12v expected! Surely this cannot be the right cable, as 0.0137v can't power a bulb! Any ideas? I'm using the only cable I can see that fits the description in the guide.

Thanks in advance!

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Hi and thanks for a great guide.

I used this guide to fit parking sensors, however they are not working. I have wired it up (not drilled holes etc in case they are faulty - I want to test them first) however, when in reverse, the reversing light comes on as normal but with no beeping. I tested the cable with a multimeter, and was reading 0v in neutral as expected, but only 0.0137v in reverse, nowhere near the 12v expected! Surely this cannot be the right cable, as 0.0137v can't power a bulb! Any ideas? I'm using the only cable I can see that fits the description in the guide.

Thanks in advance!

trace the cable down to the grommet in the floor of the boot,

their is only one 2core cable going out through that grommet and in to the reverse unit,

both positive and negative feed to the reverse bulb, and one of them has to be a 12v supply mate.

it should be a green&orange cable is the positive reverse feed.

that is the one you need to splice in to for activation of the sensors.

Image1449.jpg

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Ahh, there's the problem, but I'm afraid it doesn't help me much! There were NO wires going through the grommet! There was a bundle of wires going near what looked like the rear light cluster. Could it be different as mine is a mk2, not a 2.5? Just to check I've got the right grommet, I assume it is the one in the corner of the boot nearest the reversing light? Or is this the wrong one?

Thanks for your help. Its my first car, I wanna make sure I don't reverse into a wall! :P.

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Ahh, there's the problem, but I'm afraid it doesn't help me much! There were NO wires going through the grommet! There was a bundle of wires going near what looked like the rear light cluster. Could it be different as mine is a mk2, not a 2.5? Just to check I've got the right grommet, I assume it is the one in the corner of the boot nearest the reversing light? Or is this the wrong one?

Thanks for your help. Its my first car, I wanna make sure I don't reverse into a wall! :P.

If in doubt then work backwards from your reverse light and trace the wire into the car. , you can't fail then.

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Ahh, there's the problem, but I'm afraid it doesn't help me much! There were NO wires going through the grommet! There was a bundle of wires going near what looked like the rear light cluster. Could it be different as mine is a mk2, not a 2.5? Just to check I've got the right grommet, I assume it is the one in the corner of the boot nearest the reversing light? Or is this the wrong one?

Thanks for your help. Its my first car, I wanna make sure I don't reverse into a wall! :P.

no problem,

the mk2 is the same as the mk2.5 in terms of wiring loom and chassie,

just the outer cosmetic panels are different,

you are on the correct grommet mate,

i dont know what the other cables in that corner could be but their should be a cable going through the grommet to the reverse unit.

i have done a guide on an additional reverse light, some mk2 owners have followed it and had no trouble with wire colour reference or anything but perhaps yours could have been worked on in that area before and looks a bit different.

Preee is also a top man and the creater of this guide if you want to talk to him either.

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Thanks all for your help! I looked underneath at the reverse light, and for some unknown reason, the cable came out of the light, up to the bumper, along the bumper and through the grommet on the other side. However, I now have a new problem. The wires from both rear fog light clusters go through some sort of black boxy thing (sorry for the vague description!) and different colour cables come out the other side. I could just splice the cable at the reversing light and feed it through the grommet, but if someone knows the colour it goes into, it'd be a lot easier!

The possible wire colours are:

Green with yellow stripe

Grey

White with blue stripe

White with red stripe

White with green stripe

Green with black stripe

Brown

Yellow

White x2

Black x2

As the green with yellow stripe exited the box in the same place as the reversing light cable entered, I tried that to no avail. I'm also guessing the black cables are both grounds. So, anyone know which cable to use, or is it lucky dip with a 1 in 9 chance?

Thanks in advance!

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Thanks all for your help! I looked underneath at the reverse light, and for some unknown reason, the cable came out of the light, up to the bumper, along the bumper and through the grommet on the other side. However, I now have a new problem. The wires from both rear fog light clusters go through some sort of black boxy thing (sorry for the vague description!) and different colour cables come out the other side. I could just splice the cable at the reversing light and feed it through the grommet, but if someone knows the colour it goes into, it'd be a lot easier!

The possible wire colours are:

Green with yellow stripe

Grey

White with blue stripe

White with red stripe

White with green stripe

Green with black stripe

Brown

Yellow

White x2

Black x2

As the green with yellow stripe exited the box in the same place as the reversing light cable entered, I tried that to no avail. I'm also guessing the black cables are both grounds. So, anyone know which cable to use, or is it lucky dip with a 1 in 9 chance?

Thanks in advance!

Ok mate,

you now have 4 cables or 4 core's coming through the grommet on the drivers side of the car and they feed in to a black box,

correct?

now my question is:

do those four cables feed in to one side of the box?

or

are all cables on the one side?

and the Green&yellow cable = the positive feed from your fog light.

The Black = The negative feed from your fog light.

see image below for standard fog light loom cable colours

Image1433.jpg

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Okay, thanks for your help :).

I should point out that this black box is underneath the car, near the drivers side fog light. Several wires go into it, including a black and a green/orange (I think) cable from the reversing light. I think the wires from the drivers fog also do, but I'm not 100%. Several more wires come out of this box and up through the grommet, behind the carpet in the boot.

Thanks :).

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Okay, thanks for your help :).

I should point out that this black box is underneath the car, near the drivers side fog light. Several wires go into it, including a black and a green/orange (I think) cable from the reversing light. I think the wires from the drivers fog also do, but I'm not 100%. Several more wires come out of this box and up through the grommet, behind the carpet in the boot.

Thanks :).

I dont know what the box is for but sounds like it could be parking sensors previously fitted to the car,

if you take the time to trace all of the cables you will find out,

but that green/orange will be the positive feed that you require for your new sensors.

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I dont know what the box is for but sounds like it could be parking sensors previously fitted to the car,

That seems unlikely - they're everywhere! In addition to this one, there's definitely one on each side in the boot behind the plastic trim and bumper. Not really a 'box' but no idea how else to describe it. A bit of plastic? I'll try and get pictures tomorrow.

What I might do is just try and splice in directly from the reversing light cable under the bumper. There won't be anywhere near as much room to move, but at least I'll get the right cable! Thanks so much for your help though, I'll try tomorrow and get back to you :).

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That seems unlikely - they're everywhere! In addition to this one, there's definitely one on each side in the boot behind the plastic trim and bumper. Not really a 'box' but no idea how else to describe it. A bit of plastic? I'll try and get pictures tomorrow.

What I might do is just try and splice in directly from the reversing light cable under the bumper. There won't be anywhere near as much room to move, but at least I'll get the right cable! Thanks so much for your help though, I'll try tomorrow and get back to you :).

See my post on the previous page. I fitted mine to my mk2 a few weeks ago and had similar issues following the guide.

For me, the reverse light cable was run along the back of the bumper and up through the grommet on the right side of the boot.

Also, the colour of the wire that went through the grommet was not the same colour of wire that eventually went into the reverse light, so "working backwards" would not have worked for me in that sense.

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See my post on the previous page. I fitted mine to my mk2 a few weeks ago and had similar issues following the guide.

For me, the reverse light cable was run along the back of the bumper and up through the grommet on the right side of the boot.

Also, the colour of the wire that went through the grommet was not the same colour of wire that eventually went into the reverse light, so "working backwards" would not have worked for me in that sense.

That sounds exactly my problem! Cheers for the advice. Will try again in the morning. Any idea which wire you plugged into? Hopefully get these fitted by the weekend :).

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