Mk7.5 Retrofit OEM park sensors - Can it be done?

[giwrgos_ath]

Hi all,

As mentioned on another post, i've been tasked by a friend to look for potential mods on his MK7.5. This time we're looking into OEM reversing sensors (not Xvision) that show on the display. The car is a 64 plate with high level stereo (not branded) and a single colour (blue) screen. It also has the bluetooth module, although that's probably irrelevant.

I know a lot of people suggest this might be expensive, but i didn't find any posts confirming if that's at all possible and if you can do it with Forscan.

The sensor plug is present at the back of the car behind the bumper, so i was hoping it would be a case of simply connecting the sensors and enabling using Forscan.

So far i've been unable to make them work. On forscan i selected the option for rear sensors only, but i get a warning on the screen when reverse is engaged. I see the car and an exlamation mark on the back and the front. I imagine this means it couldn't find the sensors, even though they are connected at the back.

Looking at the parts catalogue, i couldn't find any parts required for a car of that type, unlike the MK7 that required the module.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[iantt]

probably not wired up at body control module

[Smartd00d]

Hi, I think you need a ‘Park Pilot’ module like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Ford-Fiesta-Focus-C-max-Bosch-Parkpilot-PDC-Module-97bx-13k236-ab-0263004007/1751340712

Haven’t done it myself but would like to. Can I ask what sensors you installed pls?

[iantt]

you need to check the grey connector on body control module for wiring to pins 2,12, 14,15,16,17

[giwrgos_ath]

Thanks Ian, I was about to ask about the wiring. Are you referring to the small or the large grey plug? (Left or right?) Also, what else is on the same connector?

Paul, I got the sensors and wiring from a breaker. If I'm not mistaken, the park pilot was necessary on cars before 2012 as I couldn't find it on the parts catalogue for mk7.5, although I might be wrong.

I'll try tracing the wires next time I get to the car.

See attached for the sensors i got. You might notice they come from a 2012 car, but considering the plug is identical, I'd be surprised if they don't match.

[giwrgos_ath]

Just to follow up on this, I've had my friend's car for a couple of days and trying to get this sorted.

Unfortunately I've hit a dead end and can't figure this out. An exclamation mark is still shown when putting reverse.

The car is a facelift meaning the sensor module at the back is not required and the wires run all the way to the BCM. Also has a recent version of sync. Checked the blue plug and all required wires are there. In fact, there's even wiring for the front sensors on the grey plug.

Tried activating city safety and disabled collision detection etc but didn't help. Tried changing to low level stereo and no luck. Tested the wires and they seem fine.

Only thing I can think of, is upgrading to the Sony stereo, but I don't have access to one.

Has anyone got OEM sensors with the non-branded stereo?

Any other suggestions to try would be greatly appreciated.

[liamstears]

Sorry this will be a stab in the dark but thinking of trying this myself so following for interest

Where is the connector located for the parking sensors? Want to look see if I have it, also where is BCM to check if wires run to it?

Anyway, from what I understand there is a parking sensor switch on cars with parking sensors, could it be that missing this switch is potentially causing your issue? Unlikely but computers in cars nowadays seem to know everything lol

[giwrgos_ath]

The more people interested, the merrier :) we might actually figure it out. With yours being a Titanium, it might be easier, but we'll see.

The connector is located on the bumper close to the rear fog at the right side (driver's side). If you've got the wiring, you'd see a blanking cap which needs to be removed and connect the loom from the picture above.

I'm not aware of any switch for the rear sensors. There's a switch on the central console for the front ones, but not all cars come with front ones. You can see a great guide about front sensors here

As mentioned before, i know pre-facelifts had a module in the boot, but the facelft ones don't seem to have it.

The Body Control Module (BCM) is located near the cabin fuse box, behind the glove box. You'll see a black box with few coloured connectors. I think it's Green, Blue, Gray and White.

[iantt]

my partners recently got a 16 plate titanium and looked for connector near fog, nothing, i might have a look at bcm and see if the grey connector is wired up or not. did you check your connector? 

[540itouring]

The switch is used to turn all sensors and camera on / off when front sensors are fitted . Body computer needs reconfig with FORSCAN     I would think a car with rear sensors has a good chance of front sensor plug but low chance of rear plug if the car did not have rear sensors.  These cables could be added to your loom but not such a easy job then.

[liamstears]

Had a quick look at mine today, I've got the front plug that was quite easy to spot but doesn't look like I have the rear plug so wouldn't be as easy to fit, might still give it a go though at some point

[liamstears]

Just had another quick look

Front Sensors Blue Plug pins 6, 11, 20, 21, 22, 23 - All present

Rear Sensors Grey Plug pins 2, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 - All missing

So looks like it won't be an easy job for me if I decided to do it so I think I'm gonna give it a miss for now, to be fair I have a reversing camera anyway lol

 

[giwrgos_ath]

The presence of rear camera would probably explain the lack of the wiring for rear sensors. I'd imagine there would be a conflict having both, as there wouldn't be a way of showing the distance on the screen. In your case, you can probably fit front sensors without an issue.

The car I'm working on, is a 2014 Zetec ECOnetic without wiring for the camera but has wiring for all sensors instead. It's just unfortunate they don't work when activating with forscan and I wonder if they rely on any other settings.

[giwrgos_ath]

So I tried a different approach yesterday. Considering rear park assist would require the city pack, I decided to activate any other dependencies of the city pack in case that made any difference.

From my research, the city pack included just parking sensors and folding mirrors. Enabling those didn't make any difference.

The car doesn't have front fogs, but I doubt thay's related in any way. I didn't try activating those.

Before I give up this project, I wonder if the system would completely fail if a single sensor was faulty? I know the wiring is ok but can't test the sensors individually.

[deeshay]

I have also been looking at this and have the same results as in the display just shows a Park Assist error.  I am now thinking that I will need to reprogram the BCM with new AS BUILT values rather than backup.

I've been doing a lot of reading about the AS BUILT information and our American cousins have done quite a lot with Forscan and their "Trucks". They have spreadsheets with what hex values mean what.

I've asked Ford if they can/will supply a new AS BUILT file which has the parking sensors enabled. We will see where that goes.

I refuse to believe this is impossible!!

[ThaiFiesta]

It’s probably not as complex as that. In Forscan you can just enable the “fitted with reverse sensors” option. 

[deeshay]

I have tried enabling that feature and the display shows a parking sensor error message.

[deeshay]

However I did edit BCM Backup with Forscan. I think that is where the problem is as where I should be changing the AS BUILT configuration. I will try again when I get a chance.

[deeshay]

 

I've made some progress. Re-programming both the IPC and the BCM now gives me a "PARK PILOT MALFUNCTION" rather than a "PARK ASSIST MALFUNCTION".  Now to double check the wires have continuity.

I was going to try a BCM Reset with Forscan but decided not to as I didn't know what it would do... I don't want to lose any data out of the BCM.

[RLST-3]

Hi I'm also experiencing the same problem.

I have a 15 plate fiesta st with the wiring from the BCM to the rear bumper already installed. I've purchased the  correct sensors which plug straight into the plug on the back bumper however when I took the car to a local garage to get them turned on the didn't work.

I also get a "park pilot malfunction" message on the dash. 

Does anyone know where I've gone wrong and what can be done to get them working? 

Thanks.

[giwrgos_ath]

I've not been online for quite a while and didn't realise there was so much activity on this thread! That's great, as we might end up finding a solution.

On 8/15/2018 at 9:00 AM, deeshay said:

I refuse to believe this is impossible!!

Having retrofitted A LOT of parts on Fiestas and Focus, i refuse to believe this is not possible. Maybe it's not very practical for many people if they need to purchase more parts (i.e. stereo) but that never stopped me...

Funny story, but on the MK7.5 i managed to install front fog lights, just by plugging the bulbs and activating on Forscan. The lights switch assembly had a functioning button without the icon. This fortifies my belief that parking sensors is also simple.

 

On 8/24/2018 at 10:19 AM, deeshay said:

I've made some progress. Re-programming both the IPC and the BCM now gives me a "PARK PILOT MALFUNCTION" rather than a "PARK ASSIST MALFUNCTION".  Now to double check the wires have continuity.

If i'm not mistaken the Park Pilot is where the car parks itself and i'm not sure if that was actually available on MK7.5 so it's probably not what we need.

 

On 8/24/2018 at 10:19 AM, deeshay said:

I was going to try a BCM Reset with Forscan but decided not to as I didn't know what it would do... I don't want to lose any data out of the BCM.

I don't think I've ever done a BCM reset. Generally I enable and disable a few options at once and then revert if they don't work.

On the MK7.5 i got a few scary messages and lights on the dash while testing, but they went away when i restored the previous values and cleared them. If you do a reset, you might end up trying loads of different combinations till you find the right settings, as the car will complain for missing or incompatible modules.

One thing I didn't attempt, was to make the changes for the rear sensors and then lock the car till it goes to "deep sleep" (or remove the battery for a few mins). If i'm not mistaken, this "clears" its memory and might restore the settings from AS BUILT.

On 8/15/2018 at 9:00 AM, deeshay said:

I've asked Ford if they can/will supply a new AS BUILT file which has the parking sensors enabled. We will see where that goes.

I doubt Ford would be of any help. It's very rare that a dealer would know how to retrofit OEM parts if they require activation.

It might help to get the AS BUILT or just the enabled Forscan settings from a car with rear sensors and compare it with yours. It's very likely that a member on this forum could provide his. Maybe send a direct message to a user that has retrofitted parts on his mk7.5? Maybe @Jonro2009 or @Mattman1004 who installed the front sensors can help us out?

 

Unfortunately the MK7.5 i'm working on, is a friend's and i rarely have time to mess around with it. Maybe i'll sell my Mk7 one day and get my own.

 

[Jonro2009]

@giwrgos_ath we have since sold our mk7.5, the wife’s choice and she ‘demanded’ (I’m not even joking she actually refused to drive anything else) a Renault Captur. I’ve driven it twice and each time I want to get out and walk instead, I really dislike it. It’s a top of the range brand new pre reg model so saved a fortune, financially it made a lot of sense. Which is unfortunate because I had no grounds to refuse lol. Anyway, I digress sorry. I will look out old paperwork and see if I can find the VIN of one of her previous mk7.5s (she had 2) and get the AS BUILT data, they both had sensors. It won’t be today I don’t think as I am on ‘baby sitting’ duties and I get nothing done due to the fact I can’t multi task!

[Jonro2009]

I have a VIN from a 63plate and a 65plate. Both Titanium’s 1 with rear sensors and one without. I’ve got the AS BUILT data for both if anyone is interested I’d be happy to share. They are both my wife’s previous cars, she doesn’t like to keep her cars long lol

[Mattman1004]

Hi there , you can get hold of the as built file for any fiesta if you have the VIN, just make an account on Ford Etis then search the reg of any vehicle and it will give you the VIN. Once you have the VIN go to motor craft service.com, free resources, quick guides, module build data (as built), type in the VIN and it will show you the A’s built data and allow you to download the file.

[giwrgos_ath]

@Jonro2009 comparing those two files would probably help identify the differences if we can map the hex codes to values like @deeshay suggested.

Thanks @Mattman1004 I wasn't aware of the motor craft website