Front Camera Malfunction. Service Required.

[OliviaB]

I bought a car from a dealership yesterday and when driving home it came up with this message on my 2019 Ford Fiesta ST Line:

”Front Camera Malfunction. service Required”

It’s come up again today. Dealership have told me it happens when it heavily rains - it’s still under warranty. What shall I do? Does anyone else have this problem?

[Tom44]

This can happen due to ice or snow, thick fog etc, depending on the spec on your specific car, if the camera thinks it can't see something it should be able to, i've known them to throw a fault, or tell you to clean the windscreen. But the camera is within the wiper area so "heavy rain" shouldn't be an issue for it.

If the error keeps coming up every time you take the car out, i'd take it back to them and get them to check it over.

[Tizer]

As above, I've occasionally had it when I haven't cleared the ice properly off my windscreen in the morning or if I have driven into a misty area. It should not happen every time it rains unless the windscreen wipers are not clearing the top middle part of the screen properly.  

[OliviaB]

Thanks both - the wipers are reaching the area so that’s why I thought it was weird for them to say it’s due to the rain. I haven’t been through any foggy areas either, no ice or frost recently too. There’s also no chips around the camera too which I’ve checked ( and they replaced the windscreen before I bought it as well). 
this sort of thing should be under warranty shouldn’t it? I travelled 130 miles to collect my car so can’t take it back to that dealership specifically. 

[iantt]

I think you've just answered your question. They replaced the screen. The camera needs re calibrating after a screen replacement and it sounds like they haven't done so. 

[OliviaB]

6 hours ago, iantt said:

I think you've just answered your question. They replaced the screen. The camera needs re calibrating after a screen replacement and it sounds like they haven't done so. 

Ah I see... sorry didn’t know this was a thing! I’ve not had a car with this technology before. I will give the garage a ring to see if they did actually  calibrate it. 

[anon]

It can also occur when the screen has misted up internally because glass inside the housing doesn't clear as quickly as the glass around it. The housing is fitted with a heater to compensate for this but I occasionally get an instruction to clean a clean windscreen. It sorts itself out after about five minutes though (although it doesn't tell you that it has mended itself.)

[OliviaB]

On 1/15/2021 at 6:17 AM, iantt said:

I think you've just answered your question. They replaced the screen. The camera needs re calibrating after a screen replacement and it sounds like they haven't done so. 

Thanks for this - rang the garage and they checked the invoice of screen replacement to find the company hadn’t actually really calibrated the screen. So will be getting them to fix it soon.

[Flowers]

It appears to be a design defect, I am seeing many other posts. My truck was in the shop for 7 weeks and Ford does not have a solution and mostly in denial. The unit gets hot and stops working