I am currently stuck with the installation of front & rear parking sensors on a RH drive '07 Octavia Estate and would like some help on any of these issues. Much of the information I have relates to LH drive or FL vehicles which is possibly why I am confused on some of these issues.

Just to confuse things further, my CAN Gateway is above the relays on the drivers side and I suspect that my kit doesn't take this into account as it is a pre-FL kit (my car is technically a pre-FL).

I have so far run all the cables from the control unit (in the trunk on the passenger side) along the passenger side (in order to fit the rear buzzer in the passenger B pillar) and behind the glovebox. Running it along the driver's side would have been easier, with the exception of the buzzer as this would have to have been located somewhere other than the recommended position (base of passenger B pillar).

Switch connections

1a) The switch to activate the front sensors has two earth connections (no idea why). Can these be connected to the same place or do they need to be kept separate? Where would be a good place to do this behind the A/C control unit? Can I connect them to any part of the metalwork? I have about 12-16 inches of cable to play with.

1b) There is also a blue/grey wire to provide power for illumination of the button. Is there a better place / more professional solution than just splicing into the same wire on the ASR switch? Same length of cable as above.

Cabin to under-bonnet

2a) How do you get cables from the interior of the car to the bonnet for the front sensors? Should I go through to the bonnet area from the passenger side or the drivers side?

The reason for asking is that I have way too much cable run for the actual connector to the front sensors (which makes me think that I need to run them across the car and into the bonnet area from the drivers side).

Shortening cables

3) If I run the cables into the bonnet area from the passenger side, then is it OK to shorten the cable to the front sensor connector?

Extending cables

4) As my CAN Gateway is on the driver's side (and I have a pre-FL kit), neither the orange twisted pair CAN cable or the black/purple switched live cable are long enough to reach the fuse box or gateway. Is it OK to extend them using the appropriate grade & colour of wire? Does anyone have any spare CAN wire?

Switched live & fuse box

5) There is a marking on the fuse holder (driver's side) for the parking assist, and I'm thinking of putting the switched live wire into the back of this (have to extend the switched live cable first though) and putting a fuse in. It is number 18 on the fuse board. But what amperage of fuse should I use?

Sensor orientation for OPS display

6a) Which side do the sensors go on to keep the display on Columbus the right way round? The rear set are split two each side (marked with 1 & 3 dots on one side and 2 & 4 dots on the other) while the front set are in a chain (marked 1 to 4 with 1 being nearest the connector).

6b) Which side do Skoda tell you to put the connector for the front sensors on? Knowing this will help me identify a location to put the fittings I have and also probably answer 6a (for the front sensors at least) and parts of questions 2 & 3.

Any help on these matters would be much appreciated. Apologies if this feels like a maths paper....

Many thanks.

Have been doing a lot of internet searching and some new info, but also some confusing stuff.

Switched live & fusebox

Handbook shows Parking Aid as being 11 & 18 on the fuse board. Is one switched? Neither has a metal terminal in it but both are listed as being 5A.

It seems that the feed to the 'sections' of the fuse board come direct from the battery (is this correct?) and feed several of the fuse sockets at the same time. Hence many 'How to's' just refer to adding a single terminal to the appropriate slot on the back and then having an OEM type fit.

However, if your fuseboard does not have any feed to the appropriate fuse socket (in my case 11 & 18 - the parking assist fuses - are both devoid of metal parts) then I am a little unsure as to how to feed power to a new row of fuse sockets on the fuse board.

Cabin to under-bonnet

Eventually found this post on this forum and this post as well regarding a way of getting from the cabin into the engine bay. I'll have a look as soon as I can as I never thought to look low down - I was working upwards towards the rain scuttle!

Hopefully this will answer question 2, but I still think that an answer to question 6 would be more definitive.

The best I came up with on that was this:

But this was from a Russian site detailing all the parts. Does anyone has access to ELSA / EKTA (or whatever Skoda system is in use) and can check this for me, please?

If this is correct, then the sensor connector should be located on the passenger side and it makes sense to run through behind the glovebox (somewhere). Is it OK to shorten the cables to the connector? Not that I managed to get them out earlier today...

If anyone is interested, here is the rear diagram as well.

Thanks.

Switch Connections

1a) I still have no idea as to why the switch to activate the front sensors has two earths from it, but I have found what looks like a suitable earthing point in front of the gearstick and will post pictures once I have time to finish the installation and take pictures. I am hoping to do a full installation tutorial as soon as I can.

I am going to connect them both to the same point - I can't see any reason why not!

1b) Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the ASR switch below the A/C control panel? Or know which wire is the one for the illumination?

This seems like the only place to get the illumination connection from. I intend to try to get two wires into the appropriate hole in the ASR switch socket but I don't know if this is possible. I really don't like the idea of Scotch Locks or hacking / splicing into wire. There must be a more professional solution!

Just to round this off in case anyone else has the same questions (or I decide to do this again on my next car - if / when?)

Switch connections

1a) Both earth wires are now connected to the same place (a screw threaded welded in rod in front of the gear stick) with no adverse effects after nearly a year

1b) I have shaved the sheath of the wire for the new switch and the same on the ASR switch wire so that both wires can be crimped together and pushed into the housing on the ASR switch. Neat and no splicing involved.

Cabin to under-bonnet

2a) There is a rubber grommet behind the glovebox (near side in UK) that links into the engine bay. There are three rubber 'nipples' on this, the end of one can be snipped open to allow the wires through. I had to 'streamline' the plug by shaping it into a arrowhead with electricians tape as I didn't want to take it off the wires. Smear this with vaseline and it will slide through the nipple fairly easily (use a 'pull wire' so as not to stretch the sensor wires. In nearly a year (and a very wet year) there has been no sign of water leaks through here despite not sealing it with mastic or similar.

If I had run the cables up the driver's side (right or off side in UK) then the length of wires would actually have been just right. No extension of the CAN wire needed and no shortening of the sensor cable either. Worth noting and checking.

Shortening cables

3) I still have around 2 feet of slack wire sat behind the glovebox that I haven't done anything with. Based upon the next point not having caused any issues, I might shorten them by simply cutting a section out, soldering and covering in heat shrink. If I make all the cut sections the same length, I can't see there being any issues.

Extending cables

4) CAN extended with about 1m of twisted CAN taken from a VW Touran in a scrap yard. Apart from my dodgy soldering under the dash top storage box, it's all good.

Switched live and fuse-box

5) There were actually two markings for PDC on the card with the fuseboard (11 & 18) - neither were switched live on my vehicle. Went for fitting it to 19 with a 5 amp fuse and have no issues with it in this time.

Sensor orientation for OPS display

6a) After wiring it up, the dots meant nothing. So trial and error resolved it. The rears I got right first time, the fronts I was about to refit the bumper and then remembered to check (thankfully) as I had them back to front! If you don't have OPS functioning, you won't know or notice.

6b) Which side do Skoda tell you to put the connector for the front sensors on? I found out that it is on the right (off side in UK) and the sensor socket pushes into a mounting hole on the washer reservoir filler. This puts the plug on the off-side as well and the sensors spread across the bumper from there.

If someone does a search for OPS or PDC retro-fit, I hope they find this thread and find the information useful. It's basically all the bits I couldn't find out before I fitted mine and discovered along the way.

HTH

KBPhoto, if you are still a member, this thread has helped me answer some questions about retrofitting these sensors to a 2017 Leon in terms of LHD/RHD so thanks!!