My car is a 2013 Superb Elegance estate (diesel model). I have owned the car from new.

 

About two years ago I replaced the two reversing sensors on the right side, the system had been behaving a little erratically and that solved the problem until about a month ago. An intermittent problem developed whereby the sensors would sometimes report obstacles where there were none - but most of the time the system would work normally.

 

Today I dropped down the rear diffuser (a 5 minute job) and have changed all 4 sensors for a new (aftermarket) set. I noticed a couple of clips that hold the loom onto the body had slipped off, so I put everything back together properly and gave everything a clean up before carefully reassembling everything. On startup, and on putting the car into reverse I got an error message saying the reversing sensor system was not available - I have tried switching off and on several times but the system does not respond (I get no reversing graphic at all).

 

I'm wondering - is there some software that needs re-setting, or perhaps there is a hardware fault? Is there a test procedure? Perhaps I should restore the Columbus navigation system back to the factory settings?

 

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

 

Alan

... I've just swapped back to the old sensors (I had carefully numbered them) - it is only a 10 minute job on the Superb. I still get exactly the same problem: a long beep when I first put the car into reverse, but no graphic on the Columbus screen.

 

I had rather expected that the system would have reverted back to its previous (intermittent, but screen graphic still working) fault with the old sensors in their original positions. Any ideas?

You could try rebooting the Columbus (if you haven't done so already) by holding down the < > and i keys. It's unlikely to resolve the problem but it's an easy first step.

 

Assuming that doesn't work, you probably really need to scan with VCDS. It sounds like the system has been disconnected somewhere, but it might not be easy to spot. But VCDS should tell you if that's the problem or not.

33 minutes ago, Declan O'Shaughnessy said:

You could try rebooting the Columbus (if you haven't done so already) by holding down the < > and i keys. It's unlikely to resolve the problem but it's an easy first step.

 

Assuming that doesn't work, you probably really need to scan with VCDS. It sounds like the system has been disconnected somewhere, but it might not be easy to spot. But VCDS should tell you if that's the problem or not.

Hi Declan,

I tried the 'system' element of re-boot (from the setup menu), which didn't make any difference, but I seem to have solved the issue (see below). Thank you so much for your advice.

Alan

Good morn,

 

Well, I seem to have fixed the problem - it looks like it was a bad sensor (#4 - on the right).

 

I dropped the diffuser panel off again this morn (fortunately an easy job, just 4 torx screws) to reveal the sensors, removed each in turn, tidied up with contact cleaner and reassembled (see first photo). All the wiring seemed fine.

 

 

 

 

I re-booted the system (thank you Declan) from the menu but still got the system unavailable error message (see the second photo - apologies for the lack of focus).

 

 

 

 

Remember I had gone back to the old sensors (by old I mean pre-one month ago when the intermittent issue started), I reasoned (to myself) that one of the sensors must be bad, so I started swapping them out for the new set I had bought, starting at #4 (right side); fortunately the first one seems to have solved the problem and the system seems to work fine now. This is of course notwithstanding the intermittent fault that had brought about issue a month ago, only time will tell whether I have cured that problem or not.

 

I not sure why the system would not work when I changed all 4 sensors for the new set yesterday, I can only assume that one or more of those 4 was bad, out of the box. I have no way of knowing which of the 3 remaining new sensors is no good (I suppose I could work it out by elimination by swapping them one at a time for a new one, but I don't want to take it apart again), so I'll just keep them all as spares. It was a £20 set from eBay, so perhaps a 25% failure rate is okay?

 

One tip for putting the diffuser back on is to smear a little silicone grease on each of the tangs I've shown in the third photo - it then slides in easily (and I suspect it will help make a weather-tight environment for the sensors).

 

 

Well, I've answered my own question - it would seem that the best advice for fixing parking sensors is to be methodical and keep notes.

 

Best wishes,

 

Alan 

Edited 4 September, 20205 yr by Othen
Correction.

In years gone past, if you put car into reverse so the sensors are in use, you could put your ear up to them and tell which one was not clicking as it was working. That was normally the duff one