Parking Sensors

[Chickenlickin]

 

Hi all I have the problem with my 2007 mk2 Fabia Done 120,000 miles I get 2 tones when put in reverse but no parking noise, I’ve tried all the recommended tests even brought a replacement sensor (not cheap to buy) and tested each one with the bumper off with no joy.

My idea now because of the cost of taking it to a Skoda dealer and get them to fix it, is to just buy a off the shelf reversing kit that is just wired into the reversing light and fit it.

My question is does anyone know if doing this could course a problem with the car’s electric setup.

Regards Danny

[Murdockman]

Had the same issue with my 2008 model, parking sensors are around £90 each and they are glued in place and rear bumper needs to be removed to fit any sort of sensor in the same place as original ones, I had a mate check out with laptop which sensor had gone and it showed the rear drivers side which i replaced with a brand new one from Skoda, sometimes it can be the connection unit but that's a real pain to get to it's behind the rear drivers side boot panel and you need to strip half the rear side apart to get to it, ---but only to find that for some reason when the car was made some one did not know their  left from right as it turned out that the rear passenger side that had gone not the drivers side as read out pointed to so landed up costing more money again,   as you have to break sensor to remove from bumper, my friend had this issue and he bought a after market system from the Bay around around £75 for the set of 4 which were silver same as bumper but you had to wire up from reversing lights and he put the beeper in the boot area near back seat as the Fabia beeper is in the door pillar area front passenger side and just looked a pain to try and wire up to this

[Chickenlickin]

Thanks for that Murdockman

[KeithCheetham]

 I have a set off Ebay on my Mk2 hatchback - CISBO REVERSING PARKING SENSOR 4 SENSORS AUDIO BUZZER ALARM CISBO 336-4 U.K. | eBay -which cost about £15 back in 2015. These were fitted when the car was my partners. I now have the car and can say there have only been about 4 or 5 times when they have had issues and in those instances they gave a continuous tone and were OK the next day or were found to be wires corroding where i have broken into the loom behind the tail light - ideally they should be soldered in as the wires are very thin. I have also fitted these on my at the time 2006 Mk1 Fabia estate and a 2010 Polo 6C.  I have never removed a bumper using the old coat hanger wire trick when required to add wiring - on the Mk2 there is a rubber flap below the tailgate latch where the wires were brought into the boot. All the wiring is at the rear of the car.

[Chickenlickin]

Hi Keith that’s great as I ordered a set of those yesterday nice to know there ok thanks again.

[KeithCheetham]

On 16/05/2021 at 10:26, Chickenlickin said:

Hi Keith that’s great as I ordered a set of those yesterday nice to know there ok thanks again.

 Any update on ease of fitting and useability Chickenlickin

[Chickenlickin]

Very easy the only problem if you can call it that was the old sensors clip out of the holder glued to the bumper, so once I’d removed the old sensors I used the hole cutter supplied with the new sensors to cut the hole in the front face of the glued holder to the correct size did it from the back kept it central by rapping tape around the cutter until it fitted the back part it kept itself central.

Hope that helps. Regards

[KeithCheetham]

10 hours ago, Chickenlickin said:

Very easy the only problem if you can call it that was the old sensors clip out of the holder glued to the bumper,

 

 Thanks for the positive update as this will assist others such as @rajamahbub who was looking for the same resolution to rear sensors.

[rum4mo]

Probably too late for you, but if you are handy with wiring and a multimeter, you could have checked the rear bumper cable, there is a common supply feed and a common supply return to all these sensors, and an output from each of them.  So, if the supply or return wire is broken at any point either all or some or one sensor will stop working - ie the supply and return is daisy chained from the controller to the RHS sensor and so on.

[dancingbear84]

Funnily enough, I bought these sensors and plan to fit them over the next few weeks, I don't have existing sensors, I suppose I could put together a how to guide if I remember, if other people may find it useful.
We also have a roomster with factory sensors so I can double check the positions

[KeithCheetham]

dancingbear84 The below is a similar issue thread with my fitting comments, though I agree that a how to with photos if possible may assist in future:- Rear Camera Installation - Skoda Fabia Mk II - BRISKODA

[dancingbear84]

Just out of interest,

a. why did you not remove the bumper

b. Did you need a relay to connect to the reverse, or was it on a 12v feed

[Chickenlickin]

You have to remove the bumper to take the old sensors out and drill the hole out from the rear, no relay required just snap connector too reversing light wire.

the new sensors then just push fit into the drilled out holders.

[KeithCheetham]

2 hours ago, dancingbear84 said:

Just out of interest,

a. why did you not remove the bumper

b. Did you need a relay to connect to the reverse, or was it on a 12v feed

I was not using the moulded in positions on the inside of the bumper, relying on looking at photos on Autotrader for approximate position and putting tape on the outside to mark positions which also gives a clean cut, and I realised that I had sufficient access for feeding wiring, and there was no chance of any issues damaging paintwork with it off the car. The other issue that I saw - correctly or not - was there was less chance of damaging paintwork cutting it as opposed to having the cutter coming into the paint from the plastic side. As Chickenlickin has pointed out, he already had factory sensors fitted so needed to remove the bumper take those out.

 The current appears to be very low - the actual wire in the kit is very thin almost like speaker wire - so in line with the instructions I just connected the 2 wires into the reversing light loom behind the rear light without a relay.

If in any doubt you can plug it all together - sensors, control box and buzzer = leaving the sensors hanging to allow you to test by moving a hand towards them, and connect into the loom just to try it before cutting or even removing the bumper.

Edited 26 June, 2021 by KeithCheetham

[dancingbear84]

1 hour ago, KeithCheetham said:

I was not using the moulded in positions on the inside of the bumper, relying on looking at photos on Autotrader for approximate position and putting tape on the outside to mark positions which also gives a clean cut, and I realised that I had sufficient access for feeding wiring, and there was no chance of any issues damaging paintwork with it off the car. The other issue that I saw - correctly or not - was there was less chance of damaging paintwork cutting it as opposed to having the cutter coming into the paint from the plastic side. As Chickenlickin has pointed out, he already had factory sensors fitted so needed to remove the bumper take those out.

 The current appears to be very low - the actual wire in the kit is very thin almost like speaker wire - so in line with the instructions I just connected the 2 wires into the reversing light loom behind the rear light without a relay.

If in any doubt you can plug it all together - sensors, control box and buzzer = leaving the sensors hanging to allow you to test by moving a hand towards them, and connect into the loom just to try it before cutting or even removing the bumper.

Good plan, I hadn’t thought of connecting it in advance to test. I’ll definitely do that. 
 

I’m planning on removing the bumper, then drilling a small pilot hole from the inside to the out, using the factory markings, then drilling the hole from the outside in. I hadn’t considered tape though, that’s another good shout.

Edited 26 June, 2021 by dancingbear84

[dancingbear84]

So I’ve got the bumper off and fitted the sensors, I’ve identified the correct cables for the reverse light, what’s the best way to tap into them? Should I earth to the chassis or the negative cable on the loom?

Edited 28 June, 2021 by dancingbear84

[dancingbear84]

With regards to a guide, this is as far as I have got so far:

1. Get yourself a t25 bit and also a t25 Allen key type thing. 
2. remove the 3 t25 screws from the inside of the wheel arch, I found it easier to jack the car up slightly to give myself more room to manoeuvre (I didn’t have the aforementioned Allen key t25 thingy)

3. Forcibly, but not too forcibly, pull the wheel arch liner toward the wheel, then you will see another t25 screw, pointing down into the bumper, using the t25 Allen key type thing will make this easy I had to battle with a socket and spanner and all sorts as there is not the room to manoeuvre. Much swearing ensued.

4. Move to the other side and do the same thing

5. Under the bumper are 3 plastic rivets, these thoroughly confused me for a while, but there is a knack, there is again a tool for the job, but if you don’t have one, and I don’t, a small flat head screwdriver under the center pin and wiggle it a bit, then use needle nose pliers to remove the pin, then use the same pliers to remove the out part. 
Don’t try to remove both bits at the same time, trust me it won’t work!

6. Remove the lights, this is done by unscrewing the big black bolt thing in the boot, if you’ve ever changed a bulb you’ll know what I mean. Then gently pull the light from the fittings, this is done by gently pulling the light cluster from the rear of the vehicle until the retaining pin things release.

7.There are 2 more t30 (I think) screws holding the bumper on under the light cluster. Undo them.

8. Gently pull the bumper from the wheel arch outward from the car, the plastic fitting will pop away, then repeat the other side. Then gently lift away from the rear of the vehicle.

9. Have a brew

10. On the inside of the bumper are 2 sets of markings, one had 26mm holes in the middle of a rectangle sort of thing. The other had much smaller 16mm hole markings. Both are there. I chose the 26mm size hole, I’m not sure if it was right or wrong.

11. Drill a pilot hole from the centre of the circle to the outside of the bumper

12. Apply tape to the front of the bumper, then use tape over the front to make sure no damage to the bumper when you drill the holes

13. drill from the outside of the bumper to the inside using the file cutter that came in the box

14. fit the sensors and the cables

15. find a way to secure the cable to the rear of the bumper, adhesive mounts, duct tape, I used hot glue.

16. There were 2 plastic grommets leading into the spare wheel well, I drilled a small 6mm hole in one and pushed all the cables through it into the boot. Then reattached the grommet

17. Refit the bumper in the reverse way you removed it.

18. You then need to route the cabling and remove the plastic side panel to access the electrics and stuff.

 

- pop the rivets in the “boot lip” over the boot catch, then unscrew the nuts at the base of the boot lip, then pop it off, it is held in place with metal spring clips, I thought id broken something when I got it free, but it was ok.

- unscrew the bolt that should be visible now under the plastic you removed, this is being done on the passenger side.

- unscrew the luggage hook and the tie down peg thing

- remove the plastic trim leading to the roof

- unscrew another screw hidden by the plastic, and another one near the vent near the rear seat.

Now gently pull the plastic trim towards the opposite side of the boot. 
 

that’s as far as I have got for now

 

[KeithCheetham]

 I earthed to the negative in the loom up near the bulb socket, originally using skotchblock supplied with the sensors, but have since stripped back the insulation and soldered the wires in as the terminals in the skotchblock appear to have corroded over time and the sensor power wires are very thin as you may have seen - this also assists when re-fitting the light as the skotchblocks are quite large for the limited space.

 Good write-up, did you take any photos to add in, and you may want to update 6 to remove NS light. As I have advised previously I did not remove my bumper so cannot comment on that part, or the 16 vs 26mm hole markings. Did you try them before beginning?  

[dancingbear84]

53 minutes ago, KeithCheetham said:

 I earthed to the negative in the loom up near the bulb socket, originally using skotchblock supplied with the sensors, but have since stripped back the insulation and soldered the wires in as the terminals in the skotchblock appear to have corroded over time and the sensor power wires are very thin as you may have seen - this also assists when re-fitting the light as the skotchblocks are quite large for the limited space.

 Good write-up, did you take any photos to add in, and you may want to update 6 to remove NS light. As I have advised previously I did not remove my bumper so cannot comment on that part, or the 16 vs 26mm hole markings. Did you try them before beginning?  

I did take a few pictures, but then mrs bear came to help, she borrowed my phone as she’d left hers in the house and that was the last I saw of it. I decided that I’d give it a go with the bumper off, having never seen what was behind the bumper I was concerned (unnecessarily) I’d go through something I shouldn’t. From looking at the roomster it seems like the reverse sensors may have changed in spec at some point from the 26mm to 16mm and they have both markings stamped on the inside, they are only a few cm off from each other so I don’t think it’ll matter all that much to be honest, it threw me for a bit though, but we’ll see. 
I didn’t test it in the end, opting to fit the sensors anyway as I knew I had to do that but. Then I figured I would test before I tapped into the loom. The speaker is really loud. 
As for point 6 you have to remove both lights if removing the bumper in order to access the T30 bolts hidden beneath them.

Thanks for the feedback about tapping into the loom, it was about 9.30 last night when I’d got that far and I couldn’t really be bothered to go any further, I figured being tired I’d make mistakes.