The reverse sensors appear to be not beeping and nothing shows on the radio.

Did they work before? Does an image flash on the screen then disappear when reverse is engaged? Have you been able to scan for fault codes?

Probably the sensors. Possibly the buzzer in the B Pillar. Buzzer you can get for a tenner off amazon. Easy to replace. Sensors about 25-30 for decent set. Not easy to replace if you have a tow bar fitted.

Does your reverse lights come on when you select reverse, if not its a broken wire near the gearbox switch.

Quikcuff, I'm going to jump in on this topic because mine have stopped working too.  Yesterday when I engaged reverse gear for the first time after starting the engine, the sensors gave a long beep (about 3-4 seconds) but nothing appeared on the screen, and the sensors did not work when I reversed.  When I disengaged reverse gear, the image of the car flashed up on the screen briefly then disappeared.

 

When I engaged reverse gear again, later in the same journey, nothing happened and the screen remained blank, but once again the image of the car flashed up briefly when I disengaged reverse gear.  This sequence is what happens now: a beep on the first time I engage reverse, nothing on the subsequent uses of reverse, and a brief flash of the car image when I disengage reverse.

 

Years ago when I first had the car (2007 Scout) one of the sensors failed but the others kept working.  I replaced the failed sensor and it was fine thereafter.  So I don't think it is the sensors themselves.  I will check today to see whether the reversing lights come on when I reverse, and report back.  But if anyone here has any ideas in the meantime, I'd be glad to hear them.

 

Cheers,

 

ScandalXK

Update: the reversing lights do light up when I engage reverse gear.

 

Also, the manual states that the long beep "indicates a system fault. Have the fault rectified by a specialist workshop". 😐

 

Edited 10 July, 20241 yr by scandalxk
Added information

If the car image flashes up when you disengage reverse then, and I am just guessing here, but could that be because the physical action has engaged something that was previously unengaged eg. a broken wire, split wire etc?  Which can be made to connect with the right movement but otherwise will sit disconnected.

It's probably the buzzer in the B pillar that has gone. Easy cheap fix as I said above.

Thanks Golf-Fiend. But I think it's the same buzzer that is making the warning sound... isn't it? It certainly has the same tone.

1 hour ago, JamieH86 said:

If the car image flashes up when you disengage reverse then, and I am just guessing here, but could that be because the physical action has engaged something that was previously unengaged eg. a broken wire, split wire etc?  Which can be made to connect with the right movement but otherwise will sit disconnected.

Thanks Jamie. I'll look out for that when I can pin it down a bit more.

I'm gonna jump in on this thread too please. 

I have the same issue sort of. Reversing lights and sensors not engaging. 

Bulbs all good

Switch is good. 

Fuses good.

No power getting to switch and I cant find a break in the wiring.

Anyone know where to look after all of this is done?

4 minutes ago, djewhurst said:

I'm gonna jump in on this thread too please. 

I have the same issue sort of. Reversing lights and sensors not engaging. 

Bulbs all good

Switch is good. 

Fuses good.

No power getting to switch and I cant find a break in the wiring.

Anyone know where to look after all of this is done?

Also, I have the Bolero radio so I'm not sure if the wiring still goes to a speaker in the B pillar 

 

8 hours ago, djewhurst said:

I'm gonna jump in on this thread too please. 

I have the same issue sort of. Reversing lights and sensors not engaging. 

Bulbs all good

Switch is good. 

Fuses good.

No power getting to switch and I cant find a break in the wiring.

Anyone know where to look after all of this is done?

 

Probably not the same problem, since my reversing lights are still working.

I too have the loud bleep and flashing up image of the car exiting reverse function with gear stick. Damaged wire?

11 minutes ago, CrassAss said:

I too have the loud bleep and flashing up image of the car exiting reverse function with gear stick. Damaged wire?

I've been stupidly busy since I added my post on this thread, so I haven't got to the bottom of the problem yet. Looking forward to seeing whether anyone has any ideas now...

I have exactly the same and I'm going to try the speaker in the b pillar. I had the same symptoms on my  yeti and replacing the tiny little speaker for £6 off ebay got everything working again.

On 03/12/2024 at 20:22, mdw8888 said:

I have exactly the same and I'm going to try the speaker in the b pillar. I had the same symptoms on my  yeti and replacing the tiny little speaker for £6 off ebay got everything working again.

Please report back!

I should have checked the reverse lights first😁.  There was a bodged repair to the switch cable. Have ordered a new switch and connector then will all work. I bridged the wires and it all fired up on the radio display. However the speaker for the parking sensor is in the n/s b post.

New update. Replaced the switch and repaired the cable. Got lights and beeper but sporadic.   However I noticed the rubber bush on the gear selector box end  was a bit wobbly. Replaced that and all works perfectly.

Update: I finally had some time to look at the problem so I took the side panel off in the boot to look at the wiring, and found a parking aid control box bolted to the NSR wheel arch behind the panel. I found a cheap replacement on Ebay, fitted it, and the sensors worked again. The sensor image on the dash came up, indicating the cone which was just behind the car, and the correct warning tone sounded, indicating to me that the sensors themselves, and the speaker, are working as they should. This happy state of affairs lasted for about two seconds, then the fault returned exactly the same as before: long beep, no sensor image on the dash, image flashed up briefly on disengaging reverse, then nothing for the remainder of the journey.

I interpret this as meaning that the system is mostly OK, but there is a fault which is causing the control box to fail. Is this a reasonable conclusion? Any ideas where the fault may be? I'm pretty sure the sensors and the speaker are OK since they worked fine, briefly, when I replaced the control box. Perhaps a short circuit somewhere?

I haven't looked at.

Appreciate you sharing knowledge.

Mine hasn't worked properly for a good while now.

Just last week however it worked ok for a brief couple of times. In fine weather.

I'd hunched water had increased somewhere. Pooled and it was intermittent because of.

I've had with it since the boot locking mechanism went crazy a year or so ago. I associated a small host of electrical issues at the same time. Occasional windows full action not working. Rear wiper also intermittent. Light out warning light on dash.

Battery was replaced eventually, in my defence numerous tests by pros hadn't spotted it was smaller lion brand, replaced with one that fits perfect in casing and is better.

The windows seem fine now. Rear wiper still intermittent as is reverse sensor.

I bought a new boot locking mechanism which I didn't use!

I guess the reverse sensor and all electrical faults need a circuit test to find the fault?

On 26/03/2025 at 14:19, scandalxk said:

This happy state of affairs lasted for about two seconds, then the fault returned exactly the same as before:

This is a suspicion, but I've noted elsewhere that CANBUS-related fails often appear shortly after the device in question appears to operate OK, and my assumption is the direct connect circuit/s work ok on switch-on but whatever CANBUS test protocol the car computer is running eventually times out, the unit is flagged as 'failed' and the computer disables the power feed.

A good case in example is the classic sidelight failure, where the car OKs the sidelight on switch on but some indeterminate time later flags it up as 'failing', only for the apparent problem to disappear again after an ignition reset. Such faults are often caused by poor connections which lead to a sensed high resistance via CANBUS resulting in failure.

What to do about this? Check and clean all relevant connections - starting with the device in question and working back 'upstream'. You can do a quick 'earth quality' check using a decent multimeter but are earth connections are repeated through the car this test may not be reliable. Once connections are checked and cleaned, dose with an appropriate electrical contact spray - not WD40 - and close up as appropriate.

On 28/03/2025 at 10:26, MikeTheThinker said:

This is a suspicion, but I've noted elsewhere that CANBUS-related fails often appear shortly after the device in question appears to operate OK, and my assumption is the direct connect circuit/s work ok on switch-on but whatever CANBUS test protocol the car computer is running eventually times out, the unit is flagged as 'failed' and the computer disables the power feed.

A good case in example is the classic sidelight failure, where the car OKs the sidelight on switch on but some indeterminate time later flags it up as 'failing', only for the apparent problem to disappear again after an ignition reset. Such faults are often caused by poor connections which lead to a sensed high resistance via CANBUS resulting in failure.

What to do about this? Check and clean all relevant connections - starting with the device in question and working back 'upstream'. You can do a quick 'earth quality' check using a decent multimeter but are earth connections are repeated through the car this test may not be reliable. Once connections are checked and cleaned, dose with an appropriate electrical contact spray - not WD40 - and close up as appropriate.

Thank you, Mike. I got quite excited about this, because I remembered seeing an earthing point with a couple of wires to it in the same compartment as the parking aid controller, behind the NS panel in the boot. And the courtesy lights in the boot have stopped working too...could they both be connected to the same faulty earth? So I dismantled the panels again, found the earth, disconnected it and cleaned it, checked the cables, reconnected, and tested...with no joy.

On the other hand, it started raining hard while I had the panels off, and I noticed that water was pooling inside the body compartment, obviously dripping off the top of the tailgate (which was open while I was working in the boot), and leaking in through one of the rubber bushes near the NS tailgate hinge. That clued me in to the fact that the drain hole in that compartment was blocked, so I cleared it out. At least I achieved something for all the faff of removing the panels.

But the reversing sensors and the courtesy lights are still not working.

Do the tail lights work OK? Also reversing lights, brake lights and number plate lights?

48 minutes ago, MikeTheThinker said:

Do the tail lights work OK? Also reversing lights, brake lights and number plate lights?

Yes, everything else works. Only the reversing sensors and the boot courtesy lights are not working.

I've just had a look at the wiring diagrams from Mr Haynes fine manual (!) and note that all the courtesy lights are on the same power feed, so if the cabin interior lights are OK the problem is downstream.

Can you check the feed wire to one of the boot lights? It should be Red/Brown and with the interior lights on (to show power is getting there from the control relay) you should show 12v to earth. If that's OK, try earthing the earth side of the interior light. If it lights your problem is downstream wiring to the switch, the switch or the switch earth. If no light, the bulb or the light fitting are faulty.

I'll ferret a bit more later to see if there's anything helpful regarding the reversing sensors.