Having parking sensors installed. Any pitfalls?

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Benny_the_ball-valve

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A chap in his eighties along the road is starting to have some difficulty in turning his neck fully, so is beginning to have problems reversing his car. He asked me about those parking sensors that bleep increasingly as one reverses closer to a stationary vehicle.

Anyone able to advise on these? I understand that the display section (mounted on the dashboard) is not hard-wired to the control module which I guess is secured somewhere in the boot area. Would installation be straightforward or should this sort of thing be left to the professionals?

His car is a ‘55 Toyota Yaris if that makes any difference. Thanks a lot. ;)
 
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Just a few things to be aware of - although they needn't put you off!
The kit comes with a hole saw. Before setting to with the drill, check for access behind the plastic bumper as the sensors take up around 30mm or so.
You'll need to mount the module in the boot somewhere, usually with sticky both sides pads. Can you sort access for the sensor cables into the area, either through an existing grommet or drilling a new hole?
Power is obtained from the reverse lights as a positive, and the light cluster earth - again check for cable access.
Usually the module doesn't do the bleeping - thats via the display that has to be connected - but you needn't see it if you don't want to.
(There may be wireless sensor kits out there, but I prefer to hard wire every time).
The cables supplied are always miles too long, but don't attempt to shorten them - just lose them somewhere.
Don't paint the sensors - you can buy them ready coloured or just plain black.
Set aside a good half day for the job, but when you measure the bumper, check several times before drilling! You may find the sensors can't be mounted as high up as recommended, but don't worry about that one.
John :)
 
Thanks, John, for some very useful tips.

I take your point about the issue of ‘wireless’ connection twixt display and module. Coincidentally, I was talking to a mate on the phone a couple of hours ago about this and he says his own setup (bought with second-hand car) has no display at all. It simply relies on some flashing LEDs mounted around the inside of the rear door that can be viewed through the windscreen mirror. He reckons this works quite successfully. I suppose that this is really the same as mounting the display/bleeper unit in the rear (with the module) thus avoiding the need to disturb the car seats and carpets to lay the wiring.

Is there a particular manufacturer that you would recommend, John?
 
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When I go searching for these kits for people, the first thing I realise is how cheap they are....granted, folks don't want to pay a fortune but the last one I did was at £18 ( :eek: ) from an ebay firm called londoncolour..... 3 year guarantee, apparently.
This was a four sensor, colour matched kit (from China, naturally) which was complete in all areas and had foolproof well marked connections that plugged in. The only soldering I had to do was for the power supply / earth.
This system worked first time, and had a visual / sound display (visual module on the dash).
For the situation you propose, I don't think and old fella would be wanting to peek in the rear view mirror to see whats up - all they want is a series of loud bleeps that occurs when collision is imminent so they can slow up. The system I fitted was accurate to within 300mm and also recognised obstructions that were approaching the bumper corners - so it had to be worthwhile.
Sorry I cant comment on wireless free stuff - so far thats unknown to me. I do know however that those kits that incorporate sensors within a replacement rear number plate aren't that good....too late was the cry :p
I hope this helps - for reference, the mobile fitting firms up here charge around £100 to do the work - the quality isn't the best but they do have the insider knowledge considering which bumpers are easily drilled etc!
Cheers
John :)
 
number of years back i bought a cheapie iirc jml reversing module.
no drilling required or soldering,you could either splice into the brake wires for a live or it ran on batteries.
the 2 sensors just stuck onto the bumper,surprising enough it worked extremely well for something which i think cost about 20 quid.
it was on the car for about 3 years and never let me down,it had a box/display with audible tone and lights that increased as you got nearer to the object.
 
I fitted a set to my Peugeot 406 estate, they were of the wireless variety, you just need to find a power source for the display, the sending module sits behind the rear interior trim panel.

The only problem I have had with mine is that it screams at you when you are approaching a blade of grass but will cheerfully let you reverse into a wall. The problem seems to be the sensor angle, because of the bumper shape I was unable to get the sensors parallel with the road, I didn't think this would matter but it does. The sensors come with eccentric spacers which allow you adjust the angle but in my case its not enough - I keep meaning to do something about it :(

Peter
 
I will have a look into all of those re the links. Very helpful.

Yes, John, the types that you describe incorporated in the number plate seem to be available from Hellfrauds. As they offer a fitting service I suppose this is their way of avoiding liability of damaging bumpers etc.

Can you remember the model number of the one you have, Peter, as I reckon we should knock that off the list for starters. :)

One thing I did read was that the sensors are pretty useless when reversing towards a skip. Because the angle of the skip panel is 45° or so the beam gets deflected towards the ground. As long as you are aware of this sort of thing I guess it can be avoided. I would have remained in blissful ignorance. :oops:
 
Obviously its worth a great deal of thought and planning before fitting these things - the sensors themselves come with sloping rings to adjust the beam a bit, but this can interfere with the push fit into the bumper.
They don't always have an orientation when fitting either - the first ones I did years ago were marked 'top', but others can go any way round.
On my van I have the 2 outer ones pointing slightly out to pick up gate posts etc.
Still made no difference when 'er indoors shifted it though :(
John :)
 
and be aware if you have a tow bar,as it will give you false readings.
on some factory fitted sensors the units can learn,on others it has to be programed or just use some tape.
 
Yes, it doesn't allow for the towbar protusion so you have to calculate that into your reading.

Benny. I can't remember what the kit was I'm afraid, I'm sure it would work OK if I could get the sensors pointing in the right direction. Don't care for the noise it makes though, the one on my BMW sounded much more refined.

Peter
 
Burnerman said:
Still made no difference when 'er indoors shifted it though :(
John :)
Click to expand...
:LOL:

No towbar, so no worries there, gregers.

Maybe the current models come with some sort of volume control, Peter. I must admit to becoming pretty irritated at regular loud bleeping.

Thanks, chaps.

Benny
 
I'm sad ,,,,,,, I really cocked up my 1st relationship with beepers :confused:

I fitted em' out on the back & they looked sooper freakin' dooper (Well ya know)

But One day I decided "I Knew Better" ....... I got in the car, hit "R" & the damn things screamed at me ...... So there is summink, & its freakin' close ..... Me in my infinite wisdom, decided that they were lying & I was good to go ........ There was a wheelbarrow yey close up (Some gardener had left it there while I was away) That I slid my car across almost from front to back, WHAT A TOOL !

Moral to the story....... These things are great, HOWEVER just a guide...... Just some additional info to base YOUR decisions on ..... It cost me a few hundred to have the barrow gouges removed & proved to me a great thing ...... Yup .... I am a complete goon :cry:
 
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