Parking assist
philkb
05-08-2008, 10:22 AM
It has been a long time since even reading the forum.
Anyway, I'm still hoping to find anyone who knows of typical or notorious causes for the parking assist system on the Windstars to not work. The symtom is typical: The "off" lamp on the assist switch comes on immediately after putting van in reverse. I replaced a sensor that was mounted in the left end of the bumper which had been hit before we bought the van and was slightly cracked. I figured (hoped) that possibly the sensor near there would be damaged. I got it from E-Bay so I "only" paid $40.00 for it after shipping was applied. Needless to say, that didn't fix it. I once again pulled off the interior right side panel and checked the wiring and of course, the little speaker. All checked OK meaning the trouble must be either another one of the sensors or the electronic control module. I pulled the PC board out of the module, since it was very easy to do so but could not find any VISIBLE damage, such as corrosion or whatever. Of course it could still be defective, and it cost $162.00 to replace. Sensors are $106.00 apiece at the dealer and I don't know if E-Bay has any more left, not to mention that I'm now not even sure that the one I bought was really good, although it was in a sealed package.
Sorry for the long post but I'm still hoping to avoid paying $100.00 just to see what is wrong, then pay again for the parts. The $100.00 test fee will be taken off the labor cost associated with a dealer repair but I know it will all cost more than the total of all other money I have spent fixing the other problems with the van myself.
Anyway, I'm still hoping to find anyone who knows of typical or notorious causes for the parking assist system on the Windstars to not work. The symtom is typical: The "off" lamp on the assist switch comes on immediately after putting van in reverse. I replaced a sensor that was mounted in the left end of the bumper which had been hit before we bought the van and was slightly cracked. I figured (hoped) that possibly the sensor near there would be damaged. I got it from E-Bay so I "only" paid $40.00 for it after shipping was applied. Needless to say, that didn't fix it. I once again pulled off the interior right side panel and checked the wiring and of course, the little speaker. All checked OK meaning the trouble must be either another one of the sensors or the electronic control module. I pulled the PC board out of the module, since it was very easy to do so but could not find any VISIBLE damage, such as corrosion or whatever. Of course it could still be defective, and it cost $162.00 to replace. Sensors are $106.00 apiece at the dealer and I don't know if E-Bay has any more left, not to mention that I'm now not even sure that the one I bought was really good, although it was in a sealed package.
Sorry for the long post but I'm still hoping to avoid paying $100.00 just to see what is wrong, then pay again for the parts. The $100.00 test fee will be taken off the labor cost associated with a dealer repair but I know it will all cost more than the total of all other money I have spent fixing the other problems with the van myself.
Johnny Mullet
05-08-2008, 09:37 PM
The dealer has the equipment to scan the individual sensors and tell you which one is bad if not more than one. You may call around a few shops and see if they can scan the parking assist, but I doubt they can.
At least if the dealer fixes it, it should be fixed right and the work guaranteed for some time.
At least if the dealer fixes it, it should be fixed right and the work guaranteed for some time.
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