Ford Automobiles Forum banner

estate parking sensor location?

2K views 29 replies 5 participants last post by  Rekusu 
#1 ·
I'm about to drill some holes and have the bumper painted before fitting the sensors.

I'd like to know where the sensors are in relation to rear towing eye mounting location (vertical dimension, horizontal dimensions aren't that critical).

I gather I will have to drill holes on the plastic bumper as well as steel bumper bar as I understand the cars with parking sensors have different steel bumper bar, already equipped with holes?

The dimension and the photo(s) would be most helpful.

I'm also doing the front sensors also (having it painted also), which will be on 1/4 plastic trim strips - this will be not as tricky as rear (I hope not) I won't be drilling to the bumper itself so stuffing up won't mean getting a whole new bumper.

Cheers
 
#2 ·
I cant help with the rear sensors as I've never had an estate.

Front sensors need to be carefully located to avoid 'seeing' the ground rather than the space in front of the car.

When I fitted front sensors on a previous mk3 I made angled spacers to sit between the sensor and bumper skin.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ul9601
#3 ·
It took a while, but I managed to find one pic of where I put the front parking sensors.

From memory I wanted the inner sensors as close together and as low as possible to 'see' things like tow bars to best effect.

Automotive parking light Vehicle registration plate Car Vehicle Land vehicle
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: ul9601
#4 ·
I cant help with the rear sensors as I've never had an estate.

Front sensors need to be carefully located to avoid 'seeing' the ground rather than the space in front of the car.

When I fitted front sensors on a previous mk3 I made angled spacers to sit between the sensor and bumper skin.
I don't have have a sedan/hatchback to compare against but if anything my problem may be at the rear as the rear bumper is already lower. I had a look and there appears to be recess about an inch below the towing eye attachment so that's where it'll have to go I think.

I can't quite make out the inner sensors because of the dark blue ish colour - are they just at the lower edge of the number plate? My plan for the front is to put them on the removable trim.

Thanks!
 
#5 ·
sort of figured out where i can put the sensors without having to drill holes on the metal bumper support, which about 450mm from the ground. According to the instruction manual it needs to be 600mm at least and the bumper surface is slightly angled towards the ground as is I might have to make up spacers also to angle them slightly upwards.

i will post a photo where i put them once im done.
 
#6 ·
I fitted after market sensors to the rear of my mk3 hatchback. I removed the black trim from the bumper and found holes in the steel bar behind the bumper lined up with the trim. The holes were drilled in these spots. These are the exact location for factory fit sensors. I don't know if the estate would be the same.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#7 ·
I fitted after market sensors to the rear of my mk3 hatchback. I removed the black trim from the bumper and found holes in the steel bar behind the bumper lined up with the trim. The holes were drilled in these spots. These are the exact location for factory fit sensors. I don't know if the estate would be the same.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
According to the parts catalogue, there are different steel bumper supports for cars with and without parking sensor.

But the cross section is corrugated shape and the factory sensor locations (looking at some photos) seem to be at the trough of the corrugation. If the aftermarket sensor is the typical 22mm diameter cylinder type, it'll sit in that trough without an issue. The problem is that this is well below the recommended sensor height per the instruction (~450mm vs 600mm). Hatchback/sedan won't be a problem as the bumper lip sits a lot higher than that of estate.
 
#9 ·
Collie.
The height isn't an issue.
The recommendation is really there for dummies who don't understand how the sensors work, or who won't bother to think about how to make them work.

A simple spacer with a 1-3mm angle deflection will solve most installation issues.
 
#12 ·
I just looked up the estate rear crash bar for parking sensors, finis number 1309016.

At UK prices it's as low as £65 brand new.

Maybe they sell new aftermarket crash bars in New Zealand.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
I can't comment on the OEM setup as I've never seen one in person.

Are the sensors are level, pointing slightly upwards or downwards?

I think the aftermarket sensors (well, at least mine) have fairly wide detection angle so if it's lower than recommended install height (~600mm), it'll detect the ground and give false indication. I have tested this out on the bench, at around 420mm from the ground (roughly the OEM sensor height), with the sensors level, it'll detect the ground. To make the matters worse, the factory bumper surface where the sensors mount, has slightly angle which points down the sensors without spacers. In order to make it work, I'll need to put thick enough spacers at the bottom so it points slightly upwards.

I think I will need a new bumper support, still it's not a bad price at GBP65 new.
 
#14 ·
I can't comment on the OEM setup as I've never seen one in person.

Are the sensors are level, pointing slightly upwards or downwards?

I think the aftermarket sensors (well, at least mine) have fairly wide detection angle so if it's lower than recommended install height (~600mm), it'll detect the ground and give false indication. I have tested this out on the bench, at around 420mm from the ground (roughly the OEM sensor height), with the sensors level, it'll detect the ground. To make the matters worse, the factory bumper surface where the sensors mount, has slightly angle which points down the sensors without spacers. In order to make it work, I'll need to put thick enough spacers at the bottom so it points slightly upwards.

I think I will need a new bumper support, still it's not a bad price at GBP65 new.
I refurbed mine a while back, it ended up costing £40 which was only a tenner cheaper than a new one, but I wanted a better paint finish so went to the trouble to refurb it.

I think things like crash bars are some of the rare parts that are roughly the same brand new as second hand. :)

It was around 8-9 years ago I fitted front sensors, I've done hundreds of projects since then do can't remember much detail on the mod.

I think I might have used rigid black plastic conduit tube, or, the straight connectors for that tube to make the spacers from.

I chose rigid tube rather than UPVC as it cuts neater and takes paint better.

From memory the sensors I used had a four pronged fitting to secure them into the bumper, so I had to cut four recesses into the internal edges of the spacers.
 
#17 ·
It took a while, but I managed to find one pic of where I put the front parking sensors.

From memory I wanted the inner sensors as close together and as low as possible to 'see' things like tow bars to best effect.

attachicon.gif
6512A005-2CEC-4CA7-AA73-8A5D3ED56450.jpeg
I tried out the front ones yesterday - i mounted the inner ones on the innermost ends of the black trim and the outer ones about 45 degree angle on the trim.

I know what you mean about the inner sensors needing to be closer towards the centre, I almost drove into a low downpipe which comes out of my retaining wall about the number plate level - which I know it's there! Otherwise it worked well. I'll try out the rear ones to see how thick spacer they need.

By the way, it would be super helpful if you can tell me how you routed the sensor cables from the front bumper.

Thanks in advance!
 
#18 ·
It took a while, but I managed to find one pic of where I put the front parking sensors.

From memory I wanted the inner sensors as close together and as low as possible to 'see' things like tow bars to best effect.

attachicon.gif
6512A005-2CEC-4CA7-AA73-8A5D3ED56450.jpeg
I tried out the front ones yesterday - i mounted the inner ones on the innermost ends of the black trim and the outer ones about 45 degree angle on the trim.

I know what you mean about the inner sensors needing to be closer towards the centre, I almost drove into a low downpipe which comes out of my retaining wall about the number plate level - which I know it's there! Otherwise it worked well. I'll try out the rear ones to see how thick spacer they need.

By the way, it would be super helpful if you can tell me how you routed the sensor cables from the front bumper.

Thanks in advance!
I might still have a pic, but think all my pics may have disappeared when photobucket stopped free images.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ul9601
#19 ·
As suspected, I no longer have the best photos that would have explained a lot.

From the sensors I tried to keep the new loom as close as possible to the existing fog light loom as that leads from the bumper to the base of the battery tray. From there I routed the loom to behind the front left headlight. If you remove that headlight you will see a convenient gap in the inner wing that is perfect for the sensor control module. The inner wing will protect the module from heat and the headlight will stop water getting to it.

From there I laid the loom onto the main engine bay loom and wrapped it in black insulation tape so it looked exactly like a factory loom or that nothing had been added.

I then used the guide from the Ford wiki to feed the cable through the bulkhead:

https://www.fordwiki.co.uk/index.php/Bulkhead_-_Pulling_a_live_feed_through

Inside the car I sited the buzzer just behind the crossmember behind the glovebox. In that position the buzzer was a bit too loud so I put some tape over the speaker holes, that made the sound level more acceptable.

Automotive lighting Hood Automotive tire Helmet Automotive design


To control the sensors I made a home made switch and fitted in in a spare space on the dash.

Vehicle Car Steering part Motor vehicle Gauge


The switch was made using a simple push for on, push for off latching switch fitted into the spare space and glued in place. I was lucky that I could find a switch that pushed in by 3mm (from memory) which was the same distance the factory switches pushed in by.

I glued a blank switch cover to this making sure that the front of the switch was flush when in the off position.

At the time I couldn't find a 'front sensor' decal so used an arrow from a set of 'dash decals'
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: ul9601
#21 ·
I have a 8 sensor unit with a distance display, with x4 sensor wire ~ 2300mm long, x4 sensor wire ~ 6000mm long & display unit wire ~ 5300mm long.

I'd like to use the long wire sensors for front, the short wire sensors for rear and control unit under the seat - IF there is enough room under the seat. Being an estate, once it's installed, it should be disturbed.

Questions:

- Is there enough room under the seat?

- Haynes manual instructs to pull out retaining clips (I presume these are under plastic covers) then lift the cushion and goes on to states that the clips are recommended to be replaced whenever removed. Is this the case?

Thanks guys.
 
#22 ·
having fitted some oem sensors (into a car with none) you have to figure out which sensors you want to use first
ford did 3 different ones, some have the plugs angled downwards and some are a different shape to fit into different holes

also, preface and facelift cars differ when it comes to the routing of the wiring into the car, facelifts have a factory hole to push the wiring through and pre don't, on the passenger side (left) just under the fresh air vent

had mine also had the facelift car it would have also had another hole on the other side to put the tow car electrics through

the estate crash bar is a must as it supports the bumper, not all cars had them though if they were hatch from what i can see, as for the holes, i tried to be delicate and used a dremmel but you need to attack with with an angle grinder really

the bar is removable, just don't forget to put the plastic upper trim back on again otherwise you'll have to remove the bumper all over again

any questions (assuming you haven't already done it) give me a shout and i'll try to find some pictures in the mean time
 
#23 ·
I have a 8 sensor unit with a distance display, with x4 sensor wire ~ 2300mm long, x4 sensor wire ~ 6000mm long & display unit wire ~ 5300mm long.

I'd like to use the long wire sensors for front, the short wire sensors for rear and control unit under the seat - IF there is enough room under the seat. Being an estate, once it's installed, it should be disturbed.

Questions:

- Is there enough room under the seat?

- Haynes manual instructs to pull out retaining clips (I presume these are under plastic covers) then lift the cushion and goes on to states that the clips are recommended to be replaced whenever removed. Is this the case?

Thanks guys.
Are you talking about under the rear seat?

If so, you may choose to put the seats down at some stage, and if so, anything under what would normally be the rear seat base will mark the front of the folded rear upright.

Another position for the control unit and buzzer would be behind the glovebox. There is plenty of room there, and it would give easy access to that wouldn't be disturbed later, as well as making routing for the display and buzzer wiring easier.
 
#24 ·
This isn't the best pic, but it shows the buzzer for a set of parking sensors in the space behind the glovebox. There is a lot of free space in this area, and it's a good place to secure parts to as the horizontal crash bar is solid and also provides a strong earth point.

Even if the control box goes behind boot trim or under a seat, this area may be a prime candidate for the buzzer.

The insulation tape on this buzzer was to make it a bit quieter. Adding or removing layers of tape seemed as good a volume control as any other method I tried :)

Hood Automotive tire Automotive lighting Vehicle door Automotive design
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: ul9601
#25 ·
i looked at some photos of estates with parking sensors for a guide as well as drilling random holes on the bumper. the current bumper is already knackered and i had a spare one to fit so it was no biggie. I took the towing eye cover out to check the clearance, which got me fairly close. From that point onwards, it was just a matter of a bit of trial and error.

once i got the holes in the right places in the trial bumper and fitted the sensors, it worked fine - i was a little bit worried as the slope of the bumper makes the sensors point down when installed flush but didn't have any such issue.

when i got to transferring the locations to the new ("new-to-me") bumper, it turned out to be a bit tricky as i measure it off the top of the bumper and there are varying amount of chamfer radius there (centre 2 locations vs outer 2 locations). I managed to get them look ok, even though they might be a bit off. in hindsight, perhaps measuring from the interface between the lower grey plastic bit and the upper bumper would have made it easier.
 
#26 ·
I have a 8 sensor unit with a distance display, with x4 sensor wire ~ 2300mm long, x4 sensor wire ~ 6000mm long & display unit wire ~ 5300mm long.

I'd like to use the long wire sensors for front, the short wire sensors for rear and control unit under the seat - IF there is enough room under the seat. Being an estate, once it's installed, it should be disturbed.

Questions:

- Is there enough room under the seat?

- Haynes manual instructs to pull out retaining clips (I presume these are under plastic covers) then lift the cushion and goes on to states that the clips are recommended to be replaced whenever removed. Is this the case?

Thanks guys.
Are you talking about under the rear seat?

If so, you may choose to put the seats down at some stage, and if so, anything under what would normally be the rear seat base will mark the front of the folded rear upright.

Another position for the control unit and buzzer would be behind the glovebox. There is plenty of room there, and it would give easy access to that wouldn't be disturbed later, as well as making routing for the display and buzzer wiring easier.
i've given up on the under the rear seat idea - it seems a bit tight, and if someone fat sits there it'll crush the control unit for sure.

ideally the glove compartment area would be the best but from what i measured, i would have to extend around 6 sensor wires. i'm thinking about putting it under passenger seat (not ideal, in case rear passenger kicks it etc) or maybe there is some cavity space at the base of B-pillar (which may be fully occupied by the seat belt - i've not taken the trim off yet)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top