Trocks797

In a matter of 2 weeks, my 2008 GS just made it a whole lot harder for me to park. I will be honest, I am terrible at parallel parking, so when I saw this GS had both parking sensors and a camera, I was excited.

Two weeks ago my park assist crapped out on me. The car constantly thinks there is an obstacle directly in front of me. In reverse, the system operates as usual (as the front center sensors are disabled when in reverse), but as soon as I shift into drive, I get a red alert directly in front of my car. I have already replaced one of the two front sensors when I had a "check sonar" problem in February (a sensor went bad), but now it's just saying there's something there. I cleaned the sensors to no avail.

Three days ago, my rear view camera quit working! It quit for about 20 minutes then when I went to use it again it came back, but was real choppy, like it had a loose connection. I left the car in reverse, put the parking brake on, and went to the back of the car. If I wiggle the camera, the screen goes from dark to working to flickering to dark, so I am pretty sure I need to get in the trunk camera compartment somehow and check the cables. The cost of a new camera is right around $950 so I am really hoping it is the connection.

Does anyone have any experience with my two issues? After having to replace the torque converter and several squeaks and rattles, I must be honest... this car has been far more troublesome than my 02 GS430 ever was!

3GS404

iTrader: (12)

I never has any problem with either parking sensors or backup camera yet , but some how i find it so annoying with the parking sensors and end up turning it off all the time lol

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300

I also have never had any problems with the sensors (other than in winter when they get covered by snow).

xRYD3Rx

So you cant park that car? Give it to me

worker

practice make perfect. Go to empty parking lot and do some parallel practices.


+1 It was fun the first few weeks, than it just become annoying when ppl walk in the crossing in front and the car beepings. And I go "ya ya... I can see the 2 legs optical in front".

DrexLex

I had a rear/corner sensor constantly telling me there was an obstacle. I assumed the sensor was bad, and replaced it. The problem was 100% fixed. What I do not know was if it was just a dirty connection, as I destroyed that sensor after removal (wanted to look inside!).

However, while the old sensor was out, I activated the system and got a warning about a sensor failure that I had not seen before. So I suspect my "false positive" was not due to an open connection (it only has 2 wires) after all.

If you feel adventurous, you can swap the suspect sensor with another (the 4 on the front are all the same type) and see if the symptom travels with it. If so, that would imply a bad sensor.

Trocks797

Gosh, not me! I love them. In our generation car, the system gives you steering feedback (green means if you keep your wheel cut, you won't hit the object). The current-gen system does not. It is a must-have for me, especially since my garage spot is smaller than I'd like.

I'm seeing that trend now. Nobody else has issues with their rear view camera either!

I can parallel park, but I am not totally comfortable doing it. My friends say it's because I am an "east end kid"...I grew up in eastern Louisville where every place has a parking lot. Now that I hang out in the Highlands, it's pretty much all street parking. At night, the camera and parking system is critical for me, but I am getting better.

Thank you! I suppose I need to get the bumper off and look around in there. A buddy said perhaps the sensor fell down into the bumper and it's detecting the inside of the bumper? Does this make sense? Or would I see a hole in the bumper if the sensor fell down? Thank you for your help!

BinaryJay

No that doesn't make sense, you can clearly see the sensors on the exterior of the bumpers... they are rectangular things on the front and round things on the back. Every time I've had one acting up, carefully cleaning it has solved the problem. Sometimes junk builds up between the hard part of the sensor and the rubber ring that surrounds it and that seems to cause it to go ape for some reason... carefully clean it out paying special attention around the rubber part and see if that helps.

Like you, I have become terribly dependent on the things after driving this car with them for years and having them. I never had problems parking cars without the bloody things in the past.

Trocks797

Thank you- you answered the major question...is the visible part the actual sensor or a cover in front of the sensor? Now that I know it is the actual sensor, I can clean it better, like you suggested. Thank you so much!

EDIT: Just ran outside and ran a toothpick along both sides of the rubber seal surrounding each sensor and while I got a whole bunch of black crud out, the problem still persists. I wonder if there is an easy way to get into the sensors to check for connection issues.

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

clean it. usually when the sensors start acting up, they could be dirty.

also get in the habit of not relying on the sensors or camera. their a tool to help you, you gotta be able to park yourself

Trocks797

Every time I get back in the car I press the park assist button and see if the problem is still here. Today I get in the car after lunch and press the button, and no alert! The system works! I have absolutely no idea why. It makes zero sense to me, but as long as it keeps working, I am a happy camper! Thanks for the suggestions guys! Maybe they were dirty and after I cleaned them the system needed a little time to reset? No idea, but it works, and I ain't complaining!

BinaryJay

It was probably cleaning... the sensors work on ultrasonics, you can actually hear them ticking if you put your ear right up to them when the car is in drive or reverse. I imagine too much crud prevents the surface of the sensor from vibrating correctly (they are like tiny speakers). Eventually buildup just clogs them up and the design is such that just going through a car wash doesn't do the job.

jre002

Hmmm... I did not know that.

I turned on park assist once or twice but shut it off because you really just can't leave it on all the time. It was going off during non-parking events. I'm a very good parallel parker though, and actually love doing it. I like to amaze my passengers when they say, "There is no way you can fit this car in there!" If I have to use more than two moves to parallel park my car, I consider it a failure and I feel like I embarrassed myself, my family, and my country.

Trocks797

Wow. I definitely didn't know that! Thanks. It is working great today as well!

Why can't you leave it on all the time? I never turn mine off. It doesn't make noise in traffic. On the CURRENT gen system, the car gives an alert in restaurant drive thrus, as the left front sensor picks up the brick wall. In our 3GS however, no alert. The system is smarter than that. You will see the drive thru brick wall detected on your screen, but the detection will be green (which means you're not at risk of hitting the wall) and will be silent. Cut your wheels towards the wall, and that's when you get the alert. I really wish the current system offered steering feedback.

The only time I recall mine ever going off was when some people walked in front of my car crossing the street.

chuckGS350

my 07GS350 rear view camera did it a few times. Every time it happened, I closed the trunk door a bit harder or tapped on the camera housing. Then it came back to life.
Must be a loose connector.