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I've got a mk4 mondeo estate and this year the parking sensors have started to have issues. There's a flat line tone indicating they're not working when I engage reverse which is both audibly annoying and makes parking more difficul (cos I'm not a stw driving god). It's an intermittent fault but it's definately gettting more frequent.
I've tried cleaning the sensors off but still no improvement
I've also been round and touched the sensors with reverse engaged a few vibrate more feebly and one or two maybe don't work.
Has anyone replaced them? I'm assuming it must be reasonably straight forward (or as straight forward as changing a headlight bulb these days), pop the bumper off and unclip the sensor? Might it just be that I need to clean up the contacts?
Considered going over to talkford or somewhere but figured there's so many mondeos owners here that it would be worth a punt first.
They unclip from behind and simply slide out the back of the bumper. Clean the connections to the sensors too.
Recommend safety glasses or goggles as lots of debris collects behind the bumper waiting to drop in your eyes.
Yes, I've replaced sensors due to that tone which you describe indicating a fault.
Get a garage to read the fault codes. This will tell you specifically which sensor is faulty.
Replacement sensors are about £7 each new, delivered, from ebay sellers. Think it's common to quite a few makes/models. Part number will be marked on it.
There's a chance that any faulty wiring may also produce same fault codes but sensor is more likely cause.
Listen for quiet ticking as you put your ear next to a working sensor.
Last fix I did, I had faulty sensors, plus worn insulation and broken wires in the loom too.
If they're anything like BMW sensors it could just be water ingress, a hair dryer can bring them back to life.
Not heard of feeling for vibrations before, I normally put my ear to them and listen for the ticking sound.
If not, replacements are cheap as above.
I thought the reversing sensor WAS the bumper?
No, they're little doobries (technical term) mounted in the bumper. You can see them from externally, colour-coded discs maybe the size of a 10p.