Parking sensors not working and towbar 'ramblings'

Paul, it's good to hear you got a towbar fitted - I like the sound of the Westphalia kit - where do you buy that from? I did a google search but couldn't find anything. Does the 13-pin socket include an auxiliary feed? Our trailer tent uses that for its light and water pump. I presume you can easily get 13-pin to N/S-type connectors?

Martin

Sorry, I got my kit from Auto Teile Unger in Germany which is a Halfords type company. There must be an importer. I will get the instruction sheet out and see if there are any phone numbers. The instructions were multilingual.

The kit provided a permanent live and a switched live. They do the twin socket variety as well.

One very late thought about your sensors. When you put it in reverse you get a bleep a couple of seconds later after a test, do you get that? The sensors will be on a plug and socket, I don't suppose they have not been plugged in properly have they?

Paul

Paul

Paul, thanks for the towbar wiring info, if you find any contact numbers I'll definitely follow it up.
There is no bleep at all when I select reverse so it could be something as simple as something not plugged in. I just don't know where else to look.
Does the bleep come from the rear or from the dash?
I'm getting the workshop manual CD shortly so I'll see if that has any info, otherwise I'll have to pay a visit to the dealer I think - as long as the third year warranty covers it I may as well let them look into it.

Martin

Hi,

I was told by my dealer today that the rear washer pipe does come off and leaks all over the reversing sensors. This can blow up the black box.

Even if it is not under the 3rd year warranty, they are obliged to fix it as the fault is caused by a design problem which was present when the car was built and probably happened when it was under warranty.

Andy

I think the problem with the door blinds is that if they are broken and need replacing then the whole panel has to be replaced.
Can't image why as the problem is always with the fabric being torn and or the plastic clips being broken.
If you need it to look nice then new is the option but if your handy I suspect you could extract the pastic bar back out of the slot and make a better pair of fixing hooks for them. (I'm sure if the two plastic hooks snap off then the bar will drop into the whole) Probably save yourselve many pounds as well.
May as well have the dealer look at the reverse sensor issue. If it's under warrenty then fine if not at least they'll tell you whats wrong and you can fix it yourself.

Had a visit to the dealer today. They say the parking sensor ECU is faulty, and are ordering a new one under warranty. I also got them to enable the A/V sockets - so I have the extra icon in the menu now.

As I've been having the alarm going off for no apparent reason (I've seen this mentioned in other posts) I got them to disable the siren - everone ignores them nowadays anyway and I'm sure my neighbours will appreciate the extra sleep.

The ripped-off sunblinds aren't covered by the warranty (no surprise there).

They are going to get me a 12V socket for the third-row seats - I too had the blanking plug there. It seems really strange when the wiring and connector are actually fitted into it - it can only cost pennies more for the socket itself!

Finally on the towbar front (I think Stu's addition of "ramblings" was quite apt) I have now given up on Fiat for the wiring kit - they won't sell me the kit unless I buy their towbar as well. Westfalia only seem to have one UK distributor in Northern Ireland, but I stumbled on another supplier who really knows his stuff, and I ordered a kit from him. He says it will disable the parking sensors when towing, and if a trailer bulb fails it will flash the indicator "pod" lamp at double speed (instead of the usual buzzer system). The website is www.rightconnections.co.uk for reference - once I've fitted it I'll post an update.
Martin

As Poggy said,bad for washer pipe leaking.Just above parking sensor control box is a right angled connector this comes adrift(your rear washer will still work but weakly)and pours water into the control box.Unfortunally everything on the NAV network is affected such as airbag/abs/radio etc etc so expect a few warning lights to come on & off again.

Strange, one of ours got ripped last year, when the door was opened and it got caught. It was replaced under warranty, no questions asked.