Troubleshooting parking sensors

[CarlS1973]

I've searched through the forums and on the Facebook group, but haven't been able to find any good guidance on diagnosing problems with the sensors. I'd be very grateful for any help. At this point, our routine is to get in the van, start it up, and then disable the parking sensors. If we don't, then they will constantly beep. I've cleaned them really well, we haven't had any fender benders, and nothing looks amiss from the outside. Any ideas?

 

Also, possibly related but probably not - the factory head unit is frozen about 2/3 of the time - can't change the volume, source, etc. Worst is when it is stuck on a loud volume until it unfreezes! Any ideas on this one? Feels like I've got gremlins in the electrical system somewhere, and figured I'd at least mention this in case it sparks an idea.

[ASD Dad]

Do you have a front license plate?  Many on here complained that tripped the sensors up.  I think one took the bracket that holds the plate off and bolted flat against his bumper and that fixed his issue with the beeps.  Other than that it has been a recurring complaint that pops up with no known easy fix.

 

I went through two head units on my 2015...  first one shut itself off randomly or rebooted.  Second one had a crazy lightshow going on a lot and also froze up.  I had to take a video of both to show the dealer but they replaced them with no other questions.  These were both the top Nav units.  New one has been good for the past few months.

[CarlS1973]

Thanks, ASD Dad - I do have a front license plate holder on it, but the sensors worked with it for a long time with no issues until becoming a constant beep a month ago or so. I'll check and see if it changed positions or if I can push it back.

I'm past the warranty on the nav head unit - but based on your experience, it sounds like replacement is probably the only option there. I'd rather replace with a more functional unit, but haven't been able to figure out how to do that and keep my factory backup camera. I'm confident that I could replace the unit itself, but not at all comfortable with the backup camera part of that. And as we all know, these would be next to impossible to drive/park/etc. without that backup camera.

[ASD Dad]

It is possible one sensor went bad or a plug came loose.  I think if one sensor goes down it sends a fault for all of them.  Not exactly sure how you would test each one though!  They are also not cheap and normally sold in sets.  

 

You have lots of aftermarket radio options and there are adapters available to use the factory camera.  Hopefully the owners who have swapped head units will pop in to offer their advise and models they used.  If not just post up a new thread asking for a new head unit suggestion in that forum and they should answer.  If you do the swap yourself the dash can be tricky to remove and replace but if you take your time it is not too difficult.  Buy a cheap set of panel removal tools and it will really help.  

[DesertTed]

I wish I had front parking sensors to have a trouble with. Oh well, you'd think they would put them on a 2016 3500.