jthspace
Well-known member
I had rear sensors installed today. Sorry there are no photos but I will describe what the fitting involved. Although there is a rearview camera, I like the audio feedback as well, so retro-fitted some. They are colour-matched to the car paint by the supplier.
Rear bumper. This does not have to be removed. The fitter lay under the car and advised that the bumper has marks on the inside where the factory fitted sensors go, so he used a bradawl to make a small "dent" where each sensor should go from the inside.
He popped out the reversing lamp and fog lamp units. There is a spring loaded clip and from underneath a small squeeze and the light units popped out very easily. Good time to change the bulbs to LED if you want to.
On the rear lefthand side he removed the tail-light assembly. Two screws. Warning - use a plastic spreader between the joint to ease the light unit away. There are two bayonet type lugs that push into rubber grommits and these hold the light unit very snuggly and have to be prised apart. Pushing the light unit by force will see it firing away from you at great speed and crashing to the ground.
Using the drill and cutter, he drilled out the holes in order to push fit the sensors into the bumper, they can only go one way, so be careful not to put them upside down otherwise they will be angled towards the ground and will beep constantly.
After cable-wrapping the wires together (so it looks like a wiring loom) he threaded it up into the rear light gap. There is a large grommit where the wiring for the rear light goes into the bodywork. He removed the grommit and wangled the sensor look through the grommit.
On my car, there is a large "lump" on the left rear which covers the motor for the electric tail lift. He removed one screw and the cover is held on by two push clips, which he separated. Tape the cover up out of the way.
You can now see the main wiring loom for the rear lights. He removed the loom tape to expose the wiring bundle. The reversing light wire is blue. He tested this with a circuit probe. He made a small nick in the wire and soldered the wire to the reversing sensor control box to the feed and reinsulated the joint. When the reverse light illuminates, it also powers the sensors.
He cable tied the excess wire together (there was a very generous supply of wire!) and tucked it neatly behind the lining. He then attached the control box to the car bodywork behind the trim using double sided sticky pad. The sounder was a very smart black box, looks a bit like a car remote, so I asked him to fix it to the trim in the boot. It has an adjustable volume swich (low, medium, high) and a low tone or a high tone. Cheaper units just have a mini sounder and these are best hidden as they are rather ugly.
The rear light unit was reconnected, the reversing and fog lamp units replaced and it was time to test. All of the light units have to be in place otherise the car will "throw a fit" as it thinks bulbs have failed if left unconnected.
Testing. On EV's it is rather dangerous. On a "normal" car, reverse can be selected with the engine off. On an EV, the power train is live - so for testing, it needs two people, one to walk past the sensors and someone (trust-worthy) in the driving seat with the hand-brake tightly pulled and a foot on the brake.
Everything worked, so all of the trim was put back and a real-life test done. With the camera, when the redline on the screen is very near to the wall, you have about 18" of space left. The sensors beep as you get close, beep-beep when the red line is nearing the wall and beep-beep-beep very fast about 12" away from the wall. So, the camera red line is about 18" and you can go back until the beeps scream at you and you will be 12" away from the wall / car behind. Very useful to know you can "squeeze" a little more out of the camera safety zone.
Total time to fit was about 90 minutes and that included the time talking to me about what he was doing! Sorry Kevin!
I can whole-heartedly recommend the company to anyone in East Anglia who wants tow-bar / sensors / etc. etc done. They fit these on behalf of car main dealers, including the dealer I purchased the car from. Usual disclaimer - I have no connection to the company, other than as a very satisfied customer.
http://www.streetsinstallations.co.uk/
Again, sorry for the lack of photo's of the install. The end result is that, to all intents and purposes, I have sensors that are colour coded exactly and look like OEM fitting. Well pleased.
Jeff
Rear bumper. This does not have to be removed. The fitter lay under the car and advised that the bumper has marks on the inside where the factory fitted sensors go, so he used a bradawl to make a small "dent" where each sensor should go from the inside.
He popped out the reversing lamp and fog lamp units. There is a spring loaded clip and from underneath a small squeeze and the light units popped out very easily. Good time to change the bulbs to LED if you want to.
On the rear lefthand side he removed the tail-light assembly. Two screws. Warning - use a plastic spreader between the joint to ease the light unit away. There are two bayonet type lugs that push into rubber grommits and these hold the light unit very snuggly and have to be prised apart. Pushing the light unit by force will see it firing away from you at great speed and crashing to the ground.
Using the drill and cutter, he drilled out the holes in order to push fit the sensors into the bumper, they can only go one way, so be careful not to put them upside down otherwise they will be angled towards the ground and will beep constantly.
After cable-wrapping the wires together (so it looks like a wiring loom) he threaded it up into the rear light gap. There is a large grommit where the wiring for the rear light goes into the bodywork. He removed the grommit and wangled the sensor look through the grommit.
On my car, there is a large "lump" on the left rear which covers the motor for the electric tail lift. He removed one screw and the cover is held on by two push clips, which he separated. Tape the cover up out of the way.
You can now see the main wiring loom for the rear lights. He removed the loom tape to expose the wiring bundle. The reversing light wire is blue. He tested this with a circuit probe. He made a small nick in the wire and soldered the wire to the reversing sensor control box to the feed and reinsulated the joint. When the reverse light illuminates, it also powers the sensors.
He cable tied the excess wire together (there was a very generous supply of wire!) and tucked it neatly behind the lining. He then attached the control box to the car bodywork behind the trim using double sided sticky pad. The sounder was a very smart black box, looks a bit like a car remote, so I asked him to fix it to the trim in the boot. It has an adjustable volume swich (low, medium, high) and a low tone or a high tone. Cheaper units just have a mini sounder and these are best hidden as they are rather ugly.
The rear light unit was reconnected, the reversing and fog lamp units replaced and it was time to test. All of the light units have to be in place otherise the car will "throw a fit" as it thinks bulbs have failed if left unconnected.
Testing. On EV's it is rather dangerous. On a "normal" car, reverse can be selected with the engine off. On an EV, the power train is live - so for testing, it needs two people, one to walk past the sensors and someone (trust-worthy) in the driving seat with the hand-brake tightly pulled and a foot on the brake.
Everything worked, so all of the trim was put back and a real-life test done. With the camera, when the redline on the screen is very near to the wall, you have about 18" of space left. The sensors beep as you get close, beep-beep when the red line is nearing the wall and beep-beep-beep very fast about 12" away from the wall. So, the camera red line is about 18" and you can go back until the beeps scream at you and you will be 12" away from the wall / car behind. Very useful to know you can "squeeze" a little more out of the camera safety zone.
Total time to fit was about 90 minutes and that included the time talking to me about what he was doing! Sorry Kevin!
I can whole-heartedly recommend the company to anyone in East Anglia who wants tow-bar / sensors / etc. etc done. They fit these on behalf of car main dealers, including the dealer I purchased the car from. Usual disclaimer - I have no connection to the company, other than as a very satisfied customer.
http://www.streetsinstallations.co.uk/
Again, sorry for the lack of photo's of the install. The end result is that, to all intents and purposes, I have sensors that are colour coded exactly and look like OEM fitting. Well pleased.
Jeff
