2013 SEL with Backup camera. Has is parking sensors as well?

[philie]

Hello and sorry for the stupid question! 

We just got a 2013 CMAX SEL Hybrid today which is equipped with the backup camera.

We see the parking sensors on the front and rear bumper, however in the interior there is no button to activate them ( they are currently not working ).

Having parking sensors in the front would be a great help!

Before I start searching for blown fuses or defective wiring, how would I enable the parking sensors, I can not find a button for them.

Thanks so much!

philie

[plus 3 golfer]

I believe you can turn off the rear parking aid sensors in the left hand info display.  Do you have the automatic  parking assist?. It’s part of package 303, IIRC. If not, there are no sensors installed in the front. Just a place holder for them. Backup camera and Nav, IIRC, are part of package 302. Download the owners manual as I don’t know how the parking assist is enabled (probably a button switch).

[philie]

Thanks a lot! It’s really weird, there are the placeholders which I have mistaken for the actual sensors.

I did more reading and since I do not ha e the parking feature I am very certain that I do not have any sensors.

mystery solved, thank you so much!

[Spegzly]

Hello, I have a similar question. I am getting a "rear parking aid fault" and "check rear park aid" notifications. I do not know what the front sensors are supposed to look like...I think they look like the round ones in the bumper in the back...and if so I do not have any...but, I would think if I was getting a park aid fault it would mean I have the rear ones...I have checked my fuses and none are blown. I do have the parking aid module or whatever it is in the rear drivers side fender well next to the fuse box...and I see wires going to the sensors...but if I turn the accessories on and put the car in reverse none of them click as I've seen they are supposed to. This has led me to two possible conclusions...that the parking aid module is bad or their is something wrong with all three parking sensors or their wiring...the car had been hit from behind but all the sensors appear to be good and may have been replaced when the new bumper was put on. I got it in the condition it is now from an auction. Is there anything else I could be missing? Is it possible the wiring is for some other system? Also, do all SEL models come with the kick open feature on the hatch? Mine is a 2015.

Thanks,

Spencer

[Bill-N]

On the 2013 SEL's, there's a backup sensor connector under the rear bumper; check it.

 

Also, loss of rear parking aid function, again on my 2013, was an indication of a tired 12V battery.  But in this case there were no notifications, just the infamous "dead car" syndrome.

 

 

Cheers,

        Bill

[Spegzly]

Thanks Bill! I am not experiencing any battery problems I don't think. Is that connector somewhere between the module and the three parking sensors? Am I checking to make sure it is connected or that there isn't a corrosion problem? One other question along those lines....are there splash guards on the bottom of the rear of the vehicle like there are on the front and under the oil pan? When I was getting my oil changed the other day I was under the car and noticed it looked like there were connection points for more splash guards but none was present. It's hard to find parts lists or diagrams for this car on the internet. I have not subscribed to the online Chiltons manual yet as I was uncertain how good it was.

[Bill-N]

My body shop fixed mine by simply sliding under the rear bumper and, I assume, reconnecting the sensor wires.  Took all of about 90 seconds.  The wires had apparently been disconnected as part of minor collision repair.

 

Sorry, I don't know the extent of the underbody splash guards.

 

 

Cheers.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Bill-N

[plus 3 golfer]

On 2/11/2020 at 1:52 PM, Spegzly said:

Thanks Bill! I am not experiencing any battery problems I don't think. Is that connector somewhere between the module and the three parking sensors? Am I checking to make sure it is connected or that there isn't a corrosion problem? One other question along those lines....are there splash guards on the bottom of the rear of the vehicle like there are on the front and under the oil pan? When I was getting my oil changed the other day I was under the car and noticed it looked like there were connection points for more splash guards but none was present. It's hard to find parts lists or diagrams for this car on the internet. I have not subscribed to the online Chiltons manual yet as I was uncertain how good it was.

Service Manual is $25 or less on eBay.  FORScan app for smartphone is $6 and an ELM327 to connect to OBDII port is <$20 on eBay for a “Chinese” one.  No splash guards on the underbody behind the rear wheels.
 

https://forscan.org/home.html

Edited February 13, 2020 by Plus 3 Golfer

[Spegzly]

Thank you for your response. I've been on here enough to see you definitely seem to be the resident expert. Which is awesome. I see that "Wiring Diagram" service manuals appear to be in the price range you mentioned...they look awfully thick only to be "wiring diagrams"...is there more info in there besides wiring or am I missing something? Normally I'd just buy a Chiltons manual for a car for about that much.

 

Thanks for the info on Forscan. I had thought it was just an OBD2 scan system. I did a little reading on that link and it looks like it's a little bit tricky to get the right things that are actually compatible with it. Do you use a smart phone (which appears to have some limitations) or do you use a laptop? I'd love some links for "name" brands you are using. I'm assuming this might let me reset things like the rear parking sensors and or see if a controller is burned out or something...

 

On that note...I was under the car temporarily tying up the exhaust and checking wiring as Bill suggested. This car has a trailer hitch installed on it and I've always wondered if the trailer hitch was blocking the kick open sensor for the hatch as I've never been able to get it to work. I was messing with what I thought was the sensor and the hatch opened. A little experimenting later and I discovered that I have to "swipe" not "kick". Is this an action that Ford can change when there is a hitch installed? Or has it always been a "swipe"? I looked at one of these at a dealer and they had me kick...

Which brings me to....I see the rear backup sensors AND the kick open feature are connected in the same wiring harness...this would make me think that the wiring et al is ok, but there may be a software issue that something like FORSCAN might allow me to reset?

 

Lastly, I have attached a bunch of pictures of the underside of the car. #11 isn't really relevant...but I'm assuming that bushing needs to be changed. It's the same on the other side. 02-03 and 05-09 are attempting to show both the plastic tab with the hole in it that comes off the bumper cover AND the spot where a rivet type connection appears to be holding something plastic that was broken off (01 is a specific shot of what is left of the piece of plastic and the remaining rivet...look for the 3/4"x3/4" black plastic below the end of the bolt you can see sticking out....the rivet is the dimple you see in the middle of the plastic). 04 shows two tabs that made me further wonder if there was supposed to be something under here to avoid what you can see going on in there...which is mud getting thrown all over everything under the back end of the car including the wiring harness we are discussing. ? Any help with what parts I'm missing would be great. Any links to good manuals would be awesome too! Edit: I just posted this an noted the pictures do not have names attached to them....#11 is the first picture...after that they are in numerical order starting at 01)

 

Thanks,

Spencer

Edited February 17, 2020 by Spegzly

[plus 3 golfer]

I use FORScan on an Android Smartphone, IPad pro 11, and a MS Surface Pro 7 (free Windows version).  You can monitor and record virtually all Ford PIDs as one drives and after the fact, analysis the recorded data in a spreadsheet.  I believe all versions now have test functions for various modules.  IMO, FORScan is worth it just to monitor data like tire pressure, state of charge of 12 V battery, misfires, spark advance, charging voltage / current of 12 V battery, current in/out of HVB and so forth.  In addition there is a Battery Monitoring System reset function after replacing 12 V battery and testing functions for various modules.  In addition to FORScan, by buying the Service Manual on DVD or downloading it from EBAY (this is where I purchased my 2013 / 14 manual several years ago) and downloading the  OBD System Operation Summary for Plug In and Hybrid Electric Vehicles manual (I've posted these as attachments many times), one can gain significant incite into the operations of the C-Max. 

 

Unfortunately I have yet to find a comprehensive list of all PIDs currently available in FORScan for the C-Max.  One must connect FORScan to the vehicle via an ELM327 or other compatible device.  Once connected, FORScan reads the vehicle data and then downloads the PIDs for selection.  I would have to take Screenshots of the PIDs for a complete list. Below are screenshots of the PIDs for the Parking Aid Module.

 

[plus 3 golfer]

In looking at your photos, it appears that perhaps the bumper cover has been replaced (accident).  There should be plastic support pieces that attach the rear bumper cover to the body.  You can see in your photos that they were broken off.  Also, the photo that shown the inner right side of the bumper cover with what appears to be 2 holes in plastic projections from the cover for attachment to something? are not on the OEM bumper cover.  There are no holes.  On the same photo you can see on the lower rear of the cover an attachment hole.  This is where there should be a plastic piece that attaches to the bumper cover and to the body.  The other side is similar.  Bottom line, the vehicle probably was in a rear end collision and OEM were not used in the repair.  There is no shield anywhere.

  

[Spegzly]

On 2/11/2020 at 6:49 AM, Bill-N said:

On the 2013 SEL's, there's a backup sensor connector under the rear bumper; check it.

 

Also, loss of rear parking aid function, again on my 2013, was an indication of a tired 12V battery.  But in this case there were no notifications, just the infamous "dead car" syndrome.

 

 

Cheers,

        Bill

Hey Bill, I took your advice and unplugged the wiring harness and then plugged it back together...everything works...though, my "kick" open sensor is more of a "swipe" side to side motion. Not sure if this is because it has a trailer hitch.

[Spegzly]

On 2/17/2020 at 2:36 PM, Plus 3 Golfer said:

In looking at your photos, it appears that perhaps the bumper cover has been replaced (accident).  There should be plastic support pieces that attach the rear bumper cover to the body.  You can see in your photos that they were broken off.  Also, the photo that shown the inner right side of the bumper cover with what appears to be 2 holes in plastic projections from the cover for attachment to something? are not on the OEM bumper cover.  There are no holes.  On the same photo you can see on the lower rear of the cover an attachment hole.  This is where there should be a plastic piece that attaches to the bumper cover and to the body.  The other side is similar.  Bottom line, the vehicle probably was in a rear end collision and OEM were not used in the repair.  There is no shield anywhere.

  

The car was absolutely wrecked before I got it. https://en.bidfax.info/ford/c-max/1764138-ford-c-max-sel-2015-red-20l-4-vin-1fadp5bu0fl102079.html This is what it looked like. The purchaser at this auction gerry rigged some repairs on the front (basically put back together what was in the pics) and I believe replaced the tailgate and rear bumper cover with parts from another wrecked red c-max. I say this because he obviously couldn't have repaired the original rear cover because of the damage...and the new one is scuffed and cosmetically damaged like it was on a car that got in a wreck (so I'd be surprised if the replacement bumper cover was not OEM from another car).

 

The plastic tabs coming off the bottom of the valance (black plastic under the bumper...they are in most of the pics)...are they supposed to have some kind of strut that goes from them to the attachment spot? I can't find a picture or a part or anything anywhere that shows what is supposed to be connected there.

 

I took your advice and downloaded Forscan and my brother in law had a reader. The only things that showed up was the parking aid fault and something about a battery voltage spike. I was surprised that was it. Cleared the battery code and then unplugged the PAS system and replugged it...after that everything worked and no more codes. So that was cool. Neat software. Didn't even scratch the surface. Not sure what PIDs are though.

 

Just ordered the mudflaps. We'll see if those help anything other than making gas mileage worse. ? Can't wait to fix the active grill shutters. I have the part, but am waiting for my body repair guy before taking the front bumper cover off to replace it.

 

Thanks,

Spencer

[plus 3 golfer]

Here are pics of underneath my rear showing the support posts which are missing in your pics.  PID = Parameter Identification code.

 

OBD-II PIDs (On-board diagnostics Parameter IDs) are codes used to request data from a vehicle, used as a diagnostic tool. ... Manufacturers also define additional PIDs specific to their vehicles.