Article About Parking Sensor Installation
It was just a few years ago that Ultrasonic Reversing Aids were considered a luxury and, as such, became predominantly the domain of up-market motors, Offered as an optional extra at prices between two and three hundred pounds (or more) they were in the same class as options such as cruise control and remote central locking etc. Times have moved on and they are now offered on virtually every new car manufactured, but still at prices which many think to be unnecessarily high. Fortunately, a supply chain of after-market reversing aids has developed – with prices considerably lower – which can be fitted to all those cars which missed out on a factory-install.
Having purchased a 2005 Citroen Picasso in Spain, and wishing it had had sensors fitted, I decided to purchase a set, and began to check out prices and the quality of the items on offer. Installing the system in Spain meant I wanted something which would give me some long term reliability – and seeing one manufacturer – Dolphin – come out on top of the Auto Express comparison test, I reckoned on giving them a try.
If the term ‘Ultrasonic’ and such technicalities as ‘control boxes and power cables’ tend to conjure pictures of Rocket Science, have no fear. Firstly, Trading Direct, under the umbrella of Parking Sensors UK, the Dolphin suppliers, have a list of nationwide experts who will fit the system to your car for you, obviously at a fee between you and them, or, as Spain is a little too far for me to engage such an expert, they are perfectly within the capabilities of the average D-I-Yer. I, for instance, have never been involved with the automotive world, other than as a consumer, and have spent my entire life behind an unrelated retail counter, yet I completed the installation in a matter of 1 to 2 hours (a refreshment break in the middle) and was more than pleased with the outcome.
One major advantage of the Dolphin system, is that the sensors are offered in a wide range of colours. It’s all very well buying the standard ‘black’ and intending to colour code them by a quick coat of matching spray paint, but, the plastic sensors have to be primed, colour painted with a non-metallic paint and often lacquered as well – possibly leading to a down turn in performance. Buying the Dolphin Silver system, one of 17 colours on offer, eliminated such complications and matched my Arctic Silver Picasso perfectly and which, incidentally, as the sensors are moulded from the Silver plastic, will never chip, flake nor lose colour – even in the Spanish sun.
So, arriving in Spain with my package of sensors, the first thing I did was to check the immediate vicinity surrounding my proposed ‘sensor sites’. I did this by touch – slipping a hand up behind the bumper at strategic positions. I also used a torch and hand mirror to confirm that the area was clear.
After making a slight mental adjustment for the fact that there was a small reinforcing ‘nib’ just where I wanted to drill – I laid a strip of masking tape the entire length of the bumper, butted up to a ‘joint’ line on the Picasso bumper. My original intention had been to mark the central position and then work outwards from that, placing the sensors at equidistant centres. However, that reinforcing ‘nib’ meant that I had to move the inner sensors a little further apart. The final measurements were - inner sensors 50 cms apart, then a further 42 cms to the outer sensors. I configured a small template from some thin plastic, drilled a hole some 30mm from one end and placed that end against the bumper joint line to use the hole as a centre for each of the sensors – that meant that the sensor line followed the contour of the bumper rather than just follow a dead-straight line. Personal choice – not technical need.
As per all previous installers/installations – my heart was in my mouth as I lifted the drill to my gleaming paintwork! Fortunately, all went well, drilling a pilot hole to start then taking the bull by the horns and holding the drill steady, the hole saw (supplied) looking quite ferocious, I bravely tackled the task. The first hole seemed to take an absolute age to appear, but after that they just came along quite rapidly and easily.
I had printed little labels to identify each sensor and it’s corresponding location in the control box – then when I unpacked the kit properly, I could see that the leads and control box were already identified individually –doh!
With the holes drilled, I then slipped thin, wedge shaped spacers supplied within the kit, onto the end of the leads, before feeding the leads into the holes in the bumper. These wedges, coloured to match the sensors, are supplied to aid the final angle of the sensors, compensating for any bumper profile which could affect the angle of the sensors to the road – ideally they should be perpendicular.
The pics illustrate the close colour match of the sensors to the Picasso Silver paint and I was well pleased with my choice. Note the pic showing one sensor about to be pushed home – you can just make out the slim tip of the wedge-shaped spacer – whilst the rubber grips, visible in the pic, offer some resistance as a means of holding the sensor in position, as one would expect and hope for, so I applied just a little washing-up liquid as lubrication to aid the initial installation.
The loose leads were then cable-tied to the underside of the bumper, the leads being supported by the ties rather than passing through holes, to avoid chaffing at a later date.
To ‘power’ the sensors when reverse is engaged, it’s a relatively simple matter to find the supply wire to the reversing lights. Carefully removing some of the wiring harness insulation, will expose the necessary cable and then you just ‘tap’ into that, Scotchloks or similar – available from Halfords etc – make this a simple and straightforward job, and is completed by re-taping the wiring harness to enclose the Scotchlok.
It may be necessary to remove the rear light cluster – instructions will probably be in your Driver’s Handbook – to gain access to the rain-water ducts and to use them to bring the four cables into the boot area. In the case of the Picasso – having identified and accessed the reversing light wire, I slipped a short length of flexible chain with a string attached, into the light cluster shroud and, sure enough, it found the drain duct and slipped through to the underside without any bother. Two minutes later, all four leads were in the boot and swiftly connected to their respective terminals on the control box.
I attached the ‘earth’ wire to the vehicle earth positioned nearby, connected the audible warning buzzer and the system was ready for it’s first trial.
With the ignition switched on, reverse gear engaged, I was pleased to hear the initial ‘beep’ to announce the activation of the sensors – and was then even more pleased as each sensor responded to my approach from different angles. At no time, then nor since, have the sensors given false readings triggered by the road.
With all the technical work completed, I then eased the boot lining away enough to be able to slip the slim control box into the cavity behind, and used the self-adhesive pad on the buzzer to fix that to a suitable surface. I did go as far as cutting the original packaging to afford a little extra shock absorption protection to the control box before slipping it into position.
I replaced the trim, put the cubby-hole cover back on and now the system is totally out of sight and harm. Oh – and the buzzer remains very audible to the driver.
By
David Jones
