Testing rear parking sensors using a multimeter 

Thanks, for the thanks! 😀

Many thanks for your comment. You’ve got an interesting looking channel there, I’ll be taking a closer look. 😊

@@Jase777jase thanks . I hope you find something of interest to you .

Thanks for stopping to take the time to say thanks. Glad it helped. 🙂

Thanks Harry, glad it was useful. 👍

Hi there Mikko, and thanks very much for your excellent comments. With regards to the need for parking sensors, in general I would agree, however the reason I wanted to make mine work was that mine is a Cabriolet and that means that the visibility to the rear is absolutely appalling! Firstly the boot or trunk, is extremely high up, and secondly the rear window is so small that visibility is extremely poor. Even though I have added a reversing camera, covered in a separate video, I still require every bit of help I can get when reversing! Initially I did the same as you and just disabled the parking system, but eventually decided to reinstate it.Yes, absolutely a multimeter is a must for all sorts of troubleshooting. 😃

Hi Robbie and many thanks for your excellent suggestion. Yes I have heard that this also works well. The only thing is that on some cars, the PDC only works with engine running, which makes feeling the pulses a bit difficult, especially on a diesel-engined car like mine! Also, in these cases, I feel it’s a good idea to have a freind you trust in the driving seat selecting reverse for you! 😂🤣. Anyway, many thanks for your comment. 👍👍

@@Jase777jase Can I simply put the parking brake on and put it in reverse? Audi Q5

And what if I feel no pulsing? Wiring or modules?

It would probably be a good idea to test both ways to compare readings in case it's polarised.

Hi there Will. It's very difficult to be specific about these sorts of things. Also it might vary from one system to another. However, what I would say is if its affordable to buy 1 new sensor you could do that and test it, then use it as a reference point. If all 4 read the same, I'd be inclined to think that's OK, but I couldn't say for certain! Many thanks for your kind comments and good luck! J.

😂 Excellent! 😂

Thanks Bob, there are variations, but there are also some that are used by several different companies I think. I am aware of 6-wire sensors, but not 2-wire. Thanks again for your kind comments. 👍

@@Jase777jase thanks, you did great job! Buy you beer when u visit Belgium!

@@bobdelaplage690 👍 😊

Hi there, and thanks for your comment. This method does not involve testing any pins other than 1-2. I can’t tell you what you’d expect to see across 2-3 or 1-3. It’s really more of a way of testing if your sensor is completely dead, in that it will show open circuit from 1-2 if that’s the case. Are you able to test any other sensors on the car? I think the resistance varies by manufacturer so it’s difficult to say if 70k ohms is good or bad, but the fact that it is not open circuit would make me think it’s probably not dead. I hope this helps. 👍

Me too in citroen ds3 did you find if the sensor are ok or faulty please

@@rafsz409 I got over it , and tried other method , have all the sensor still installed on the car, put the car in reverse , turn ignition on but not start the car, and go listen closely to the sensors they should buzz if working, if faulty they should not buzz , even if not buzz it can not be the sensor , it can also be the wiring. In my case a peugeot 607 i found out that the entire wiring was the issue , also check the parking module

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Hi Jason. That’s very interesting. I don’t think the new one is defective, as I recently bought 4 replacements and they all measured around 10K like yours. So I think the new one is fine. I would be very reluctant to buy 3 more sensors if they are expensive, as I’m not sure that you haven’t got a fault in your actual system itself. On my car, it will report if there is a fault with the system, and also, it will give one short bleep as you engage reverse, so I’m surprised you are getting no sound at all. Having said that, a fault in the system could be very difficult to trace. I guess If the sensors are not too expensive (I got a real bargain with mine, at £33 for 4) then you could buy 3 more just so that you rule out sensors as a problem, ie, if you’ve still got the problem with all new sensors, it’s going to be the system at fault. I hope that helps, please do come back and let me know how you get on. Jason.

@@Jase777jase So, today I checked again and I found out that if you put a finger on the sensor and you move it around the sensor, basically the sensor makes a little noise like a " click click " it means it works, so I tested all the sensors and I found out another one broken, the new sensor works and the one I replaced wasn't working, I did this test also to the broken one I knew, just to be sure. So my question is: is it possible that now with another faulty sensor doesn't make any sound at all ?.... I'll try to replace the other one and I'll let you know.

@@jjcc2785 Hi again, I’m glad you’ve been able to test the sensors with the “click” method. I’ve had a lot of feedback from people saying it’s a great way of testing, but I’ve never had much luck with it myself. It’s good news that the “click” method has confirmed that the sensor already detected as faulty, was indeed dead, and that the new one (measuring 10k) is fine also. Without knowing the car or it’s system I can’t tell you what sound it should, or should not be making, but if you change that remaining sensor, I think you’ll stand a good chance off success, I certainly hope so… let me know anyway. 😊

Ah OK, thanks for that information. Have you been able to check a new sensor or just old ones?

@@Jase777jase just 4 old ones- new ones on order.

Well, the symptom of a bad sensor is that it has a very very high resistance, or open circuit. By contrast, a new working sensor has a very much lower resistance. I could have showed the older sensor on the lower range, but it would just have been open circuit, for that range. Its only by going to a much higher range that we can see any reading at all. You could just say, use the lower range for all testing and if its open circuit, the sensor is faulty, but I believe that some are borderline ok, and that's why I showed the higher range. One thing you can be sure of, is that if you use the higher range and its open circuit, then the sensor is dead.

bueno, eso es muy interesante. ¿Ha intentado mover ese sensor a otra ranura y ver si el problema persiste? si lo cambia por otro sensor en el anillo y el problema persiste con el sensor, sabrá que es un sensor defectuoso. si el sensor funciona, pero si se queda con el sensor en la nueva ranura, es el cableado. Espero que ayude. j

@@Jase777jase los he movido y sigue fallando por lo visto algun fallo de la clavija o cableado

chaotajai oh maldita sea, eso es una vergüenza. cuantos sensores hay hay 4?

@@Jase777jase si,lleva 4 traseros

bonjour... c'est une très bonne question. je ne suis pas sûr. Je n'ai pas eu le temps de m'y pencher correctement, donc je ne peux que deviner. je suppose que les broches 1 et 3 sont les extrêmes de résistance et que la broche 2 varie en fonction de la distance à laquelle vous vous trouvez par rapport à un objet. Je crois que si vous pouviez mesurer la résistance lorsque la voiture reculait, vous verriez cette valeur changer. vous verriez une valeur monter entre 1 et 2, et descendre entre les broches 2 et 3. Mais ce n'est qu'une supposition. mon objectif principal était de produire une vidéo pour aider les gens à tester si le capteur fonctionnait ou non. J'ai utilisé Google Translate pour cela, comme je ne parle pas français, j'espère que vous pourrez en comprendre au moins une partie ! Meilleurs vœux. Jason.

Wel that’s a very good question, and coincidentally I saw a link this morning for a video on exactly that. I’ve never tried it because my sensors are not too expensive, but I know some are. I will see if I can track that video down. Thanks for your comment. J.

@@Jase777jase thank you so much!!!

Hi there, yes it would be Kilo Ohm. I would imagine different manufacturers sensors may vary in this value, the real point to note is that it’s not an open circuit. I think to summarise: Open circuit : sensor dead, Measurable value: sensor is probably ok, low measurable value: sensor is very likely to be ok. Hope that helps and thanks for your comment. 👍

can you explain some more about using the analog meter. What settings and what should i see for bad ones and good ones?

www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-GMT-319-Multimeter-Tester/dp/B0002YUN4C/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2UYA0BJY5BI5H&dchild=1&keywords=analog+meter&qid=1607217002&sprefix=analog+meter%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyUERMNDlQVVpJS1NOJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjg3NjU1SVNDNEIwOEVRNEtIJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3NzY0OTkyV0NURVZXTzdKVjNUJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== Referring to the link, this is one example of an analog voltmeter which may be good enough to use in this case although I never used one of those meters myself. Actually, for far more reliability and accuracy, you would want something like a Simpson 260 analog voltmeter, but that meter is several times more expensive. In my case, I used a vintage Conar 211 VTVM (Vacuum Tube Volt Meter) in testing the rear parking assist sensors on my 2005 Jaguar XJ8L. This vintage Conar 211 voltmeter is ultra reliable although not particularly accurate. In any event, despite its age, the Conar 211 VTVM may be the best test instrument to use in this particular instance. If you're going to pick up an analog voltmeter, make sure that it has a 'X1K' setting in the resistance mode at the very least. What should you see? Well, as far as the rear parking assist sensors on my 2005 Jaguar are concerned, they should read something like 19Kohms-20Kohms between Pins 1 &2 in one direction, and infinity in the other. Actually, one of my four rear parking assist sensors was defective as it checked open (infinity) in both directions. Hope this helps.

how...?

How? Well, by simply setting the analog voltmeter in the OHMS position, and by following the above steps. In my case, even though one particular rear parking assist sensor was clearly defective, it didn't do me a bit of good in trying to replace it on my 2005 Jaguar XJ8 anyways. Actually, the risk was far too great in invariably damaging the fragile and ultra expensive plastic rear bumper (and/or plastic supports) in the process. What I elected to do then was to simply disconnect the plug from the rear parking assist module, and leave it unplugged. Afterwards, I performed a hard reboot.

Why would you say that, your still going to get a resistance reading?