Who really understands Parktronic?
07-04-2019, 11:50 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Who really understands Parktronic?
Ok, so my issue is that I have a 2007 S600 and a 2007 CL550 and they both have a pretty identical issue. At random times while driving I'll get the error and ding pop up and say "Parktronic Not Available, See Owners Manual". Then it will go away on it's own. The majority of the time all the sensors seem to work and will beep and indicate on the dash and in the rearview roof light. So I'm trying to figure out where the problem is occurring. Is it in a sensor or the module? I know there is a "rear module" but is there a "front module". I also happen to have a 2010 S600 Parktronic rear module that I am planning on trying but when I look online it appears to do a different park number (since 2010 is the facelift year). Does anyone have any experience with this? It's a really annoying problem that bugs me about every time I drive.
07-05-2019, 02:08 PM
#3
Out Of Control!!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: North Scottsdale, AZ
Posts: 15,903
Received 4,421 Likes
on
3,147 Posts
'71 Pinto
07-05-2019, 02:20 PM
#4
Super Member
Ok, so my issue is that I have a 2007 S600 and a 2007 CL550 and they both have a pretty identical issue. At random times while driving I'll get the error and ding pop up and say "Parktronic Not Available, See Owners Manual". Then it will go away on it's own. The majority of the time all the sensors seem to work and will beep and indicate on the dash and in the rearview roof light. So I'm trying to figure out where the problem is occurring. Is it in a sensor or the module? I know there is a "rear module" but is there a "front module". I also happen to have a 2010 S600 Parktronic rear module that I am planning on trying but when I look online it appears to do a different park number (since 2010 is the facelift year). Does anyone have any experience with this? It's a really annoying problem that bugs me about every time I drive.
Last edited by EasyPhil; 07-06-2019 at 10:33 PM.
07-05-2019, 05:34 PM
#5
Senior Member
It happens to me all the time when, especially at a stop light, I have cars in proximity with radar sensors, once these are moving the message “ Parking assist not available “ quickly disappears.
07-06-2019, 10:25 AM
#6
Super Member
Happens to mine as well. It's annoying -- I wish there were a way to disable the warning while driving.
Trending Topics
07-06-2019, 05:35 PM
#9
MBWorld Fanatic!
07-08-2019, 06:36 PM
#10
Member
Yes my 2008 S65 has an on/off button next to the Comand screen also. When you start the car it will be on so you'll need to turn it off every time you drive or if you're stuck in traffic and it keeps going off. When you park make sure you remember it's off before you hit something!! When you are at a light either stopped or in traffic barely moving, the system can pick up interference from other vehicles. I guess MB didn't think about this when they designed the system because there are now a lot of vehicles that set if off. Once above a certain speed, the car no longer thinks you are parking and the system doesn't function so no problem with interference.
08-05-2019, 11:25 PM
#11
MBWorld Fanatic!
If you will pay attention, 99% of the time, there will be a Ford product in front of you or in the lane next to you at a stop light. These sensors do not activated until you are below a certain speed. When they do activate, they detect interference from another radar system on the same frequency and display that error as the car cannot give you an accurate parking distance reading using the LEDs in the rear view mirror or on the cluster. Short of entering the cluster and selecting "Radars" and disabling it, or turning off Parktronic manually, there is not much that can be done. The next time this happens, search for a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury product in the vicinity.
08-06-2019, 09:57 AM
#12
MBWorld Fanatic!
If you will pay attention, 99% of the time, there will be a Ford product in front of you or in the lane next to you at a stop light. These sensors do not activated until you are below a certain speed. When they do activate, they detect interference from another radar system on the same frequency and display that error as the car cannot give you an accurate parking distance reading using the LEDs in the rear view mirror or on the cluster. Short of entering the cluster and selecting "Radars" and disabling it, or turning off Parktronic manually, there is not much that can be done. The next time this happens, search for a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury product in the vicinity.
I remember looking through SDS and not seeing any adjustments for it...but you never know.
08-06-2019, 12:16 PM
#14
MBWorld Fanatic!
It appears to be Ford Motor Company products, as well as Lexus (and likely Toyota since they are the same).
08-06-2019, 02:07 PM
#15
Senior Member
Fords always and often Subaru products (W221 owner checking in). The amount of noise and alert is not commensurate with that actual impact of the error. First time I heard it I thought maybe I lost oil pressure or something catastrophic.
08-06-2019, 10:47 PM
#16
Super Member
Can this be fixed in DAS? And by fixed, I mean just turn off park assist by default? I'm guessing not.
Knowing that it's certain makes of cars that causes the problem does not make it any less aggravating. It's embarrassing to drive the damn thing with passengers.
08-07-2019, 09:53 AM
#18
Senior Member
... which will also disable Distronic cruise control... sigh.
Can this be fixed in DAS? And by fixed, I mean just turn off park assist by default? I'm guessing not.
Knowing that it's certain makes of cars that causes the problem does not make it any less aggravating. It's embarrassing to drive the damn thing with passengers.
Can this be fixed in DAS? And by fixed, I mean just turn off park assist by default? I'm guessing not.
Knowing that it's certain makes of cars that causes the problem does not make it any less aggravating. It's embarrassing to drive the damn thing with passengers.
My kingdom for a way to customize alert and turn signal noises on this car though. they are horrible
08-07-2019, 09:59 AM
#19
MBWorld Fanatic!
Take it for what it's worth, but my local dealer said there is no way to fix this. I also wouldn't want park assist turned off by default as most of the time it's pretty damn handy! I think part of the problem is that that 2006-07 was early days for this tech in terms of "mainstream" cars (Fords, etc). So now the spectrum is flooded with signals that weren't accounted for previously.
My kingdom for a way to customize alert and turn signal noises on this car though. they are horrible
My kingdom for a way to customize alert and turn signal noises on this car though. they are horrible
08-07-2019, 10:30 AM
#20
Senior Member
08-07-2019, 10:47 AM
#21
Heh, I don't find the turn signal bad. Now (just out of habit over the years) I start the car before I do my seatbelt and find that 120db beeping like the distronic sound is maddening. And if you drive around without the seatbelt my god does the car get more and more pissed off at you.
At least my door ding is disabled. That is annoying if you are trying to diagnose something because in my case I need the door ajar for DAS. Does drive you insane.
I do find it strange how distronic never really goes to fault on the highway. Had it happen once during a 1600 mile road trip. Cruise went away. Normally when it faults it will clear in a few moments. It took ten minutes or so before I could reactive cruise.
Ah well, at the end of the day reason for the car is what is under the hood.
At least my door ding is disabled. That is annoying if you are trying to diagnose something because in my case I need the door ajar for DAS. Does drive you insane.
I do find it strange how distronic never really goes to fault on the highway. Had it happen once during a 1600 mile road trip. Cruise went away. Normally when it faults it will clear in a few moments. It took ten minutes or so before I could reactive cruise.
Ah well, at the end of the day reason for the car is what is under the hood.
08-07-2019, 10:51 AM
#22
MBWorld Fanatic!
As far as parktronic, the instrument cluster gets error messages on the CAN bus. It then decides on display only or display/buzzer based on the severity of the message. The parktronic error message is a low priority message, as you can dismiss it by pressing OK.
We have to take a look at the actual CAN message that gets sent to the cluster. The responses may be pre-programmed, or the desired action (sound buzzer and display on screen) may be included in the message itself. If that's the case then we could build a CAN filter to modify the message before it hits the instrument cluster. If not, we could build some logic that only lets the error message through if it persists on the CAN bus for longer than a couple of minutes so we know it's an actual fault, not just interference.
We could also swap the buzzer on the IC board but that would obviously be something not many people would be able to do.
I will take a look after I am done with my current project because it's starting to annoy me as well. I already have a spare instrument cluster taken apart so that should help.
The following users liked this post:
lionsfan54 (08-07-2019)
08-07-2019, 10:53 AM
#23
The system will also display the "not available, see owners manual" message if the car, via GPS coordinates, enters areas where RF emissions are prohibited by Federal law. During this time features like Parktronic and Distronic PLUS will not be available.
In the United States this is typically the area in and around eastern West Virginia and southern Maryland known as the National Radio Quiet Zone (although from experience the systems are only switched off as you travel well in to the zone).
In the United States this is typically the area in and around eastern West Virginia and southern Maryland known as the National Radio Quiet Zone (although from experience the systems are only switched off as you travel well in to the zone).
08-07-2019, 02:27 PM
#24
Senior Member
Yeah, I am in favor of the louder signal noise. My other cars have nicer sounding turn signals that you don't hear at all if you drive with the windows down.
As far as parktronic, the instrument cluster gets error messages on the CAN bus. It then decides on display only or display/buzzer based on the severity of the message. The parktronic error message is a low priority message, as you can dismiss it by pressing OK.
We have to take a look at the actual CAN message that gets sent to the cluster. The responses may be pre-programmed, or the desired action (sound buzzer and display on screen) may be included in the message itself. If that's the case then we could build a CAN filter to modify the message before it hits the instrument cluster. If not, we could build some logic that only lets the error message through if it persists on the CAN bus for longer than a couple of minutes so we know it's an actual fault, not just interference.
We could also swap the buzzer on the IC board but that would obviously be something not many people would be able to do.
I will take a look after I am done with my current project because it's starting to annoy me as well. I already have a spare instrument cluster taken apart so that should help.
As far as parktronic, the instrument cluster gets error messages on the CAN bus. It then decides on display only or display/buzzer based on the severity of the message. The parktronic error message is a low priority message, as you can dismiss it by pressing OK.
We have to take a look at the actual CAN message that gets sent to the cluster. The responses may be pre-programmed, or the desired action (sound buzzer and display on screen) may be included in the message itself. If that's the case then we could build a CAN filter to modify the message before it hits the instrument cluster. If not, we could build some logic that only lets the error message through if it persists on the CAN bus for longer than a couple of minutes so we know it's an actual fault, not just interference.
We could also swap the buzzer on the IC board but that would obviously be something not many people would be able to do.
I will take a look after I am done with my current project because it's starting to annoy me as well. I already have a spare instrument cluster taken apart so that should help.
