Forward Sensor Fail- Heavy Rain ?️

[Garbone]

Yesterday, as we drove 45 mph in a real toad choker on I75 the car popped of a few warnings,. "Forward Sensor obstruction". "Adaptive cruise disabled" "Emergency braking assist disabled". Got a little icon on the lower left of the dash.


About 3 minutes later all was working well. That was some heavy rain.

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[OlyPen]

I wonder if that's from the camera based system. The radar should still work in heavy rain?

 

[Stang68]

I wonder if that's from the camera based system. The radar should still work in heavy rain?

Exactly this, shouldn't radar work fine in rain?

 

[Garbone]

Maybe a piece of debris was kicked up and stuck to something. No telling.

 

[OlyPen]

Maybe a piece of debris was kicked up and stuck to something. No telling.

My guess is that the system still relies more heavily on the front camera above the pony (which is why there's a washer nozzle to keep it clean), and will turn off when the camera is obscured. But I thought most of that sensor array was safely behind the windshield so the wipers could keep the view clear for it.

Glad to see it reactivated on it's own. In my 2012 Explorer, it would just give up until I stopped and cleaned it.

 

[JB20]

Radar should still work in the rain and snow, however the range of it can be diminished. Also I watched a Q4 Etron video last week where the guy was driving in a hard rain and the Q4 did the same thing.

 

[benk016]

Every Ford with adaptive cruise and lane keeping that I have owned has done this same thing in heavy rain. Typically, I think its when the radar picks up a vehicle in front of you, but the camera can't see it properly.

 

[murphy62]

Radio waves are absorbed by water. Only the part of the radio wave that didn't hit a raindrop makes it back to the radar receiver. That is the the main reason submarines can't use radio when submerged. What does a microwave oven do? It heats the water and turns it into steam. Granted they use the frequency that is most efficient at heating water.

 

[MarleysMME]

I have had this happen as well. I assumed it was due to camera obstruction.

 

[dano]

My BMW does the same thing in heavy rain or snow.

 

[Jimrpa]

Radar does not like heavy rain. For more information, see the Crane Rain Model and enjoy ?

 

[Jimrpa]

Radio waves are absorbed by water. Only the part of the radio wave that didn't hit a raindrop makes it back to the radar receiver. That is the the main reason submarines can't use radio when submerged. What does a microwave oven do? It heats the water and turns it into steam. Granted they use the frequency that is most efficient at heating water.

Actually, they use a frequency that is most readily absorbed by water molecules, adding energy to them, thus heating them up. Fun fact: microwave ovens were “invented” by accident by radar engineers who noticed that their coffee warmed up near the (then unshelled) klystron tubes. Hence, the first ones were branded “Radar ranges” ?

 

[ChasingCoral]

Yesterday, as we drove 45 mph in a real toad choker on I75 the car popped of a few warnings,. "Forward Sensor obstruction". "Adaptive cruise disabled" "Emergency braking assist disabled". Got a little icon on the lower left of the dash.


About 3 minutes later all was working well. That was some heavy rain.

I spoke with the service foreman at my dealership about this very issue. It is a standard limitation to these systems, which are camera based. Once precipitation is so heavy that the camera in front of your mirror cannot see well enough between wiper swipes, the system is temporarily disabled. It will come back on once precipitation rates reduce. Note that this will be a bigger issue in heavy snow as it will block the lens more than rain. It also will occur in heavy fog.

This has been true in earlier Ford/Lincoln vehicles with the same system.

 

[mr_raider]

Radio waves are absorbed by water. Only the part of the radio wave that didn't hit a raindrop makes it back to the radar receiver. That is the the main reason submarines can't use radio when submerged. What does a microwave oven do? It heats the water and turns it into steam. Granted they use the frequency that is most efficient at heating water.

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