Front Sensor Question

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Going_Going_Gone

Going_Going_Gone

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Well, after a couple of days at the dealership service department, and after they spent some time with the hotline people, the service manager was told the following:
A. Other Ford vehicles communicate potential collisions to the drivers using a camera signal and their Active Collision Avoidance Systems use that signal to determine when to alert the driver and/or brake. The Expedition only uses signals from the lane-keeping and adaptive cruise sensors.
B. There is NO TEST that can determine if the system is functioning other than to rapidly close on another vehicle and risk a collision or have someone jump out in front of you while you're driving. The hotline strongly advised against both.
D. Their logic was that, if the lane-keeping and adaptive cruise sensors are working (as in the adaptive cruise slowing when closing on another vehicle), then the ACA is "assumed" to be working properly. Both I and the service manager have had the same experience with the ACA by "simulating" close calls with no alert or braking actions. Interestingly another Expedition in inventory behaved the exact same way. So when I asked "what's next?" I was told I could call the 800 number, report my concerns to Ford, and insist that they open a case file, which I did. I have since been told that my situation has been handed off to a more Specialized Team. My hope would be that they can come up with a way to input data into the vehicle that would create signals to mimic a potential collision and see if that generates a response. It is baffling that they would equip some of their most expensive and greatest (passenger) capacity vehicles with a system that does not function as predictably as in their other, smaller vehicles, and cannot be tested for proper operation. A vehicle intended to be used to transport a family assuming all of the inherent "distractions" that entails ought to have the MOST RELIABLE alert system they can develop--certainly equal to or better than the ACA systems in smaller passenger cars and pickups.
 

TobyU

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I would put the damn thing up on jack stands and move a person or a cardboard cutout in front or toward it to see if it brakes.
 

scottdm

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You could also rig up a tarp or large inflatable item and drive straight towards it to see if it reacts. If it doesn't it wouldn't cause any harm to the vehicle.
 

TobyU

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You could also rig up a tarp or large inflatable item and drive straight towards it to see if it reacts. If it doesn't it wouldn't cause any harm to the vehicle.


I big raft sounds like a great ideal. Could hold it on each side and drive through it or get a large piece of the banner paper and driver through it.

Wear seatbelt and be prepared for a jolt.

Airbags (not air bags -mother in laws...wait some women) can't deploy on car initiated self stop can they ??????
That would SUCK!
 
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Going_Going_Gone

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You could also rig up a tarp or large inflatable item and drive straight towards it to see if it reacts. If it doesn't it wouldn't cause any harm to the vehicle.

Yeah, if it isn't working then potentially only some minor scratching up front, and/or some minor staining of the driver's seat!

I'm too old now to enjoy an occasional adrenaline rush, so I'm counting on Ford having a way to test their system that doesn't involve (intentionally) driving at, into, or over anything.
 

scottdm

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Let us know what you learn. I remember test driving a Volvo once at the dealer since they were early adopters of automatic braking technology. They had me drive straight towards a couple of cones in their parking lot and it was all I could do to not slam on the brakes out of instinct. I resisted the urge, and the car stopped itself, but it was a strange feeling for sure!
 
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Going_Going_Gone

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Met with a "field engineer" today. On a test drive, I had to floor the accelerator while heading toward the back of a slow moving semi trailer, and getting uncomfortably close, to trigger the light and tone which verified that the ACA system does work. I described it as marginal; but the engineer pointed out, "that's all that Ford guarantees--a working system not necessarily a perfect system." Not what I would have preferred to hear. He further explained that, from an engineering standpoint, the performance standards for this vehicle are unique to the Expedition/Navigator line and differ totally from any other Ford vehicle with ACA. So, if you are used to driving another Ford with ACA, don't expect your Expedition/Navigator to act the same as that other vehicle. Even at maximum sensitivity, encountering most driving situations that you as the driver would "expect" to trigger a light and tone alert probably won't, all because the engineering team had different ideas on what conditions should trigger a warning. Further still, he acknowledged that it makes no difference in ACA operation whether you have a normal wheelbase or max, 4X2 or 4X4, seven or eight people in the vehicle or one, packed for a trip or not, towing a trailer or not; the ACA operates based on a single set of criteria established for the Expedition/Navigator line. Why? Maybe costs?

Shades of the A/C in my 2010 F-150 causing me to dread Phoenix summers even more. Just when the evaporator temperature reached the point where the cabin air "could" be adequately cooled, the computer would kick the compressor off. Why? Mileage, at the expense of passenger comfort.

However, in the big scheme of things, a perfect ACA ranks much lower to me than: comfortable seats, awesome power, visibility, good looks, road presence, outstanding A/C, and the overall interior layout with so many useful features. Knowing the ACA works and hoping never to need it will have to suffice.
 

1955moose

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I wonder if having the ACA would let elderly with bad eyesight, and slow reaction time to keep their license, and keep driving? If the computer can stop the SUV, what's to keep them from steering it too? Just think, Gramps can barely get himself in his 2025 Navigator, but push a button, turn the key, and off he goes to the coffee clatch, with his 90 year old war buddies!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk
 

Bonji

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The system works. I was coming up on a left-turning vehicle at the apex of a right-hand curve on a county highway at 59mph...the sensors picked it up an threw a shit fit.
 

aggiegrad05

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The system works. I was coming up on a left-turning vehicle at the apex of a right-hand curve on a county highway at 59mph...the sensors picked it up an threw a shit fit.

I guess I am more aggressive of a driver than I think. I have NO problem getting my OH SH*T alarm to go off. I bet it happens once a week. The auto-braking has only happened once, but the alarms happen all the time.
 
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