Blind Spot & Cross Traffic Not Working - FIXED

[dhenderz]

2022 Expi Limited. Struggling with failure of the blind spot & cross traffic system. Started some months ago. Figured it was snow, dirt or mud on the sensors in the rear bumper. Washed the truck. Still fails. Sometimes it fails (dash warning - system disabled due to sensors being blocked) within seconds of starting the truck and moving. Other times it doesn't set the warning right away, but always within 5 or 10mins of driving. I've had it back the dealer twice. First time they performed a reflash. Worked halfway home, then failed. Second time the dealer says the problem is mud on the backside of the bumper, throw up from the tires. Indicated I need to wash the mud out - from the backside of the bumper, to get the system to work. I know this cannot be the case. The sensors are visible on the show side of the bumper. And they are clean.

Is anyone else experiencing this failure?

Here's some more odd & specific things I've found with the system. When the warning stays off for a longer period and I have a chance to drive alongside other cars only the left side is working properly. The right side will not detect a car or even pickup truck. A large truck or semi is detected. And eventually the system does set the warning light and disable. If I drive long enough, sometimes it will come back on. But again, only the left side properly detects all vehicles. Pretty dangerous situation actually. You think the system is working (no warning lights), but the right side will not warn you of anything smaller than a very large truck or semi in the blind spot.

 

[Dustbunny]

2022 Expi Limited. Struggling with failure of the blind spot & cross traffic system. Started some months ago. Figured it was snow, dirt or mud on the sensors in the rear bumper. Washed the truck. Still fails. Sometimes it fails (dash warning - system disabled due to sensors being blocked) within seconds of starting the truck and moving. Other times it doesn't set the warning right away, but always within 5 or 10mins of driving. I've had it back the dealer twice. First time they performed a reflash. Worked halfway home, then failed. Second time the dealer says the problem is mud on the backside of the bumper, throw up from the tires. Indicated I need to wash the mud out - from the backside of the bumper, to get the system to work. I know this cannot be the case. The sensors are visible on the show side of the bumper. And they are clean.

Is anyone else experiencing this failure?

Here's some more odd & specific things I've found with the system. When the warning stays off for a longer period and I have a chance to drive alongside other cars only the left side is working properly. The right side will not detect a car or even pickup truck. A large truck or semi is detected. And eventually the system does set the warning light and disable. If I drive long enough, sometimes it will come back on. But again, only the left side properly detects all vehicles. Pretty dangerous situation actually. You think the system is working (no warning lights), but the right side will not warn you of anything smaller than a very large truck or semi in the blind spot.

I have a 2022 Expy XLT TX Edition, and I have a similar problem. Ordered mine in Jan 2022, picked up in June 2022. Live in TX and all well with the vehicle for about 5 months until the rains started. I live 2 miles off of the highway on a dirt county road, which becomes a mud road when raining. In late Nov. I ran through a very muddy part of the road and heard the mud hit under the vehicle and the blind spot & cross traffic warning came on the dash and the yellow lights came on steady on the mirrors. I washed the truck and all seemed well until a week before Christmas, when I had to travel 40 miles in heavy rain on the highway. The warnings came on the dash and mirrors lit up again. No mud.... just rain. It's happened numerous times since then. Haven't taken it in yet, but did talk to our neighbor and friend, who happens to be the shop foreman for our local Ford dealer. He said they had a Navigator come in with the same problem, and had to replace the modules, which are in the rear quarter panels.

I had a 2003 EB Expy for 19 1/2 years (131,000 miles), and sold it to our shop foreman friend when my new one came in. He absolutely loves it. It was a wonderful vehicle, and sometimes I wish I didn't sell it. No, it didn't have all the bells and whistles the new one has, but it sure was dependable.

 

[apex96]

Unplug the connectors and place some dielectric grease on them and plug them back together. Water/mud is intruding into the connection and creating a short/break in continuity and triggering the fault. This was an issue on the early 2015+ F150s with the blind spot tail lamps.

 

[Dustbunny]

Unplug the connectors and place some dielectric grease on them and plug them back together. Water/mud is intruding into the connection and creating a short/break in continuity and triggering the fault. This was an issue on the early 2015+ F150s with the blind spot tail lamps.

Thanks for the input! Hubby told me when it first happened it was probably something as simple as that. I'll have him give it a try before I take it in to the shop.

 

[dhenderz]

I did some research and discovered the blind spot/cross traffic system uses radar modules in the rear fascia, one on the left and one on the right. So the it is not the visible backup sensors you see on the outside of the bumper. Who knew? I will put the Expi up on the lift tomorrow and take a closer look.

 

[nationalgallery]

I did some research and discovered the blind spot/cross traffic system uses radar modules in the rear fascia, one on the left and one on the right. So the it is not the visible backup sensors you see on the outside of the bumper. Who knew? I will put the Expi up on the lift tomorrow and take a closer look.

I think what's visible on the rear bumper are the lenses of the near-field radar sensors that perform blind spot, cross-traffic and backup functions. The manual says to "Clean the sensors" if you get blocked sensor messages, which would not be possible if they're completely contained on the inside of the bumper.

 

[blznweels]

I'm having similar issues. Do a search for TSB 23-2040. I came across it, but have not had the time to bring it in for service.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

TSB 23-2040 - 2022 Expedition/Navigator built on or before May 13, 2022 - Various Driver Assistance Feature Concerns And/Or Various IPMA DTCs

Applies to 2022 Expedition/Navigator built on or before 13-May-2022 + other models listed below... TSB 23-2040 - 2022 Expedition/Navigator + Other Models - Various Driver Assistance Feature Concerns And/Or Various Image Processing Module A (IPMA) DTCs - Released February 07, 2023 Summary This...

www.expeditionforum.com

 

[dhenderz]

OK, I fixed the problem. Was built up mud between the radar sensor modules and the rear fascia. Pretty poor design in my humble opinion. The sensors are mounted about 1.5inches away from the surface of the fascia. They are inline with the rear tire. So any mud thrown by the tires goes directly up onto and behind the sensors (see pics).

Luckily I have a lift so I was able to get the mud out from behind the sensors with a screwdriver. Then took it outside and gave i a rinse with the hose. Everything works fine now. I live on a dirt road. I expect now I will have this issue every time it rains. I did order a set of rear mud flaps from Weathertech today. Hopefully that will help.

 

[nic_]

I made an account here just to say that the post above is extremely helpful! Thank you! Some notes I had from working on this:

* If you live or drive on dusty/muddy roads on a regular basis this blockage will happen all the time to you for the very reasons stated above. There is nothing stopping mud and debris from getting lodged behind the sensor because the entire rear bumper area is totally open. I feel like this is a complete oversight on Ford's part and wish they had tested this a little more
* The cleaning part is fairly straightforward and just requires some water and scrubbing. When i did mine there was so much mud that the sensor was hidden entirely so be gentle where you are scrubbing until you actually find it lol
* The real permanent fix is the Weather Tech mud flaps. This is the point I wanted to emphasize because if you don't install something like this this problem will continue to repeat. The flaps are super easy to install, look stock and most importantly do stop the mud and debris from getting stuck back there. I seriously don't know why Ford did not include these by default. Such a simple fix for this dumb problem. I have not had a single issue since purchasing them and I used to see this error almost every time I drove.

Anyways - for anyone coming from Google - this is the fix for this!

 

[nationalgallery]

* The real permanent fix is the Weather Tech mud flaps. This is the point I wanted to emphasize because if you don't install something like this this problem will continue to repeat. The flaps are super easy to install, look stock and most importantly do stop the mud and debris from getting stuck back there. I seriously don't know why Ford did not include these by default. Such a simple fix for this dumb problem. I have not had a single issue since purchasing them and I used to see this error almost every time I drove.

I think dhenderz is correct re. this problem, and I too installed the WeatherTech flaps (front and rear) and so far the problem seems to be solved.....

 

[Bill_T]

I think what's visible on the rear bumper are the lenses of the near-field radar sensors that perform blind spot, cross-traffic and backup functions. The manual says to "Clean the sensors" if you get blocked sensor messages, which would not be possible if they're completely contained on the inside of the bumper.

You can get to them from underneath. Just use a rag and fish it inbehind the sensor and pull the cloth back and forth gently. You'd be surprised how much mud and grim builds up in there. I will be installing mud flaps to prevent more build up and broken wires from rocks shooting up in there.

 

[Hellwig]

The tape thing is inventive. Thanks for that idea.

 

[HiHoSilver23]

FIXED!! Whoever posted about installing the Weather Tech mudflaps, THANK YOU! That seems to haved fixed the problem. It was a pill getting underneath to wash the sensor but hopefully that solved the problem.

 

[5280tunage]

You can get to them from underneath. Just use a rag and fish it inbehind the sensor and pull the cloth back and forth gently. You'd be surprised how much mud and grim builds up in there. I will be installing mud flaps to prevent more build up and broken wires from rocks shooting up in there.

That's perplexing. For one, the radius on that bend doesn't look right at all, i.e. there isn't enough slack between the connector and the post holding down the loom. Especially for wires that small of a gauge. Either there should have been a bit more of a bend radius on that loom, or Ford should have designed that connector to be a 90-degree connector to reduce strain on those hair-thin wires.

And yes, I've had mud flaps on since about the 4th week of ownership, the rear bumper cover on these act more like a snow plow than anything, scooping up any things rear tires/wheels kick up. The one that I had that almost really caught me, was a small piece of re-tread on the road flew up and luckily it impacted the spare tire first from what I could tell, I bet if it had hit the inside of the bumper cover it would have torn off and/or broken half a dozen sensors down there. Looks to me like you are adding some rear winter traction though with that sand bag worth of sand in there.

 

[RicoMilo]

I drove my 2023 Timberline for four days in mud while hunting. Blind spot and cross traffic alert warnings were always on. I crawled underneath the corners where the bumper and rear quarter panel come together and there was a basketball size clump of rock hard mud. Tried the car wash with the high pressure hose twice with no luck. Used a screwdriver and coat hanger to clean it all out; I inhaled lots of dust. Installed WeatherTech mud flaps front and rear. I'm hoping the front flaps will keep the running boards cleaner cause they had a couple of inches of mud also.