parking assist system
 

2006 A8L

So, last year, my parking assist was flaky. Screen would pop up for a second or two, system would beep, then nothing.

Scan showed:

Parking sensors: 01546 - Sensor for PDC Rear Left Middle (G204). At one point, I put my ear near it and didn't hear the "tick, tick, tick" but I could hear the other sensors. I bought a sensor online but put off swapping because it's a pain to get too the rears. Then, if fixed itself when it got cold in Michigan.

It's been working all winter till recently.

Since it seems temperature sensitive, I'm wondering it it's a connector loose or a controller issue. First, where is the control module?. Next, is thee any way I can get my hand near the connector on the sensor itself with pulling the bumper skin off?

3 or 4 of mine sensors had wire issues, corroded/broken. Check yours too before buying sensors lol.

How did you get to the connectors? Did you pull the back bumper off?

I was able to get them fixed without removing the bumper, but my hands did look like i was attacked by cats lol

this afternoon, I got down there and unscewed the 4 or 5 screws on the plastic part of the bumber valence. I was able to bend it down and reach the left middle sensor which the scan tells me is not working. I remember a while back asking my grandson to put his ear next to the sensors and the left middle was the only he couldn't hear ticking. I tried to listen today but even with my hearing aids turned up, I didn't hear it.

Although I could reach it with one hand, I couldn't pull the connector off. I did buy a sensor and it's sitting here on my desk. What I'm wondering is if one sensor craps out, does it prevent the system from working altogether? The screen pops up, show the image of the car for a second of two, beeps, then nothing. Perhaps it's a safety thing if one sensor is out, it figures you shouldn't rely on it, especially if a kid is standing there and you might run over him.

Mine is 2004 it had the beeping thing only if one sensor went bad the system would not work. Since upgrading the control module to newer versions now if one sensor or more don't work the system still works with the working sensors i just don't get any warning on the bad sensors.

where is the control module and what do you mean buy upgrading? (replace module or software coding)?

2006 has the graphics display and the earlier years don't.
http://www.dognmonkey.com/media/audis/a8d3/parking.jpg

I just replaced one of these sensors in my 2007 S6. I would get a long beep every time I put the car in reverse, then nothing. VCDS said it was the right middle sensor - I never did listen to see if it was ticking or not. In this car the rear sensors are wired in series, so if one goes out, the whole system won't work, even if the others are OK. Sounds like a newer control module operates differently. In any case I ordered 4 sensor from ebay for about $20, but put off the repair for the same reasons you did. Finally, a couple of weeks ago I decided to do it. I put the rear up on jacks, unscrewed that valance and wiggled my arms up in there, and was able to remove the sensor from the rear bumper, unplug the bad sensor (requires two hands up there, and having the car on jacks helped) and put a new one in. Altogether about an hour. I put on a long sleeve shirt and wedged a piece of wood in there to keep the valance and bumper cover apart while I worked. System works great now and I have 3 spare sensors for when the others go out.

Oh, I guess i have the upgraded system. That's what my MMI looks like (when it works)

But, I'd still like to know where the module is located.

Getting two arms (especially my giant hands and arms) is going to be tough. I like the idea of wedging it with wood and long sleeve shirt would help eliminate the scratches. I'd like to see a detail picture or video of how to release the connectors.

The module is on top of the navigation dvd

There are videos out there of how to decouple those plugs Basically I held the plug with one hand and the sensor in the other....and pressed that little tab on the plug with my thumb to release the plug from the sensor, and pulled them apart. The plug was kind of gritty and I had to wiggle and work it a bit before the plug even moved...but eventually it did. At that point I had the new sensor plugged in and put back into the bumper in about 60 seconds. I am not too good with those types of Audi plugs, but IIRC I pushed the tab and held it down, then pushed the plug back onto the sensor a bit, and then pulled the plug out.

Im having issues with my rear senors as well

I wasn't hearing the ticking from 2 of the sensors I pulled them out and moved location and the problem did not move

leads me to believe is the wiring harness

anyone know if the harness is the same in any other models? the A8 ones are rare and expensive

thx

Not Really Rare Nor Expensive
 

thank you for the link but did you click it yourself? there is 1

45us plus 50us shipped to Canada

My arms would be more than "cat scratched" if I attempted this. (closer to putting my arms in a tree chipper). I read where taking the bumper cover off was a PITA and it's made me hesitant to attempt it. Recently, I borrowed a vehicle to tow a trailer and was scoping out the idea of a hitch. I cam across this detail on how to take the cover off. It doesn't seem so bad. For those who have taken the cover off, is there more to it than described in this link?

Also, I was thinking of putting a hitch on my wife's old 98 A8 but they don't make one it. They do for my 2006. There are times I could used a light duty hitch and wonder about the "ugliness" of a hitch, (not to mention the pain of whacking my shin on it by accident). The fact that without the hitch dog (thing that has the ball on it), there only appears to be a small hole in the plastic cover.

Would you do this? (An no, I'm not planning to tow an Abrams tank)

https://assets.curtmfg.com/masterlib..._11199_INS.pdf

How many do you need?