Clubjazz - Honda Jazz & HR-V Forums
Honda Jazz Forums => Honda Jazz Mk2 2008-2015 => Topic started by: Kenneve on June 16, 2012, 05:20:48 PM
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I am considering adding rear parking sensors to my 2011 EX CVT.
The Honda website seems to think they are made of solid gold, quoting around £500 to supply and fit them.
So, I have done some research and have come across a set, that works on an electromagnetic principle, rather than the usual untrasonic system. (check out:- www.parkingdynamics.co.uk)
This system is claimed to more up to date and work, down to a range of circa 100mm.
The sensor is a length of magnetic 'tape' which is simply stuck to the inside of the rear bumper. Obviously this avoids the drilling of holes, in the bumper (something I like) and makes the system totally invisible. The total cost for a DIY setup is also considerably cheaper, less than £100.
Does anyone have experience with this alternative sensor principle and can it be recommended?
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I used these guys www.fittedparkingsensors.co.uk they have a variety of options available, along with colour coding and diy fitting, or they can fit it for you. I had them colour coded and fitted on my driveway, the fitting process took around an hour, and they look and work great, no complaints here.
Ozzie ;D
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I was also thinking on such a system (inside the bumper)...
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I bought what seems to be a similar unit in Singapore for US$39 last year. It has a flexible metal strip much like the magnet on a fridge door seal. You cut it to length and glue it inside the bumper. The controller is a small box which you can hide in the spare wheel well. The power comes from the reversing light and there is a piezo buzzer which I mounted higher up in the boot.
It does work, but gives different results when it is raining, so you sometimes think you are closer than you really are. It tends to squeak when you are really close (50mm). But it is very useful since the rear vision from a Jazz is not wonderful and I have nearly hit low poles on occasion and once reversed into a plastic traffic cone that had moved in the wind.
There is absolutely no indication that it has been fitted. The worst part was refitting the bumper, but if you have someone to assist, its much easier
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Hi Chrisc
Many thanks for your reply. Your description does seem to agree with the specification as detailed on the Parking Dynamics website. They do mention possible errors in rain conditions, but at least the error is on the safe side.
I was rather hoping that the system could be installed, without removing the bumper. Having said that, I note that to have it installed is still much less than the Honda costs.
I think I will wait a while longer to see if anyone has any adverse comments to make, on this alternative system, before deciding which way to jump.
Best regards.
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Removing the bumper isn't too onerous. You unplug the lights and undo the bolts. Getting it lined up when replacing it a bit fiddly, but if you rest one side on an upturned bucket and get a friend to hold it, then it goes quickly
I recall reading a workshop manual for a Jaguar. The job it was said should take 3 hours. One sentence read, "Remove gearbox and propshaft". Yes, 2 hours later you are still trying to undo one bolt you can only feel, let alone see. With about 1 inch of space to work in.
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I fitted the ones some Honda Dealer use when asked for an alternative to Honda part - see details
X-vision rear parking sensors retail £190 I paid £60 via Ebay
Been on 20k miles just great for warning of low level obstructions when reversing
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Please can any body that has fitted their own sensors tell me whether they needed to remove the rear bumper to drill the required holes and also how was the spacing across the width worked out?
Also, did you splice both the live and earth feed wires into the reversing light wiring inside the little cubby hole which covers the lights in the side of the boot?
Thanks, I am thinking of having a go myself but am a bit uncertain!
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i just had fitted the ones from halfords,(meta system)£100 fitted, 3rd car ive had them fitted to, no drilling no removing bumpers, i find them great,thry take the no plate off then fit a frame with the sensors attached, then the no plate fits into the frame, just look up halfords site then parking sensors, and look at the reviews, as said £100 fitted at home, thats all you pay inc fitting.
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Thanks for that boatman1234, I had seen these and they look quite unobtrusive, they also get over the colour coding problem.
I wonder though whether they give good even coverage across the width of the car as there are only two sensors placed each side of the numberplate? Are the edges adequately covered as I seem expert at hitting "hidden" bollards etc?
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The ones I had fitted were drilled with the bumper still fitted. There are marks on the inside of the bumper which the installer pushes a pinhole through then measures, and remeasures from the outside before drilling.
Ozzie
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Thanks, that sounds hopeful, I am not keen to take the bumper off it is such an accurate fit at present and disturbing it is best avoided I believe.
I can't see any pre-drill markings on the inside of my bumper - perhaps a jet-wash might reveal them.
Do you recall just where your installer picked up the reversing light power feed by any chance?
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Thanks for all the replies.
I have ordered a generic set from my Honda dealer, to be fitted by them next week.
I'm afraid I chickened out, re the thought of removing the bumper myself!
Whilst not the cheapest route, they are still roughly half the price of the OEM version and of course the any warranty issues are unaffected, since the installation is being done by my original Honda supplier.
I will report back when I've had an opportunity to test the setup.
Regards to all.
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Inside the rear light cluster, drivers side. The alarm speaker is inside the rear speaker housing fixed with double sided tape.
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Thanks for the info Ozzie - have found the connector in the area you described, I have also found the two inner markings inside the bumper but darned if I can find the two outer marks they don't seem to be there!
I will have to use measurement if I can pluck up the courage to go ahead. Having realized that the bumper does not need removing, I really have no excuse!
The Steel Mate four sensors and bleeper looks the business just a bit expensive but by all accounts is well made and used by many professional installers. Bearing in mind I will be drilling expensive holes in an expensive vehicle, it will probably pay off.
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The outer ones require the removal of the linings in the wheel arch. They are a O with a "+" across it, like a sight on a rifle ;) I will measure my sensors later on, so you know where it is likely to be.
OK had a quick measure, inner sensors are 61cm apart and 44cm from ground, outter sensors are 131cm apart and 57 cm from ground (roughly in line with brake light bulbs), quite a bit higher than the inner sensors, I hope that helps.
Ozzie
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There is a Chinese importer near where I live selling the ultrasonic parking assist kits for R 350,00 (about £30)
Diabolical English instructions, but easy to read diagram. Going to fit these to a Hyundai and won't have to remove the bumper
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The reason I was planning to go for the Steel Mate (about £72 delivered in UK) was that I have read warnings on other sites that there are very cheapo sensors available which are not always reliable. My reasoning is that given the effort of fitting sensors not to mention the cost and time involved in colour coding them, I will pay what it takes to get good quality. Of course where you are located, the price comparison is difficult but I do still believe that you get (hopefully) what you pay for.
Poor deluded fool!
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Ossie,
Thank you very much, I have just read you edited post with the sensor location dimensions - very useful information. I have noted that you have a 2011 Hybrid and I believe that the positioning on this is not the same as my 2009 1.4 ES (from the Honda brochure pictures), my model is shown as having the sensors in a straight line so if it is my lucky day, I won't need to remove the inner wing panels.
I could be mistaken but I believe the rear bumper skirt is a different shape on the newer models especially the Hybrid.
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D'oh ;)
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Fitted the 4 ultrasonic sensors to the Hyundai quite easily. Not mentioned in the book is that there is a trimmer inside the controller. This had to be turned down to about nearly off to prevent the devices from detecting a leaf 5 metres away.
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x430/chrisc4290/DSCP3378.jpg)
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Chrisc - well done, it looks very tidy and professional. Do you intend to colour-match the sensors in place or leave them black?
Having looked hard at Honda brochures for my Jazz (1.4 ES 2009) the spacing of inner sensors appears to be around either 40cms or 50cms I have seen both illustrated. The outer sensor spacing would seem to be more critical because of the existence of chassis outriggers each side behind the rear bumper (one has the concealed towing eye thread behind a circular cover plate) and according to my measurements 113cms is a minimum spacing but DO CHECK behind for sufficient clearance for the sensor before drilling. You have been warned. I am not accepting responsibility for wrongly drilled bumpers!!!
Since the sensors apparently work best if their radiating face is vertical, it looks like positioning them in an approximately straight line just below the ridge that runs across the bumper is favourite and using an angled collar to compensate for the 10 degree-ish sloping face of the bumper could achieve this.
I am still "giving it a coat of looking at" before deciding to take the plunge!
Good luck though if you do decide to have a go.
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My sensors were fitted by the dealer pre-delivery, and the outer ones are fitted a good deal higher than the middle ones.
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Thanks Downsizer, your layout sounds similar to ozzie with his newer Hybrid.
This link to a Honda brochure shows what I think I want and I saw a Jazz on Saturday, 2009 reg plate with just this arrangement: www.honda.co.uk/cars/_assets/downloads/jazz/Jazz_Accessories_final.pdf
The layout you and ozzie describe is probably needed for some newer models because Honda has changed the shape of the rear bumper. Other than that, I don't know why a particular layout is selected by the dealer.
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Chrisc - well done, it looks very tidy and professional. Do you intend to colour-match the sensors in place or leave them black?
Good luck though if you do decide to have a go.
It is my neighbour's car. I used a hole cutter and they slipped in easily. A fairly tight fit and I applied some contact adhesive. I don't think he plans to paint them. There is a ridge on the device which I gathered from the atrocious instructions has to be vertical
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UPDATE:-
Have now had a generic set, which I believe are Valeo, fitted by Avonvale Honda in Solihull, total cost £280.
The car was collected & delivered back, sensors painted to body colour, no visible wiring and generally a fine job.
The position of the sensors is a little different to the dimensions previously described. The inner ones are 480mm centres x 450mm high and the outers are 1390mm centres x 530mm high. They appear to start bleeping at about 1.3 mtr and give a continuous sound at about 280mm
As I said previously, not the cheapest route, but having reached the wrong side of 75 years, I am past crawling about under cars!
All in all, good job, well satisfied and my thanks to all members who contributed to this post.
Best regards.
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I was checking out the detection area and shape from the sensors
It appears to be a fat sausage balloon shape and extends to about 4 metres. It hits the ground about 1/2 metre from the bumper and at 1 metre from the device it is 1.2 metres round. So there is some overlap from the rear-facing sensors and the ones on the edge detect past the edge of the car.
This causes objects like a raised fire hydrant to be detected, but then you are not supposed to park in front of a fire hydrant, although everybody does and the cops do not bother.
If the sensitivity control is turned up, the range does not alter but even a very small object like a screwdriver will cause it to react.
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Yes. I have noticed, that when parked alongside other cars in a carpark, the sensors do react to the car next door, which can be little confusing.
There is also quite an overlap between adjacent sensors, which means that there should not be any dead spots at the rear of the car.
Where is the sensitivity control? It would appear that my control box is somewhere behind the boot panels! I haven't found it yet.
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Well, the device I fitted was made in China and had instructions like: "When led lit out is indicating partially wiring crumped", and, "too fast will consider it to wail as distress", and other helpful sentences
I mean you need an Inglish to English dictionary to figure out what they mean. There is a controller and inside are two trimmers. One alters the frequency and the other alters the range. I figured the range one since it simply reduces the voltage to the transmitter/receiver head. On maximum it sent 12.4 volts, on minimum it sent 5.5 volts. I found that just above minimum worked best.
It was made by the Grand March Electronic Works in Shenzhen. I sent them an email and got a reply in Chinese characters. I sent it to my Chinese friend and he said the message read something about the model is made of very superior parts.
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My previous car was an Astra, which I also fitted after-market sensors too. It seemed far too sensitive with the sensors constantly bleeping. I asked the fitter to check it out, and it appeared that one of the sensors was fitted upside down, so that it was constantly picking up the road as a close object, once it was turned round all was fine.
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Yes, quite right. This installer's guide said, "top is up to be seen by flange on every one", which I took to mean there there is a little ridge indicating the top of the sender.
Clever these Chinese... Nevertheless, product works properly which is all you want
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I used these guys www.fittedparkingsensors.co.uk they have a variety of options available, along with colour coding and diy fitting, or they can fit it for you. I had them colour coded and fitted on my driveway, the fitting process took around an hour, and they look and work great, no complaints here.
Ozzie ;D
I used the same company and got terrific value and service. Colin their fitter fitted them quickly and tidily on my drive with the minimum of fuss.
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Your Jazz is the same colour as mine. How did you do the colour coding?
Thanks
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just for the benefit of anyone still looking for after market parking sensors, i've just had these fitted http://www.parkingsensors.co.uk. I paid for fitting and within 5 days i had them supplied & fitted for £150. I went for the 'micro' version which are slightly smaller than standard, the standard ones are £10 cheaper. Regarding colour match, my car is alabaster silver and the website said their 'silver' ones would be the best match and i can honestly say they are a perfect match and look just as good as if i had had the honda ones (which my local dealer wanted £515 for!).
from a female point of view, paying for fitting was essential for me but it only took him half hour so anyone prepared to fit them themselves shouldnt have a problem, he didn't take my bumper off and the beeper is housed in the rear light access in the boot (the same place he wired them in)
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My Jazz came with sensors fitted - the Honda £500 lot. I fitted the Meta ones to my Yaris 5 years ago and still going strong. The sensitivity is adjustable and it was a very easy fit..
Side view on them is by necessity limited but they still beep at the sides of the garage entrance when I reverse park - clearance on either side is about 25cms.
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I have fitted a few of these sensors and have had no problems,they are Cobra Parkmaster,about £60 on ebay,saying that the last one I fitted on my 2009 Jazz wouldn't set up properly,but it was the fact that I had a slight downward angle on the sensors. :'(
Don
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For what it's worth Honda dealers seem to periodically run an offer on parking sensors for about £250 fitted.
I'm not sure if they only offer this particular deal to buyers of new/nearly new cars but it might be worth checking with your local dealer if they have anything on or coming up...