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I bought a used Skoda Fabia that is fitted with a parking assistant (reverse parking sensors) which does not seem to work.

According to the manual when I change into reverse it should either make a short beep (for everything alright) or a long beep (for "parking assistant not working"). Instead it makes no sound at all and the sensors also don't make a sound when there is an obstacle.

I checked the fuse (5er fuse in slot 9), but it looks ok from what I can tell.

Is there something else I can do myself before hitting up a repair shop? This is my first car and I have no knowledge about car mechanics, but am not afraid to learn and get my hands dirty.

The car was checked shortly before I bought it but they found no problem. According to the family member I bought it from the parking assistant worked before that.

UPDATE: As suggested, I checked if my rear driving lights work when I am in reverse. At least one side (back right) lights up, not sure if it should be two lights or if that's just normal?

UPDATE2: I finally checked some weeks ago. Doesn't seems to be the fuse. The multimeter showed power on both sides and the AC is wired on the same fuse and works.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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magnattic
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    Does the reverse light work when you shift into reverse? – ozg Sep 10 '15 at 09:34
  • I'm not sure, will check tonight. – magnattic Sep 10 '15 at 10:49
  • Welcome to Mechanics.SE! Glad to see you over from Movies.SE :D I was wondering if it might have been turned off, but realize now that it sounds like it was working when you got it (or at least that is the indication). If you have a multimeter, you might check that the fuse is getting power on both sides with the ignition on (car may need to be running). – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Sep 10 '15 at 22:18
  • @özg Check my update in the question. Any ideas? – magnattic Sep 12 '15 at 03:00
  • @Paulster2 Thanks! Good to see a familiar face here. It never worked since I got it, but apparently it worked at least until it got to inspection some weeks before I bought it. Maybe they messed something up? Unfortunately I have no multimeter, but I am not sure how I would check both sides of the fuse anyway. You mean when it is unplugged? Otherwise I don't have a way to get to the ends, do I? – magnattic Sep 12 '15 at 03:04
  • I was suggesting checking both sides of the fuse when it's installed. I'm not sure what type of fuse the Skoda uses, but most fuses I've seen have access to both sides which you can get to with the sharp metal probe of a multimeter. If you have power on just one side, it could still be the fuse. If you have power on neither, it could be an issue with the wiring before the fuse. – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Sep 12 '15 at 11:12
  • Do not assume it worked when the vehicle was inspected. Many inspection regimens are for basic safety issues only; optional equipment need not work for the vehicle to "pass". – kmarsh Jan 06 '16 at 22:24
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    @Paulster2 I finally checked some weeks ago. Doesn't seems to be the fuse. The multimeter showed power on both sides and the AC is wired on the same fuse and works. – magnattic Jan 06 '16 at 23:13

1 Answers1

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I had very similar symptoms on a BMW, the sensor itself was faulty and the problem was solved by replacing it.

There are two ways of diagnosing this that I can think of:

  1. Look at the sensor readings in the live data section of a diagnostics tool
  2. If you don't have access to such a tool, buy one new sensor and fit it to each position one by one until the problem is resolved
KnowledgeQuest
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