Poor Camera Visibility System Disabled Error (2020 Mazda CX-5)

Oh and i forgot. That was copied from the owner manual as well so the manual kind of contradicts itself:

From the CX-5 owner manual:
“In the following cases, the MRCC with Stop & Go function system is cancelled when the vehicle is travelling at 30 km/h (19 mph) or less and “Mazda Radar Cruise Control disabled under 30 km/h” is displayed in the multi-information display.
  • The Forward Sensing Camera (FSC) cannot detect target objects (There is problem with the Forward Sensing Camera (FSC) or windscreen is dirty).”
 
I am just going by what i recall from the warning i get from my car (2018 CX-9). It happens often in winter when ice and fogging happens on the glass in front of the camera. I am pretty sure it says “ disabled under xx km/h” but i don’t have hard proof for now.
It's the kind of thing that could be easily tested with results possibly varying from model year to year. One could tape a piece of cardboard over the camera and drive around some and see what happens.

I don't use MRCC, and I don't regard any of the safety functions as anything but backstops against driver error which may or many not work situationally, so I'll leave that for somebody else to test. I drive at all times like they don't exist and that would be my advice. I know my blind spot and backup alerts work well but I don't expect a 0% false negative error rate and those are the only features I care about.
 
Oh and i forgot. That was copied from the owner manual as well so the manual kind of contradicts itself:

From the CX-5 owner manual:
“In the following cases, the MRCC with Stop & Go function system is cancelled when the vehicle is travelling at 30 km/h (19 mph) or less and “Mazda Radar Cruise Control disabled under 30 km/h” is displayed in the multi-information display.
  • The Forward Sensing Camera (FSC) cannot detect target objects (There is problem with the Forward Sensing Camera (FSC) or windscreen is dirty).”
That's interesting and does appear to be a contradiction. I don't know if that's from you 2018 manual but I can say my 2020 says the same thing.

What's also interesting is if you take that passage at face value, you wouldn't know your stop and go is non-functioning until MRCC slows to 19 mph which might be too late of a warning if you were counting on it. I'd have to believe this is trying to say something else, but I don't know what.
 
In my 2020, over 21 months and 9,000+ miles, I've not had this message appear nor the one's described in the owners manual. As others have noted, the affects of sunlight should be relatively rare, a peculiar set of circumstances. A few important additional points about these systems:

1) Cameras behind glass will have inherent limitations. While you may be thinking about how your smart phone camera adjusts to all kinds of light conditions, try shooting a pic through a window with glare, dirt, water, road salt or ice. Given what these systems are asked to do, they should be erring on the side of caution so you don't kill yourself. If such cameras are not behind glass, the problem would be worse with water, dirt, salt, etc. directly on the lens. Consider how backup cameras get cloudy with any of that stuff on the lens. Then there's the matter of fog. No camera of any kind is going to get a clear shot through pea soup.

2) Read your manual starting at page 4-207 and read the laundry list of warnings and cautions. Something besides light and windshield crud may be affecting the performance of your camera. Any other car would have similar warnings.

3) This is not a design flaw. It is a technological limitation of cameras not unique to your vehicle or Mazdas or this price point. Consider the following "Autopilot" warning from the Tesla S 2022 manual, a vehicle that would set you back $100,000+, which has three forward facing cameras and numerous other cameras and sensors:

"Ensure all cameras and sensors are clean before each drive. See Cleaning Cameras and Sensors for more information. Dirty cameras and sensors, as well as environmental conditions such as rain and faded lane markings, can affect Autopilot performance."


There is no such thing as "autopilot", self-driving, or autonomous functions no matter what Elon Musk or anybody else tries to sell you. Think about Tesla drivers whose vehicles are being splashed with slush and road salt who think their vehicle can drive itself.

In fact, certain functions in your Mazda may work better under specific conditions since Tesla discontinued the use of radar some months back. I don't know if Musk has backtracked on that since.
Thanks
 
I didnt mention it at the beginning but the reason I use the av mpg. and the miles
driven setting because I use it to monitor my current mpg’s seeing that message pop
up is annoying. That camera is tied in with the adaptive cruise control.

Even when I use my adaptive cruise control I am still aware what is going on. I don’t just set it and forget it
 
I am just going by what i recall from the warning i get from my car (2018 CX-9). It happens often in winter when ice and fogging happens on the glass in front of the camera. I am pretty sure it says “ disabled under xx km/h” but i don’t have hard proof for now.
Same here, when window is fogged in the morning, our 2018 disables the safety features Until it clears.
 
This is the second time I took my car to the dealer regarding this issue.
They say it’s because dirt might be affecting it or it’s because of the sun.
Is this accurate or am I getting the run around.
Thanks
Hello.
A very similar message, with various icons underneath, appears in my September '22 Cx5 GT Sport.
What's not yet been mentioned specifically is that the light level being too dark is enough to disable it.
It's happened twice to me, now, and, being a worrier, I immediately thought I was the one who'd been sold the faulty one, but not so, it seems.
I've copied and pasted the below from the online manual:-
  • ' The surroundings are dark such as during the night, early evening, or early morning, or in a tunnel or indoor parking lot'.
My rural area doesn't have many street lights.
It also says, surprisingly, that being in tunnels, too, may deactivate it. I shouldn't like to drive through any unlit tunnel, but that might be caused by the downward glare of the overhead lights, as that's another reason given for its sometimes temporary loss.
Thanks.
 
I had a similar message during the test drive of a brand new Mazda 6. Not a good start for my first Mazda. It turned out the dealer people had put one of those attention grabbing stickers on the windshield so it would be seen by cars driving by and they covered the camera. Frost will do it also and it’s the farthest place to reach when scraping. If you’re really unlucky, well placed bird droppings will get you too.
 
Hello.
A very similar message, with various icons underneath, appears in my September '22 Cx5 GT Sport.
What's not yet been mentioned specifically is that the light level being too dark is enough to disable it.
It's happened twice to me, now, and, being a worrier, I immediately thought I was the one who'd been sold the faulty one, but not so, it seems.
I've copied and pasted the below from the online manual:-
  • ' The surroundings are dark such as during the night, early evening, or early morning, or in a tunnel or indoor parking lot'.
My rural area doesn't have many street lights.
It also says, surprisingly, that being in tunnels, too, may deactivate it. I shouldn't like to drive through any unlit tunnel, but that might be caused by the downward glare of the overhead lights, as that's another reason given for its sometimes temporary loss.
Thanks.
I'll add that yesterday I noticed when it happened again that there were ice crystals within the triangular FSC camera shape visible from outside. They adisappeared after using the heated rear and front screen in which works in combination the heated front screen air blower.
Tonight, at 29 farenheight, the ice crystals having returned. I tried again, with equal success; by the mobile 'phone's torchlight, whilst checking that the ice had melted, I could see the steam rising from the windows caused by the windscreen's heater.
I'm very surprised that with all the expertise a FSC can't be invented that should prevent ice crystals from forming around the lens.
Thanks.
 
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