Front sensor malfunction

[chickdr]

On our 2021 CX-5 we are getting intermittent sensor malfunctions. It never seems to happen to me, but my wife has seen it 3 times. Windshield is always clean (car is garaged at all times). It has a new battery as of a month ago. I have an appt for the dealer to check it out tomorrow but I figured I would past and see if others have had the issue.

 

[cz5gt]

yeah its a known issue. Multiple causes though

 

[sm1ke]

One of the instances that can cause a warning/malfunction message to appear is bright sunlight. If it hits the sensor just right, it can "blind" the sensor and trigger the warning. If your wife has a daily commute or daily drive when it's bright and sunny out, and if the warnings seem to appear at the same time/location, that could be what's causing it. In which case, there probably isn't anything the dealer can do about it, unfortunately.

 

[chickdr]

I expect it is something like that. She does have a regular drive and today it happened today around 6am so it wasn't super sunny. I fully expect the dealer to say there is nothing wrong but as it has happened 3 times my wife is getting uncomfortable. I just drove the car about 10 miles and it is really sunny now. No issues (which has been the case- it never happens when I am driving).

 

[hsdejong]

I just drove the car about 10 miles and it is really sunny now.

Like sm1ke wrote, It's not so much the brightness of the sun, but the low angle with the horizon that shines directly into the camera lens.

 

[chickdr]

It could certainly be this. I am never with her when it happens so I don't know the time but I know she was out between 5 and 6am this morning so there would have been a sharp angle if the sun was coming out.

 

[HyFlyer]

And early morning humidity in the car "fogs" the camera inside up by the rear view mirror. Defroster dries it off and all is well again.

 

[cz5gt]

I expect it is something like that. She does have a regular drive and today it happened today around 6am so it wasn't super sunny. I fully expect the dealer to say there is nothing wrong but as it has happened 3 times my wife is getting uncomfortable. I just drove the car about 10 miles and it is really sunny now. No issues (which has been the case- it never happens when I am driving).

if it disappears shortly after you drive in a different direction - yes its the sun glare and angle.
Mazda doesnt have filter on the early model cams.

There are few more different causes. one has to do with the camera part no, another with fw update and the third is different - with an added msg about the rear blind spot where the module has issues from time to time and produces all kind of errors in the dash.

 

[chickdr]

I went to the dealer today and they told me if the error is not persistent and resolves, there is likely no issue so I just left it alone for now. The car drives perfectly normal so I don't think there is a real issue.

 

[cz5gt]

You can ask them to check for fw update on the camera module. But if the car is out of 3/36 you would have to pay for the time to check/update if any.

 

[dunhillmc]

Glare and morning condensation can cause those safety sensor temporary errors