1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

[Poll] "Clean Parking Assist Sensor" and Intelligent Clearance Sonar Issue??

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by psoque, Sep 3, 2017.

?
  1. I’ve never had any problems

    34.9%
  2. It mostly works with occasional hiccups

    55.8%
  3. It’s worse than useless

    9.3%
  1. psoque

    psoque Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2017
    59
    31
    0
    Location:
    Fishers, Indiana
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Hi. Just picked up my new Prius Advanced yesterday. No problems yesterday, but today, after driving in fairly vigorous rain (is this a factor....the manual sorts of eludes to that) I got the "Clean Parking Assist Sensor" error as well as "ICS does not work" error simultaneously. I carefully wiped all 8 sensors around the car, but it continues to give me this error. The car runs OK otherwise.

    Is this a known problem, and is there a fix to this? I really cleaned the sensors just again, and letting the "car dry" for few hours to see if that fixes it.

    Thanks.
     
  2. heiwa

    heiwa Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2016
    223
    215
    0
    Location:
    Central Valley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Mine did the same after driving through heavy rain at two separate occasions. Each time, wiping the sensors did not resolve the issue. One day of dry weather did. Since then, I have driven my Prime in heavy rains a few times without any issue. Are yours still giving you the error messages?

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  3. psoque

    psoque Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2017
    59
    31
    0
    Location:
    Fishers, Indiana
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    The error message went away after leaving the car parked outside in the sun for about 2 hours. Not sure what made the erro messages go away, either the sun/heat, just "draining," or just time. I'm surprised Toyota do not give a very specific warning to new users.
     
  4. heiwa

    heiwa Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2016
    223
    215
    0
    Location:
    Central Valley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I've read in other threads that SOME people experienced it with rain like ours. I also read some reporting errors withe snow ,which resolved by wiping sensors clean. My speculation without evidence is that water may go behind the sensors causing the errors, and the dust may seal the gap over time to make the sensor less susceptible to water intrusion. I never went to Toyota dealers for inspection or repair because the problem does not persist.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  5. Jim N.

    Jim N. Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2017
    12
    2
    0
    Location:
    South Whidbey Island, WA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I had this same problem earlier this week. Drove in heavy rain Saturday evening, then sometime on Sunday started getting "ICS Unavailable" and "Clean Parking Assist Sensors" alerts. I would also get false proximity alerts on the front end, when the car wasn't close enough to anything to trigger an alarm (at least, it wouldn't under normal conditions). I came here and saw that others had had the same problem and figured I would just wait it out.

    I live on an island, and on Monday I was on the mainland for other business, so I decided to stop by the dealer's service department. I was still getting alarms and had wiped off every sensor I could find. I figured I'd just ask them to see if there was perhaps a sensor tucked away somewhere than I hadn't found, or if I needed to be cleaning them differently. Imagine my surprise when they didn't know what the "Parking Assist Sensors" were that I was referring to! Huh? I even told them that I realized they had a new version on the Prius Prime, but that parking assist sensors had been on other models for years. I was still greeted with blank looks, even after they did some searching on their computers.

    They suggested I make a service appointment, which I balked at. (I will give them the benefit of the doubt and believe, for the moment, that for some reason the two people I talked to really were in the dark about the sensors. I didn't get the feeling they were trying to sell me an unnecessary service appointment.) The next available appointment was a few days out, and I didn't want to make another trip off the island ($17+ round trip ferry, plus the time!) if I could avoid it.

    Tuesday, still beeping. Actually, worse - two different alarms related to the sensors were going off, and they were about 1/2-tone different in pitch, so now I had this incredibly dissonant and annoying beeping going on. Nothing I did trying to turn them off worked for more than a couple minutes.

    Wednesday, the beeping was gone. No more alerts. No more disharmonic beeps.

    So yeah, it sounds like what others have encountered - sensors got wet and caused bogus alerts until they'd had a chance to dry out. I'm in a cool climate (Puget Sound - high has been around 60 recently) and at home the car is always in a below-grade garage, so it probably took longer for them to dry out that others have encountered. Others have also said that after the first time, they've been through heavy rain without any recurrence, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

    I'm still dumbfounded by the blank looks at the dealer, though. Really? You've never heard of "Parking Assist Sensors"????
     
  6. heiwa

    heiwa Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2016
    223
    215
    0
    Location:
    Central Valley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I suppose some/most people are not curious enough to pay attention to things that are not relevant to them.

    Do not get discouraged if the sensor error happens again. I had two separate occasions with it a few weeks apart, but it has not returned since.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  7. I'll monitor this thread, in case I start seeing alarms with the sensors. We received 5-6 inches of rain from the storm that ended just yesterday.
     
  8. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2009
    2,945
    2,735
    0
    Location:
    OK
    Vehicle:
    Other Electric Vehicle
    Model:
    N/A
    I'm now getting the "Clean Parking Assist Sensor" error as well as "ICS does not work" error simultaneously. I did a 450 mile round trip in drizzle type weather. I never got the error until about 2 hours of driving after the drizzle stopped. It was gone the next day. I decided to hand wash the road dirt off and sure enough, the next day the error was back. Sensors are spotless.

    I don't understand why an external sensor can't handle just plain old water. The alert does not tell you which one which is no help.
     
  9. Donald Henning

    Donald Henning New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2018
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Seattle Washington
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I've had my 2017 Prius Prime for two months now. Just did a round trip Seattle to Las Vegas on vacation. When we got near Seattle, on the return trip, it was raining pretty hard coming over the cascades. The next day when I started my Prius I got the "ICS does not work" error. It sat outside for an hour at the golf driving range and then on my return home the error cleared up. Toyota obviously has a problem with these sensors in rainy weather. Sounds like a recall to me.
     
  10. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2013
    3,493
    1,231
    1
    Location:
    NY
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    I don't know for sure, but my park assist may have never worked.
    The first few months I didn't pay much attention except when I drove three 2000 mi trips.
    It's definitely not working now. And I don't have any error/warning lights/buzzers. But I did have an intimate meeting with a thing behind me.
    The noise maker for the precollision system with pedestrian detection is not working either, as I had an intimate meeting with something in front of me.

    Not that I care too much. Definitely not enough to take it in and have them hook it up.
     
  11. EazyPeazy

    EazyPeazy Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2018
    110
    83
    0
    Location:
    New York
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I had that “clean sensors” warning as I drove out of the lot with the new car. Ignored it and went away. A couple weeks later it returned. There are 10 sensors around the car. 5 for the front and 5 in the rear. Cleaned all of them and I definitely think it has to do with water contamination. Once it’s dried out, then it works fine. Funny thing is when I looked closely at them noticed a rubber type washer around each one, so I don’t understand how water would cause any problems. I just turn off parking assist and rear cross traffic alert sensors on the MID when it happens. No more noisy interruptions. Only sensor light off indication comes on. I think it is some sort of manufacturing issue and really can’t be fixed. Hopefully won’t get worse.
     
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,474
    38,106
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    @psoque @Tideland Prius would it be possible to add a poll to this thread? Something along the lines of:

    I've never had a problem
    It's mostly working, but have occasional outages
    It's worse than useless
     
  13. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,768
    16,017
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Done
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  14. Priscilla

    Priscilla Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 7, 2005
    33
    12
    0
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    I had the same problem after driving in a hard rain on the interstate. I did wipe all the obviously visible sensors off and the alarm did not go away. However, I noticed on the dashboard display that two sensors on each side of the car were not visible by just looking at the perpendicular surface of the vehicle. I knelt down and felt just underneath and there they were - two on each side just underneath by the doors. Once I wiped them off - and they were dirty - the alarm went off and has stayed off.
     
    skirmish and SFO like this.
  15. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,768
    16,017
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I’m trying to picture where this is.

    There are 12 sonar sensors around the car. I’m guessing these are the ones you found.
     
    skirmish likes this.
  16. Priscilla

    Priscilla Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 7, 2005
    33
    12
    0
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Yes! You have to kneel down and look under to see two of them in the mid part of the car on the sides.
     
    skirmish likes this.
  17. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,768
    16,017
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
  18. randomwalk101

    randomwalk101 DYI'er

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2012
    532
    268
    0
    Location:
    texas
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Can you post a pic of the location you're talking about? There are four perpendicular sensors (two on each side), one is front near the head light and one is near the taillight...Can't find anything mid part on the side (or door) as you mentioned.
     
  19. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2005
    1,731
    1,154
    0
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    If ther are a total of 12 then they are all visible without kneeling.
    The two front facing ones are black and blend in with the front black grill but they are not hidden.
     
  20. randomwalk101

    randomwalk101 DYI'er

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2012
    532
    268
    0
    Location:
    texas
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    yeah....she has a 4th gen Prius but posted in Prius Prime section thus confused everyone... LOL
     
    skirmish likes this.