Forward alert malfunction

[73gscoupe]

Got a problem with an error message: "Forward alert malfunction" comes up on startup (and in messages).

Car was fine before a trip to the panelshop to repair the passenger door. No work was done around the front of the car, just the door.

adaptive cruise still works fine, radar sensor is keeping distance / speed ok.

parking sensors work, but i dont think these are linked into the forward alert system anyway

Any ideas on what may be wrong? Dont know if I should be barking at the panel shop or if its just coincidence?

[simonmichael90]

There is no such thing as coincidence. They may have disconnected the battery or something to upset the fwd alert system.
Ford dealer should advise what it may be.

[Mad_Pom]

Forward Alert is a function of the Radar unit. If Adaptive Cruise is keeping space then I also don't understand. I believe it can also be set if the Radar has dirt on it, or maybe there is some over-spray on the radar. Look at the radar and see if there is anything covering the surface. Radar is the Black rectangle on the front of the car

[Dusty1]

A trip to the dealer should sort this out.

I'd also check on the Euro Mondeo site, talkford.com. Someone there would have had a similar issue.

[apstar]

http://www.talkford.com/topic/159964-forward-alert/

apstar

[msford]

I had this happen after I took my 2011 MC to the local Ford dealer for it's first major service. I got the impression that they hadn't serviced many, if any, of this model as they weren't very knowledgeable about many of its features. I drove back to the dealer for them to have a look at it and nobody knew much about it at all. It didn't inspire confidence in me, but hopefully they will all know more as they service more of the MC's over the next 12 mths.

Ok, long story short, I solved it myself.

The software update they must've applied must've reset the Forward Alert sensor. See pp 145-146 in the manual (that's where it is in my copy). I can't recall exactly what I did but it was obvious once I accessed the settings and I adjusted the sensor level to my preferred setting.

[allanv6gt]

The forward alert on my MB XR5 doesn't stick between ignition on/off.
This is the onbe burined inthe settings menu, not the cruise control distance bar thingy

I've given up resetting it every time I get in....

[fawknertowers]

Hi all this is my first post so hopefully I do this right.
I purchased a 2009 Mondeo titanium with 30,000ks and everything was going great until a message from my Active Cruise control came up.

Pushed the button to activate on the freeway, message said"ACC Unavailable) with a picture of a book with a information icon in it.

Tried again the next day on the same freeway no problem everything worked beautifully.

It's an intermittent fault.
Just recently but not sure if related when I reverse the car say into the garage my front brakes make loud clicking noise, a mechanic friend said the noise is the brake pad moving in the caliper because non genuine pads were used.


Anybody got any ideas.

[Rastus]

ACC in our MB XR5 Mondy was intermittently coming up with the same ACC unavailable message, then finally it wouldn't work at all. Took it to Ford while under warranty (2.5 years in luckily) thinking it was going to be the radar behind the grill or some other big ticket item. Turned out it was just the steering wheel switch. (Left Hand Side one with the on/off & distance rocker ect.) Haven't had an issue since.

Originally Posted by fawknertowers

Hi all this is my first post so hopefully I do this right.
I purchased a 2009 Mondeo titanium with 30,000ks and everything was going great until a message from my Active Cruise control came up.

Pushed the button to activate on the freeway, message said "ACC Unavailable) with a picture of a book with a information icon in it.

Tried again the next day on the same freeway no problem everything worked beautifully.

It's an intermittent fault.
Anybody got any ideas.

[hotdiesel]

Rastus,

My MB Titanium is also having the same intermittent ACC fault.
What adjustment/fix was made to the steering wheel switch?

[73gscoupe]

Ended up having the forward alert cleared at the service, with no actual problem detected in the car. I suspect the panel shop ran the battery flat, which played havoc with the computer.

have since got the ACC unavailable message...

had a ford service tech look at it, they found an error message to do with the front ultrasonic sensors, cleared that, and gave the car back, saying that the front ultrasonics must have been dirty - they cleaned them, reset the code, and it worked ok for their test drive.

But still have the same ACC problem coming and going, even with nice clean sensors, so I doubt it is that. Had been thinking that there might be a loose connection in the front ultrasonics, but this doesnt gel as the park sensors still work fine for parking.

maybe the switch as rastus suggests, might just replace it myself.

Would be good to hear if others had the same problem and what the outcome was, whether its always the swich, or a range of issues?

[ryeman]

Almost all Falcon FG problems end up being resolved with a NEW battery, and Mondeo electronics are even more vulnerable to voltage issues I suspect.
FWIW

[Rastus]

Originally Posted by hotdiesel

Rastus,

My MB Titanium is also having the same intermittent ACC fault.
What adjustment/fix was made to the steering wheel switch?

They replaced the entire L/H steering wheel switch for a new one. No dramas since. I think it was only the on/off button that was the culprit.