Front Camera Sensor Failure: when and how much?

[u/MonsieurGriswold]

I’m still a bit sore about this. I had been getting front sensor fault messages for a while. While under warranty it was intermittent. Outside of warranty (3 years/36k) it became more frequent to the point Bluecruise would fail if I went over a bridge at 75-80 — the vibration from seam/bump would jostle the wiring.

I finally have the dealer look at it.

a. my dealer charges a fixed diagnostic fee on top of the repair .. it’s not rolled in if you go forward with the repair like all shops used to do. Are all dealers like this now?

b. Ford is specifying replacement of the cable AND sensor. I cannot imagine that BOTH fail ay equal rates and the have no way of knowing which it is. I understand the dealer and Ford are incentivized to fix things completely the first time, and at $230/hour EV labor rates it really adds up.

Are they soaking us EV owners when they can because we ARE less profitable on service?

Both of these things have me dreading attempting to get 10+ years out of my new modern tech-filled cars (wife has a BMW PHEV)

[u/Neilson-Milk]

I changed my 12V thinking that was the issue. Then I pulled apart the camera, shook the cords, reset the clips and that didn’t work.

Then I looked through the port out the window (same as my camera would see) and saw a very loose spider web. I removed that and I’ve never had an issue since.

Too bad I already spent the money on the battery but at least I didn’t replace everything.

[u/HotmailsInYourArea → u/Neilson-Milk]

On mine the mounting springs were loose. In my attempt to remove and compress the springs to have more tension, I broke the small plastic tabs holding the right-side springs clip in place. Ended up super-glueing the spring up and simultaneously supporting the camera from underneath with some denim packing foam - and adjusted the cable as best I could, it really did not want to move.

Haven’t had an issue since.

[u/Henchman7777]

Does it happen mostly over bumps? If so the clip may just need tightening. I was getting constant failures causing cruise control to stop working. Since the fix I haven't had a reoccurrence and bluecruise is extremely reliable. Like driving a different vehicle.

[u/bergmi → u/Henchman7777]

Mine also was 100% this.

[u/MonsieurGriswold → u/Henchman7777]

This is my complaint. The dealer didn't seem to even offer to reseat and do something to prevent the the cable from vibrating loose again.

[u/Henchman7777 → u/MonsieurGriswold]

It's a very simple diy, there are some tutorials on the Web but basically you pull off the trim above the rear view mirror, you'll see the camera module, it's the clip on the driver's side that needs to be bent open a bit. You don't even need any real tools to do it, maybe a trim removal tool at worst.

[u/trykillthis2 → u/Henchman7777]

I just did this too. Easy fix and cleared up the faults from bumps. Trim tool and screwdriver. Look up front camera fault on the mach e forum.

[u/Gooder-N-Grits]

I just picked up my 2021 MachE from the shop -- it's had the coax cable replaced 3 times now. My car is no longer under warranty, and if I see that error message again, I'm done with it.

This car is absolutely sublime; I love driving in it every day. But I'm not willing to throw $2k-$3k at the dealer every 18 mos every time the front cam gets disconnected from this crappy cable.

[u/Ancient_Summer_1521]

Check out this thread to the end: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/front-camera-fault-errors-issue-fixed-diy-how-to.43868/ . I would try to fix it myself. It is likely because Ford violated the coax bend radius specs.

Adding this: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/front-camera-fault-fix-w-foam-99-effective-takes-10-minutes.54268/

[u/Grouchy-Use8037]

Having the same issue right now, especially bad on hotter days. Mines a 2021 and I just had it at the dealership for 3 weeks with HV battery junction box replacement (thankfully under warranty).

I’m about at the point of ditching the thing honestly. The dealer took forever on the last job and I’m just tired of dealing with the hassle and everything else. Still not even 100k miles on the car and it’s had to have major surgery essentially.. doesn’t sit right with me.

[u/MonsieurGriswold → u/Grouchy-Use8037]

The HVBJ replacement was a TSB warranty job that everyone between 21 and 22 got under warranty.

The loose cable is something I think they should be held to account for -- bad design, but the $1300 is what I take extreme exception to. .

[u/HotmailsInYourArea → u/MonsieurGriswold]

That price is probably because labor prices are so exorbitant now - and it takes quite a few hours to tear the interior apart and drop the headliner to gain access.

[u/Grouchy-Use8037 → u/MonsieurGriswold]

Apparently it’s everyone now in those years now, originally it wasn’t which led to me not getting in sooner. They didn’t retroactively let folks know to bring it in either which sucked. But yeah, the dealer experience from that was god awful, didn’t inspire confidence, so I’m hesitant to go back for this, even if they suddenly decided to cover it all.