Cause
Radar sensor not calibrated after front-end work
A forward radar, camera or surround-view sensor disturbed and then not re-aimed to the vehicle.
These sensors cannot be aligned by eye, and that is the fact everything else follows from. A radar or camera measures angles, and a fraction of a degree of aiming error becomes metres of lateral error at a hundred metres — enough for the system to lose the vehicle directly ahead, or to find one in the next lane. Calibration is a defined procedure: a level floor, a target board placed to a measured position, and a scan tool to run the routine.
The failure mode is worse than a fault, because the system keeps working. A sensor that has stopped reports itself and disables the feature. An uncalibrated one reports nothing, functions normally, and is simply looking in the wrong place — so automatic braking and lane keeping act on a picture that is subtly wrong, which is the one outcome worse than not having them.
The work that requires it is broader than people expect and is rarely connected to it: a bumper removed for any reason, a grille, a radiator, a condenser, a windscreen replaced on camera-based systems, a mirror disturbed on surround-view systems, suspension or ride-height changes, and any accident repair however minor — including a parking knock that left no visible mark.
Two practical consequences. Calibration is a real cost and is sometimes quietly omitted from a repair quote — asking whether it is included is a fair question, not a suspicious one. And on paired or multi-camera systems all of them must be done together, since aligning one and not the other leaves them disagreeing, which is its own fault.
Typically specialist work. Needs equipment or training most home workshops do not have.
Codes this can cause (19)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
- P2583 Cruise Control Front Distance Range Sensor Single Sensor or Centre Likely for this code Moderate
- P2591 Cruise Control Front Distance Range Sensor Left Likely for this code Moderate
- P2592 Cruise Control Front Distance Range Sensor Right Likely for this code Moderate
- U0265 Lost Communication With Image Processing Sensor A Likely for this code Moderate
- U0268 Lost Communication With Image Processing Sensor D Likely for this code Moderate
- U02B5 Lost Communication With Front Radar Module B Likely for this code Moderate
- U0416 Invalid Data Received From Vehicle Dynamics Control Module Likely for this code High
- U0420 Invalid Data Received From Power Steering Control Module A Likely for this code High
- U0428 Invalid Data Received From Steering Angle Sensor Module Likely for this code High
- U0432 Invalid Data Received From Multi-axis Acceleration Sensor Module A Likely for this code High
- U0433 Invalid Data Received From Front Distance Range Sensor — Single Sensor or Centre Likely for this code Moderate
- U045D Invalid Data Received From Automated Driving System Control Module A Likely for this code High
- U015C Lost Communication With Automated Driving System Control Module A Moderate
- U0232 Lost Communication With Side Obstacle Detection Control Module A Moderate
- U0266 Lost Communication With Image Processing Sensor B Moderate
- U0421 Invalid Data Received From Suspension Control Module A Moderate
- U0435 Invalid Data Received From Power Steering Control Module — Rear High
- U0533 Invalid Data Received From Side Obstacle Detection Control Module A Moderate
- U0534 Invalid Data Received From Side Obstacle Detection Control Module B Moderate
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