VW Golf - ACC Radar

Schorpio

Hi all,

My mark 7 Golf has an issue with its ACC radar. When I switch on the ignition I get a message on the dash along the lines of 'ACC not available'.

I've had it looked at by my usual garage, and apparently everything seems fine from a power/coding standpoint. I'm told it likely needs calibration, and that means a trip to VW and parting ways with about €300.

Does anyone know if there is anyone in or around the Cork area who has expertise in this system, or might be able to do it a bit cheaper?

User1998

Had this issue as well, never bothered to fix it as I sold the car. But just to let you know a lot of the time this would indicate that the car was involved in a bad collision. Thats what caused mine to disable and the radar was never repaired. Not sure if you know the history of the car?

kirving

By "everything seems fine from a power/coding standpoint", do you mean that no error code is showing up?

If there's no error, what make the garage 100% sure that it's the radar that's the problem? It likely is the radar (dirty/stone hit it), but anything from a brake pedal switch, wheel speed sensor, low battery, ABS pump or others could cause a generic error message. It really is one for VW to be honest.

Schorpio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118743471#Comment_118743471

Bought the car 6 years ago from VW, at 3 years old and 10k miles. I'm confident that it's never had any collision.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118744244#Comment_118744244

No, I didn't mean error codes, I meant the unit coding. Apparently the radar units are coded - such that I can't go out and by a replacement unit and just drop it in. It needs to be 'coded' to the car before it will work - or so I believe.

When I first started getting the error, a bit of Googling led me to believe that the battery may be culprit. Unstable voltages from a dying battery, apparently. I did have the original 9 year old battery in the car at the time, but it was starting/running fine, so I ruled it out. But about a month or two later, my battery died. I've since replaced it (a few months ago at this stage) and all is well, except for the ACC error which had not disappeared.

Toyotafanboi

You're garage dont know what they're at, otherwise they'd have it sorted. They mustn't have any ADAS equipment. Any decent diagnostic equipment should be able to tell the nature of the fault, so if you have a fault on the dash and they couldn't at least produce a fault code, you can be assured they are in over their heads and better suited to changing oil.

The car doesn't need to be in an accident to upset the radar view, specially on a pre-facelift Mk7. A child kicking a ball at the bumper, hitting a bird on the road, a nudge in a carpark, stone chips and road debris, the sensor is wide open to external influence.

I would agree with the above, it's one for a dealer or someone who specialises on ADAS stuff, which is virtually nobdoy really. It's a fantastic accessory and a huge safety advancement. Spend the few bob and get it done right.

Schorpio

Appreciate the input Toyotafanboi, but I disagree that the garage doesn't know what they're at. It's probably my fault though in how I described it. I did not ask for the specific error codes - I was just told that the system requires re-calibration and that's what's throwing the message. The garage doesn't have the calibration equipment, so they can't do it. To me at least, that seems fair enough.

My post was just looking to see whether there are any third-party garages which may have the neccessary equipment, and might be a bit cheaper than VW, as I understand it can be an expensive enough job (250ish). I think I have my answer - no there isn't!

Appreciate the input all.

bs2014

I hit a rabbit last year and clipped my ACC. It worked for about 3 months and then it stopped. Turned out the ACC camera socket was bent from the hit and water got in round it. Have a look to see if your camera is fully straight or if theres any play. Thankfully I got a second hand camera off a breakers for £120 (Over €900 new from VW) and it took about 3 to 4 hours to code to the car and line up using the mirrors. My VW fred in the shed mechanic was able to do it all which I was surprised and it was about €250 so I really don't think VW will code it for €300. If your in Cork, I've heard good things about Des Goldens. They prob nearly as dear as VW but a VAG specialist will prob know more tbh.