2021 Bronco Sport Pre-Collision not working ?

[PTBadlands]

I purchased my 2021 Bronco Sport Badlands in Oct 2024 and I set the pre collision to "high" for my new 16 year old permit driver.
The system worked great for a few months but then i received a "pre collision not available " message on my dash.
I brought to the Ford dealer and they cleared the code and re synced the unit behind the rear view mirror ( which controls auto high beams, lane assist and pre collision). Spent $300

But on my way home, someone stopped short in front of me and the unit did not provide any message.
I checked the vehicle settings and the system was still set correctly to "high" alert.
I then continued to thoroughly check the system through various tests ( including garbage cans and dumpsters) , but still doesn't work!.
( my 2019 Acura MDX does alert me in the same tests ) .

Brought back to dealer , but the dealer stated "if the system shows no codes, then it works" .
I asked them to prove it works and they could not/ refused.
I've checked everything and cannot figure out what is wrong..

The auto high beam works and the lane assist now works again, so I believe the unit is working **for those functions ** only .
Window is factory and there is no tint .
I want this truck to be safe for my 16 year son to drive......
Any ideas ? My car has UNIT #1 , not radar sensor Unit #2 - see below ....

 

[Dude]

Odd that the owners manual pics show the full size Bronco
But is similar locations for the BS being depicted

 

[coopny]

If there's no errors, the system is probably working as well as it can solely being based on vision.

Vision requires machine learning to have models that identify what an object is, approximate distance, etc... however, it's dependent on the quality of the input.

A major downside of a camera only approach (the same approach that Tesla uses with multiple cameras on their cars ADAS functionality) is that they can fail to recognize objects as what they are and thus can go careening straight into, say, a semi truck that has flipped over.

If you had the Copilot 360+ with the adaptive cruise control, then you have the secondary input of the radar sensor with the camera. The radar can detect solid objects in front of you, and for vehicles, how quickly they are moving. Even if the camera cannot recognize the object (unusual conditions, too dark, rain/snow/sleet, sun shining in the camera washing out the image), radar would still detect a potential collision in front of you.

Better than nothing, but a camera only approach will never be perfect...

 

[Me3]

Hi, a couple of thoughts.

Make sure the windshield is clean. Dirt, dust, bugs can block the camera.
Same with the radar sensor if you have 360+

Have you had the windshield replaced? Recalibration may not have been done.

How’s your battery? A low state of charge seems to affect everything in these cars. I’d like to think it wouldn’t affect something as important as pre collision braking, but who knows.
I just charged mine on a trickle charger for 26 hours to top it off and the transmission shifts so much smoother now. It doesn’t make sense but there it is. My BS was driven short trips only for the last 8 months and didn’t get charged enough apparently, so I will use the trickle charger regularly now.
When I first got this car the emergency braking system slammed on the brakes hard when when a car pulled out in front of me about 150 yards away. I then set it to low alert, it happened again with a car around 100 yards away. I’m thinking this is unacceptable. Luckily it hasn’t happened again since. It seems to be an adaptive learning system..
Good luck teaching your kid to drive. Teach them to keep their distance and speed and to not rely on any automated safety system, it may not be there for you.

 

[PTBadlands]

If there's no errors, the system is probably working as well as it can solely being based on vision.

Vision requires machine learning to have models that identify what an object is, approximate distance, etc... however, it's dependent on the quality of the input.

A major downside of a camera only approach (the same approach that Tesla uses with multiple cameras on their cars ADAS functionality) is that they can fail to recognize objects as what they are and thus can go careening straight into, say, a semi truck that has flipped over.

If you had the Copilot 360+ with the adaptive cruise control, then you have the secondary input of the radar sensor with the camera. The radar can detect solid objects in front of you, and for vehicles, how quickly they are moving. Even if the camera cannot recognize the object (unusual conditions, too dark, rain/snow/sleet, sun shining in the camera washing out the image), radar would still detect a potential collision in front of you.

Better than nothing, but a camera only approach will never be perfect...

 

[PTBadlands]

thank you for the insight.. very helpful !

 

[PTBadlands]

Hi, a couple of thoughts.

Make sure the windshield is clean. Dirt, dust, bugs can block the camera.
Same with the radar sensor if you have 360+

Have you had the windshield replaced? Recalibration may not have been done.

How’s your battery? A low state of charge seems to affect everything in these cars. I’d like to think it wouldn’t affect something as important as pre collision braking, but who knows.
I just charged mine on a trickle charger for 26 hours to top it off and the transmission shifts so much smoother now. It doesn’t make sense but there it is. My BS was driven short trips only for the last 8 months and didn’t get charged enough apparently, so I will use the trickle charger regularly now.
When I first got this car the emergency braking system slammed on the brakes hard when when a car pulled out in front of me about 150 yards away. I then set it to low alert, it happened again with a car around 100 yards away. I’m thinking this is unacceptable. Luckily it hasn’t happened again since. It seems to be an adaptive learning system..
Good luck teaching your kid to drive. Teach them to keep their distance and speed and to not rely on any automated safety system, it may not be there for you.

 

[PTBadlands]

windshield clean ; not replaced .

good thought about the battery .... I replaced the 4 year old battery 3 weeks ago thinking that it could be the issue ( but it wasn't ) :-( It does seem to be an adaptive system ; at least that's what the dealer said.. thanks for your help

 

[Me3]

Hey Paul, I was just looking at the manual and saw this:

“Note: If you perceive the pre-collision assist alerts as being too frequent or disturbing, then you can reduce the alert sensitivity. Setting the low sensitivity would result in fewer and later warnings of a potential forward collision. The manufacturer recommends using the high sensitivity setting where possible.
Note: The system turns off when you manually disable AdvanceTrac™.”

The last sentence regarding Advance Trac. I don’t recall seeing this on the Sync screen, try looking for in in the settings. Maybe it was turned off at some point, so see if you can locate that.

Other than that I’m pretty sure you’re good to go. The emergency braking systems from what I’ve read and seen over a few years acts very strongly and at the last possible moment to minimize damage and injury. Guessing you just haven’t reached the speed and distance thresholds to activate the system in your tests, but even if the alert doesn’t come on the emergency braking will likely work.
Frustrating though not to know for sure if it’s working.

 

[PTBadlands]

Hey Paul, I was just looking at the manual and saw this:

“Note: If you perceive the pre-collision assist alerts as being too frequent or disturbing, then you can reduce the alert sensitivity. Setting the low sensitivity would result in fewer and later warnings of a potential forward collision. The manufacturer recommends using the high sensitivity setting where possible.
Note: The system turns off when you manually disable AdvanceTrac™.”

The last sentence regarding Advance Trac. I don’t recall seeing this on the Sync screen, try looking for in in the settings. Maybe it was turned off at some point, so see if you can locate that.

Other than that I’m pretty sure you’re good to go. The emergency braking systems from what I’ve read and seen over a few years acts very strongly and at the last possible moment to minimize damage and injury. Guessing you just haven’t reached the speed and distance thresholds to activate the system in your tests, but even if the alert doesn’t come on the emergency braking will likely work.
Frustrating though not to know for sure if it’s working.

 

[PTBadlands]

Thank you for the information !

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