Previously I had posted in a few threads about how the RAB would fail and disable itself until the next time the car was started. There was also a tied in issue with the airbag throwing some generic code and also being disabled when the RAB failed. And for the last 7 months SoA has stated this is "working as designed".
Well I'm happy to say the system really WAS faulty and NOT working as designed. I have been driving it for the last 3-4 weeks without an incident. I can back in and out of my driveway now without the system failing and disabling itself and the airbags. And the generic error code for the airbag is gone. In fact I thought it was too good to be true I had to test to see if the system was even working. So my first test was to stick a garbage can in my driveway and as I backed in the system activated just as it should and stopped the car. It did not disable itself either. My second test was in a parking lot as I rolled back into a space with a retaining wall and bushes behind me. Again the car stopped flawlessly as it should. Not a single failure.
So now we come to the fix. Unfortunately what made it so drastic was that it required another car to rear end me. Luckily it wasn't anything major. Some dumb chick with a smartphone wasn't paying attention at a light and bumped me. The damage was just a few minor scratches on the rear bumper. Fortunately the screw or bolt holding her front plate on hit perfectly on one of the sensors and busted it. It made backing up a pain till it was fixed as the system would immediately alert and slam on the brakes each time the car was put in reverse. The repairs included a new bumper cover, 4 new sensors and clips. After 2 weeks (time to get the correct bumper cover from the warehouse) I had the car back. And not a single failure or the system disabling itself since. It's been working flawlessly.
If anyone else is having issues with the system disabling itself, leaving the fault indicator lights on the dash as you drive, it might be worth seeing if you dealer would replace the sensors. I don't think the bumper cover would have made a difference. According to my invoice the sensors only cost about $25 each. It seems a cheap fix for $100 in parts and about an hour of labor.
Well I'm happy to say the system really WAS faulty and NOT working as designed. I have been driving it for the last 3-4 weeks without an incident. I can back in and out of my driveway now without the system failing and disabling itself and the airbags. And the generic error code for the airbag is gone. In fact I thought it was too good to be true I had to test to see if the system was even working. So my first test was to stick a garbage can in my driveway and as I backed in the system activated just as it should and stopped the car. It did not disable itself either. My second test was in a parking lot as I rolled back into a space with a retaining wall and bushes behind me. Again the car stopped flawlessly as it should. Not a single failure.
So now we come to the fix. Unfortunately what made it so drastic was that it required another car to rear end me. Luckily it wasn't anything major. Some dumb chick with a smartphone wasn't paying attention at a light and bumped me. The damage was just a few minor scratches on the rear bumper. Fortunately the screw or bolt holding her front plate on hit perfectly on one of the sensors and busted it. It made backing up a pain till it was fixed as the system would immediately alert and slam on the brakes each time the car was put in reverse. The repairs included a new bumper cover, 4 new sensors and clips. After 2 weeks (time to get the correct bumper cover from the warehouse) I had the car back. And not a single failure or the system disabling itself since. It's been working flawlessly.
If anyone else is having issues with the system disabling itself, leaving the fault indicator lights on the dash as you drive, it might be worth seeing if you dealer would replace the sensors. I don't think the bumper cover would have made a difference. According to my invoice the sensors only cost about $25 each. It seems a cheap fix for $100 in parts and about an hour of labor.
