Principles Of Operation

Parking Aid - Explorer

Principles of Operation

NOTE: The liftgate must be closed for correct operation of the parking aid system.

NOTE: The Smart Junction Box (SJB) is also known as the Generic Electronic Module (GEM).

With the ignition switch in the RUN position, the Parking Aid Module (PAM) detects objects behind the vehicle when the REVERSE (R) gear is selected. The PAM calculates the distance to an object by the use of a radar sensor mounted in the rear bumper. The radar does this by calculating the distance to an object within a 170 degree semicircular area emitted around the rear of the vehicle.

- At speeds under 4 km/h (2.5 mph), the system reports multiple beeps at ranges of up to 2.6 m (9 ft). A solid tone is reported if an object is within approximately 0.5 m (1.5 ft).
- At speeds between (2.5-5 mph), the system reports objects up to 5 m (16 ft).
- At speeds above 8 km/h (5 mph), the system reports objects up to 5 m (16 ft) and reports a fast beep alarm indicating time to collision is less than 1.5 seconds.
- The system is not effective at speeds greater than 10 km/h (6 mph) and may not detect certain moving objects.
- Audio system volume is reduced when the PAM speaker is sounding (beeping).

The parking aid system is disabled if any fault is detected, and the message center indicates the parking aid is disabled. The parking aid system is also disabled when the operator selects parking aid disable through the message center. The parking aid system remains disabled until either the ignition key is cycled from OFF to RUN, or parking aid enable is selected through the message center.

The PAM communicates with the scan tool, the SJB and the Instrument Cluster (IC).

NOTE: Both the Medium Speed Controller Area Network (MS-CAN) and High Speed Controller Area Network (HS-CAN) are used for intermodule communication. A gateway message is transferred from one network to another network through the IC. Refer to Information Bus.

Parking Aid Module (PAM) Network Communication Messages