There are usually three possible reasons why you see the “Sensor Blocked” message in a Ford vehicle:
- Actual blockage of the radar sensor with snow, ice, mud, water, whatever.
- Problems with the radar itself or electrical connections.
- Extreme fog, snow, or rain disturbs the radar and blocks its waves.
Also, in the vehicles with the camera and enhanced adaptive cruise control features, you can see this message when the camera is blocked or broken. In this case, the entire system may stop working correctly and you will see the annoying message.
Your vehicle may say “Pre-Collision Assist Not Available”, “Adaptive Cruise Not Available”, “Collision Warn Not Available”, etc. But the “Sensor Blocked” is usually the part of the warning.
What can you do with the radar-blocked message in Ford?
There are several ways to fix the problem. Mostly, they are DIY and you will only need help from a dealership or a good repair shop when there are issues with the radar itself. But this is not that common.
So, here are the possible fixes:
1) Clean the radar area from any contamination
First of all, learn where the radar is located in your car. In most cases, this is the area of the front grille. It’s not uncommon for this place to get dirty with dust, snow, mud, etc.
All you need to do is wash the area or at least wipe it clean and make sure it doesn’t have anything on it. This will unblock your radar.
But after you clean the radar area, don’t forget that the radar will take some time to recalibrate itself. So, you may just need to keep driving for several miles till the radar recalibrates and jumps into action.
2) Clean the camera area
The front camera is usually located behind the mirror in your interior. So, it films the road through the windshield. If your windshield is foggy or the lens on the camera is foggy, the adaptive cruise control feature will not be working.
Clean the windshield or use your defog function of the climate control feature. This will help you defog all the glass surfaces quickly and solve the problem.
Again, the system may require some time to start working properly after the camera is cleaned.
3) Turn the vehicle off and then on
If you checked the sensor area and the camera area and they are both clean, the problem may be with the software. Glitches are pretty common for modern Ford vehicles overloaded with control modules and other technologies.
So, just turn the vehicle off and wait for several minutes. Then turn the vehicle on and see if the problem persists. Although it won’t solve all the problems, it can help if the reason for the radar sensor failure is a software glitch.
4) Deactivate ACC and other radar-relying features
Using settings in your car, you may decide to deactivate the forward collision warning and adaptive cruise control features like lane assist, road sign scanning, etc. When you do this, you will not see the message on the dash.
This won’t repair the problem and get your radar sensor back to work. But this will help you get rid of the message till you can get some professional help.
The problems with the radar sensor are not super important and you may decide to wait for a week or two before going to the dealership. But driving with the error message in your dash is not a good option.
5) Get your vehicle to the dealership
If nothing helps and you’ve already waited quite long for the sensor to recalibrate itself, there is only one wise solution – take your Ford to the dealership.
These sensors are extremely sensitive. Once something happens to them, they stop working. Any minimal impact, change of position, slight voltage problem, etc. – anything can make them throw the error message and stop functioning. By the way, you may also see other warnings like the start-stop system error, etc.
The dealer will use a proper scanner to see what the problem is and will offer solutions. Of course, you may choose any trusted independent shop, too.
But I strongly recommend checking whether Ford issues some TSB or recall for your model regarding radar sensors. Because replacing the radar sensor will cost you a fortune.
Can you recalibrate the radar sensor faster?
No, there is no way you can recalibrate this thing faster than it will adjust its work on its own. The radar sensor needs to be in different situations like driving with different speed levels, seeing several various objects on the road, etc.
Until it finishes the recalibration process, you will be observing the “Fron Radar Sensor Blocked” message and several functions won’t be working.
Is it safe to drive like this?
When you see this error message, you can drive, there is no need to stop the vehicle and solve the problem right there and then. Just remember that several functions won’t be working properly.
For example, the following functions may be unavailable:
- adaptive cruise control;
- forward collision working;
- emergency braking;
- collision warning;
- lane keeping assist;
- front parking sensor;
- standard cruise control.
Unfortunately, the basic cruise control may also refuse to work when the ACC isn’t working. I don’t know why but Ford as well as many other brands has this problem – the cruise control feature just refuses to work when the radar sensor is not operating properly.
Do you have any experience solving the “Front Radar Sensor Blocked” problem in Ford cars? Please share it in the comments below!