Just lost adaptive cruise control and Lane Keep assist... thoughts?

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by DBSeattle, Feb 18, 2019.

To remove this ad click here.

  1. DBSeattle

    DBSeattle New Member

    Drove the car for the first time in a few days yesterday after the Seattle snow storm. Everything okay but the portion of the dashboard that normally shows cruise control, adaptive cruise and Lane follow, lane keep is blank and does not respond to any input from the steering wheel. Wondering if it's a fuse - the rest of the dashboard controls and displays are normal. Anyone else have this experience? Any suggestions for quick fix before returning to dealer?
    Thanks
     
  2. To remove this ad click here.

  3. unlimited_power

    unlimited_power New Member

    You can lose Honda Sensing features if the sensor is blocked. The sensor on the Clarity is the camera above the dash and the large Honda logo, which contains the radar. Wipe both clean and the features should be restored.

    This is pretty common in snowy weather, because ice can build up on the radar.
     
    BobS likes this.
  4. Groves Cooke

    Groves Cooke Active Member

    Did you turn on the "MAIN" switch?
     
    MPower likes this.
  5. DBSeattle

    DBSeattle New Member

    Forgive my ignorance. Where would I find the main switch?
     
  6. Groves Cooke

    Groves Cooke Active Member

    Main Switch is on the right side of the steering wheel below the button where you turn on cruise control. It says "MAIN".
     
    DBSeattle likes this.
  7. To remove this ad click here.

  8. jorgie393

    jorgie393 Well-Known Member

    I am with Groves Cooke on this one. I lost my ACC/lane keep today because of snow, and it was in no way subtle: I got a large message saying “Radar not working, some functions disabled”. Went away again on restart. In addition, ACC stayed lit up—it just wouldn’t let me set it.

    Your issue sounds very different, and much more like an accidental press of the driver-assist MAIN switch.


    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
    DBSeattle likes this.
  9. DBSeattle

    DBSeattle New Member

    Thank you all - both cleaning the radar as well as turning on the main switch both are excellent suggestions. I n my case this time It was indeed an inadvertent press of the main switch that had turned everything off. Pressing it again brought everything back to normal. Thanks again!
     
  10. KClark

    KClark Active Member

    I just returned from a trip from LA to St. George UT and back. Twice on the trip ACC just stopped working for no apparent reason. The first time I heard a single low beep sound before it turned off, the second time no sound or other warning. On the way home today we had some snow and the sensors stopped working. I got multiple large orange warnings on the dash. When we got out of the snow I pulled over and cleaned the slush off of the front radar sensor but the warnings didn’t go away, I had to turn off and restart the car, which I thought was a little lame.
     
    KentuckyKen likes this.
  11. neal adkins

    neal adkins Active Member

    The reason is because Honda dont want to be liable for an accident if you are relying on a system that the manual says not to use in rain, snow or ice because the sensors may not properly read your surroundings. Could you imagine the brakes being suddenly appiied on an icey road? Easy for me to say in sunny southwest Arizona.
     
    4sallypat likes this.
  12. To remove this ad click here.

  13. MNSteve

    MNSteve Well-Known Member

    It seems to take the system a while to realize that it can see again. My experience is that it will return to normal operation without a reset after a few minutes.

    This is annoying, but frankly I don't see a viable solution short of including some sort of wiper for the area in front of the camera/radar.
     
  14. craze1cars

    craze1cars Well-Known Member

    Did you first try shutting off the “Main” power button for the cruise control ststem on the steering wheel and turning it back on? I suspect this would have also worked, as restarting the car also restarts the cruise control system. As would have simply continuing to drive. It’s not instant, but once it realizes it can see lines and moving objects again, the warnings go away. Sitting in a parking lot or wherever you wiped it clean doesn’t give it enough input to realize the obstructed view has been cleared.
     
  15. KClark

    KClark Active Member

    I don't find it lame that the adaptive systems might not work right when obscured by snow or ice, that makes perfect sense and no, I don't see a way around this short of having some sort of way to either mechanically clear it or electrically melt it, which I think would be an easy solution. I found it lame that after cleaning the sensors the warnings didn't go away. I can imagine living in an area where the system might be exposed to snow and then have it melt away multiple times during a drive. So I'm supposed to pull over each time to restart the car before I can use it again? Lame.

    I wasn't patient enough to wait and see if it cleared up after a few minutes. I used a cloth to clean both areas completely and then looked at all the warnings and said to myself, WTH? I have several WTH moments with the adaptive systems in my Clarity, I should start another thread to talk about them.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2019
  16. MNSteve

    MNSteve Well-Known Member

    Yes, it would be possible to add systems to improve the performance of these systems when they can't see. Melting wouldn't help in the case where the opaque liquid isn't frozen, which is common. The only two solutions I can see are squirting a solvent on the camera outlet or something akin to a windshield wiper. Personally, I feel that this would be overkill, as neither of these solutions is easy to install, and both of them introduce even more potential points of failure.

    I lived a full and complete life before I ever heard of adaptive cruise control and other systems that depend on being able to see. When I bought my first car with these systems I thought they would be gimmicks; they were on the car so I had them. I rather quickly discovered that they were desirable. But like all technology, they have shortcomings, and you've described one of them.
     
    MPower likes this.
  17. 4sallypat

    4sallypat Active Member

    It's not "LAME" - all cars have this issue.

    My Land Rover which is twice the price of a Honda, will have the same alerts come up when the camera "eyes" gets blocked from viewing the road ahead for lane keeping and active cruise control. Plus having more tech such as the radar unit in the grill when blocked will also give the same ACC warning.

    Just gotta live with these issues when anything blocks the car's vision - you as a human would do the same if mud got in your eyes....
     
  18. KClark

    KClark Active Member

    MNSteve and 4sallypat, I agree with everything you wrote but they have nothing to do with what I wrote. For the third time, I did NOT find it lame that the adaptive features will not work well when the sensors are obscured. For the third time, what I found lame was that after the sensors were cleaned and unhindered the warnings were still there and the systems would not start working until I turned off and restarted the car. If I get mud in my eye and wash it out do I have to wait until I go to bed and wake up the next morning before I can see again?
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2019
    jorgie393 likes this.
  19. MNSteve

    MNSteve Well-Known Member

    Yes, restarting the car works, in the same sense as going to bed and waking up the next morning works.

    That does not mean that restarting the car is the only thing you can do. Hitting the MAIN button twice will reset the system, as will simply giving it time to reset itself. Seems to me that you have decided that this is a huge problem, and you are determined to make it a huge problem.
     
    4sallypat likes this.
  20. KClark

    KClark Active Member

    So are all Minnesotans mind readers or just you? Finding something lame is quite a mild form of irritation in my book.
     
  21. DBSeattle

    DBSeattle New Member

    Thanks - great tip...
     
  22. 2020

    2020 Member

    I'm not sure if these systems work on cameras or radars or both. I rented a BMW with adaptive cruise control in Germany last summer. Worked great until a heavy rain shower disabled the system. This is actually the time I would really need the system to help me out. Hopefully this is due to the technology not being able to keep up with the conditions rather than the car companies listening to their lawyers.
     
  23. MPower

    MPower Well-Known Member

    I have not found that rain or snow has disabled the systems, but if there is a lot of salt/sand/slop on the road and it gets tossed up onto the big H on the front, all the amber error codes will come on and you won't be able to use these systems until you clean off the H.
     

Share This Page