Park Aid Fault after OEM Front Bumper Swap

[braddavis2017]

Hey everyone! Looking for some guidance on this.

I went from a steel Capable Front Bumper with Parking Sensors to a Heavy Duty Modular Front Bumper with Parking Sensors. I reused the wiring harness from the Capable Bumper, but ordered new LU5Z15K859AAPTM Parking Sensors from eBay to have the 90* plug to fit the Modular Bumper.

After the install, my Bronco was automatically turning off the parking sensors claiming there is a “Park Aid Fault”. I’m now dreading I have to disassemble the front bumper to troubleshoot the individual sensors. I double checked the pigtail that plugs into the vehicle; it’s a solid connection and likely not the issue

I read on another post that spraying WD-40 onto the pin connectors helps? Seems strange to me; spraying a liquid onto electrical components.

Curious to know if anyone else has encountered this with an OEM Bumper swap and what their solution is!

It’s likely the sensors are poor quality from eBay (China), the connection to one, some, or all the sensors are loose, there is a chip inside the sensor that the vehicle recognizes as foreign, or perhaps the vehicle doesn’t like that the fog light pig tails are no longer connected. These are just my guesses!


Also, here is a parts list and links I used to get the swap done:

Please note: parts lists vary based on each individual’s acquisition of a Modular Bumper. I sourced mine from a forum member, and the following parts were needed.

Swap to Heavy Duty Modular Front Bumper:
Install video:



• Wiring harness (take one from capable bumper)


Inner sensor brackets:

M2DZ-15A862-MA
https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-outer-bracket-m2dz15a862ma

M2DZ-15A862-MB
https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-inner-bracket-m2dz15a862mb?origin=pla

M2DZ-15A862-MC
https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-inner-bracket-m2dz15a862mc

M2DZ-15A862-MD
https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-outer-bracket-m2dz15a862md

(Need all four, qty 1)



•90* parking aid sensors

LU5Z15K859AAPTM
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2352930833...BQksrd7RUa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

(Qty 4 PCs)


•Retaining pin

W720521-S300
https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-cover-retainer-w720521s300

(Qty 8 PCs)

Smallest orderable qty is 4 PCs

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[braddavis2017]

UPDATE: I have removed my bumper and plugged in the harness only. With all eBay sensors, the system fails. With a mix of eBay sensors and OEM sensors, the system fails. With all OEM sensors, the system works.

There must be a chip within the sensors that the vehicle detects as foreign. Either that or the quality of these eBay sensors is poor. At the end of the day, it seems like the eBay sensors are not a viable option.

 

[Bigmoose]

I did the same swap as you except i bought oem sensors. No issues.
Don’t buy non oem sensors on ebay. They are junk as you are experiencing.

 

[braddavis2017]

I did the same swap as you except i bought oem sensors. No issues.
Don’t buy non oem sensors on ebay. They are junk as you are experiencing.

Awesome, thanks for the heads up! Would you happen to have links to the OEM sensors you purchased?

I’m currently seeing an average price of $180 per sensor online. Not cheap, but at least it will work!

 

[CarbonSteel]

To answer your question about WD-40, it is non-conductive so no danger in electrical connector. In fact, it will displace water so it can prevent corrosion.

I pulled my rear bumper to install a hitch and the passenger rear sensor connector would not seat. A squirt of WD-40 and all was well.

 

[braddavis2017]

To answer your question about WD-40, it is non-conductive so no danger in electrical connector. In fact, it will displace water so it can prevent corrosion.

I pulled my rear bumper to install a hitch and the passenger rear sensor connector would not seat. A squirt of WD-40 and all was well.

Sweet, thanks for the explanation! I’m a systems analyst by trade, so front end computers and logical systems are my bread and butter. I don’t know much about chemistry, so this was a big help. Thanks for letting me know, and glad your post will help others with the same issue!

 

[Bigmoose]

Awesome, thanks for the heads up! Would you happen to have links to the OEM sensors you purchased?

I’m currently seeing an average price of $180 per sensor online. Not cheap, but at least it will work!

I swapped mine a year or so ago. Back then the sensors were $40 at my dealer. Looks like the price has skyrocketed. @flip did they rev these sensors and 4x the price?

 

[flip]

I swapped mine a year or so ago. Back then the sensors were $40 at my dealer. Looks like the price has skyrocketed. @flip did they rev these sensors and 4x the price?

Something happened because they weren't this high a few months ago (modular bumper). I don't know if the newer number will work on older vehicles because of the build date break but they are considerably cheaper. Just to add, Ford really f'd up when they didn't design these bumpers to use the same style sensors. Would be different if there wasn't the price disparity between the two styles but that isn't the case.

 

[braddavis2017]

Something happened because they weren't this high a few months ago (modular bumper). I don't know if the newer number will work on older vehicles because of the build date break but they are considerably cheaper. Just to add, Ford really f'd up when they didn't design these bumpers to use the same style sensors. Would be different if there wasn't the price disparity between the two styles but that isn't the case.

I have a 2023 Badlands. Do you think based on my screenshot I could get away with using the newer NUSZ-15K859-DG?

 

[flip]

Dunno, I just sent a message to my parts guy to order a set so I can try. DM me you VIN and I'll check your build date.

 

[Spar10Bronco]

I’m looking to do this same swap in the coming weeks once I settle on which fog lights to buy. Already picked up the MOD bumper, but it’s stored at my Dad’s barn so I’ll pretty much have to get all the right parts and do the install in one pass since I’m out of state.

My question is what about the OEM sensors makes it not possible to use them? Is it the same issue I’ve heard others mention that the steel plate behind the bumper obstructs the area where the OEM capable bumper sensor is supposed to fit?

Any other issues people have run into with this specific bumper swap?

Thanks!

 

[braddavis2017]

I’m looking to do this same swap in the coming weeks once I settle on which fog lights to buy. Already picked up the MOD bumper, but it’s stored at my Dad’s barn so I’ll pretty much have to get all the right parts and do the install in one pass since I’m out of state.

My question is what about the OEM sensors makes it not possible to use them? Is it the same issue I’ve heard others mention that the steel plate behind the bumper obstructs the area where the OEM capable bumper sensor is supposed to fit?

Any other issues people have run into with this specific bumper swap?

Thanks!

You are 100% correct. The sensors on an OEM Capable Bumper have a plug-in that points straight back. When swapping to a MOD Bumper, this will interfere with the steel plate as you mentioned.

The Modular bumper has sensors with a 90* plug to enable clearance for that steel plate

As stated earlier in the thread, please do not order the 90* sensors from eBay. OEM is the only way to go for the system to not error.

Pictures attached of an OEM Capable Sensor (left) and an eBay MOD sensor (right):

 

[braddavis2017]

I’m looking to do this same swap in the coming weeks once I settle on which fog lights to buy. Already picked up the MOD bumper, but it’s stored at my Dad’s barn so I’ll pretty much have to get all the right parts and do the install in one pass since I’m out of state.

My question is what about the OEM sensors makes it not possible to use them? Is it the same issue I’ve heard others mention that the steel plate behind the bumper obstructs the area where the OEM capable bumper sensor is supposed to fit?

Any other issues people have run into with this specific bumper swap?

Thanks!

There was another issue now that I think of it. If you are reusing the wiring harness that came with the Capable Bumper, you will need to make the following edits.

The Capable Bumper wiring harness has two plastic cable raceways. The pigtail that connects to the vehicle comes out of one of these raceways on the drivers side of the vehicle. It is my recommendation that you undue the electrical tape, and remove this raceway entirely.

I then purchased some flexible cable raceway (can often find these in desk supply kits on Amazon), and re-taped with electrical tape. This allowed me to re-route the power plug around the steel plate (the one that interferes with the OEM capable sensor), as it would not have enough clearance behind the plate.

To do so, you want to route the harness to the right towards the passenger side until you clear the steel plate. Then you can begin routing towards the drivers side of the vehicle (if the takeoff MOD bumper has clipped retainers from previous owner, it will all make sense when you mock it up). My bumper is currently installed but I will do my best to provide photos next time I take it off.

The other reason for doing so is because of the length of the harness. Even if the steel plate had enough wiggle room to allow the power plug to snake behind, the length of the power cable would be restricted by the plastic OEM cable raceway.

In my pictures, I have done my best to mark the ends of where the drivers side raceway begins and ends. You can see the OEM raceway laying on the table above the harness. My flexible raceway has already been installed.

I will also provide images of the unaltered OEM cable raceway for the passenger side. Hope this hleps

 

[braddavis2017]

UPDATE:
According to Flip, there are two model #’s for the 90* parking sensor found on the Heavy Duty Modular Front Bumper:

LU5Z15K859AAPTM
(Bronco build date 05/03/2021-07/10/2023)
https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-sensor-lu5z15k859aaptm

NU5Z-15K859-DG
(Bronco build date 07/10/2023-Present)
https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-sensor-parking-aid-system-nu5z15k859dg

My Bronco’s build date was 7/14/2023. For the sake of testing, I have ordered qty 4 PCs of NU5Z-15K859-DG (link above) to test with my Capable Bumper Wiring harness. I will report my findings as soon as the product arrives!

 

[Spar10Bronco]

This is super helpful, thanks for sharing! I’m a newbie when it comes to all things automotive modifications, but excited to dig into it. Thankful to have an awesome community that shares these tips and tricks so I can put a good plan in place, especially for a project like this where I’ve pretty much gotta do it in one go since the bumper is at my dad’s.

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