Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) Issue

[Brize]

I'm lucky enough to have a box of tricks on my Ducato based PVC which provides ACC, traffic sign recognition, lane control, auto emergency braking and a couple of other things. There will be others on here with the same who may be able to help/advise.

The ACC generally works brilliantly, and has been so useful crossing Germany and France on all those long motorways without having to turn it off/on depending on traffic speed. During June/July in Norway I got a message saying that the front radar was temporarily blinded and that ACC was unavailable, and despite much cleaning of the radar and windscreen cameras, I couldn't get it to work. Fortunately, Norway is not a place you really need it, but a month later it miraculously started again, just in time to cross Denmark and Germany again.

Fast forward to September in Spain/Portugal, and the ACC stops again, with the same message of the front radar being blinded and therefore unavailable. I haven't been able to get it working again. The van hasn't had a knock of any sorts, and there does not seem to be any fallback to standard cruise control.

So, I'm asking if anyone else has had a similar experience, and any tips to get it going again. Is there a magical combination of button presses that will restart it?

Oh, and pappajohn, please don't bother telling me that this is another useless gadget; I take it as read that you think that. Actually, when ACC works, it's brilliant.

Any help or advice gratefully received.

 

[peterc10]

Could it be illegal to use it in certain countries so the engine management turns it off when it senses you are in such a country?

I know it is illegal to use a dash cam when driving in Portugal.

 

[lunarman]

Ducato 9, ACC-Ausfall (Radartempomat) - Ducatoforum.de

Hallo, hier ist Johannes, neu im Forum :) Bei unserem nagelneuen Ducato 9 (Kastenwagen-Womo, Robeta-Ausbau), ist nach einer Gesamtfahrstrecke von ca. 1000 km der Radartempomat ausgefallen. Die Anmerkungen im Display "geblendet", "kontrollieren lassen".…

www.ducatoforum.de

This German website (may need translating) has a number of people complaining of the same thing. The final entry says it needs recalibration.

 

[Reallyretired]

Mine on my car (motorhome too ancient ) sometimes does this . Sometimes a leaf in the radar other times nothing visible. It always comes back after a few miles

 

[CustomBuild]

While my comments are not relevant to the Ducato, I do have quite a bit of experience with Mercedes. Originally I thought the MB ACC could be somehow better than Tesla only to find out that software is not MB’s strong point. Things sometimes work and sometimes they don’t. Frustrating though it is at times I’ve had to learn to live with it.

As Brize said, ACC etc is brilliant when it works.

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[Trevor Wbm]

Based on experience with a car system, if you can get underneath and see the connections, make sure they are sound and watertight.

 

[Brize]

Bumped (only once), just to see if there are any Ducato owners with ACC online today.

 

[Palough]

Could it be illegal to use it in certain countries so the engine management turns it off when it senses you are in such a country?

I know it is illegal to use a dash cam when driving in Portugal.

Been living in Portugal 23 years and haven't been nabbed yet

That's not to say I won't get nabbed tomorrow

Both vehicles, car and MH get through the annual vehical inspection each year without comment.

As for the police in Portugal, they are pretty slack, don't spend much time chasing motorists, mainly sitting in their cars playing games and texting on their mobile phones

Which is probably why Portugal has a road accident mortality rate of 54 compared to the EU average of 45. (Feb 8, 2024)

 

[Palough]

Oops, typo.

13 years