Uh oh - "Forward Collision Camera Malfunction"

The same thing just happened to me on the drive home, it's raining today and my car is 10 days old. Shut the car down a couple times and resets none of them worked. Both "Forward Collision Camera Malfunction" and "adaptive head light malfunction" messages popped up. the Funny thing is that it returned to normal just when I got home and tried to take a picture of the error message. Oh well.
 
I did have it on the first week it happened and brought it there to show it. The only thing they told me because of to the winter season; ice buildup or moist or snow/dirt. So I am waiting till it is summer where it is clear warm weather and will take a video it again if it happens so they have no excuse.

So don’t crash in the winter! Brilliant excuse from your dealer.
 
Happened to me while driving home from downtown Boston in a snowstorm. The whole front of the CX5 was covered in snow. Brushing it off fixed the issue.
 
Its the camera in the screen that senses possible collisions. Dont forget you can get condensation inside the camera housing even if the screen is clean. It might cure itself with the change in weather.
 

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Update....It happened again yesterday (May 2). No rain, no sun, it just gave up. Went away with a re-start. I'll keep track and see....
 
2018 CX-5 Touring (w/preferred pkg)
I got the warning once...driving uphill into the sun. I think it's simply a matter of the camera not being able to see enough detail to be reliable in a hard stop situation. Glare from the sun, condensation, etc. Think of all the things that keep you from taking a good picture with your phone. Now take that picture at 75 mph. I'm certain the resolution setting on the FLC is set as conservatively as it can get. Try to note where and when it happens. Correlate some data. Short of that...warranty.

Update: I've had it happen 6 times now (brand new 2018 purchased in March). Varying weather conditions...bright sun, overcast, during rain... Wiping doesn't help. In some cases off/on works, in some not. Dealer time.
 
This covers all the functions of the forward sensing camera and the conditions under which it may not work.
 

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Theyve improved the sensitivity of the camera. Although this applies worldwide you probably wont find your VIN as the US tend to generate their own TSBs.
 

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Thanks for all the info you provide Anchorman. Very interesting. Looking at all the scenarios where the camera does not detect objects with sufficient accuracy, I think we are still some way off for mass produced fully autonomous cars that we can trust.
 
Mine was doing this during the first month i owned it. hasnt happened in a while now. The biggest change? 1) i stopped parking in the garage and 2) the weather is just hot here... the issues were earlier in the year when we had cool mornings and hot days. But now its just hot and it hasnt happened since. I was on the verge of turning the car back in and finding something else, but glad i held on to it.
 
Anchorman, good educational info. Where do you gain access to this information?
 
Thanks for all the info you provide Anchorman. Very interesting. Looking at all the scenarios where the camera does not detect objects with sufficient accuracy, I think we are still some way off for mass produced fully autonomous cars that we can trust.

Yes I know what you mean but I’ve done 400 miles to Key West with this rental today and I will definitely pay the 800 for it next time. With that and the lane departure and blind spot monitoring I felt like I was in a little cocoon. You do have to watch it though, if somebody cuts across you to turn off it will dump the brakes. I could manage that.

Anchorman, good educational info. Where do you gain access to this information?

They are produced by Mazda for the motor trade. You can probably access the online portal but I think you guys have to pay quite a lot. In Europe you can have an hour or two for about $6.
 
Solution

For me, the error came from using RainX on the windshield and not wiping it off completely in the camera area. That area is of course the hardest to reach from the ground. I took her in to the dealer and they confirmed. I have since repeated the results by applying RainX (poorly) and correcting them by buffing it off with Windex. So if youre using misc cleaners on your windows, this error is a very real concern. I feel like the RainX product does little to affect the rain anyway, and now it risks causing problems...
 
For me, the error came from using RainX on the windshield and not wiping it off completely in the camera area. That area is of course the hardest to reach from the ground. I took her in to the dealer and they confirmed. I have since repeated the results by applying RainX (poorly) and correcting them by buffing it off with Windex. So if you’re using misc cleaners on your windows, this error is a very real concern. I feel like the RainX product does little to affect the rain anyway, and now it risks causing problems...

That makes a lot of sense.
 
Uh oh - "Forward Collision Camera Malfunction"

Just saw this today on my wife's brand new (less than 24 hours) 2018 Touring. The error actually said the system was disabled due to high temperature. I'm in South Florida and it's frigging hot outside so it made sense. The car had been parked for about 3 hours in the sun. As the car was cooling off the message went away on its own after about 5 minutes.

It'll be interesting to see how often we see this message, as it's pretty hot down here for a good part of the year. She also had one of those windshield cover things so I don't know if maybe that blocked some sort of ventilation to that area or something while the car was sitting.
 
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Probably looked like this? This has happened twice now over the last month.
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Thanks for all the info you provide Anchorman. Very interesting. Looking at all the scenarios where the camera does not detect objects with sufficient accuracy, I think we are still some way off for mass produced fully autonomous cars that we can trust.

I agree. manufacturers are rushing into AVs, saying it's okay if a small number of people die to ultimately save the lives of a much higher number of people, most of who are trying to drive and do other things at the same time. This would be like creating robotic stoves that do all the cooking for you, primarily because some cooks get burned because they weren't paying attention.
 
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