Parking sensor issues after heavy rain

I got the same beeping and warning message the other day while driving in some nasty snowy weather. I did not stop immediately, but when I got to where I was going (1 min later), I parked, got out my snow brush, and brushed off the sensors. The sensors had some salt and some snow but did not seem to be excessive. I did not drive the car until about 90 minutes later. The car was fine (no beeping/warning).

 

Try blowing it a bit with a hair dryer?

 

I also experienced the same sensor message after driving though a heavy rain (coming back from an airport!) in Dec 2016. Despite my attempts to dry the front sensors with a dry towel when I returned home, the sensor kept giving me the error message even in the following morning. I ignored it and drove about 10 miles in a dry weather. Thereafter, the sensor error message disappeared and never came back. Since then, my wife and I have driven our Prime in many heavy rainy days without an issue. I can only assume that water must have gotten behind the sensors but somehow shielded themselves after the first incident...

 

So we should only drive in dry weather and at night so we can see the screen without sun glare.

 

I have the same issue on my truck. I'm wondering if Rain-x or similar would help keep dirt and slush off.

 

I have driven mine through few storms here and so far so good.

 

On my 2016 prius 4, I've not had any issues with rain.
One day in the fall we had a windy wet rain, causing leafs to stick to the side of the car, causing the problems you described.
Removing the leafs fixed it right away.

IMO persistent problems after drying, indicate damage to the sensor.

I would take it to the dealer when freshly wet and having a problem, and hope that the time for a tech to see it is less time that it takes to dry.

 

Well seems like a prevalent issue.

No one mentioned a dealer conclusion.....yes, visit and see if they have a TSB on this issue.

Else, as for DIY seems like the heat gun is an OK idea.
And yes, inspect the area look for water/ salt/ snow intrusion into the lens housing and or wiring connector.
Perhaps it is a "grit" build up on the lens, which could be difficult to maintain until parked.
Hence my two cents on dealer TSB info.

Good luck.

 

Wow

All that rain not preceded by fires and followed by mudslides.

Luck indeed.

 

I had a slightly different problem with my radar sensor in front of the Toyota emblem with some snow buildup on it. During a snowstorm. Which deactivated all of my Toyota safety sensing operations I had to get out clean the off the emblems snow so it would go back to normal

 

Makes me wonder...

 

I have had my Prime for 3.5 months, 3500 miles. This happened yesterday as I drove through a normal, not heavy, rain. Happened again this morning on my 2 mile drive to work, rain stopped overnight and there was frost on the windshield. I will let it dry out today and see if it improves. Good thing this didn't happen to the wife, she would have pulled over and called 'AAA', had it towed to the dealer who would have shrugged his/her shoulders after wiping them with a rag and said "there you go!", and then...repeat. I hope this isn't an indication of what my next 5-10 years with this car will be like.

 

Following up, it hasn't happened since I made this post. We received several inches of rain with horrible wind and leaves blowing around last night and so far today it has been fine.

 

This happened to me today. I got out and wiped off all sensors, including the Toyota emblem. I can understand snow buildup or lots of bugs or something, but mine were pretty clean. I did notice condensation in front of the camera (but that should be separate from the ICS and parking sensors right?) If there was moisture there, maybe the other sensors had some moisture in or in front of them? The warning went away after turning the car off and on. Hopefully (like others) won't come back at least for a while.

 

I've had this happen once around 3,000 miles on the ODO after a foggy drizzly 20 mile drive. Never happened again and I've never had it happen with a pressure wand self car wash. I'd have though the pressure wash would do it every time but not once. Odd.

 

This happened to me this morning. Raining yesterday when I came home. Car parked in garage overnight. This morning when I headed to work the message came up. I wiped off the button sensors (did not know about the emblem) but it did not clear. HEAVY rain on the way to work. But, on the way to work, in all the heavy rain, the message went away.

Does this indicate there is some sort of regular maintenance that needs to be done to keep all of the goodies functioning? I mean, do I have to wipe down the sensors after rain, dust, car wash?