Park Assist Blocked – What Does It Mean?

Most modern cars have the Park Assist function, which helps drivers when parking in narrow spaces.

If this system is malfunctioning for some reason, you will receive a message or warning telling you that park assistance is not available.

Dirt, water, or ice on the parking sensors are the most common causes of the park assist blocked warning message on your car.

The message goes away after a few hours, however, some drivers also report this problem after washing their cars.

If you see the message, you should visit a professional mechanic. There are some easy fixes that you can try before going to the mechanic to fix this issue.

Where Is It Located?

The information cluster of the vehicle is referred to as the dashboard and contains the message “park assist blocked”.

If you want to ignore the message, you can press the select button on the screen and it will go away.

If there is a problem with the car and the message keeps reappearing, then you should see a mechanic.

How To Reset Park Assist?

Before you go to the mechanic if you receive the park assist blocked message, there are a few things you can try to reset the system.

Please try the following:

• Carefully clean the parking sensors in the back of the car.
• If you turn the park assist button on and off, it will reset the system.
• Some situations might be helped by turning the ignition on and off.
• Try disabling the rear park aid by pressing the button.
• You can ignore the message by pressing the odometer stem.

After the warning message appears, visit a professional mechanic. If you have a problem with your car, they can fix it. In case the warning comes on, a faulty sensor would be replaced.

Is Park Assist the Same as Parking Sensors?

Park assist and parking sensors aren’t the same. Park assist and parking sensors are things that aid in this action.

Park assist is an advanced function that handles the steering when you are parking the car, but you have to control the gas pedal and brake the car.

There is an obstacle that comes within the parking range. In constant communication with the parking assist system, this data is transferred to the car’s ECU.

The system will allow you to free your arms and sit back while you watch your car park in a spot.

The parking assist system is referred to as the self-parking system in some cars. The parking assist could mean parking sensor project guidelines on the car’s dashboard.

When the vehicle is approaching an obstacle, the system makes a sound. As the distance shrinks, the warning beep becomes more intense.

What Causes Parking Sensors to Stop Working?

Washing the Car

After checking some community boards, most users reporting this problem have something in common: they get this warning message after washing their cars.

Why doesn’t this happen? It’s a good idea to wash the car before parking it in the street.

The warning message will appear on your instrument cluster if the moisture bars it from functioning properly.

Making the park assist blocked warning go away is easy in this situation. You should allow a couple of hours for the trapped moist to dry.

If you want to help the car, you can use a cloth, or a leaf blower or drive for a few minutes.

Other issues could be causing the problem, and the warning message that appeared after washing the car was just a coincidence.

Keep reading to find out what other factors can be involved in this issue.

Off-Road Driving

With the summer just around the corner, most drivers will start taking pride in off-road driving.

If you are not aware, off-roading will cause a lot of dirt and mud on your car’s body panels, especially in the lower area.

Mud and dust can cause the parking sensors to be covered. This will make it difficult to view parking sensors.

If this can be the root cause of your problem, a visual inspection of your vehicle is the best way to detect it.

If you clean your car, the warning message will go away, and it’s easy to fix this problem.

Keep reading to see what else can cause the problem if the warning persists on your instrument cluster.

Damaged Bumper

During a little adventure when off-road there might be some chances that your vehicle’s bumper has suffered some issues.

If this was your first time in the off-roading world, you might not know that this is a common occurrence. The rear and front bumpers of the car have parking sensors in them.

If your car gets hit from behind, or if you accidentally hit something in front, the parking sensors will probably be damaged and stop working.

If this is the case, a quick look around your car will let you know. Sometimes the paint can be intact, which makes it more difficult to diagnose.

If there was an impact between your car and another car or object, it is important to remember.

This is more difficult to fix than washing the car, and you will need to go to a repair shop.

Depending on the car model, location, and the damage caused, the labor and parts can add up to $600 and $700.

Extreme Weather

I noticed that there was another pattern after reading some automotive forum boards. The parking assist issue was reported by some drivers after driving through harsher weather.

You wonder how this could cause my parking assist system to malfunction. There are parking sensors that can stop working if the weather is bad.

It has been reported that after a snowfall or heavy rain, the parking sensors stop working. They were working just fine after the snow or ice was removed.

The solution is to allow a few hours after the trip so the ice on your bumper can melt. It is possible to speed up the process by parking the car in the sun.

The front and rear bumpers should be cleaned if the problem persists.

If the message is still there the next day, you might want to have a specialist check the car. The components that can cause this warning will be described.

High Speeds

Some drivers have a more spirited driving style, reaching speeds that some might consider unsafe while reversing, even though the speed of a car is very slow.

If you reverse the car at high speeds in an open area, it might cause the parking sensors to stop working.

When the speed of the car exceeds 8 km/h or 5 mph, parking sensors stop working. As soon as you begin moving forward, the message should go away.

Try restarting the car if the warning is not gone. There could be something else causing the warning message to appear if this did not solve the issue.

How to Tell If a Parking Sensor Is Bad?

If the parking sensors go bad, you will face the following symptoms.

• Even if there is no obstacle nearby, you would still hear warnings from the parking system.
• The parking sensor’s dynamic guidelines wouldn’t show up on the rear-view camera screen, or they might guide you in the wrong direction.
• The self-parking function will fail if the parking assist function does not work correctly.
• You can tell if the parking sensor is malfunctioning by looking at the car.

What Is the Cost to Fix a Parking Sensor in a Car?

The parking sensors cost more to fix than to replace. Depending on the model and make of your car, the complete replacement of parking sensors can cost between $500 and 1,300.

Oxygen, MAF, and MAP are some of the other sensors that cost less than $300.

The reason for the expensive replacement of parking sensors is that there is no parking sensor in the bumper.

There are lots of sensors in it. If the bumpers are damaged, you have to replace all the sensors. It is not possible to fix a sensor in most conditions.

Unlike a hardware component that can be bent, straightened, or hammered to return to its original condition, sensors need to be replaced when they break or start malfunctioning.

What Are the Other Reasons That Cause Park Assist Blocked Warning?

Bad parking sensors, as well as other reasons, have been discussed in the above section of the parking assist blocked warning.

Other problems have been reported as the root cause of park assist blocked warning.

Tow Trailers & Trailer Hitches

A towing trailer is one of the reasons that drivers are warned about on automotive platforms. If you are towing a trailer, you may be warned that the parking assist is disabled.

Some drivers said they received the warning even after they removed trailers. They left the trailer hitch intact because of that.

ECU Runs into Problems

When everything is fine, but you still get a warning about the system, there is only one possible culprit: the car’s engine control unit.

The receiving, processing and transmission of data are handled by the brain of the car. You will receive unnecessary warnings if there is a glitch or a problem.

What Other Car Models Have This Common Issue?

The two popular Chevy cars where owners are faced with this warning are the Chevy Traverse and Chevy Silverado.

There are no recalls from Chevrolet when I write this article. According to various discussion boards, a “Park Assist Off” warning message is very popular among the GMC Acadia owners.

After looking at the list of the Technical Service Bulletins, it seems that the issue hasn’t been addressed officially.

Several car models have this issue, including the Buick Enclave, Chevy Avalanche, Cadillac CTS, Cadillac Escalade, and GMC Sierra.

Conclusion

The warning message about the park assisting blocked is not a big deal. The majority of the time, the fix is to wash the car or allow the water inside the parking sensors to dry.

The root cause of the problem might be a faulty component, and it is better to have an expert diagnose the problem if you have tried each method described in the article.