"Semi" Adaptive Cruise Control

[cspartan]

I did a lot of searching but could not find this particular issue, so I'm hoping someone has experienced this or has some ideas if they're more familiar with the ACC hardware. I have a '10 4.8 w/tech and LOVE the ACC.

The issue I'm having is that my wife hit a raccoon last week on the front passenger side. No marks on the bumper, but it must have been big enough to bump the splash shield underneath as it's cracked in two places and broke some of the plastic around the bolts. After looking it over that night and searching here I found that the shield isn't that expensive and something I could replace myself. The next morning on my drive to work I used the ACC like normal....until I came up on another vehicle and realized the vehicle indicator display in the instrument gauge didn't register that there was a car in front of me. Shut off the ACC, turned it back on, same thing. What gets really odd is that while the ACC doesn't 'see' a car in my same lane, it will register a vehicle in the lane on my left, but for only a short distance - say 10' to 25' feet off the bumper. The ACC doesn't pick up any vehicles in the lane on the right.

Note, no malfunction message comes on at all, the ACC thinks it's functioning perfectly fine. I've gotten the warning before when it can't 'see' because of ice/snow buildup on the sensor areas.

My question(s) for those more in the know is the radar is housed in the those black squares on the lower bumper fascia on either side of center right? I can't get a good look inside/behind them because of all the covers and such, but is it possible the impact of the raccoon bumped one of the sensors out of alignment and that's what's causing this? Am I looking a required dealership trip to take a look or could a competent independent mechanic diagnose and fix this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[1FstYota]

Take it apart and take a look from what you described it probably is bent and out of alignment. Lucky its not broken cause I heard that is expensive to fix.

 

[EdP]

Sounds like an alignment problem since it still works but is not accurate. If you can examine it and determine the proper adjustment, go for it. No way would I trust an independent unless you know he has specific experience with how it works. There are times the dealer mechanics with specific brand training are best. You may find their shop rate is not so bad either.

 

[homeofstone]

Insurance claim on hitting a animal in road. Usually a small deductible. The ACC repair can get very expansive so go for insurance claim.

 

[cspartan]

Well I took a look this evening and it seems there is only the one sensor on the passenger side. Just dead space behind the drivers side black panel.
The brunt of the impact was right under it, from the splash guard damage which pushed up and broke another plastic shroud in there. It doesn't seem out of alignment as it's still facing directly forward. I was hoping the bracket would be bent and it would be facing towards the driver side. The bracket is very solid though and seems fine.

I'm going to speak with a highly recommended mechanic tomorrow and see if he's dealt with these before, if I don't like what I hear I'll take it to the dealer.

 

[TheDr9669]

If the radar module on the passenger side is thrown out of alignment it could cause these issues. If the module still works fine, (As far as you can tell) gently straighten out the bracket if necessary and take it to a dealership to have the ACC system reinitialized. The procedure involves driving at certain speeds for specific distances while the module recalculates it's parameters. (I was told this allows the system to not be too sensitive to alignment issues.)

 

[cspartan]

Update here, on my drive in to work this morning I tried the ACC again. Same thing, worked without registering a vehicle in front of me. Turned it off and on again a few times, then about the 4th time I got the orange warning in the bottom left of the info display "SCC sensor malfunction indicator" and the ACC would not engage. Looks like I"ll be taking it to the dealer and calling insurance.

Thanks for the all the advice.