What does “Parking Assistant Blocked” mean? (And How to Fix the Issue)
That annoying “Parking Assistant Blocked” warning light. If you drive a relatively new car, you may have noticed this message (or a variation of it) appearing on your dashboard display. But what does it mean, and should you be worried?
In this article, we’ll explain what causes the Park Assist Blocked warning to appear, how it affects your car, and most importantly, what you can do to fix this annoying issue.
What is Parking Assist?
Over the past decade, automakers have worked tirelessly to equip their vehicles with the latest and greatest driver-assistance features. The result is safer vehicles driven by meticulous drivers who are trained in using the technology. One of the most useful and popular of these driver-assistance features is Parking Assist.
Parking Assist provides drivers with audio and visual cues to help them park their vehicle safely. In most cases, an audible warning will sound if you maneuver your vehicle and get too close to some kind of obstacle.
Parking sensor warning for Volvo C40 2023
In many cases, an external camera is also used to visually capture such obstacles.
The latest version of Parking Assist now includes the ability to automatically brake the vehicle if it gets close enough to a solid obstacle that a collision is deemed imminent. This has virtually eliminated parking lot collisions in new vehicles and saved thousands in insurance payments.
What does the “Park Assist” warning mean? The issuance of messages such as “Parking Assist Blocked”, “Parking Assist Not Available”, “Parking Assist Off”, “Parking Assist Fault” or similar usually means that a fault has occurred that prevents the vehicle from using the integrated features. Parking Assist – You can use the features without hindrance.
In most cases, this means that one or more inputs that would normally allow the parking assist system to make intelligent calculations regarding the proximity of obstacles to the vehicle are not available.
As a collision is possible in less than ideal situations, the vehicle disables all parking assist features to reduce unnecessary risks. In many cases, the only way to re-enable the park assist features is to troubleshoot the underlying problem yourself or perform a hard reset for the fault in question.
However, if you choose the latter option, the aforementioned parking assist lockout may reoccur if a false error is logged again. Alerts related to the parking assist sensor are very common. Automakers even issue service bulletins on the issue (such as this one from GM).
Common Causes
If you are seeing the “Parking Assist Blocked” message repeatedly, there are a few possible causes. Knowing these possible causes can help you quickly identify the source of your vehicle’s current issue and restore park assist functionality.
Below are some of the most common causes of park assist errors: Some vehicles may display a more specific message, such as “Parking Assist – Clean Sensors,” but the actual cause may be completely different.
#1 – Dirty Sensors
Fortunately, the most common cause of the “Parking Assist Blocked” message is dirty sensors. This is often due to dirt, mud, or gravel dust blocking one or more sensors. In this case, the only viable solution is to thoroughly clean all of your vehicle’s sensors.
#2 – Heavy Rain
If you’ve ever experienced a Parking Assist failure while driving in heavy rain, you can tell the situation is quite normal. If the perception becomes so strong that it blocks the detection range of the parking assistant, you will often see the “Blocked” message.
#3 – Speeding
For safety reasons, many vehicles are programmed to only allow you to use the parking assistant at certain speeds. This lock doesn’t apply to all parking aids, but it’s noticeable enough to be worth discussing. If you see the “Park Assist Blocked” message while reversing at a relatively high speed, try slowing down for better results.
#4 – Sensor Damage
If your car has been involved in any kind of accident recently, don’t be surprised if you lose the parking assist function. This is especially true if the vehicle’s front or rear bumper is damaged. The sensors in most parking assist systems are relatively sensitive and prone to damage.
#5 – PCM Malfunction
Although very rare, your vehicle’s PCM can fail and no longer be able to effectively process the data sent by each parking assist sensor. This often results in a loss of parking assist functionality. However, you should definitely rule out all other possibilities before blaming the PCM for such an issue.
Where are the parking assistants?
In most cases, vehicles with parking assistance are equipped with multiple ultrasonic sensors on both the front and rear bumpers. Each sensor is mounted and installed in a specific way that provides the maximum detection angle.
This ensures that no obstacle in the vehicle’s path goes undetected, making safety a top priority in all situations. Typically, each of the above sensors has a special detection range of 1.2 to 2.4 meters.
How to Reset the Parking Assist Locked Message
The exact steps to reset the Parking Assist locked message on your vehicle will vary depending on the model of your vehicle. For this reason, it is important to find out the exact reset procedure for your vehicle’s specific make/model.
In any case, this warning message should be resettable using an interactive menu accessible using a quality automotive diagnostic tool.
In most cases, a general reset of your vehicle’s Parking Assist feature can be accomplished by toggling this option on and off in the vehicle’s settings menu. The system will be reinitialized and all entries will be checked.
You’ll simply be required to park manually without any additional audio or visual cues, as they otherwise would when driving a non-park assist equipped vehicle.
Is “Park Assist Unavailable” on Teslas the Same Thing?
Yes, in many ways, the “Park Assist Unavailable” message often displayed by various Tesla models, is one in the same with “Park Assist Blocked” warnings logged by other vehicles.
Simply put, a fault within the parking guidance system has caused all park assistance functions to be deactivated. This occurs with Teslas for much the same reason as it does other vehicles.
The one exception is that Tesla vehicles have proven prone to displaying this message immediately after downloading various updates, for reasons largely unknown.