mazda radar cruise control not working

Mazda Radar Cruise Control: What you need to know

Written by: Sushant Bal

Published on: October 5, 2020

How does (MRCC) Mazda Radar Cruise Control work?

Mazda Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automaker, manufacturing cars since 1920. The brand is consistently improving active safety technologies in its cars. The Mazda radar cruise control is such a technology that safely maintains cruise speed, taking into account the road traffic.

In addition, the system uses a millimetre wave radar to judge the speed of the vehicle at the front. At the same time, it also measures the distance from the car ahead. The system then processes this information and automatically controls the vehicle speed.

Furthermore, the system ensures occupants safety by maintaining the set distance with the car ahead. It also reduces the stress on the driver during highway cruising. The system also works well during slow traffic movement.

Mazda radar cruise control automatically adjusts the vehicle speed in accordance with the car ahead. If the vehicle in the front stops, then the system also stops the vehicle keeping the safe distance from the car ahead. Specifically, during long drives it reduces driver fatigue.

Furthermore, the MRCC also comes with Distance Recognition Support System (DRSS). The DRSS visually displays the following distance to the driver. So, the driver can act fast in emergency situations.

How MRCC works?

The Mazda Radar Cruise Control comes with ‘stop and go’ function. The MRCC automatically maintains a safe distance from the vehicle at the front. The radar located at the front of the car continuously monitors and scan the upcoming road.

The system automatically maintains the set cruise speed on its own. When your car approaches slower vehicles, MRCC automatically adjusts the speed of your car. Then it maintains the safe following distance from the car at the front.

Furthermore, the driver can adjust the distance from the car at the front by pressing buttons on the steering wheel . When you change lane or vehicle in the front moves aside, MRCC automatically returns your car to the original cruise speed.

In case, the vehicle in front completely stops, the Mazda radar cruise control automatically brings your vehicle to a complete halt. In order to avoid a collision, the system also alerts the driver for rapid braking . When the vehicle in the front moves away the system alerts you. Once the driver taps or presses the accelerator slightly, the system will automatically accelerate to the preset speed.

Furthermore, the stop and go function is particularly helpful in stop and go traffic. In heavy traffic, the driver can relax and can simply avoid the repetitive action of accelerating and deaccelerating.

In conclusion, Mazda radar cruise control (MRCC) adds to occupants safety. The system is also helpful during highway cruising as it avoids stressful situations and avoids fatigue while driving.

Image Courtesy: Mazda

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• CX-5 General

2017 CX-5 Radar cruise control intermittently disabled below 20mph

• Thread starter mocx-5
• Start date Nov 14, 2017
• Nov 14, 2017

Do you have auto-hold enabled (uhm)  

GJ-Molestor

most adaptive cruise control systems don't work below a certain speed, so I would chalk it up to that but it doesnt seem to be the issue in this case. does the cruise control work fine at higher speeds?  

GJ-Molestor said: most adaptive cruise control systems don't work below a certain speed, so I would chalk it up to that but it doesnt seem to be the issue in this case. does the cruise control work fine at higher speeds? Click to expand...

I only use the cruise on wide open freeways. It seems as of late younger drivers use it all the time.  

Puyapim said: I only use the cruise on wide open freeways. It seems as of late younger drivers use it all the time. Click to expand...

• Nov 15, 2017

I don’t have it but looking at this detailed info it would seem to me that although it has stop and go, it won’t reliably maintain operation at low speeds so it drops out. So, it will stop and go on the motorway but if you start crawling in traffic it hands back to the driver. Makes sense to me. You’d have somebody reading Facebook on the freeway before so long.  

Anchorman said: I don’t have it but looking at this detailed info it would seem to me that although it has stop and go, it won’t reliably maintain operation at low speeds so it drops out. So, it will stop and go on the motorway but if you start crawling in traffic it hands back to the driver. Makes sense to me. You’d have somebody reading Facebook on the freeway before so long. Click to expand...

Xeler8ing said: I think not all the conditions are being met, hence the malfunction Click to expand...

Anchorman said: Agreed, well not even a malfunction but outside of the operating parameters. Click to expand...

• Nov 20, 2017

I've gotten the error with auto-hold enabled and disabled, but I'm pretty sure that setting is independent of the stop and go cruise functioning. I'm using it on my highway commute, which is typically ~50-70mph but can be stop and go some days. The message will show right away when I enable the cruise control but sometimes it doesn't show up at all. At first I thought it was an obstruction of the camera (which runs the cruise under 20mph), but there's actually a distinct message for that, which tells you to clean/defog your windshield.  

Oh, and yes, to be clear, the cruise works fine above 20mph (when the radar is running things, not the camera). If I'm reading the manual right, the issue may not be with the camera at all, though. My working theory is a software issue of some kind that fools the car into thinking the camera or the break isn't working correctly. My dealer was stumped (they'd never even seen the error before). They're going to follow up with the Mazda rep so I'll post here if I get any more info. But anyone else experiencing this and noticing any patterns would be helpful. The sales guy who sold me the car owns the identical 2017 model and has been getting the message, too, so I'm pretty sure it's not an isolated thing.  

mocx-5 said: I've gotten the error with auto-hold enabled and disabled, but I'm pretty sure that setting is independent of the stop and go cruise functioning. I'm using it on my highway commute, which is typically ~50-70mph but can be stop and go some days. The message will show right away when I enable the cruise control but sometimes it doesn't show up at all. At first I thought it was an obstruction of the camera (which runs the cruise under 20mph), but there's actually a distinct message for that, which tells you to clean/defog your windshield. Click to expand...

mocx-5 said: Oh, and yes, to be clear, the cruise works fine above 20mph (when the radar is running things, not the camera). If I'm reading the manual right, the issue may not be with the camera at all, though. My working theory is a software issue of some kind that fools the car into thinking the camera or the break isn't working correctly. My dealer was stumped (they'd never even seen the error before). They're going to follow up with the Mazda rep so I'll post here if I get any more info. But anyone else experiencing this and noticing any patterns would be helpful. The sales guy who sold me the car owns the identical 2017 model and has been getting the message, too, so I'm pretty sure it's not an isolated thing. Click to expand...

• Nov 21, 2017

Srad600 said: So are you trying to initiate cruise control below 20MPH? I've never tried that personally, but I thought the intent was for the cruise to be initiated at higher speeds and then if you slowed or dropped down to zero it would continue and bring you back up to the set speed. I think you just need to be moving a bit faster in order to initiate the set speed? According to page 4-155 of the manual "With cruise control, you can set and automatically maintain any speed of more than about 25 km/h (16mph)." Sounds to me like you just need to speed up a bit. EDIT: FYI that page reference is from the 2018 CX-9, so the CX-5 page may be slightly different. Click to expand...

Chaisu said: I have had my 2017 CX-5 GT for about 2 weeks now and this error showed up a few days ago. Before this error started I could set cruise control as long as i'm going above 20mph, and as long as I would do that MRCC would go all the way down to 0 mph. When it came to a complete stop it would autohold by itself even if you don't have autohold switched on. When the car in front of you begins moving again you lightly tap the accelerator and the MRCC will resume. I had been using MRCC like this with no issues in stop and go bay area traffic with speeds ranging from 0-35 mph. It worked great for me at the time. Now I get the same error message as the OP and when I initiate MRCC (above 20mph) and my speed drops below 20mph the car beeps at me and flashes the error message on the HUD as well as info gauge. Click to expand...

xtrailman said: That's the exact description of how it should work from reading the manual today. Click to expand...

I only use cc (mine's regular not adaptive) at freeway/highway/motorway and would do the same when I get adaptive cc  

Buzzman12 said: I don't understand people using their cruise control in stop and go traffic and thinking they've got an autonomous vehicle. This isn't a self driving car. It's not Tesla folks. Cruise control is just that: cruise control. It's not a substitute for driving in city traffic. (yes I know, I'm preaching.) Click to expand...

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Warning/Indicator Lights and Warning Sounds

Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC) System Warnings (Some Models)

The Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC) system warnings notify the driver of system malfunctions and cautions on use when required.

Check based on the beep sound.

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Active cruise control,lane departure control,etc.

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We are familiar with active cruise control etc as we have a late model Audi with all the bells and whistles.Their system imo is flawless. Mazdas is far inferior in design as well as operation. It is also DANGEROUS. At this point from reviewing the manual I don’t believe there’s any setting workaround. Right after buying the vehicle with 120 miles on the odometer we took a 600 mile interstate trip. The first time this happened we barely escaped being rear ended at 80 mph. On sweeping curves approaching semis overtaking on their left in the fast lane the system will automatically brake as if we’re in the same lane with an impending rear collision. The same will happen on sweaping left handlers with no one in front when there’s a guard rail. After the second or third time I learned to shut off cruise or spread up on curves to avoid autonomous braking. Maybe I missing something and I’d be happy to have someone educate me. As is this is a very dangerous system. Does Mazda even have a clue? I’ll bring this up with service but I don’t expect much from them. I’m operating the system correctly. Of course you can set distance forward sensitivity but this system should be safe and user friendly at any of the factory distance sensitivity settings. You’re in an open lane with a truck on your right and this thing brakes hard on its own  

Report it to your dealership and let us know what answer you get. Sorry to hear about this.  

Radar only goes in one direction, straight. I've had this happen a couple times so I keep it in mind while using the active cruise control. The radar signal can't bend in the curve so it's reading straight, mistaken either a car to the left or right of u. I feel the radar should take the lanes into account better with that feature.  

Not a valid explanation or excuse for Mazdas radar cruise control. We have an Audi with all the same bells and whistles and not once has it performed like this. These are complex systems but it isn’t just a function of straight radar. The car has multiple parameter feedbacks, wheel alignment, acelleration, velocity etc that should make for a functioning system So it isn’t fooled. Hard braking with a clear lane ahead when on a left sweeping interstate curve and overtaking a vehicle in the slow right hand lane is not an expected maneuver any driver would make. It’s an absolutely an unnecessary and otherwise unanticipated action. This will happen to others too. Mazda needs feedback to hopefully fix this.  

I've not experienced any uncalled for hard braking in Turbo S. Sounds like it may be the SBS system, instead of cruise. I do have virtually all safety system warnings set to 'Late', if that actually matters. Only have the random infrequent false BSM on drivers side, but still performs correctly with real traffic.  

Sounds like your Audi drives amazing. I know you don’t have much faith, but I think you should bring your CX-90 to the dealer, describe what happened, and ask them to thoroughly check out the ACC system. Also, I don’t want to tell you how to drive, but I would not use ACC in the situation you describe. I usually slightly reduce my speed in the fast last lane when approaching trucks in the right lane on a two lane interstate. I don’t like to blow by these trucks like they are standing still. Seems dangerous  

What trim do you have? I think the specs show lane keep only for certain higher trims, and this ACC without lane keep (it doesn’t know the lines are curved) may make this happen?  

So just so you are aware, the cruise control will turn off with a given amount of steering yaw input, which IMO, has been set way too aggressive by Mazda. So the issue is you are hitting big sweeping curves with which you are turning the wheel enough to hit this threshold. It doesnt completely turn off cruise control, as once steering falls back into threshold it re-engages. The solution I do is I "commandeer" the accel input on the curves I know will cause it. I totally agree that this needs to be fixed, Mazda if you are listening to this, you need to nearly double this Yaw Input threshold for dis-engaging cruise control.  

I have experienced the semi truck issue as well. Very disconcerting and dangerous. K hope there is a fix.  

I actually experienced this for the first time yesterday, system detected the semi as in the same lane and slowed on me. Its a complicated case in terms of the radar system, hopefully the front radar unit uses electronic beam forming which is likely what will be needed to properly handle this issue.  

It can be turned off, on the vehicle safety settings menu  

Just for your info, Mazda has been doing i-activesense for over a decade, no car is perfect or the same, take some driver responsibility, it is not an autonomous vehicle (like Tesla). One of the biggest issues ALL car brands have is the environment on system cameras or radar, like rain, rain drops, mud and dust and dirt, then comes snow or fog. If you can keep sensors and bumpers clean.  

I too have experienced this ACC issue. Just completed a 1200-mile trip which had several instances of freeway curves where I was overtaking a semi-truck only to have the system very unexpectedly brake aggressively to avoid a perceived collision when we were in a different lane. It was very unsafe if a car had been following me too closely it would have been an issue. I got to the point of turning the system off with a quick button toggle, but that is not a solution. Mazda needs to address this ASAP. Otherwise my PHEV, Premium plus has been working without issue.  

Mazda has just realeased an update in Europe and UK for i-activesense for CX-60. I expect to see a similar systems Software update for North American CX-90s as they are made in same plant and same platform. It is not out yet however IMO soon and must be done at Dealership with MDARS. OTA updates on CX-90 are only for Mazda Connect Infotainment.  

This is some good news! After doing more high way driving and watching the i-activesense display I can tell their radar signal processing needs work. Semis in front of you in adjacent lanes constantly triggering the radar thinking they are changing lanes to get in front of you when they arent. This is worst when the highway is curving. I still think the driver side blind spot monitor is a flaw in their activesense processing as well. Something is messing with the noise floor/gain control on that particular corner in their software.  

tombann said: It can be turned off, on the vehicle safety settings menu Click to expand...

Mazda Radar Cruise Control Two issues I have discovered. One - the Mazda Radar Cruise Control - while passing a truck that is in the right hand lane, will pick up a vehicle straight ahead and hit the brakes. Issue - there is no vehicle in front of you. Almost got rear ended due to this issue. Two - travelled to the US and left my vehicle in Metric. When using Cruise Control it allows you to press “RES” to have the vehicle return to the posted speed limit. When ever I pressed “RES” the vehicle accelerated to 145KMPH. I have a video of this. Took the vehicle to Naples Mazda in Naples, FL to see if they could figure it out. They could not understand Metric and said the Mazda radar is functioning normally. Took the vehicle to Whitby Mazda today. Advised both issues are related to my installed NextBase dash cam and it should be removed. I also should not have any toll collection devices attached to the windshield. I told them if that is the case, then Mazda Canada needs to send out a safety bulletin advising all CX-90 owners to stop using their dash cams etc. Whitby Mazda service advisor disagreed. My next step is to test without a dash cam in the US next week. The logic is beyond me.  

This truck in the right lane slowdown thing is really annoying- Although pressing the accelerator is a work around its not really satisfactory as the car seems to speed up at an incredible rate  

#2 is interesting I’d be unsure of the reverse. A US car set to imperial recognize say a 100km/h sign and accelerate to 100mph Assuming you were in a 45 mph zone, is there a possibility that the box around sign somehow got picked up as a 1? ( reflection from sun/ vandalism etc) or was it totally random, you were in a 70 mph zone and it converted to km/h incorrectly?  

tornichoe said: #2 is interesting I’d be unsure of the reverse. A US car set to imperial recognize say a 100km/h sign and accelerate to 100mph Assuming you were in a 45 mph zone, is there a possibility that the box around sign somehow got picked up as a 1? ( reflection from sun/ vandalism etc) or was it totally random, you were in a 70 mph zone and it converted to km/h incorrectly? Click to expand...

GrantCX-90 said: I know my CX-9 picked up speed zones from the Mazda Nav. CX-90 has sign recognition so I am guessing it sees and reads speed signs. My dash showed the speed limit as 110KMPH - press “RES” and it went to 145KMPH. Seems to be a programming error. Mazda dealer advises to take down my NextBase dash cam and that will fix everything. Therefore it is MY problem and not Mazda. Filed a complaint with Transport Canada today for both issues. I have a video of the issue. Click to expand...

Blknblue said: So just so you are aware, the cruise control will turn off with a given amount of steering yaw input, which IMO, has been set way too aggressive by Mazda. So the issue is you are hitting big sweeping curves with which you are turning the wheel enough to hit this threshold. It doesnt completely turn off cruise control, as once steering falls back into threshold it re-engages. The solution I do is I "commandeer" the accel input on the curves I know will cause it. Click to expand...

I had the same experience - almost rear ended when the vehicle applied the brakes suddenly when passing a transport truck. Dealer has blamed it on my Dash Cam in the window. Hard to believe. I will be disabling the dash cam to rule it out.  

Had the same thing happen on curvy mountain interstates. Absolutely dangerous. Had to shut it off. Why does the radar cruise on my $22K Civic Sport work flawlessly (as did my 2016 Highlander) and Mazda can’t get this right? It’s a bit shocking how many things Mazda did not get right on the CX 90. This is NOT acceptable or “normal” operation of adaptive cruise. They clearly have no clue how to properly roll out a new model.  

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I've been reading the complaints about "active cruise" and been scratching my head because that happened only once to me in my 1400 miles so far. Most around town but at least 600 miles have been on the two-lane and freeway. I'm not sure if there was something I did, but I do have a question: has anyone else "turned down" the "following distance" in cruise? It's the rocker on the left side of the cruise cluster on the steering wheel. I've been experimenting with mine and have put it at the next-to-the-lowest distance/sensitivity setting. That still seems far enough away from the lead car ahead and I just don't have a problem with approaching traffic at all. Now, I have the Preferred Plus and it doesn't have all the tech that the upper models do. I sometimes think we expect our cars to do our job for us and as far as I'm concerned, when I behind the wheel, I'm the one responsible and driving is Job One.  

It only takes once to get you rear ended if you’re unlucky. So once in 1,400 miles, if not corrected and a similar event rate continues, means potentially 100 unexpected braking events over the life of the car?  

Yes I lowered the asc sensitivity to the lowest setting and I still experienced the unintended rapid deceleration when passing a truck on a curve on the freeway. I've driven dozens of cars with the same technology and this has never happened. As with most safety defects, not every or even most vehicles manifest the defect. For example, the airbags in most cars never accidentally deployed, yet the Takata airbag recall applied to tens of millions of vehicles  

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Hello Guys. Last night it was raining and then the screen says activsense not working. Today i dont think the lane departure is working. I keep changing lanes and theres no vibration or alert. Anyone has the same problem?  

In slow moving traffic when someone cuts me off it’s like the car doesn’t see them and continues to accelerate. when I’m in that moving traffic that suddenly slows down, the car waits way to long to apply the brakes to keep the proper distance. in both cases I have to take over the car. also when a car changes out of my lane the car will delay accelerating, like it’s ghosting the car that moved. This is the one feature I was looking forward to in buying a new car my last car was a 2014 and didn’t have this feature. Womp womp.  

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Adaptive Cruise Control Problem

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I've got a 2019 M3 Sedan. I've not really used the adaptive cruise control for stop and go traffic but I decided to start yesterday to see how it really works. Two times (on different trips), the car came to a complete stop, but would not move ahead when traffic started back up. One time the instrument cluster started beeping at me and flashing some warning (which I didn't have time to read), and the other time the car just sat there. The weather was clear and sunny (so rain wasn't the issue). Both times, I immediately turned off the cruise control and proceeded to drive the car manually as to not mess up traffic worse than it was. Have others run into this? Is there anything I'm supposed to do to get the car moving again besides turn off the cruise control and drive the car manually?  

You need to press the cruise control resume button to get the car moving again. Pretty sure this is a safety feature.  

I do not have to do that. Once set, it will come to a stop, and when the traffic moves, it will resume moving, all the way up to my pre-set speed limit (Usually local speed limit +10%). The only catch is that if the car up front moves away fast, the system will not accelerate quickly, and in stop and go traffic in the city, that may be too slow. Other than that, it worked well for me.  

Thanks for all your replies. The car resumed driving after very short stops, so it clearly needs the "press resume" for longer ones. Thanks again.  

cllpm4u said: Thanks for all your replies. The car resumed driving after very short stops, so it clearly needs the "press resume" for longer ones. Thanks again. Click to expand...

Don’t confuse Traffic Jam Assist with Mazda Radar Cruise Control. TJA is an upgrade feature not found in the USA market. Traffic Jam Assist will allow the car to follow the traffic ahead of you in stop and go traffic. Mazda Radar Cruise Control will only follow the car ahead of you and it will bring you to a complete stop but you will be prompted with a chime and graphic in the instrument cluster if the car ahead of you starts moving again and you have waited too long to accelerate. With Mazda Radar Cruise you can either press the accelerator or the Resume button to get the car moving again at which point you can take your foot off the accelerator and let the cruise do it’s thing, Personally I like technology and I feel cheated that Mazda chose to dumb down the USA market cars. We don’t get a lot of the neat tech that Canada and Europe get but we pay approximately the same prices.  

Technically it could be enabled via a software update but yeah not sure why we didn't get it at launch  

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“Front Radar Sensor Blocked” in Mazda CX-5 – What’s the Issue?

When you see the “Front Radar Sensor Blocked” error message in your Mazda CX-5, it may seem so straightforward and easy to fix that you may wonder how on Earth I’ve written the 1500-word article about this problem. I will show you!

In short, your Mazda CX-5 may throw the “Front Radar Sensor Blocked” message when the radar zone is dirty, covered by something, is in snow or water, when you travel on a highway, or when the battery is low. It may also be activated after suspension modifications and also tire size change. There are plenty of weird and unclear things you may want to know about the front radar sensor in your Mazda SUV.

In this article, I will try to tell you about the common reasons for this error message to appear on the dash and also about the ways to solve the problem.

Can you dismiss the “Front Radar Sensor Blocked” message?

It may seem very disturbing when your Mazda CX-5 covers the major part of the dash screen with a huge warning message. You don’t see the speed, can’t control the RPM, can’t get all the needed trip information. I’ve seen some people on forums asking how they could dismiss this nasty message and whether the only way to solve it is to clean the radar.

Well, you can dismiss the error message just by clicking the “Info” button. But you should understand that after this message appears, your radar and all the functions that rely on the front radar sensor will most likely not be working properly.

Where is the front radar sensor in your Mazda CX-5?

In the freshest generation of the CX-5, the front radar sensor is located right behind the Mazda emblem in the front grille. The placement is not the most convenient because this place gets a lot of snow contamination in winter and can be attacked by water on highways when the weather is rainy.

So, I guess that the front radar sensor in your Mazda car will not be the most durable technology and will get on your nerves regularly. So, better remember the location of the sensor because you will have to clean it on a regular basis.

Should I clean the sensor every time I get the message from my CX-5?

Let’s have a look at how this radar sensor works. It sends the waves in front of your car and then analyzes any waves that were mirrored by other objects. So, if there is a little water on the Mazda emblem, this shouldn’t disturb the sensor from its work. But if the entire emblem and the grille are covered with a thick layer of muddy snow, the radar will most likely see this as a close object. To avoid problems, Mazda introduced a system that interprets these events as radar blockage and sends the error message on the dash.

If you see this message, here’s what you should do:

• press “Info” to dismiss the error and let you see all the needed trip information;
• keep driving till your next stop but forget about the smart functions of adaptive cruise control;
• once you stop the vehicle, have a look at the grille and the emblem;
• if they are contaminated, clean them and the radar will get back to work automatically.

It doesn’t make sense to go out every 30 minutes when you are driving on the highway and clean that radar area. It will still get muddy or snowy and will not work properly. So, better don’t rely on adaptive cruise control and smart braking system. I actually don’t recommend you rely on those systems because even Mazda agrees that they are not really reliable and can lead to problems if the car is not controlled by an attentive human.

Mazda CX-5 functions that rely on the front radar sensor

So, when you see this message, there are several systems that may be inactive and require cleaning of the radar area to start working again. Here they are:

• Radar Cruise Control – the adaptive cruise control feature that can adjust the speed of your car according to the speed of other vehicles on the road.
• Distance Recognition Support System – the system that measures the distance between your Mazda and other cars that are driving in front of you on the road.
• Smart Brake Support – the system that automatically brakes whenever the distance to the object in front of your car is smaller than the distance in the settings.

I wouldn’t say that this error message turns off something vitally important in your Mazda CX-5, so you can keep driving and don’t pay attention to the error message.

What else can trigger the “Front Radar Sensor Blocked” message?

When talking to a Mazda dealership mechanic, I learned that this message can appear on the dash of your vehicle quite unexpectedly when the grille and the Mazda emblem are as clean as my credit records.

Here are the reasons that can trigger the “Front Radar Blocked” message in the CX-5:

1. Driving on an empty highway

Mazda openly says that the “Front Radar Sensor Blocked” Message may appear on the dash of your vehicle in situations when you drive on an empty highway and the radar doesn’t get any work for a long time. The control module may deduct that something is wrong with the sensor or wiring and may throw this message.

You don’t need to go out, look at the sensor’s area, clean it, etc. You just need to drive further. Press OK or Info to dismiss the error message. Once the radar catches some car or another object, the system will come back to normal.

2. Changing tire size

This reason is also described in the Mazda CX-5 manual. Mazda says that you need to use the standard tire and wheel size at all times if your car is equipped with the front radar sensor. Otherwise, the sensor may be located higher or lower and may not be working properly. It’s important to know if you are about to pay for some super-cool tuning wheels for your CX-5. Maybe, after this, you will need to turn off some functions like adaptive cruise control and auto emergency braking.

3. Modifying suspension

This is another unobvious reason why you may see the nasty message telling you that the radar sensor is blocked. Again, the position of the sensor may be changed. And since it’s a high-precision unit, it may not be working properly. Better use OEM suspension parts if you need to repair or replace something. Also, you may ask for some adjustments to the sensor in the dealership.

4. Using an aftermarket grille or emblem.

If the grille or emblem is not OEM, there could be a problem with the radar signal. The materials of aftermarket parts can interfere with the work of waves and the sensor will throw the error message on the dash at all times. If your vehicle has been in an accident, you should clearly think about buying OEM body parts for repairing it.

5. Low 12V battery

Sometimes sensors and control units may malfunction and go crazy because of the low voltage in the system. If the battery is low, this message (or basically any other error message) may appear on the dash when you turn on the accessory mode or at the moment when you are starting the engine. After that, the alternator should take over and the voltage should be OK, so the error message may be gone after some time.

In all modern cars, it’s quite important to control the condition of the 12V battery and replace it before the battery is dead. Under some circumstances, the low voltage may even fry some electric parts.

6. Wiring problems

It’s not uncommon after small front-end accidents that a wire may be broken or some connection may be lost. When the control unit doesn’t get the signal from the sensor, it may decide that the sensor is blocked and throw this message. Unfortunately, it’s quite hard to locate this issue and repair it without any professional help.

7. ECU problems

Your CX-5 is unlikely to have any ECU issues unless the ECU was in contact with water. Water damage may lead to all kinds of different glitches and the error messages the ECU can throw in this case depend on the affected area of the unit.

If you’ve already checked everything and couldn’t locate the problem, just try checking the ECU. Again, you will need some professional help and the best place to go is the Mazda dealership. The repair there will cost you a fortune, but at least, you can have the vehicle diagnosed properly.

What should I do when I see the “Front Radar Sensor Blocked” in Mazda CX-5?

Here’s what you should do once you get this message on the dash of your SUV:

• if you are going on an empty highway, just keep driving and see if the message disappears;
• press Info or OK and keep driving but keep in mind that some radar-dependent functions are not working;
• if the problem persists, stop the vehicle, get out, and see if the Mazda emblem area is dirty on the front grille;
• wipe the area even if it seems relatively clean;
• plan your visit to the dealership for diagnostics if the problem keeps bothering you.

It’s not recommended to apply any DIY solutions because you may make things even worse. A quick inspection in the dealership will answer all your questions. If your Mazda is not under warranty coverage, you may then choose another repair shop and have the vehicle repaired cheaper than in the dealership.

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• Mazda CX-30 Problems And Issues
• Mazda CX-30 Complaints, Issues And Problems

front radar sensor obstraucted safety sense features temperarly disabled

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So last couple of days iv been experiencing a random issue with a warning. "front radar sensor obstructed which has temperately disabled mazda safety sense and please drive carefully" So i get a random message like that that will suddenly happen when i go to start the vehicle if its been sitting for some time and disables all the safety features and radar cruse control of course and upon carefully inspecting the emblem sensor on the front gill mine is perfectly clean and no scratches at all and nothing blocking it at all. then after a little while of highway speeds it seems to resolve it self and everything goes back to normal which is very intresting as iv changed nothing lol just drive at a fast speed 100 KM/h. I called my dealership today as this is now #3 that this will randomly happen and for no obvious reason as i can understand this happening if it was winter with snow but lol not the case and so my service advisor at my dealer said that there is somebody else recently with another CX-30 experiencing the same issue so they want to take a look at it and try a couple things like reset the BCM as well as throw a ticket in with Mazda. This is a annoying issue as its hard to duplicate and is very random but at least it isn't just me with the issue. Also i asked about the two recall campaigns with the Front calipers and fuel tank and my dealer is finally are aware of it and said i should be getting a letter in the mail soon and by that point they will have the parts in to do those recalls.  

I got that error message 3 separate times back in June. It was really hot out, so I figured maybe it was because of the humidity. My radar sensor and emblem were perfectly clean. (Just washed car day before). The error corrected itself each time within maybe 5 minutes of driving. It hasn’t happened since so I’ve just let it go with no questions asked.  

Yah so far it's been more frequently as of late so the dealership wants to have a look at it and put a ticket into Mazda as I'm not the only one who has reported this issue to them.  

It happened to me once. I dismissed it as the car was facing the sun on a really hot day. Fixed itself and did not come back yet  

My dealership said someone else too had the same issue and they want to look into it and for a fix as in their words it shouldn't happen unless a very very heavy rain or snow on it or a heavy snow fall driving through it . I am also waiting to get the letter on the mail for the two recalls as they said they applied to my vehicle when they ran my Vin so wait for that and then they will have the parts to do the recalls.  

And it did it this morning when I was leaving from work .. and its not hot out nor is there dew on it as it sat outside overnight 8 hrs ... It's a +10 C outside.. sure is a strange issue .. hope they can find a fix at my dealership.  

Keep us posted if you find a fix or not.  

I’ve done 4500 klms and it’s only happened to me on 3 occasions which was pretty heavy rain , it would only last for a few minutes then all good again , first time I thought wtf  

Mine only disable with heavy rain too  

We had similar in our previous Mazda's, when the camera, up near the rear view mirror was used for the safety features..in winter and in cold conditions it condensate , causing it to stop working....I would of thought radar would be better in these conditions....we have had no issues so far..  

Lol now it's doing it every time I go and drive .. don't know why as everything is clean and clear.. but thx for the feed back guys and at least my dealership knows it's not just me and somebody else is having the same issues.  

Happened to me yesterday in my 2023 cx30 in Texas. I was Driving in heavy pouring rain. Scared the bejeevies out of me. Went to wash my car this morning, although not really dirty, and the blind spot sensors on the mirrors started working. I haven't tested the lane assist device but it annoys me anyway. Will test when not in traffic. Im keeping an eye in things. It makes me nervous to drive now.  

Hmmm, can it be unplugged...  

no because its a intermittent if you read my other posts in this thread.the issue its not just me having the issue another client at my dealership is also having the same issue ... it sometimes is perfectly fine and other times glitches out like that.  

I know someone who is having the same issue. They have been working with their Mazda dealer for a few weeks now. In her 1 hour highway commute, the radar cruise will disable 3 or more times during the commute, which means that her cruise control stops working. Her dealer has been looking into this, and had ordered in a new sensor to see if that resolved the issue.  

Yah I'm thinking a new sensor might be a good idea but all in all its a lease so I'm leaving it up to the dealership to fix lol .. not going to cost me a dime.  

Have you tried a Ctrl , alt delete... remove the negative battery terminal leave for a while and reconnect. Just to see if it needs a sensor reset?  

It's a lease so I'm leaving it up to the dealership to fix under warranty work. I'm not going to do their job for them 😅  

Update for you guys.. dealership used the pictures I took and submitted a ticket to Mazda.. tho might be looking at the sensor being replaced if Mazda approves it and all is good. Now I wait and hope for the best 🙂  

Alright so dealership called me today and this issue appears to be a wide spread issue as Mazda did not put up a fight as the dealership said as Mazda is sending them a entire new Radar sensor as that's what they want the dealership to do is to replace the entire sensor. So any body else with the same issue should get it addressed as it is a defect we th the sensor.  

Did anybody read this in the manual? "When driving on roads with little traffic and few vehicles ahead or obstructions for the front radar sensor to detect, “Safety and Driver Support Systems Temporarily Disabled. Front Radar Obscured. Drive Safely” may be temporarily displayed, however, this does not indicate a problem"  

Trust me mine isn't normal .. Mazda approved the warranty claim without any hesitation.. there is nothing in front of mine to obstruct it and it's perfectly clear.. Mazda already asked me a slew of questions as head office contacted me directly after the dealership submitted the claim and as soon as I answered their questions honestly the warranty claim rep told me that they have been getting other reports of the same issue and that the sensor is defective and that they have a new revised one that is also going Into the 2021 year CX 30 and so as soon as I finished talking to them my guy at my dealership ship said we got a email back and so we ordered a new Radar sensor and it's all warranty approved and claim was submitted and approved.  

I get it occasionally too, but it was just interesting to see that statement. I will mention it during my next dealer visit  

Yah even my guy in service was surprised as he said wow I'm surprised how fast they approved that for warranty and they didn't make any fuss and got a response back in an hour which is unusually fast. This is why I made this post so others know that this shouldn't happen and it's a warranty claim 🙂 having 15 years professional automotive experience I'm good at knowing what to bring up to a dealership and what not to as lol I also used to be the one to submit warranty claims and fight with Nissan over them for the customer. Nissan is horrible btw for denying legit claims and after I would fight with them it would get approval 😂  

Thank you for the info👍  

You are most welcome 😊  

Yea as you said above, I remember in the Mazda 3 forum it was a common issue last year. If I recall the dealers were replacing a module or a sensor or both and it seemed to solve the issue for people.  

yah dealership ordered a new senseor as mazda said it a revised one so will see when it comes in and its installed.  

My car had the same problem. They did a software update and that seemed to fix it.  

mine they had to replce the sensor and some bracket and its good now.  

Hi detailcarguy. Could you please tell me the name of the dealership so i can contact them. I bough a new 2021 cx-30GT have been having the same issue since day 3. Took it to the deal with no luck whatsoever, they took it for a drive it didn't do it at the time (of course), they checked for codes and none being logged by the computer (even thought i have about another 4 issues with the car). I showed the service manager pictures of the messages being displayed, yup happens enough that i was able to get pictures of this issue as well as others. They are basically doing nothing for me. thanks in advance  

Half-Way Motors Mazda | Automotive Dealership in Thunder Bay, ON

Thanks for the information. Sad that a person pays over 40k for a vehicle and has several issues from time of picking up the vehicle.  

Mazda issued a service alert recently, about this issue, basically it instructs the dealer to replace the radar sensor, if it's clean and still giving this error.  

Attachments

• SA-003-21.pdf 409.4 KB Views: 610

omg Thank you so much, checked my vin and it's included!!!! Hope  

I’ve got a 2021 Mazda CX-30 turbo. I just started having this same issue. Guess I’ll take it to the dealership this coming week. What a pain in the drain.  

I have a 2021 CX-5, and this is happening intermittently in good weather with a clean windshield fairly often, even after working fine for 30 minutes or more, then the problem. Sometime resets, other times not.  

I have a CX-30 and every time I drive it at night the front sensor goes into error mode. This has happened 15 straight nights with perfectly clear weather. Mazda replaced the camera, but this did not correct the problem. It never has a problem in the daylight. Anyone else with a similar issue? Thanks!  

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Cruise Control

How to use the cruise control.

Setting the cruise control

Press the cruise control switch to turn the system on.

Accelerate the vehicle to the desired speed of 25 km/h (16 mph) or faster (minimum speed setting is 30 km/h (19 mph)).

Set the vehicle speed by pressing the RES switch up (SET+) or down (SET-).

While the cruise control is operating, the driver is notified of the operation condition by the screen display.

Instrument cluster (Type A)

Instrument cluster (Type B) i-ACTIVSENSE display

Instrument cluster (Type B) Other than i-ACTIVSENSE display

Active driving display

The cruise control does not operate when the Hill Descent Control is operating.

The accelerator pedal operation takes priority during constant speed driving. When you release your foot from the accelerator pedal, the vehicle returns to constant speed driving at the set speed.

(Vehicles with Mazda Radar Cruise Control with Stop & Go function (MRCC with Stop & Go function))

If the distance between vehicles control is disabled using the Mazda Connect, the system switches to the cruise control. At this time, the MRCC switch functions as the cruise control switch.

Refer to the Settings section in the Mazda Connect Owner's Manual.

If the vehicle power is switched OFF while the distance between vehicles control is disabled, the distance between vehicles control is enabled automatically the next time the vehicle power is switched ON.

The system may not be able to maintain the set speed depending on the road conditions such as steep up or down slopes.

When the vehicle speed is less than 20 km/h (12 mph), the cruise control is canceled. If you want to use the cruise control again, reset the cruise control.

The brake lights turn on while the brakes are operating by the cruise control.

The cruise control cannot be canceled while driving in manual shift mode (selector lever shifted from the D to M position). Therefore, engine braking does not work even if you shift down to a lower gear. If deceleration is required, lower the set vehicle speed or depress the brake pedal.

Changing the set vehicle speed

Changing the set vehicle speed using the RES switch

Press the RES switch up (SET+) or down (SET-) to the desired speed.

Press and release immediately: 1 km/h (1 mph)

Press and hold: 10 km/h (5 mph)

Changing the set vehicle speed using the accelerator pedal

Depress the accelerator pedal until the vehicle speed reaches the desired speed, then press the RES switch up (SET+) or down (SET-).

The cruise control is temporarily canceled

The cruise control is temporarily canceled when one of the following conditions is met.

The brake pedal is depressed.

The CANCEL switch is pressed one time.

The DSC has operated.

The Smart Brake Support (SBS) has operated.

The frequency of the braking operation by the cruise control is high.

If the cruise control is temporarily canceled, it operates at the previously set speed by pressing the RES switch.

Turning off the cruise control

Press the cruise control switch.