norders

Obviously it should read "It needed a good wash and dry before sticking the antenna in place"

OK, here goes...a quick description for anyone who's interested of how I installed a Taurus T123 parking sensor to my MK1 RX300 and, surprisingly, got it to work! It's totally invisible from the outside and didn't require any drilling holes into my nice bumper, as the sensor consists of a long strip of sticky-backed metal foil that tapes onto the inside of the plastic bumper cover. Total cost of project: £54 (won the item on eBay brand new, sells for £80 in online shops). Step 1 - routing the power cable. The first thing you'll notice is that the reversing lights are on the tailgate, so there's no tapping power directly from the main light cluster above the bumper. You have to route a pair of wires (or a single power wire if you intend to ground the unit to the chassis the other end) from the reversing light supply in the tailgate, up the side of the rear window, past the tailgate hinges, through the rubber connecting hose (through which the rest of the wires pass) and into the roof next to the boot light. This is quite easy, as all the panelling just pops off and back again. The hardest part was to get the wires through the rubber connecting hose. There are two hoses: the left one is for wires and the right one is for washer fluid. You need to disconnect the left hose: the top part can be pulled right out of the bodywork (needs some brute force). The bottom part clips to the body. Press the left and right sides in firmly to release the clips and it should pull out easily. Then I got a 1 foot long rod (actually an aerial from a remote controlled car!), taped the wire securely to one end and with the hose straightened out, threaded the rod through. Be careful not to pierce the rubber, as it protects the wires from water. When the rod appears at the other end you can just pull it and it will pull the wires through. Again the panel containing the boot light pops off and you can thread the cable down into the boot area. I went for the left-hand side of the boot, as there's a convenient empty area to the left of the spare wheel where the electronic unit can be mounted. There is also a hole in the boot floor nearby to allow the sensor connection wire back inside the car. To pop the panelling off down the side of the boot you'll need to undo the bolt holding the boot cover rail first. Tap the power into the reversing lights, tape it up and reassemble the tailgate. You now have reversing light power to the boot area. Step 2 - fitting the antenna. This was a bit more difficult as I didn't have the right socket set to completely remove the rear bumper cover. With the help of John's diagram above I managed to remove the cover enough to gain access to the inside of it. Remove the mudguards - should be allen key screws with the exception of one cross-head screw directly underneath the car. Remove the two retaining clips under the bumper towards the centre of the car. Remove the two screws at the bottom and either side of the tailgate. You'll now need to pry the wheel arch lining out near the forward-most points of the bumper cover. If you look at the diagram there is a screw each side up inside the cover. Takes a bit of juggling to hold the liner aside and undo the screw at the same time but when it's done you should be able to pop the side of the the bumper cover away from the car. Do this on boths sides and the sides of the cover will hang down, still attached to the body (I believe) along the edge of the boot by retaining bolts (four in the diagram). These are what I couldn't undo. Anyway I was able to pull the cover out enough to gain access to the inside of the cover. I needed a good wash and dry before sticking the antenna in place about half way up inside the cover. Once stuck, the instructions suggest covering the whole antenna with gaffer tape to protect it. Step 3 - Locating the electronics. This is easy. There is an ideal space to the left of the spare wheel where there is plenty of room to mount the electronics module. Connect up to the reversing light power (and ground to the chassis if you've only routed a single power wire). There is also a conveniently placed hole to the outside world nearby, complete with rubber grommet. Remove the grommet and punch a hole in it with a thin screwdriver. Thread the antenna connector through it and replace the grommet in the hole. The unit comes with a sticky pad for mounting - I mounted it vertically on the side wall of the spare wheel well. Now you've got the antenna connector dangling down under the car, you can connect it to the antenna in the bumper cover. Hopefully it will reach (mine did - just!). The instructions suggest covering the whole thing in gaffer tape for protection. Once that's done you can replace the bumper cover, which I found somewhat trickier than removing it! Lots of patience required to get that screw back up inside the cover. Tuck the wheel arch liner back in and put the mudguards back on. At this point you've actually got a working parking sensor that goes "de-do-de" each time you put the car into reverse and gives you distance warnings as you reverse closer to an object. All that's left to do it decide where you want the speaker - it has a very long cable so you can put it pretty much anywhere. It's also loud, so I chose inside the rear tailgate pillar where it can't be covered by luggage. It's quite audible from the driver's seat, even with the stereo blaring. A couple of other things - I covered the whole electronics unit in the spare wheel well with black gaffer tape to protect it if you accidentally bash it when removing the spare wheel. Also, if you've got to change a wheel on a windy, rainy day (Sod's Law says you will), it won't get wet! However, test the unit properly first if you're going to do this, as it might need adjustment via a little screw hole on the module body to sensitise or desensitise it. Another thing: I'm guessing that it works by detecting changes in the electromagnetic field around the antenna. So it will only detect the movement of a nearby object, rather than the object itself. Bit like a T-Rex! This isn't so much of a problem, as when you're reversing the whole world is moving with respect to the antenna. It just means that the system stops beeping when you stop moving. Considering the price of the unit, this is an artifact well worth living with! I hope this proves useful for anyone considering doing something similar to their car - and good luck!

Thanks Johndcfc, that's an enormous help. Looks like the upward-facing bolts at the pointy ends of the cover are the candidates...

Thanks Terry. Good luck and if you do find out, please do let me know!

Hi there. I'm the proud new owner of a 2002 RX300. Great car but stupid me thought it had reversing sensors when I bought it. To my dismay (and my wife's horror) I discovered it didn't So in a quick backpedalling move I bought a Taurus T123 electromagnetic parking sensor that fits invisibly inside the plastic bumper cover. To fit it I need to remove said cover - it's a nice idea, people say it works, plus you don't have to drill holes in your car and there are no transceivers showing. So I've been trying to remove the bumper but alas to no avail. Someone please please tell me what to do before I end up breaking something because if something snaps I just KNOW the bumper will flap around forever more! And the next call from my wife will start "Honey, who are we insured with?". I've got as far as undoing the two clips holding the tabs under the body, undoing the two rearward facing screws either side of the tailgate and undoing the two screws at the bottom of the wheel arches. The bumper then seems like it would come free but something is holding it in place either side half way up the wheel arches. Do I need to undo any bolts from inside the boot? Or the wheel arches? How do I get the thing off? Thanks for listening, and even more thanks for any help offered! Norders

Hi all Just thought I'd say hello...I've just swapped my SAAB 9-3 Aero for a 2002 RX300 due to expanding space requirements! I do miss the memory seats I had on the 9-3 (and what's with that lock-out on using the satnav when the car's moving!?) but other than that teensy bit of culture shock, love the car so far (a really nice example with the larger wheels) and congratulations on a great website! I've got a few Qs so I'll be popping in to the other technical forums - hopefully see you there... Norders