Hi!

I'm posting in this new thread because I saw numerous posts concerning the diagnosis and repair of S-type parking aid issues, but none about my specific problem, I hope it will help people who will encounter the same problem, and misdiagnosis as me.

Two weeks after I purchased my 2003 Jaguar S-type 3.0, my Rear Parking Aid Module stopped working during a very humid and rainy day.
My symptoms: no beeps or any sign of life from the RPAM, just quiet. These symptoms were different from the continuous beeping of most forum's threads (usually sensors or wire issues).

In my case these symptoms were due to a burned down RPAM, likely due to water bridging power and ground PCB traces.
Leaky s-type trunks seems to be common, so before attempting a repair be sure that your jag is all dry and sealed up

The RPAM is located in the trunk, left to the spare wheel, under the folding boot "cover". You first need to unplug (maybe try cleaning the connector than testing again?), and remove it.
Once the module out of the car, you need to separate the connector "plane" from the plastic case: pull on the connector while prying the little black "tabs", mine didn't resist at all.
Once open, you can check the PCB for any heating, leaks or burn marks, mine was pretty obvious as a via and a a resistor had been completely burned down (I suspect water bridging this connector's power pin with it's surrounding ground):

[downside] Burned down via and resistor on 2003 S-type rear parking aid module.

I had to unsolder the black connector to gain access to the damaged PCB region, if you have to do so I really recommend purchasing a heated de-soldering pump and braid as well as some flux (because these passing-through deep non-ROHS solders can be a real pain to remove).
To remove the connector, you also have to remove the two little "rivets" that holds the connector to the PCB, in my case hammering them out from the plastic (8mm socket under the PCB, and a screwdriver to hit on the non-pried section of the rivet) worked like a charm.

In my case I used a little copper wire to rebuild the via, and soldered a 0,25W THT resistor (2,2kOhms) instead of bothering with soldering SMD on destroyed copper traces. The plastic casing allows for lots of space!


Repair of the burned down via and resistor

I also drilled a hole on the connector's plate to allow any water to leave the module, I also recommend using some electronics glue and varnish on the repaired regions to protect the exposed traces and solders.

Once the repair done, you can check that the module powers on with a bench Power Supply and a multimeter, and ( if you dare and are confident enough in your repair) do a good old "smoke test" by plugging in the module and putting the car in reverse with the handbrake (worked first try in my case!).

So to conclude: YES theses modules are repairable quite easily, and don't necessarily need to be replaced, as long as you have some basic soldering skills and some patience !

 

Excellent repair post! Thank you very much.
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Yes excellent post. Thank you for sharing