Rain Sensing Wipers

E

ecarlcl

Active LVC Member
Joined
May 11, 2008
Messages
165
Reaction score
1
Location
Your imagination
Ive read all the threads about the dissatisfaction with the rain sensing wipers that never worked right. Mine used to work well but now it seems like the sensor isn't as sensitive. It used to work great even in drizzle. Now it seems like it takes a really hard rain to trip the sensor. I've hand cleaned the windshield with Stoner glass cleaner and I haven't had much improvement. Any other tips?
 
Unhook the wire clip that goes to the sensor and the wipers will work like non rain sensing ones.
 
On the gen II, disconnecting the rain sensor you will have speed sensitive, intermittent wipers.
 
gcwimmer said:
On the gen II, disconnecting the rain sensor you will have speed sensitive, intermittent wipers.
Click to expand...

Mine work like normal intermittent wipers.
The rainsensing was too slow for my liking
even at the highest setting.
I hated it.
I put some tint over it on the windshield to trick it into the night setting and it was better but when I stumbled upon unhooking the sensor defaults to normal on my own I was very pleased
I haven't noticed any difference at speed.
How does that work.
Does the time between wipes shorten as you go faster?
 
The Gen I are horrible. Either too fast or too slow. Should have been a better thought out plan on where to put the sensors imo.
 
I too use Stoner Glass Cleaner but I'm not sure how well it will remove wax/Rainx/road oil, try a scrubbing powder like "Bar Keepers Friend" will strip the glass without scratching it, at least over the sensor, and see how that works.

Web Bar Keepers Friend.jpg
 
centason said:
The Gen I are horrible. Either too fast or too slow. Should have been a better thought out plan on where to put the sensors imo.
Click to expand...

I missed the rain-sensing wipers on my old 2000 so much that I installed this....

rt_on_wht_1-11.jpg
 
gcwimmer said:
My 04 is an early build with rain sensor.
Click to expand...

Yep, on gen II it was only the 03s and early 04s. Anyway, the manual claims that the 04 to 06 have a speed sensing feature, but mine don't.
 
I really liked mine until a few months ago. It doesn't seem as sensitive. Maybe I got something smeared over the sensor the last time I detailed it. I'll give the Bar Keeper's Friend a shot. Thanks.
 
[/QUOTE]What? I'm confused....... We have rain sensing wipers? As in they turn on automatically?[/QUOTE]

Not on your 06, last year for OEM rain sensing was early build 04, you have intermittent wipers, but as joegr said you may not be speed sensitive.
 
Rained a bit here yesterday so I tested out the automatic wipers on my '03. Even at the "highest" setting they seemed pretty unresponsive. May just disconnect them.
 
Shredicus said:
Rained a bit here yesterday so I tested out the automatic wipers on my '03. Even at the "highest" setting they seemed pretty unresponsive. May just disconnect them.
Click to expand...

Make sure there is no Rain-X or wax over the sensor area on the outside of the windshield. If the windshield is scratched up in that area you'll have problems too.
 
One thing I have found is that it waits way too long to start wiping when the rain first starts, especially if its a mist. On my 02, it seems to work well to click down to the manual wipe or mist or whatever its called, then back to auto. Seems to function okay afterward.

It also seems to delay wiping too long when you're driving slow, especially below 20 mph. Not much you can do to remedy that though.

To me its not a big deal just to turn on the wipers when it starts raining. It sure would be nice to have one more slower setting for those light mist days. Plus I hate when the auto wipers "see" rain that's not there, and wipe a dry dirty window.
 
02LincLS said:
One thing I have found is that it waits way too long to start wiping when the rain first starts, especially if its a mist. On my 02, it seems to work well to click down to the manual wipe or mist or whatever its called, then back to auto. Seems to function okay afterward.

It also seems to delay wiping too long when you're driving slow, especially below 20 mph. Not much you can do to remedy that though.
Click to expand...

I have the exact same observation about my '00. I just click it over to intermittent and back, and it seems to work OK after that.
 
02LincLS said:
One thing I have found is that it waits way too long to start wiping when the rain first starts, especially if its a mist. On my 02, it seems to work well to click down to the manual wipe or mist or whatever its called, then back to auto. Seems to function okay afterward.

...
Click to expand...

On gen II with manual wipers, the mist function is activated by very briefly pressing the wash button. It triggers a single sweep of the wipers. (If they do more than one sweep, you held it too long and the washer function was activated.)
 
On my '02, if I get in the car and the windshield is already wet, then I have to move from INT to OFF and back to INT to get the auto wipers working. Other than that, I think it works perfectly. I just leave them on all the time.
 
Mine work fine on my 02. I did have a problem with them, but replacing the sensor fixed the problem. On GEN Is the sensor is at the top of the windshield. You will see 2 small squares (you will see an orange light if it is dark out)... The squares are a gel that contacts the windshield. If you can see any area that is not contacting the windshield it will cause problems with wiper activation. The sensor bounces a light off of the windshield through the gel pack several times and measures light loss. If there is any water in the area of the sensor it causes loss because the light shines through the water rather than bouncing back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 126 (members: 0, guests: 126)
Back
Top