Rain activated windsheild wipers

[kleetus]

I have looked over the other posts and haven't found anything on this. How much rain does it take for this to kick in. I have the wipers on, set for auto operation, but it doesn't work. I hit it with a hose right on the sensor and it still didn't work. At night you can kinda see a faint orange or maybe even far infrared light glowing if you look at it from the front of the car.

Things that might help... I'm almost positive the wind sheild was replaced, the rearview mirror doesn't work either, and generally speaking the wires coming down the windshield to both are kinda out of whack.

Before I start proding around in there, what should I be looking for, or what's the common malfunction here? Thanks.

Kleetus

'00 LS V8 Sport

 

[SurfjaxLS]

I know the wipers can be tempermental at times. Sometimes they run at full speed with just a little water, and other times not enough in a downpour. It all depends on if water is triggering the sensors. I have never heard of them not working at all though.

 

[pal_bonds]

I've noticed that the wipers will only activate when there is motion in the water if that makes sense. For example, drissle will not activate the wipers but drop that are dripping in front of the sensor will.

Hope this makes sense.

I have a 00 and I think the wipers are one of the coolest feature when it works properly...

 

[Ric]

I can't tell you how much I hate that system. I really wish there was an option to have simple intermittant wipers. When wipers work at a steady intermittant pace, the brain ignores them. When they go from a slow occasional wipe to flailing wildly for a few moments with no appreciable pattern, it becomes a distraction. In a rainstorm, it's a good idea to minimize distractions.

 

[pal_bonds]

There is a simple intermittant wiper setting. Just make sure that your wipers are not set to auto...

I can't tell you how much I hate that system. I really wish there was an option to have simple intermittant wipers. When wipers work at a steady intermittant pace, the brain ignores them. When they go from a slow occasional wipe to flailing wildly for a few moments with no appreciable pattern, it becomes a distraction. In a rainstorm, it's a good idea to minimize distractions.

 

[Ric]

On my '03, there are five auto sensitivity settings. According to my manual, I can only overide the moisture sensing function by choosing HIGH, LOW or OFF.

 

[kleetus]

Hmmm So I guess I have something obvious out of whack then... great back to the drawing board...

 

[Dutch]

When they replaced the windshield, they probably used the wrong one. I just had my windshield replaced, and they asked if my car had the rain sensor. The glass is apparently different. My wipers work fine.

 

[FreeFaller]

One of the biggest problems that people have with the auto wiper system is that they use ammonia based cleaning products on their car windows. DO NOT USE WINDEX ON CARS!!! Ammonia will damage the coating on windshields and affect it's ability to reflect light into the sensor. Another problem may be improper installation of the sensor during replacement of windshield. Or the IR sensor may be inop. Anyway here's a little info on how rain sensitive wiper systems work...

Rain-sensing Wipers
In the past, automakers have tried to either eliminate the wipers or to control their speed automatically. Some of the schemes involved detecting the vibrations caused by individual raindrops hitting the windshield, applying special coatings that did not allow drops to form, or even ultrasonically vibrating the windshield to break up the droplets so they don't need to be wiped at all. But these systems were plagued by problems and either never made it to production or were quickly axed because they annoyed more drivers than they pleased.

However, a new type of wiper system is starting to appear on cars that actually does a good job of detecting the amount of water on the windshield and controlling the wipers. One such system is made by TRW Inc., here is a PDF describing their rain sensor system.

TRW automotive

TRW Inc. uses optical sensors to detect the moisture. The sensor is mounted in contact with the inside of the windshield, near the rearview mirror.

The sensor projects infrared light into the windshield at a 45-degree angle. If the glass is dry, most of this light is reflected back into the sensor by the front of the windshield. If water droplets are on the glass, they reflect the light in different directions -- the wetter the glass, the less light makes it back into the sensor.

The electronics and software in the sensor turn on the wipers when the amount of light reflected onto the sensor decreases to a preset level. The software sets the speed of the wipers based on how fast the moisture builds up between wipes. It can operate the wipers at any speed. The system adjusts the speed as often as necessary to match with the rate of moisture accumulation.

The TRW system, which is found on many General Motors cars, including all Cadillac models, can also be overridden or turned off so the car can be washed.

 

[eL eS]

you might just try taking the sensor off and cleaning the window in foront of it. I have had times where it just would not activate and after turning the wiper switch from auto and operating them a few times all was well again.

My windshield was recently replaced and they did not glue the sensor mounts on properly. there was little contact between sensor and glass so I removed the mounts and glued them on myself. Thay have been fine since then

 

[Silver LS8]

I have looked over the other posts and haven't found anything on this. How much rain does it take for this to kick in. I have the wipers on, set for auto operation, but it doesn't work. I hit it with a hose right on the sensor and it still didn't work. At night you can kinda see a faint orange or maybe even far infrared light glowing if you look at it from the front of the car.

Things that might help... I'm almost positive the wind sheild was replaced, the rearview mirror doesn't work either, and generally speaking the wires coming down the windshield to both are kinda out of whack.

Before I start proding around in there, what should I be looking for, or what's the common malfunction here? Thanks.

Kleetus

'00 LS V8 Sport

WHHHHAAAAATTT ... u mean we have that in our LS.. let me find out.... holly :q:q:q:q.. thats why i need a owner manual.. i'm still finding out featurew about my car that i didnt know about.. i just foudn out last month i can open my window through my remote.. BRB gonna go try this baby

 

[eL eS]

did you know you can roll the windows up with the key in the drivers door? You have to turn it to lock and hold for about 5 seconds.

I learned of the rool down from my son ate the time he was 1 1/2 maybe two I have the owners manula but hadn't spent much time in it. I was detailing the car he is in the back seat with the keys suddenly zoom the windows all roll down. First my :eek2: then I :slam myself for not learning the features sooner. That night I sat down with the book and went on an adventure.

 

[Silver LS8]

did you know you can roll the windows up with the key in the drivers door? You have to turn it to lock and hold for about 5 seconds.

I learned of the rool down from my son ate the time he was 1 1/2 maybe two I have the owners manula but hadn't spent much time in it. I was detailing the car he is in the back seat with the keys suddenly zoom the windows all roll down. First my :eek2: then I :slam myself for not learning the features sooner. That night I sat down with the book and went on an adventure.

NO i didnt i will go play with it now thank good bye

 

[Silver LS8]

 

[Silver LS8]

dammit my window are all stuck now.. its either the window motor are cheap bc i had them break on me twice already. but iono.. its not even that cold outside for it to ahve alll four window frozen shut.. its around 30 degrees outside.. hope i dont have to go back to the shop for this probelm bc i have 46k on my car nad warrantee is running low..dont know when it runs out since its a 01

 

[eL eS]

all four? are the stuck in the lowerd position? did you hear any clunks?

 

[Silver LS8]

all four? are the stuck in the lowerd position? did you hear any clunks?

nope. all four are stuck .. never went down for me so i got to take it to shop monday.. O wel at least i might get the a aviator for rental

 

[eL eS]

that is a first for me. I have seen a lot of window regulators go bad never heard of all four going at the same time. But I never cease to be amazed by this car.

 

[slagburn]

That night I sat down with the book and went on an adventure.

Those who have NAV can plan on a couple of hours of sitting there to really get into what it will do, I thought it was just a pretty map on a screen until I started playing with POI, DEST etc... it even had the crappy little motel at the bottom of my hill in its POI look up for my area. :Beer It does however often give wrong turn directions if you use voice guidance.

 

[99 KOBRA]

Interesting comment about not using Windex or similiar type products. I'm surprised that the owners' manual doesn't contain any warnings about that.

 

[Pete 2004 LS V-6]

Look some place else, you can bet the farm all four regulators (or anything else) did not go bad all at once. look for something that would kill all four of them at the same time. Fuse??