[cadman50]

I'll add my 2 cents to the wiper discussion. I'm not sure mine are working right. I have the rain sensing wipers. I've noticed this action several times. If I have the thumbwheel interval set for the longest time in between wipes and change it to the next higher setting, the wipers wipe continously. This is driving at a constant speed (around 30-35mph) and the rain is mild. So what I have to do is push the intermittent button in twice (once to stop it and once to re-start) and the middle position intermittent now works intermittently as it should. Sometimes with the intermittent operation on, the wipers start flying on high speed and the rain isn't very heavy. I sense that they also vary with speed also. So far not that impressed with their operation.

[Nahoa]

It's not intermittent. It's rain sensing. The setting is for more or less sensitive, it's not at all about how long between wipes. Regardless of he position, the computer will select between 0 and full speed. At the least sensitive setting it will take more rain to produce a wipe and to prompt tighter speed wiping. Note that "more rain" is a fuzzy thing. More drops doesn't necessarily equal more water and vice versa.

[cadman50]

Nahoa, sensitive to what? the amount of rain on the windshield or how fast the rain is coming down on the windshield? i thought that rain sensing means that if it starts raining harder, the wipers will have shorter wipe intervals....no? If I have a windshield covered with a mist of rain and the sensitivity set to low, the wipers work as expected. but then if I just up the sensitivity one notch with the same mist on the windshield, they start wiping continuously. Not sure why. Could it be a sensor problem?

[Nahoa]

Rain sensing isn't just to change the speed of an intermittent function, it's the overall system so the interval, or pause, can be very long or zero with a high speed wipe. So, yes, what you said but not just for the intermittent options, the whole range.

Sensitive to exactly what is to me a question. As you said, mine also seems to sometimes sense a bunch of small misty drops as a lot more rain than it really is and kick up to constant wipe or faster. I've done the same thing you did -- off and back on -- and that seems to "reset its view" of the windshield and get it back into an appropriate setting. That part would be nice if it worked better than it does.

I do still like the automatic setting. For me it's much easier and less distracting from traffic to cycle it off and on once in a while than it is to fiddle with switching intermittent speed and switching between intermittent and constant wipe.

Wonder if they'd ever change it's programming so it does an "internal reset" on some interval to accomplish the same thing as the off-on cycle.

One thing I've wondered is if it's my wipers. On next service I'm going to ask for a replacement and to check the pressure settings. The last 5 inches or so of each blade consistently leaves streaks on a clean (or dirty) windshield. The passenger side wiper sometimes leaves skip streaks (flat patchy streaks vice just lines) across most of the blade. I wonder if the blade leaving those streaks appears to the rain sensor as more rain hitting or remaining on the windshield post-wipe and causes it to kick up the speed in an attempt to get the windshield clear/safe?

[April1]

Originally Posted by cadman50

Nahoa, sensitive to what? the amount of rain on the windshield or how fast the rain is coming down on the windshield? i thought that rain sensing means that if it starts raining harder, the wipers will have shorter wipe intervals....no? If I have a windshield covered with a mist of rain and the sensitivity set to low, the wipers work as expected. but then if I just up the sensitivity one notch with the same mist on the windshield, they start wiping continuously. Not sure why. Could it be a sensor problem?

Rain sensors sense the reflected infra red light from the wind shield. In case of clear glass, no infra red light generated by the sensor is reflected back and as the glass surface gets opaque, more and more light gets reflected back. Less sensitive means it allows more opaqueness , high sensitive means the other way.

Rain sensor does not control the speed of the wipers, it just controls the pause time between successive wipes. Wipers turn at the same speed in auto mode.

One may feel different behavior of rain sensor system depending upon the smoothness of the windshield for example. In one case even light mist stays and in other case mist gets converted to big drop on windscreen and slips down.

[MetaX]

Actually, the rain sensor does control the speed using the speeds available from the manual mode (slow and fast) in addition to the intervals. When it is raining elephants and Volkswagens, you'll see the wiper switch to fast mode.

I'm also pretty sure that the rain sensor only actually looks at a small square around where the sensor is situated which is in the area where the rear view mirror attaches. There may be cases when the sensor wipes the windshield at a frequency or speed that is not so appropriate for the amount of rain hitting the windshield because the area that is being watched could have gotten a slightly different rain pattern on it than the rest of the glass. I once made the mistake of leaving my wipers on auto when I stopped at a station to fill up so when I cleaned my windshield (don't know why I decided to do this), the wipers activated when the wet spongy part of the squeegee ran over the sensor. Nearly knocked the squeegee out of my hand. Heed the warning on the manual about turning auto off when going through a carwash! Even with the ignition off the wipers are still armed!

[cadman50]

[QUOTE=MetaX;11895614]Actually, the rain sensor does control the speed using the speeds available from the manual mode (slow and fast) in addition to the intervals. When it is raining elephants and Volkswagens, you'll see the wiper switch to fast mode.

I'm also pretty sure that the rain sensor only actually looks at a small square around where the sensor is situated which is in the area where the rear view mirror attaches. There may be cases when the sensor wipes the windshield at a frequency or speed that is not so appropriate for the amount of rain hitting the windshield because the area that is being watched could have gotten a slightly different rain pattern on it than the rest of the glass. I once made the mistake of leaving my wipers on auto when I stopped at a station to fill up so when I cleaned my windshield (don't know why I decided to do this), the wipers activated when the wet spongy part of the squeegee ran over the sensor. Nearly knocked the squeegee out of my hand. Heed the warning on the manual about turning auto off when going through a carwash! Even with the ignition off the wipers are still armed![/QUOTE]

Wow that's good to know. I need to try that out when it's raining. Why would they have an "armed" system when the vehicle is off. Thanks for all the info guys. I have to tell you though...I ran into a friend of mine at the gym earlier and asked him if he had rain sensing wipers. He looked at me and said "Yeah and they suck. I've never had a car that they seemed to work the way you would think they work". And he has a Maserrati and and an Audi A7. haha. that made me feel better about my wipers.