Rain sensing wipers... WTF?

[rodslinger]

I'm loving the new 2010 grand touring 3 we bought a few weeks back but the wipers are just damn crazy sometimes.

At least once a week we can be driving and when in auto mode, they'll just wipe once for no reason. Not a cloud in the sky or anything.

I can't notice any difference in the sensitivity setting under any conditions.

When they do make a sweep for even light mist, it does it twice before parking a few seconds.

Is it just my car or is anyone else wondering what the hell is wrong with them sometimes?

 

[wingzero_]

Mine do the same, doesn't bug me much. I just don't use the auto setting. The random wipe could be from something setting the sensor off. I mean anything automatic isn't fullproof. I consider rain sensing wipers a useless feature.

 

[NathanR]

You think that's crazy? I had a 1990 Z24. It did NOT have auto-wipers. But the wipers would just come on once or twice completely randomly. Middle of the day...pure sunshine. It'd do it about once every one or two months.

 

[rodslinger]

That was a GM thing... I remember working on GM cars in the late 80's and early 90's. A bunch of them would do that. It would usually do it when using the turn signals or hitting a bump.

 

[hanzo040107]

My wipers do the same thing & I have a 07 MS3 GT. I don't think the sensitivity adjust does anything either. I just let it wip e when it thinks it needs it or sometimes just turn it off since I use Rain-X. I love that stuff.

 

[digi0123]

yeah...they suck. Mine wipe once..sometimes twice...they they go really fast and wipe....sensitivity setting does nothing.. -1 mazda.

 

[Dubcnea]

i don't even use my wipers...or it's very rare. i just keep them off. the window beads water so well that i don't need to use them. i will if it's heavy rain or dirty water...and eventually when it's snowy. until then, they an stay parked.

 

[BoostisLove]

This thread makes me laughhh

 

[blk10maz3]

agreed they could have left that s*** off and I would have been none the wiser ... if they wouldnt have only one f'ing sensor and its way up at the top of the windshield it might actually work .... but with all mazda i hate there are only three freakin speeds.... Im one of those ppl that hates to have anything on the windshield so it irritates me to wait for the sensor to go off and I usually end up doin it myself lol ....

 

[destrux]

Mine work fine. Bugs occasionally set it off, but rarely. I set the sensitivity in the middle and leave it there. Sometimes light mist won't trigger them often enough, so I have to sweep them manually once in a while. It still more convenient than manual wipers. Well. Except when there's snow and ice involved. Then auto mode gets shut off. Nothing like getting your fingers wiped while you're trying to dig the snow out of the wiper area.

 

[Nliiitend1]

I've never had problem with the ones on my '08... (dunno)

 

[GTXT23]

Auto Wipers

I'm loving the new 2010 grand touring 3 we bought a few weeks back but the wipers are just damn crazy sometimes.

At least once a week we can be driving and when in auto mode, they'll just wipe once for no reason. Not a cloud in the sky or anything.

I can't notice any difference in the sensitivity setting under any conditions.

When they do make a sweep for even light mist, it does it twice before parking a few seconds.

Is it just my car or is anyone else wondering what the hell is wrong with them sometimes?

Yeah it may seem that they are responding to "nothing" but the sensor is reactive ONLY to the H2O molecule therfore its either being tricked by a reflection or more common are cars/trucks on the road that have either just sprayed the widshield, or have residual water from construction or car wash, even the most minute speck can set off the wipers hence sensitivity settings which the intermittent doubles as , reduce sensitivity you should be OK. they arent just going crazy , heck it aint no Toyota - thanks to god--I hate toyota drivers in particular the prius type that presume they have more right to the road than you because they think they are more eco-friendly but in realitythey arent as the recyclability of those turds is 4x that of a regular car.
+ it takes over 10 years to overcome the price difference that they cost --so I love running them off the road like rats. --anyhow They auto-wiper system is great if you get irregular storms . Hands free - a beautiful thing -

 

[dmention7]

Yeah it may seem that they are responding to "nothing" but the sensor is reactive ONLY to the H2O molecule therfore its either being tricked by a reflection or more common are cars/trucks on the road that have either just sprayed the widshield, or have residual water from construction or car wash, even the most minute speck can set off the wipers hence sensitivity settings which the intermittent doubles as , reduce sensitivity you should be OK. they arent just going crazy , heck it aint no Toyota - thanks to god--I hate toyota drivers in particular the prius type that presume they have more right to the road than you because they think they are more eco-friendly but in realitythey arent as the recyclability of those turds is 4x that of a regular car.
+ it takes over 10 years to overcome the price difference that they cost --so I love running them off the road like rats. --anyhow They auto-wiper system is great if you get irregular storms . Hands free - a beautiful thing -

That was probably the most random train of thought ever! lol

 

[GTXT23]

That was probably the most random train of thought ever! lol

They have used panty machines in Japan --in fact they have more vending machines per cappita than any other place on earth . You can even buy cars from a vending machine and negotiate with it !

 

[Lord_Zath]

Mine work just fine.

You could get in the habit of turning the auto on whenever it's starting to rain.

Personally, I'm doing that because in the winter time the last thing I want to happen is have the wipers go while there's tons of ice on the windshield!

 

[Nliiitend1]

Yeah it may seem that they are responding to "nothing" but the sensor is reactive ONLY to the H2O molecule therfore its either being tricked by a reflection or more common are cars/trucks on the road that have either just sprayed the widshield, or have residual water from construction or car wash, even the most minute speck can set off the wipers hence sensitivity settings which the intermittent doubles as , reduce sensitivity you should be OK. they arent just going crazy , heck it aint no Toyota - thanks to god--I hate toyota drivers in particular the prius type that presume they have more right to the road than you because they think they are more eco-friendly but in realitythey arent as the recyclability of those turds is 4x that of a regular car.
+ it takes over 10 years to overcome the price difference that they cost --so I love running them off the road like rats. --anyhow They auto-wiper system is great if you get irregular storms . Hands free - a beautiful thing -

I don't know where you got your information, but I find it VERY hard to believe that it "is only reactive to the H2O molecule" and nothing else...

It seems to me, anything that bends infrared light would trip it off (considering it uses the amount of IR light that is reflected back at it to determine if there is water on the windshield). (dunno)

 

[GTXT23]

I don't know where you got your information, but I find it VERY hard to believe that it "is only reactive to the H2O molecule" and nothing else...

It seems to me, anything that bends infrared light would trip it off (considering it uses the amount of IR light that is reflected back at it to determine if there is water on the windshield). (dunno)

So your're saying that when you are driving with NO CARS in front of you for ant visible distance that they are turning on ? This does not happen in the AM when there might be dew drops falling or blowing from trees etc .? Its absolutley dry and free of any possibily of moisture ? Then you may have an issue - but I did say in addition to the fact that its designed to react only to the h2O molecule that it could have been from a reflection of some sort that tricked the sensor , but thats rare -

 

[Nliiitend1]

Huh?

I'm saying that the sensor uses the amount of reflected IR light (the amount that is reflected back into it) to determine whether or not the wipers need to be on.

Anything that passes across the surface that bends the lights similarly to water would trip it off.

 

[GTXT23]

Huh?

I'm saying that the sensor uses the amount of reflected IR light (the amount that is reflected back into it) to determine whether or not the wipers need to be on.

Anything that passes across the surface that bends the lights similarly to water would trip it off.

I understand what you are saying , however being that most anything that has a liquid viscosity has the H2O molecule in it that would be the base and most primary factor that the sensor is designed to react to . According to Mazda anyhow ?

 

[dmention7]

Nliiitend1 is correct. (google it) The sensor projects IR light through the windshield at an angle, then detects the amount of light that is reflected back. Water on the windshield will cause different amounts of IR light to be reflected back, but anything that causes light to reflect back similarly to water could trip the sensor.

There is nothing about the sensor that is chemically specific to water.