Member Since: 11 Oct 2010
Location: there's no f in point
Posts: 2137
Are my intermittent wipers broken?
Just bought the D3 and driven it tonight for the first time... the intermittent wipers dont seem to work that well, wiped twice in about five minutes then not all all, played around with the interval timer on the stalk but no apparent difference. Is it that I've got rain sensing? There's a big chunk in between the srceen and the rearview mirror and I think the sensor hides there?
I assumed that if on intermittent and it rained harder then the sensor stepped up to faster wipe or even continuous?
At present they dont wipe at all! It began drizzling but nothing much changed.
18th Oct 2010 10:32 pm
flinty99
Member Since: 17 Mar 2008
Location: Northumberland
Posts: 2558
What model and year of D3 do you have Nick?
If you have rain sensing wipers then the wiper stalk needs to be in the one up position. If the stalk is right at the bottom the wipers are off, one up is the rain sensing, two up permanent low speed, three up permanent high speed.
If indeed you do have rain sensing wipers then your correct the wipe gets faster the more water hits the front screen. Also, the interval timer as you call it controls the rear wiper speed, not the front.For details on the next Kielder Safari click visit the Kielder Safari website
Sold: HSE-G4, Tangiers Orange. (one of your 5 Discoverys a day)
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18th Oct 2010 10:44 pm
NickJ
Member Since: 11 Oct 2010
Location: there's no f in point
Posts: 2137
2005 in S trim. I dont know if rain sensing was standard as S is quite low but it was specified with extras when bought new by the original owner so I'm learning what it has!
There was a fair bit of droplets on the screen but no wipers operating on the --- stalk setting, I would have hoped for a wipe or two to clear it!
18th Oct 2010 10:52 pm
flinty99
Member Since: 17 Mar 2008
Location: Northumberland
Posts: 2558
With an S spec I would suspect you have intermittent wipes and not rain sensing. In which case the one-up would be intermittent wipe and the interval timer would indeed control the intermittent wipe time on the front wipers.For details on the next Kielder Safari click visit the Kielder Safari website
Sold: HSE-G4, Tangiers Orange. (one of your 5 Discoverys a day)
Member of CFT
18th Oct 2010 11:06 pm
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50936
The 2005MY S had optional rain sensors ...they became standard on 2006MY S models 21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
My S doesn’t have rain sensors think one up is intermittent wipe and adjust speed on the stalk timer thing pull arm forward for rear wiper intermittent i think hope that helped hard to explain Don’t worry it is supposed to sound like that...honest
18th Oct 2010 11:13 pm
NickJ
Member Since: 11 Oct 2010
Location: there's no f in point
Posts: 2137
I think what I'll do on the weekend is have a pretend shower with the hose pipe and see what happens. If I have rain sensing is there any way of disabling it so I can tell the car when I think it's raining?
The timer definately doesn't work like I'd expect it to
19th Oct 2010 8:32 pm
dsd1036
Member Since: 27 Feb 2010
Location: Surrey
Posts: 2692
hi,
i have an "S" and i definately has rain sensing!
Unless my sensor is knackered it sometimes drives me mad,as it wipes with little rain,to a point where a split every now and then,but it still drags my poor blades across a dry screen
I more i read somewhere on here you can disable it by removing a fuse but the same fuse also disables something else, so i didn't bother,but if anyone has answers for improved rain sensor control i'd love to hear about it!
rgds
DSD
20th Oct 2010 6:30 am
dgarside
Member Since: 17 Jan 2010
Location: Holmfirth
Posts: 732
I've got my car going in tomorrow for the same problem. I've got a MY09 58 plate SE and from all previous cars I presumed the rotating (+ / -) adjustor on the stalk was for the rain sensing, sensitivity. I drove a D4 a few weeks ago and the same adjustor did control the front wiper sensitivity.
Are you 100% sure flinty99 that this controls the rear wiper only ??? (I'll check later today)... anybody else confirm before I take my car tomorrow for the replacement parts fitting (under warranty).
Cheers,
Darren.
21st Oct 2010 12:22 pm
Tomcat 106
Member Since: 28 Aug 2010
Location: Essex....just
Posts: 160
dgarside
I have 05 MY SE with rain sensing and with the wiper stalk in intermittent the sensitivity is adjusted not the time interval. Works quite well really but I have found that if a fly happens to die in front of the sensor it wipes the remains all over the screen
21st Oct 2010 1:24 pm
dgarside
Member Since: 17 Jan 2010
Location: Holmfirth
Posts: 732
Cheers, I was almost sure it would be, especially after driving the D4, but just wanted to be sure...
Hopefully it'll start working tomorrow...
Darren.
21st Oct 2010 1:26 pm
NickJ
Member Since: 11 Oct 2010
Location: there's no f in point
Posts: 2137
Tomcat 106,
If the control does sensitivity and not time delay then is down (anti-clockwise) more sensitive than clockwise? Mine seems to have the same sensitivity no matter where it is (i.e. none )
21st Oct 2010 1:37 pm
discoteca
Member Since: 08 Mar 2010
Location: Warwickshire
Posts: 1477
Tomcat 106 wrote:
dgarside
I have 05 MY SE with rain sensing and with the wiper stalk in intermittent the sensitivity is adjusted not the time interval. Works quite well really but I have found that if a fly happens to die in front of the sensor it wipes the remains all over the screen
This has been discussed many times before. I am certain that you will find that on a D3 with rain sensors, the up and down twist dial does not change the sensitivity of the rain sensor in any way, at least not in the early ones anyway. It does the following two things:
1) Adjusts the intermittent time delay for the rear wiper if it is turned on (I have proved this by standing watching it with a stopwatch)
2) If you twist it upwards one click and the front wipers are in auto (rain sensing) mode the wipers will do one instant wipe (this is why you might think that you have increased the sensitivity because when you turn the dial you get a wipe) but it doesn’t actually change the sensitivity at all. Rotating it downwards doesn’t do anything at all (unless the rear wiper is on whereby you decrease the time interval of the rear intermittent). The dial is a way of getting an extra wipe at the front when the switch is in auto (rain sensing) mode.
I have a feeling that it was always intended to work as you describe (as in many other vehicles), but am certain that it doesn't in the D3. I even think that the handbook says something about it adjusting the sensitivity, which is incorrect and not the only time that there is something in the D3 handbook that is completely incorrect (handbook was probably finished well before product development was actually finished).
If you don't believe me test it out. Get your hosepipe to spray a very fine mist on the screen with the dial in the bottom position, then in one go turn it all the way to the top so you should have gone from one extreme to the other of the sensitivity, keep the hose spraying at the same rate and position on the screen and I guarantee you won’t see any difference in the wiping pattern wherever the rotating dial is positioned.
You can tell that it perplexed and infuriated me for a long time so I was determined to find out what the dial actually does!
I had a problem with the intermittent wipe on my non sensor model, they would only come on continuously.
Quick change of the stalk switch, 5 screws, one plug and job done good as new. part was around £40I started off with nothing and Ive still got most of it left.
21st Oct 2010 4:50 pm
dgarside
Member Since: 17 Jan 2010
Location: Holmfirth
Posts: 732
I've got the Disco in tomorrow for the stalk replacing, so we'll see if that has any effect. I'll let you know...
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but it was specified with extras when bought new by the original owner so I'm learning what it has!
