MK8 auto wipers

[jakephillips05]

hi i seem to be having a problem with my auto wipers on my 18 plate titanium fiesta. the seem to come on when its no raining and go full speed sometimes for a few mins then stop. when its pouring it down with rain they dont come on or they dont come in full speed like they should. i usually have the in the second from top sensitivity or the top one. anyone else have this problem with theres ??

[primus1960]

yes, I have a 67 plate titanium, my auto wipers sometimes don’t behave as they should I posted this very question last year, to me the sensitivity setting works opposite to what the manual says, I usually alter the setting to the lowest point, and then move, it to the top, not sure if it’s a fault or what, as it’s my first car to have this feature, sometimes it works well other times it’s rubbish...

[jakephillips05]

15 minutes ago, primus1960 said:

yes, I have a 67 plate titanium, my auto wipers sometimes don’t behave as they should I posted this very question last year, to me the sensitivity setting works opposite to what the manual says, I usually alter the setting to the lowest point, and then move, it to the top, not sure if it’s a fault or what, as it’s my first car to have this feature, sometimes it works well other times it’s rubbish...

ah okay i will try that think im going to take it the the dealership to see if its a known issue first car to have it too although when i got the car it seemed to work fine. up until recently 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Not been impressed  with this feature on any car I've had with it and the Mk 8 is no exception. Found wipers not coming on in a downpour yet wiping furiously when an insect hits the sensor. On the Mk 8 you can disable the feature in the vehicle settings menu, the auto setting then becomes a normal variable intermittent wipe which I much prefer. I think a lot of folks on here have done the same😀.

 

 

 

[primus1960]

Yes I can see it can be disabled, but I the sort who believes if a car has a feature then you should be able to use it, 

btw, what’s the gearchange like on other mk8,s, mine is still awful in mostly first and second, really clunky, although it was smooth and quiet when I first bought it, dealer not really interested, may have to try again, 

[Treef]

Is it possible to disable them on a 2012 pre facelift mk7 as I find them a pain with the same problems as written above 

[alexp999]

Make sure the screen is nice and clean, especially around the sensors. If it gets at all smeary it messes with the sensor. 

The wax in most car shampoos smears the glass so I always finish off with some glass cleaner. 

If I don't, or the garage clean it I always find the sensor mis behaving. 

That's not too say it's always consistent, I still have to adjust the sensitivity on the fly sometimes and as has been the case on all my fords turning it down from highest sensitivity and back up appears to boost the sensitivity. 

But try properly cleaning the screen with a non smeary glass cleaner. It certainly makes it more reliable for me. 

[isetta]

I had those wipers on my mk6.5 which I owned for 9 years (Zetec with the Technology pack which included the rain detecting wipers). Was never happy with that feature. always tempramental. My mk7.5 has intermittent wipers that can be adjusted with the wheel on the stalk. Much better in my opinion, it does what you tell it.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

 

3 hours ago, Treef said:

Is it possible to disable them on a 2012 pre facelift mk7 as I find them a pain with the same problems as written above 

 

Of the Fords I've had with autowipers ( Fiesta Mk 7 & 8, Focus Mk 2.5 and C-Max Mk2), the Mk 8 is the only one where I found the way to switch it to intermittent through the car menu. In all other cases I can't recall being able to find anything in the handbook and I do remember asking the dealer and being told "no". 

Someone on here may know a way however, Forscan perhaps?

[TomsFocus]

Think I'm in the minority here, I actually like auto-wipers!  Had them on pretty much every daily since my second car and won't buy another daily without them now!  I find intermittent never works, it's always too fast or too slow and ends up leaving scratches in the screen and changing the speed manually every few seconds.  Whereas the auto wipers work well for ~95% of the time.  I do accept that in very fine misty rain or large but sparse rain drops they don't always wipe quickly enough and I'll just switch them off and on again. 

Can't say I experience phantom wipes where nothing is on the screen though.  Is it only happening on damp mornings?  There might be some condensation in the sensor?

I've never seen the option to switch them off on Fords before so reckon that is new for the Mk8.  

[iantt]

8 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Think I'm in the minority here, I actually like auto-wipers!  Had them on pretty much every daily since my second car and won't buy another daily without them now!  I find intermittent never works, it's always too fast or too slow and ends up leaving scratches in the screen and changing the speed manually every few seconds.  Whereas the auto wipers work well for ~95% of the time.  I do accept that in very fine misty rain or large but sparse rain drops they don't always wipe quickly enough and I'll just switch them off and on again. 

Can't say I experience phantom wipes where nothing is on the screen though.  Is it only happening on damp mornings?  There might be some condensation in the sensor?

I've never seen the option to switch them off on Fords before so reckon that is new for the Mk8.  

Agree with Tom, my last 3 cars have had auto wipers and I like the feature. Not 100% reliable but most of the time it does work as it should. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

It's a personal preference thing I guess, at least with the Mk 8 you do have the choice. 

I have memories of my first car with single speed (slow!) wipers and washers where you furiously pumped the plunger button to get some water out, so I still find even variable intermittent a bit of a luxury!😀

 

[isetta]

I have never had a car with vaccuum wipers but I remember my dad telling me some cars had them in the 1950s.  no electric motor, it worked from vaccuum off inlet manifold, so when you put your foot down to accelerate the wipers almost stopped.

eg ford prefect:

"1959 arrived and the Anglia 105E was fitted, at long last, with electric wipers, but when its 107E Prefect cousin appeared, the vacuum wipers were back again. Ford had overcome two minor niggles with the 100E, the side-valve engine and the rather frustrating three speed box, but the major criticism of the wipers remained. The tank had gone, and a Consul type pump meant that they didn’t quite stop, but the road testers were definitely not impressed."

I understand some early Citroen 2CV had the wipers driven from the speedo cable so the wiper speed was directly relative to speed of car.

We are quite lucky now

[iantt]

My brother in law has a 1940's Willy's jeep with auto wipers. When it rains my sister has to grab the little handle on the wiper linkage and turn wipers from side to side. Lol think there were versions with a motor . 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, isetta said:

I have never had a car with vaccuum wipers but I remember my dad telling me some cars had them in the 1950s.  no electric motor, it worked from vaccuum off inlet manifold, so when you put your foot down to accelerate the wipers almost stopped.

That's right. An old schoolmate had a 100E  as his first car and the wipers went mad on the overrun (high vacuum) and stopped on hard acceleration (well, what passed for acceleration, anyway😁).

[petran17]

Hello guys, I have one question, related to Auto wipers.

In the wiper's switch, is there an option for "Auto" function? Or the switch is the same with the cars that Auto wipers is not available?

Also, in case that auto wipers is available on your car, how is this feature enabled? Through the switch or through setting on trip computer or anything else?

Thanks.

[DG97]

I think for the auto wipers, it’s one level up from off for them to be set to auto. I’m not sure if the switch would be the same in a non auto car but I assume so as even with the auto wipers, they don’t have any distinct labelling to indicate they’re automatic. 

There is also an option in the trip computer to enable/disable the auto wipers. 

[petran17]

Thanks my friend for your answer.

I think that you understood that i mean the "Auto" and not the "semi" function (not sure what is the correct name). In this "semi" function the wiper are working always and you set the sensitivity.

In the Auto i mean, the wipers are working based on water detection from some sensors on the glass.

I think the same that there is no labeling on the switch because i saw a Titanium and its switch is the same with mine (ST-Line).

Thanks again.

[DG97]

5 minutes ago, petran17 said:

Thanks my friend for your answer.

I think that you understood that i mean the "Auto" and not the "semi" function (not sure what is the correct name). In this "semi" function the wiper are working always and you set the sensitivity.

In the Auto i mean, the wipers are working based on water detection from some sensors on the glass.

I think the same that there is no labeling on the switch because i saw a Titanium and its switch is the same with mine (ST-Line).

Thanks again.

Not a problem, I could be wrong about the positioning of the auto switch, but i am pretty sure if you have the auto wipers enabled via the trip computer, to have the auto mode on, you have it in the “semi” position. If disabled via the trip computer, the “semi” position does what it is for and does the intermittent wipe where you can choose the sensitivity/frequency of the intermittent wipe

[petran17]

8 minutes ago, DG97 said:

Not a problem, I could be wrong about the positioning of the auto switch, but i am pretty sure if you have the auto wipers enabled via the trip computer, to have the auto mode on, you have it in the “semi” position. If disabled via the trip computer, the “semi” position does what it is for and does the intermittent wipe where you can choose the sensitivity/frequency of the intermittent wipe

Excellent. I understood my friend.

Thanks a lot for your help.