Hello!

I've just bought a 2017 Ford Focus and I love it. The one thing that is driving me mad though, is that the intermittent 'auto' setting on the front wipers is largely useless. I have a narrow window to get it fixed on the warranty, but the problem is when I take it to a garage, they sprinkle some water on the sensor and it swipes away. But in actual rain, it is useless! A diagnostic is registering no faults, but could the rain sensor be on its way out? Is it losing sensitivity? Is there anything else it could be?

It swipes when I'm scraping the windscreen, and when I get a particularly 'splatty' bit of spray from a passing lorry, but for the drizzle and light rain it is designed to clear, it doesn't register, not even on maximum sensitivity.

Has anyone had similar or know what it could be. Obvious answers welcome without fearing offence - I know nothing!

 

All the best,

Jon

Hi John, welcome.

I've had autowipers on several cars and my experience was similar to yours. Fortunately on the Mk 8/8.5 Fiesta you can switch it off in the settings menu and it then becomes a normal intermittent wipe, which I prefer. I believe you can do that with the Focus Mk 3.5 also according to the manual.

Otherwise, and assuming no fault, keep the screen in front of the sensors scrupulously clean.

 

 

AUTOWIPERS



Note:   Fully defrost the windshield before you switch the windshield wipers on.

Note:   Make sure you switch the windshield wipers and ignition off before using an automatic car wash.

Autowipers uses a rain sensor located in the area around the interior mirror. The rain sensor monitors the amount of moisture on the windshield and automatically turns the wipers on. It will adjust the wiper speed by the amount of moisture that the sensor detects on the windshield.

AHighest sensitivity. BOn. CLowest sensitivity.

Switch the autowipers on by moving the wiper lever up to the first position.

Switch the autowipers off by moving the wiper lever down.

 Use the rotary control to adjust the sensitivity of the autowipers. When you select low sensitivity, the wipers will operate when the sensor detects a large amount of water on the windshield. When you select high sensitivity, the wipers will operate when the sensor detects a small amount of water on the windshield.

The autowipers feature is active and ready when the wiper lever is in the first position and selected in the information display. You can change the autowipers feature to intermittent wipers through the information display.   See   General Information. 

Note:   Check your wiper function in the information display.   See   General Information.  The autowipers feature functions only when you select the menu choice in the information display and you move the wiper lever up to the first position. The autowipers feature then remains on in the information display menu until you change it to intermittent wipe.

Note:   If you switch autolamps on in conjunction with autowipers, your low beam headlamps turn on automatically when the rain sensor activates the windshield wipers continuously.   See   General Information. 

 Keep the outside of the windshield clean. The rain sensor is very sensitive and the wipers may operate if dirt, mist or insects hit the windshield.

Wet or winter driving conditions with ice, snow or salty road mist can cause inconsistent and unexpected wiping or smearing. In these conditions, you can do the following to help keep your windshield clear:

• Lower the sensitivity of the autowipers to reduce the amount of smearing.
• Switch to normal or high-speed wipe by moving the wiper lever up.
• Switch the autowipers off and switch intermittent mode on through the information display.   See   General Information. 
• Switch the autowipers off by moving the wiper lever down.

Note:   Clean the windshield and wiper blades if they begin to leave streaks or smears. If that does not resolve the issue, install new wiper blades.   See   Changing the Front Wiper Blades. 

Focus Owner's Manual

 

You can try a new gel pad.

The rain sensor must make perfect contact with the screen for light rain sensitivity.

Absolutely as Tom stated above. I had exactly the same issue on my last car (a Lexus is250) and after replacing the gel sensor all was perfect. 

Thinking back, there have been issues with the gel melting in extremely hot weather and running down the inside of the screen. Happened on my previous Mk 8.

Ah thank you everyone!

i didn’t know I could switch off the auto and it would be a straightforward intermittent; that’s great and I’d prefer that anyway. I’ll suggest the gel pad to the garage too and see if that helps. (Is that an easy job? I only ask because I used to have an Audi and it felt like your had to take the engine out to replace a bulb.)

Thanks so much everyone!