Rain Sensor Problem

[ernieh]

Hi All,
The rain sensor on my 203 Facelift seems to have gone down. The wipers still give a single wipe when the auto postion on the switch is engaged, and I haven't had a new windscreen.

Can this system be reset in any way or will it be a new sensor pack? Needless to say I have tried the 'bucket of water' test and they are switched on!

Many thanks for your replies.


Ernie

 

[television]

I think that the car has lost it and does nor know that it has this feature,,only an indie or MB with STAR to see where it has gone

 

[ernieh]

Rain Sensors

Thanks, Malcolm, that's what I was thinking too. Will book it in to be checked. It should be covered under Service Plus. Shame that they have discontinued this as it has been well worth the money on my car!

Ernie

 

[television]

Thanks, Malcolm, that's what I was thinking too. Will book it in to be checked. It should be covered under Service Plus. Shame that they have discontinued this as it has been well worth the money on my car!

Ernie

I did not know that this has been dropped, yes nice to have.

One should never use Rain X with this system

 

[ernieh]

Rain X

I did not know that this has been dropped, yes nice to have.

One should never use Rain X with this system

Service Plus has been replaced by 2 levels of service contract; one covers routine servicing only and the other covers routine servicing plus friction parts, which according to my local service advisor also includes brake pads/ discs and clutch parts. There may be more than that, but it is far less comprehensive than the previous contracts which covered everything that could have considered due to normal wear and tear.

Is Rain X one of these compounds that causes the drops to globulise on the windscreen? Or maybe the other way round, is it a wetting agent?

Ernie

 

[television]

The rain sensor works by an Photo cell and Led placed at 45º to each other, and are focused by the little blue circle on the screen. when it is dry, the beam is in focus and the wipers are held off. When it rains this puts the beam out of focus, and the wipers work.

When using Rain X this breaks the water into micro droplets too small to put the beam out of focus

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
On my C43 the rain sensor when faulty or disconnected will resort to normal intermittent wipe.
It might be that like mine its become disconnected (I had removed the Rear view mirror and light over head light cluster a week or so before which may explain mine).
Like Malcolm says plugging into STAR should shed more light on the problem.

 

[ernieh]

Thanks for your help, Malcolm and Andy, will let you know what is the outcome on Monday.

Ernie

 

[whitenemesis]

Hi All,
The rain sensor on my 203 Facelift seems to have gone down. The wipers still give a single wipe when the auto postion on the switch is engaged, and I haven't had a new windscreen.

Can this system be reset in any way or will it be a new sensor pack? Needless to say I have tried the 'bucket of water' test and they are switched on!

Many thanks for your replies.


Ernie

By this do you mean that the wipers sweep once when the switch is moved to position 1 and then don't move again? Or do they sweep intermitently (at a fixed interval)?

Do they operate continuosly when on position 2 and 3?

Early adoptions of the rain sensor system would always give a single sweep when position 1 is selected. Later versions (with the combine rain and light sensors) do not do this.

If the sensor fails it reverts to normal intermitent wipe, no reaction to rain intensity.

 

[Xtractorfan]

Not a fan of the rain sensor wipe system, on my car it negates the intermittent wipe for a continuious wipe which is annoying in light rain and I have to manually switch off the wipers..

 

[whitenemesis]

Not a fan of the rain sensor wipe system, on my car it negates the intermittent wipe for a continuious wipe which is annoying in light rain and I have to manually switch off the wipers..

Then there is something amiss..

Rain senor equiped wipers will stop and start as required, in effect a constantly varying intermitant wipe. If yours wipe continously I would have it checked out...

 

[ernieh]

Rain Sensors

By this do you mean that the wipers sweep once when the switch is moved to position 1 and then don't move again? Or do they sweep intermitently (at a fixed interval)?

Do they operate continuosly when on position 2 and 3?

Early adoptions of the rain sensor system would always give a single sweep when position 1 is selected. Later versions (with the combine rain and light sensors) do not do this.

If the sensor fails it reverts to normal intermitent wipe, no reaction to rain intensity.

Sorry for the late reply.......Mine seems to be the early version that gives a single sweep when the switch is moved to postion 1. That is still happening, but it hasn't reverted to intermittent. Indeed the Service guy poured a watering-can full of water over the sensor and it didn't start. For info, while he tested it, he asked me to put the car in drive with the parking brake on and the footbrake and headlamps off, presumably to deactivate the feature that reduces the wiper speed/frequency when the car is stationary.

Positions 2 and 3 are OK; normal and fast as expected.

The car is booked in for Monday; will let you know what happens. I really appreciate all your help and comments. That is what I like about this site, nothing seems to be too much trouble for anybody and explanations are always full and helpful.


Ernie

 

[whitenemesis]

The wipers will not function if you have the driver's or passenger door open..

Had me stumped for ages

 

[television]

My car gives 1 sweep if left in the auto position when I turn the ignition on, they do the same if I turn them on when driving, they have they odd moment when left on and do a few sweeps when there is no rain, but in general perform very well

 

[Kross93]

Ernieh never reported what the issue was and here I am in 2024 looking for an answer