Rain sensing wipers and snow?

[Ride92]

Does anyone have issues with their rain sensing wipers detecting snow? I drove about 2 hours yesterday thru a storm dropping about 6" of snow and my sensing wipers didn't detect the snow failing on my windshield. They either didn't move in the auto position or where on faster then needed on the always on setting. Does anyone else experience this issue?

Now I did have my windshield replaced due to a crack a few months ago. I can't recall 100% but I believe the auto sensing system worked better last winter. At least I don't remember having issues with it. Do the sensors need to be recalibrated or something after a windshield replacement?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Anchorman]

You can set the sensitivity in the settings menu or what I have done is to disable them in the settings and just use them as normal intermittent wipers. I don’t like the unpredictable nature of the rain sensing wipers.

 

[yrwei52]

Does anyone have issues with their rain sensing wipers detecting snow? I drove about 2 hours yesterday thru a storm dropping about 6" of snow and my sensing wipers didn't detect the snow failing on my windshield. They either didn't move in the auto position or where on faster then needed on the always on setting. Does anyone else experience this issue?

Now I did have my windshield replaced due to a crack a few months ago. I can't recall 100% but I believe the auto sensing system worked better last winter. At least I don't remember having issues with it. Do the sensors need to be recalibrated or something after a windshield replacement?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

When our windshield got replaced due to hail damage, the shop didn't do any recalibration on sensors although the service manual does say so. Fortunately our rain sensor seems working as good as before windshield replacement. It's very likely your windshield installer broke the sensor holding bracket and this has happened before in this community. Or the sensor may get installed improperly or loose.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Turn the car on and set the wipers to Auto. Spray some water on the sensor area and see what happens. At least you'll be able to see if the wipers are working or not.

 

[Mr.Gadget]

Mine doesn't work as well with snow either. Never had my windshield replaced. Can these be calibrated by the dealership?

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Mine doesn't work as well with snow either. Never had my windshield replaced. Can these be calibrated by the dealership?

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

There's a way to adjust the sensitivity of the rain sensing wipers. Check your owner's manual.

 

[banjos-n-beer]

I've never been impressed with the rain sensing functionality.... whether it be rain or snow. Adjusting the sensitivity does little help long term.

One of these days I mean to go in and turn it off.

 

[Ride92]

I don't see any setting in the menu's to adjust sensitivity, only the option to turn on rain sensing wipers or not. They are checked on. From what I can recall they worked just fine in rain. Its the recent snow that we had that I was finding they wouldn't activate when snow was collecting on the windshield. The snow was melting, turning to droplets and running up the windshield and still no wiper action. I'm going to have the dealer take a look at it the next time it's in I guess. I'm going to try a different dealer this time around. I need a firmware update and that business with the air bags taken care of. I am hoping that either the sensor needs to be recalibrated since I had the windshield replaced or that its loose or something. I just don't think it's working right. I don't recall having any issues with it last winter.

 

[banjos-n-beer]

Sensitivity is controlled via the intermittent wiper setting. The faster the setting, the more sensitive the sensor behaves.

But as I said, its way too unreliable for me. It'll go on full hyper-wiper mode when its just misting, and then I can drive for a mile in pouring rain before it decides to start wiping.

YMMV

 

[Conrad 16.5]

On CX-5s that have the rain sensing wipers the sensitivity is controlled by the internal ring on the wiper lever.

"The sensitivity of the rain sensor can be adjusted by turning the switch on the wiper lever.
From the center position (normal), rotate the switch downward for higher sensitivity (faster response) or rotate it upward for less."

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I know this doesn't help but I haven't had that problem on mine yet.

 

[GP 2004]

I find that the auto wipers don't work well in snow. They work OK for me in rain. I have them turned off now because of the weather here.

 

[yrwei52]

I've never been impressed with the rain sensing functionality.... whether it be rain or snow. Adjusting the sensitivity does little help long term.

One of these days I mean to go in and turn it off.

When I found the rain-sensing wipers on our 2000 BMW 528i is a lot more precise and reliable with sensitivity adjustment than our 2001.5 VW Passat GLX, my conclusion was not all rain-sensing wipers from German are the same! Apparently VW is using inferior rain sensor and cheaper design for the system hence the functionality is unreliable!

I believe Mazda falls in VW catagory by using inferior rain sensor and cheaper design for the system. May be that's why Mazda gives us an option to turn rain-sensing wipers off!

 

[frenchbiker]

These rain sensitive wipers are what I consider a completely useless feature. How difficult is it to turn the wipers on manually?
I'll take an interior trunk door release mechanism any day over these. Just my opinion.

 

[yrwei52]

These rain sensitive wipers are what I consider a completely useless feature. How difficult is it to turn the wipers on manually?
I'll take an interior trunk door release mechanism any day over these. Just my opinion.

The same should apply to "Auto Headlights" feature!

But honestly, "Auto Wipers" or Rain-Sensing Wipers are a nice feature if they can be made precise and reliable like my BMW's and I don't mind to have them.

Like you, I really miss interior liftgate release button found on almost all other CUVs!

 

[Ride92]

On CX-5s that have the rain sensing wipers the sensitivity is controlled by the internal ring on the wiper lever.

"The sensitivity of the rain sensor can be adjusted by turning the switch on the wiper lever.
From the center position (normal), rotate the switch downward for higher sensitivity (faster response) or rotate it upward for less."

I know this already, I had mine set to the highest sensitivity setting and they still wouldn't come on. I know how to adjust the wipers, I know how to turn off the auto sensing feature. I was and still am asking if anyone else with rain sensing wipers notices a problem with them detecting snow. A few have chimed in saying theirs work just fine, while others say that don't like the rain sensing wipers and just turn that feature off. I get it, I could just turn the system off and have regular intermittent wipers but I'd rather have the system work properly. Like I said, I recall no issues with it last winter, just this winter so far after having a windshield replaced in fall.

 

[GP 2004]

I know this already, I had mine set to the highest sensitivity setting and they still wouldn't come on. I know how to adjust the wipers, I know how to turn off the auto sensing feature. I was and still am asking if anyone else with rain sensing wipers notices a problem with them detecting snow. A few have chimed in saying theirs work just fine, while others say that don't like the rain sensing wipers and just turn that feature off. I get it, I could just turn the system off and have regular intermittent wipers but I'd rather have the system work properly. Like I said, I recall no issues with it last winter, just this winter so far after having a windshield replaced in fall.

Sounds like the windshield replacement might have buggered something.

 

[banjos-n-beer]

When I found the rain-sensing wipers on our 2000 BMW 528i is a lot more precise and reliable with sensitivity adjustment than our 2001.5 VW Passat GLX, my conclusion was not all rain-sensing wipers from German are the same! Apparently VW is using inferior rain sensor and cheaper design for the system hence the functionality is unreliable!

I believe Mazda falls in VW catagory by using inferior rain sensor and cheaper design for the system. May be that's why Mazda gives us an option to turn rain-sensing wipers off!

Yeah, I'm leaning more towards the conclusion its a cheap sensor too. The inconsistence regarding performance is annoying, but not a show stopper.

 

[yrwei52]

Sounds like the windshield replacement might have buggered something.

I agree. There're a couple of reports of screw-ups after the windshield replacement on the GT with Tech. One found the shop broke the plastic clip of sensor holder which factory-glued on the windshield; the other found the shop "taped" the sensor on the windshield as the replacement windshield doesn't have the sensor holders!

Ride92, you should open up the plastic sensor cover and verify these sensors are properly installed behind the windshield.

How To Remove the Sensor Cover Behind the Windshield

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Does anyone know how these rain sensors work? Is it optical or some sort of moisture sensor? A combination of both?

I'd say for the system to detect snow reliably that it would depend on the snow and what type of sensor is used to detect it. A heavy wet snow should be easy to detect. I light dusting of 'dry' very cold snow would be more difficult to detect.