Hi,Further to previous posts about how over sensitive the automatic wiper sensor is, is it possible to switch the f*ckers off so you can have the old fashioned intermittant wipe on the stalk instead? The manual says that the slidy switch on the top of the stalk controls the sensitivity of the autowipers but it only seems to alter it between 'very sensitive' and 'warp speed at the hint of rain in the next county'!To be honest, i'd be quite happy with just time-set intermittant wipers so wondered if anyone knows if this downgrade is possible, obviously via VAGCOM or whatever it's called... I DON't want to be pulled the windscreen or wiring apart just to achieve it, I would like to switch it back if I ever sold the car!Yes, I know people are gonna say 'why do you want THAT?!!!', so you may as well save your breath and a pointless post cos I've given my reason.

Although I haven't got them on my car, my dad does. He doesn't like them either, but they came as a package. I think they are very sensitive too and find they blades start scrapping across an almost dry screen because one drop has landed on the sensor.

Hi,Further to previous posts about how over sensitive the automatic wiper sensor is, is it possible to switch the f*ckers off so you can have the old fashioned intermittant wipe on the stalk instead? The manual says that the slidy switch on the top of the stalk controls the sensitivity of the autowipers but it only seems to alter it between 'very sensitive' and 'warp speed at the hint of rain in the next county'!To be honest, i'd be quite happy with just time-set intermittant wipers so wondered if anyone knows if this downgrade is possible, obviously via VAGCOM or whatever it's called... I DON't want to be pulled the windscreen or wiring apart just to achieve it, I would like to switch it back if I ever sold the car!Yes, I know people are gonna say 'why do you want THAT?!!!', so you may as well save your breath and a pointless post cos I've given my reason.

I remember reading somewhere that you can actually change the rain sensing wipers to normal intermittent operation by just changing the wiper relay to a different type. After the change, the stalk works just like a normal intermittent wiper stalk.

But not sure if this any valid information anymore. Now if I just could remember where I read that......

What if you set rain sensor as not installed with VAGcom? WIll it default to operating like a regular switch then?

What if you set rain sensor as not installed with VAGcom? WIll it default to operating like a regular switch then?

Don't know. Anyway the wiper relay is different with rain sensing wipers. It's a pulse relay or something like it, so that might cause some problems if you disable the rain sensor with vag-com.

You can adjust the sensitivity with Vagcom/VCDS, whether it works and does the trick I cannot say as I've never tried it with mine

You can adjust the sensitivity with Vagcom/VCDS, whether it works and does the trick I cannot say as I've never tried it with mine

Doesn't do anything noticeable. If you have the old style rain sensor (no diamond shape), there isn't much you can do to make it any better. Newer rain sensor should work better.

Apparently, the general consensus seems to be that even adjusting it makes very little difference: there's not that much change between full on and full off adjustment. It's just not that adjustable from everything i've read!

Maybe you have a faulty sensor, my rain sensing wipers seem to work just fine and on the least sensitive setting dont seem to come on perhaps when they should be.

I once tried changing the settings via vagcom on my Elegance

What a mistake it got worse (off in pouring rain, on fast when dry etc)

changing via vagcom did make the light sensor more sensitive though

The first thing to try is to make sure NO smear/grease/road film on the

sensor area (use pure alcohol cleaner)

Second is to persuade your dealer the sensor is faulty and get them to change it warranty

Its the ONE thing I DON'T miss on my new VRS

With VCDS you cannot change the rain-sensitivity of the sensor. The options are there to change if you have another windscreen. (original or sunsafe with IR-filter).

With VCDS you cannot change the rain-sensitivity of the sensor.

Yes you can. It just doesn't do much anything on older type sensors.

You change the sensivity by changing the correction value. Look here :

VW Golf (1K) Rain/Light Sensor - Ross-Tech Wiki

I would be absolutely delighted if someone could come up with a way of disabling automatic wiping and replacing it with a standard system. IMO automatic wipers on my L&K are a total load of rubbish!

Yes you can. It just doesn't do much anything on older type sensors.

You change the sensivity by changing the correction value. Look here :

VW Golf (1K) Rain/Light Sensor - Ross-Tech Wiki

It wont do much to the sensitivity if it is raining.

It is only to correct the value in case the windscreen is the sunsafe one (with infrared filter).

The problems can only be solved with the newer sensor.

Ok,

I found the thread. It was on our Finnish VW site.

The change has been done to Seat Toledo MY2004 and Golf IV MY98, so I'm not sure if the newer cars still have the same kind of mechanics.

Anyway the part numbers are :

Wiper relay with intermittent function 4B0 955 531E

Wiper relay with rain sensing function 1J0 955 531

Changing the relay changes the wiper operation to intermittent.

Could someone with ETKA check if the relays are still the same in current Octavia model?

This might be of no help at all, in which case I'll go and sit back in the corner.

On my Mk1 Octavia, there was a little switch on top of the wiper stalk which was used to change the delay on the intermittent wipers. On my passat (b5.5) the stalk is exactly the same, but the switch is used to alter the sensitivity of the rain sensor rather than the time delay... Does the Mk2 Octy not have a similar setup?

As i said at the start, the switch is supposed to vary the sensitivity but just switches it from relatively sensitive to full on rally wiper mode!

It's a '58 L&K, so it's not a question of age and i'm sure there's no problem with the sensor beign faulty, it's doing what it's supposed to do, it's just far too sensitive for my liking. It takes too small an amount of rain to get it going, that's all. Just seems too much.

I've a brand new petrol vRS and rain sensitive systems is a bit 'random'. Sometimes it seems OK, other times its either too sensitive or not sensitive enought. When I brake it seems to do some extra wipes..

From what you say it sounds possible its the same problem we have had at the garage a couple of times in the last few months.

The others were traced back to the protective cover not being fully removed at the production stage thus the ammount of rain needed to activate the sensor being drastically reduced and making the the switch almost useless

Drove home from work in the pouring rain....

Auto wipers = **** ( the swear filter got THAT?? )

Hello Doctoroctavia, first post I see, welcome aboard if you haven't been here before :wave23d:

Do you work for a dealer or an indy?

Anybody with rain sensing wipers using water repellents on the windshield? I'm tempted to apply it to the Passat, but don't want to ruin what works fine so far.

Anybody with rain sensing wipers using water repellents on the windshield? I'm tempted to apply it to the Passat, but don't want to ruin what works fine so far.

:thumbdwn: Don't even think about water repellants. I used Rainex on the front screen of a Passat. It caused terrible smearing using the wipers in light rain at low speeds; so much so that it was almost impossible to see through the screen especially at night. I tried everything to get rid of it and I eventually replaced the screen because it was so bad.

This stuff might be OK on other windows but no way would I ever use it on a front or rear screen.

No issues with the sensitivity of our Elegance's wipers.

Perhaps you have a fault, or the sensor is set too sensitive in the ECU.

with auto wipers can you tell them to stop wiping or is it ALL automated?

with auto wipers can you tell them to stop wiping or is it ALL automated?

Yes you can stop them wiping. Switch them off:D