As the title suggests, can anyone give a 100% bulletproof answer to the following;

a) as has been vaguely suggested before, if you change the relay for the autowiper function, can you then 'downgrade' to the bog standard intermittant windscreen wipers controlled by the dial/switch control on the top of the stalk? (I know that dial/switch controls sensitivity but it only changes it between sensitive and on VERY fast in my experience)

and if that's a yes, what part/number is the relay needed to downgrade?

My car is brand new so you probably don't need to suggest the problem is the sensor as it appears to do what it should do, it's just too sensitive for my liking and it appears impossible to de-sensitise it enough.

Stupid question but have you switched them off and back onto rain sensing again? Sometimes they seem to get a bit confused and need to 'reset'.

No, you're not really reading the thread. There's nothing wrong with my autowipers, I just don't like them because they're too sensitive for me and would rather have normal intermittant wipers that's speed are controlled via the dial/switch on top of the stalk. I just keep tapping the stalk down now and then for a single wipe instead cos it's less annoying.

I don't need them to work every time there's a single drop on the windscreen, just every once in a while and at a pace which I can control instead of a computer telling me when the screen is or isn't wet enough.

they annoy me a little too, I'd have much preferred some extra soundproofing. They probably use a budget sized sensor, hence why they behave strangely.

Aha - I see - I thought they were just misbehaving...

anybody know the answer??

hmmm. rain sensitive wipers. like marmite you either love them or hate them. i now rather like them. their strange antics relieve boring wet commuting journeys :rofl:

Is there a wiper relay? I thought they were controlled by the central electrics control unit, I need to check up.

this was a problem on some citroens the auto wipers would go mad for no reason, as a road side fix we just disconected the sensor, and the wipers worked as normal this may help, i think the wipers on the octavia would be controled through the body control module .

I'd like to thank Lummox and Patrol Man for actually trying to answer the question as opposed to rambling on about whether they like or dislike the function which is what happens every time this topic has been raised!

Ahh, the joys of a public forum. You just need to develop the skill of skim reading to quickly pass over posts (like this one ), that are not strictly "on-topic". Mind you some digressions can be amusing, interesting, and even on ocassion, useful.

Chill out, man, if you were paying for this advice then you might be entitled to gripe

Erm click the stalk up again and use them in manual mode?

All you have is an extra position, making pos 1 auto, 2 int, 3 on, 4 turbo. The the dial on the stalk will become intermittant speed.

No need to change any parts , just RTM

position 0 being the neutral off position in that case?

if so, does that mean your telling us if you put the wipers in the second position after the auto one you can then control the speed of the wipers with the dial on the stalk like normal variable speed wipers??!

My only real gripe with my octavia wipers is that even in "4 turbo" position there still not fast enough when it really hammers it down compared to all the other cars i've owned

Don't remember having ever used the 2nd gear on mine, even when the rain was so bad the entire street flooded in 30 minutes.

Yeah, fair enough, it's just that i've asked this question on about three other related posts and never got an answer so I thought i'd start a new post where even the title shows what the topic is but they've all rambled back the same way as the other threads which is a bit annoying.

Unfortunately the manual is currently at the dealers so I can't look in it to see that there's a fourth position. I'll check but from memory i'm sure the next notch up is just normal on position though, could well be wrong though. If that is the case that you get an extra position, that WOULD answer it though.

Yeah, fair enough, it's just that i've asked this question on about three other related posts and never got an answer so I thought i'd start a new post where even the title shows what the topic is but they've all rambled back the same way as the other threads which is a bit annoying.

Unfortunately the manual is currently at the dealers so I can't look in it to see that there's a fourth position. I'll check but from memory i'm sure the next notch up is just normal on position though, could well be wrong though. If that is the case that you get an extra position, that WOULD answer it though.

I think someone with access to ETKA could easily check if there's a different relay for cars with rain sensor and without them?

I know the car works as normal, as sometimes SWMBO uses it to control intermittant.

I dont know why people are so obsessed with downgrading their cars, or speciffically ordering cars without it (that'll seem a good idea come trade-in). RTFM!

Erm click the stalk up again and use them in manual mode?

All you have is an extra position, making pos 1 auto, 2 int, 3 on, 4 turbo. The the dial on the stalk will become intermittant speed.

No need to change any parts , just RTM

Don't know if I'm being thick but I don't understand the above. On my car there are 4 positions (including off) for the wiper switch - 0=Off, 1=Automatic, 2=Slow speed continuous, 3=Fast Speed continuous. In addition if you press the switch down when it's in position 0 you get one flick wipe.

Just to complicate things when the switch is in position 2 and the car stops then the wipers automatically switch to intermittent.

Don't know if I'm being thick but I don't understand the above. On my car there are 4 positions (including off) for the wiper switch - 0=Off, 1=Automatic, 2=Slow speed continuous, 3=Fast Speed continuous. In addition if you press the switch down when it's in position 0 you get one flick wipe.

Just to complicate things when the switch is in position 2 and the car stops then the wipers automatically switch to intermittent.

I think you might be the one NOT being Thick That is how I understand the wiper function on the Octavia II as well, and that is the way it is supposed to work.

The windscreen wiper motor on the Octavia II is LIN-BUS controlled, and there is no external relay to change. The only relays I know are for the front,rear and headlamp washers.

The only way I can think of to get rid of the rain sensitive wipers that some of you seem to dislike would be to "tell the car" that the rain/light sensor isn't there via coding of the J-519 etc.. I don't have the recipee for that operation, but I'm sure some of the VAG-COM experts could give it a go??

Okay, got the manual back and had a good look in the car itself as well and to be honest, i'm not sure what the blinking flip Gadgetman is talking about??:irked:

The manual, which I was advised to read (!), shows on page 61 a picture of the stalk with 5 settings: 0 = off, 1 = intermittant wiping, 2 = slow wipe, 3 = fast wipe (all these setting pushing up the stalk) & 4 = finger operated wipe (pulling down for a single wipe).

Possibly people should check what they're writing before they flippantly be a bit sarcastic about solutions to problems that aren't solutions at all.:really: You might end up looking a bit silly.

Either that or they could post pictures of the suggestion, ie. the stalk or the manual from which they're reading? I'm guessing that RTFM means Read the Flipping (!) Manual. Can I suggest just that Gadgetman?!

Oh, and downgrading things that you don't like but have no choice on when the car is bought doesn't seem that unreasonable when functions get completely on your t*ts cos they don't work efficiently.

Don't know if I'm being thick but I don't understand the above. On my car there are 4 positions (including off) for the wiper switch - 0=Off, 1=Automatic, 2=Slow speed continuous, 3=Fast Speed continuous. In addition if you press the switch down when it's in position 0 you get one flick wipe.

Just to complicate things when the switch is in position 2 and the car stops then the wipers automatically switch to intermittent.

Thats right isnt it? Auto replaces the intermittant function when you have rain sensors.

Okay, got the manual back and had a good look in the car itself as well and to be honest, i'm not sure what the blinking flip Gadgetman is talking about??:irked:.

Possibly people should check what they're writing before they flippantly be a bit sarcastic about solutions to problems that aren't solutions at all.:really: You might end up looking a bit silly.

Oh, and downgrading things that you don't like but have no choice on when the car is bought doesn't seem that unreasonable when functions get completely on your t*ts cos they don't work efficiently.

Ok Guys, people here are trying to help! So lets ALL play nice . Im sure some one will be able to answer your question eventually, but give folks a chance

Edited 29 November, 200817 yr by uncle bulgaria

Okay, fair enough, but you can see how it can get someones back up a bit when you keep getting told to read the flippin' manual as if you're some sort of dipstick, and the manual doesn't say anything like what that person's saying you should have looked at already.

Yes Lummox, in my totally amateur opinion, it is correct that if you have the rain sensor fitted it replaces the manually controlled intermittant wiper function. But I am only going by what my car does and what the instruction manual says.

iirc you can switch off the rain sensing bit with vag com if thats what you trying to do and save buying a new relay so when you sell it you can switch it back on. im not sure about the next bit (vrstu should know) but i think you can adjust the rain sensitivity with vagcom to in the long coding.

Apparently, the adjustment is VERY minimal so not worth doing really, but the VAGCOM seems the only way to do it if it is possible...over to VRStu I guess, if he's reading this??