A windscreen wiper question

[Florentina]

Hello all. I have a month old citigo SE on a lease scheme. This weekend is the first time I have had to use the car for a longer period of time with the wipers going. I am finding that every 10 minutes or so I hear a ratcheting noise whilst the wipers are on. The best way I can describe it is that it is a similar noise to that which my fabia mk1 estate used to make when I adjusted the seat height. I am used to noisy cars having just changed from a mk2 fabia 1.4tdi which on the noise front seemed to be under the illusion that it was a much beefier car. But this noise is one I have never heard before. Is it one of those citigo noises which I need to adjust to or is this an unusual noise? 

[leckman]

Nothing like that on mine.

[Ootohere]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Unless other owners have heard the same and have some fix,

that will be a hard one for any Technician to Replicate.

 

Car sitting for a long while with a Sprinkler hose on it maybe.

 

?

So how rainy was it, torrential or drizzle & what setting / Speed was the wipers going at?

 

george

[Florentina]

It was on intermittent and the normal speeds. It was light to moderate rain and I made a 60 mile round trip and it made the noise consistently. I have made trips in the dry and wet since then and it only makes the noise with the wipers on. 

[bluecar1]

give the screen a good clean with a proper cleaner, then a bit of vinegar on the blades to clean what ever the dealers put on the screen off them?

[roykssop]

This is automatic brake dryer. 

That's how it's supposed to be.

[MickA]

^^^^^^^^ :think: :think: :think: ^^^^^^^^

[silver1011]

Quite a few modern cars regularly apply the brakes very lightly (not enough for the driver to know) to keep the discs and pads dry. Then in case of emergency the brakes are primed for optimum stopping power.

 

Turning the wipers on for a prolonged period of time is the signal given to the cars ECU to tell it that it is raining - thus starting the brake drying procedure.

 

Whether this feature is fitted to the Citygo or whether it is related to the noise that the OP is experiencing I've no idea!

 

I know this feature is present on VW Passat's from at least back as far as 2009 so it wouldn't suprise me to hear the feature is making its way onto to smaller and cheaper cars.

Edited 25 July, 2014 by silver1011

[leckman]

Well,you learn something new every day!,never heard of that procedure before.

[oxonboxn]

Quite a few modern cars regularly apply the brakes very lightly (not enough for the driver to know) to keep the discs and pads dry. Then in case of emergency the brakes are primed for optimum stopping power.

 

Turning the wipers on for a prolonged period of time is the signal given to the cars ECU to tell it that it is raining - thus starting the brake drying procedure.

 

Whether this feature is fitted to the Citygo or whether it is related to the noise that the OP is experiencing I've no idea!

 

I know this feature is present on VW Passat's from at least back as far as 2009 so it wouldn't suprise me to hear the feature is making its way onto to smaller and cheaper cars.

I WOULD be surprised...given that the Citigo has no boot light, no left-foot rest and half the switchgear is not illuminated (unless latest models have improvements).

[Neil.R]

I (briefly) pondered getting an MG3 & that had it fitted MG call it "brake wiping"

[CitiGoGreen]

Hi, sorry to awaken an old post, but I've had the same problem for a couple of years on my skoda citigo. Really hard to make the car make the noise but I have noticed it only seems to do it above 40mph.

Did you ever get a concrete answer on what it is? Or does anyone know if citigo's have this brake wiping function mentioned before?

[Gavspost]

Hi, I have this exact same problem on a brand new 2018 citigo. The noise I can hear is that of a relay chattering, which would indicate problems with the electronics. Has anyone managed to get this problem nailed. I need to know so that I can go back the dealer with something more concrete than an occasional noise.

[Gavspost]

Took my Citigo for a service and reported this fault. Initially they gave me the car back saying it was the wiper relay operating. I asked to go for a spin with the technician and pointed the fault out to him. He agreed it was a chattering relay and that it could only be a fault with body control module. On arriving back at the dealers he went to see the service manager who then came out and took my car for a spin. When he came back he said there was nothing wrong with the car and would not allow  the technician to replace the defective control module (This on a new car). Would never deal with Autosales, Cannock again, as they do not honor the guarantee, not even on brand new vehicles.

[mac11irl]

12 hours ago, Gavspost said:

service manager who then came out and took my car for a spin. When he came back he said there was nothing wrong with the car and would not allow  the technician to replace the defective control module

 

Did you not go with the service manager as well, to show the problem? I'd be going straight back in there and dragging him into the passenger seat while I drive the car and show him the problem...

[Gavspost]

The spineless git never spoke to me and refuses to take phone calls since. He sent the technician back to explain that they could not claim the money back unless I had video evidence of the problem. Have tried to record it on my phone but it's not easy to filter out the background noises. I also have to travel over 15 miles to the nearest dealer. Will continue the fight though.