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Rain Sensing Wipers (Touring)

20198 Views 42 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  markyp32
I've never had a car with this feature before, so maybe the behaviour I'm seeing is normal. The wipers will work as expected for a few minutes, but then just start wiping constantly, even when there is no rain on the windshield. I have to turn them off and on again to reset, but they will eventually go back to staying on.

Is this something I should have the dealer look into?
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Mine only turn on when there's actual rain.
I don't know how the system works but I'm guessing that it takes the car speed in to account as well since the wipers will wipe faster when the car is going faster regardless of how much water is on the windshield. I don't know what other variables influence the speed and consistency but I don't like the auto wipers, I feel like they turn the wipers on more often than they have to.
I had the sense this afternoon that rotating the wiper adjustment ring also affected the aggressiveness of the auto wiping. The higher the setting, the more aggressive.

The manual confirms that the wipers go more frequently when the car does.

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You're all right. Glad this came up since I have to say the auto wipers are horrid. They are WAY too agressive even at low speeds and wipe like maniacs for even small amounts of rain no matter where the dial in intermittent is set at. To make matters worse there seems to be no manual intermittent choice available if you have auto wipers installed, only auto then medium and fast speed. Sorry guys I think they suck.
Do automatic rain sensing wipers come standard on all Insights -- or only the Touring trim?
You're all right. Glad this came up since I have to say the auto wipers are horrid. They are WAY too agressive even at low speeds and wipe like maniacs for even small amounts of rain no matter where the dial in intermittent is set at. To make matters worse there seems to be no manual intermittent choice available if you have auto wipers installed, only auto then medium and fast speed. Sorry guys I think they suck.
Mine work well. No issues and I like them. I wonder if you sensor has in installation issue?
Do automatic rain sensing wipers come standard on all Insights -- or only the Touring trim?
Touring only.

Pull the trigger! You'll have so much more to share with us. :wink:
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You're all right. Glad this came up since I have to say the auto wipers are horrid. They are WAY too agressive even at low speeds and wipe like maniacs for even small amounts of rain no matter where the dial in intermittent is set at. To make matters worse there seems to be no manual intermittent choice available if you have auto wipers installed, only auto then medium and fast speed. Sorry guys I think they suck.
Mine work well. No issues and I like them. I wonder if you sensor has in installation issue?[/QUOTE

Hmmm. Thanks for the info. I'll try them again and have the dealer look at them.
When Triggered, they don't stop

I have not had any rain yet to test them. But three mornings I have awaken to dew on my windows. Soon after I start my car, the wipers start. At first it seems OK. Then they go constantly and won't stop. I have to turn them off to make them stop.

I washed my car. When I started it up, they wiped just as I expected them to clean. Next morning, no dew and the wipers went crazy. I had to turn them off. Afternoon commute and all was OK again.
I had a chance to test out the rain sensing wipers this morning with a light rain.
It seems like my "AUTO" starts off fine. But every time it wipes, there is a chance of going into "LO" mode. The chance is pretty high too. I would get 5 wipes at most and then it goes into "LO" mode. Once that happens, I can just either turn it off or put it in actual "LO" mode, and then put it back to "AUTO" mode. Then it wipes fine for a few times then goes into "LO" mode again.
Since it starts off fine, I'm thinking the problem is in the software, not the sensor. If the sensor is the problem, then it should start off wrong.
I too find the Auto mode of the wipers on my Touring model to be unpredictable (lower models have Int mode). I understand that they're supposed to vary the speed depending on the amount of rain. And that Low means low sensitivity and High means high sensitivity, i.e., not directly correlated to the wiper frequency. But even on Low, I sometimes find the wipers going very fast and then they won't stop or slow down even though rain has ceased!

I am also curious about the click stop at the low end - does that engage some special setting or is it just there to tell me I've turned the ring all the way to low?

I'm not familiar with wipers on Civic, Accord or Clarity, but I imagine they use the same system for the higher end Auto feature. How could it be so screwy?
The final click down on the stalk turns the wipers off for things like car washes etc.
I too find the Auto mode of the wipers on my Touring model to be unpredictable (lower models have Int mode). I understand that they're supposed to vary the speed depending on the amount of rain. And that Low means low sensitivity and High means high sensitivity, i.e., not directly correlated to the wiper frequency. But even on Low, I sometimes find the wipers going very fast and then they won't stop or slow down even though rain has ceased!

The auto mode is the absolute "pits"! Like most say, I also find the wipers work as expected at the start and then later speed up independent of any rain volume change or car speed change. As you say, rain can even stop and the wipers keep right on going!
Same with mine. Absolutely useless. Works ok at first, then is way erratic and wrong.
There were some complaints in this forum early on about the automatic windshield wiper function, such as the wipers suddenly and inappropriately "speeding up" (without pause between swipes as when dealing with a light mist) after a few minutes of normal operation. Either we've all just adapted and accepted the function is crap- or maybe there is a fix or "trick" that I don't know about?
There were some complaints in this forum early on about the automatic windshield wiper function, such as the wipers suddenly and inappropriately "speeding up" (without pause between swipes as when dealing with a light mist) after a few minutes of normal operation. Either we've all just adapted and accepted the function is crap- or maybe there is a fix or "trick" that I don't know about?
I think crap about covers it. 🙄
I think crap about covers it. 🙄
I rotate the dial on the stalk when I think the auto wipe speed is too fast or too slow, and it mollifies me. Rotating it away from you is supposed to speed them up, and rotating toward you is supposed to slow it down. The key word is "supposed". There's no sweet spot. There is just too fast or too slow.
I rotate the dial on the stalk when I think the auto wipe speed is too fast or too slow, and it mollifies me. Rotating it away from you is supposed to speed them up, and rotating toward you is supposed to slow it down. The key word is "supposed". There's no sweet spot. There is just too fast or too slow.

I wonder if anyone else has raised the issue with Honda, what their reaction was- does Honda admit knowing about the problem? Did they get it fixed? Is this a problem for more than a few cars? Is the same wiper control system used in other Honda models? The darned thing is certainly defective (meaning it functions erratically and, even when it is working, it does NOT function as the specs say it does). This might even be considered by some to be a safety hazard. I think this issue is, at the least, more annoying for me than rattles that others report to be troubling. I'd much prefer the older manual adjustment to intermittent wiper control.



I did report it when I brought in my car for service but the response I back with the car was it was functioning "normally"!
Are you kidding?! I was concerned about a safety issue and they wouldn't even consider authorizing a reaiming of the radar and camera and I had the problem on video. Heck they wouldn't even test it properly. I'm thinking the wipers will be fixed in future cars or it will be ignored and possibly dropped in less expensive cars like the insight. Sorry to be a downer but it's a huge bureaucracy we're dealing with and no one likes to part with money.
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