osiebosie Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 At first I thought my wipers were broken. I kept trying to put them on intermittent. They were sporadically working. Once I couldn't even get them to work at all. Thank goodness I have had, in the past, a vehicle with automatic wipers. One day something jogged my memory about the automatic wipers I'd had before, and I started playing with my "intermittent" knob during rain. I realized I have automatic wipers! I whipped out my well-worn owners manual and started reading (of course, not while driving). It didn't tell me much more other than, if equipped , to just turn them on. So I then whipped out my window sticker and read it from top to bottom. No mention of automatic wipers at all! So how about that??!! I have something I didn't know I had. Do you? Sharon CNCGeek 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adair Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 (edited) Yeah, pretty cool, huh? I didn't know either, but I was driving one day and it started to sprinkle. Before I could touch the wipers, they came on! Then I started messing with them and turned the automatic feature off. Had to pull out the manual to find out how to turn them on again. They were only overwhelmed one time.....we had a January thaw and lots of standing water in the road. A car came toward me, hit a puddle right beside me, and it was like an instant CARWASH! Took a second for the wipers to get up to speed, but in that second, I could see nothing :>D Edited January 16, 2013 by Adair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinto Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 One day I was driving along on a sunny day and the wipers just started. Noticed that the car in front of me was using his window washer spray that over sprayed on to my windshield just a little and immediately started my wipers. Pretty cool got my windshield cleaned without using my window washer fluid. The auto wipers also work in the car wash if the car is still running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoutsNC Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 I didn't know either until a couple of weeks ago. The manual shows that the Automatic wiper option will have an A on the wand for the wipers. Mine doesn't have the A, so I figured they weren't automatic. I pulled into a carwash and the wipers started. I didn't know that I had left them on Intermittent, but at that moment I figured out they were automatic :) This past weekend I used them quite a bit and I am glad that they were on there. Now if I can just find out how to enable to Adaptive Cruise Control :rant2: Hopefully that will be on the 2015 model when I trade this one in. Adair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generalbeluga Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Automatic wipers are way cool! Just push up one click on the right hand side wiper wand to activate the automatic mode. The second click is intermittent mode and so on,,, CNCGeek 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mipmapped Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) Mine is missing the 'A' on the stick too but still has the option. The lights come on automatically in rain too. Nice. Edited January 17, 2013 by mipmapped Adair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 This is my first car with automatic wipers. At first, I thought, who needs it? But I finally drove some distance in which there was intermittant rain. They worked so great, that I didn't really notice them working as I drove down the highway. As rain collected on the windshield, whoosh, the windshield was wiped clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RachelnLa Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Oh the little things in life. I am waiting to test this too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmatthews102 Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 I like the automatic wipers, especially on the freeway. The only problen I have seen is if there is a fine road mist hitting thewindshield they may come on before there is enough moisture there to do anything other than smear. By and large, I think it is a great feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhackwyatt Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 I like the automatic wipers, especially on the freeway. The only problen I have seen is if there is a fine road mist hitting thewindshield they may come on before there is enough moisture there to do anything other than smear. By and large, I think it is a great feature.There is sensitivity adjustment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAZ Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Why in the world would anyone take their MAX out when it might rain??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RachelnLa Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 It's fun to play in the rain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donhak Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 They work good in snow too. The only problem I have had is that the right wiper is a little short for clearing the entire sensor area. If the sensor area gets dirty or has enough snow buildup, even the lowest setting can be too often until you clean the glass. Every once and a while light can glance off the area at an angle that will activate them for a wipe too, but they are great when the slowest intermittent setting is still too fast, and they just need to activate once and a while such as while stopped with snow coming down. Of course that strange white stuff drifting down is foreign to some of the people here or an apoplectic event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwhitham Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I've been having an awful time getting used the intermittent wiper knob. Turns out they're not working at all. Anyone else experiencing this? Could there be a relationship between setting intermittent stages and auto wipers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhackwyatt Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I've been having an awful time getting used the intermittent wiper knob. Turns out they're not working at all. Anyone else experiencing this? Could there be a relationship between setting intermittent stages and auto wipers?AFAIK if you have auto-wipers, you have no intermittent wipers. The knob/wheel is instead used to set the sensitivity of the auto-wipers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveofDurham Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) Are the automatic wipers a standard feature on the SEL? ford.com indicates they are in the list of exterior features. I don't have the "A" on my wiper control. We had a rainy day on Saturday. Before lunch, I had my headlights in autolamps position and I noticed that the green parking lamp/headlamp indicator was not lit when I had the wipers on [both in (a) the lower speed constant on position and (b) the position between off and the lower speed constant on position (i.e., the position that is either intermittent wipers or automatic wipers)]. This was disconcerting because NC state law requires headlights on when wipers are in use. So, I'm not sure if I have automatic wipers and I don't think I have autolamps. I will test more carefully next time it rains. Edited February 28, 2013 by DaveofDurham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mipmapped Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) I have an Energi (all Energis are SEL). It doesn't have the "A" as shown in the manual, but it does have automatic wipers, so the manual must be in error. You can see the sensor from the front of the car. It's a largish extension below the rear view mirror and has small optical sensors on it. I thought they would, but I haven't noticed the headlights come on when automatic wiping, even when continuous. Pretty sure the manual says they should though. Edited February 28, 2013 by mipmapped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhackwyatt Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) Using the Left Steering Wheel controls, choose Settings > Vehicle > Lighting > Auto Light Rain I can't say I've noticed the indicator come on when it rains. Maybe when I wash the car, I'll give it a test. Edited February 28, 2013 by zhackwyatt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwhitham Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 AFAIK if you have auto-wipers, you have no intermittent wipers. The knob/wheel is instead used to set the sensitivity of the auto-wipers.Thank you very much. That's really helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roninsd Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 To reiterate, the auto/intermittant-wipers, when turned on, will wipe when the sensor "feels" dampness/rain. They are not like the "normal" intermittant wipers that most of us are used to. Regarding the lights coming on automatically when the wipers come on: when in Irvine, I found out that they do NOT come on with the intermittant/auto wipers, but do come on (if set to do so) when the wipers are set to slow or high. It may take a few moments for them to come on after the wipers start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwhitham Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 (edited) To reiterate, the auto/intermittant-wipers, when turned on, will wipe when the sensor "feels" dampness/rain. They are not like the "normal" intermittant wipers that most of us are used to. Regarding the lights coming on automatically when the wipers come on: when in Irvine, I found out that they do NOT come on with the intermittant/auto wipers, but do come on (if set to do so) when the wipers are set to slow or high. It may take a few moments for them to come on after the wipers start.[/ Edited March 3, 2013 by erwhitham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwhitham Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 To reiterate, the auto/intermittant-wipers, when turned on, will wipe when the sensor "feels" dampness/rain. They are not like the "normal" intermittant wipers that most of us are used to. Regarding the lights coming on automatically when the wipers come on: when in Irvine, I found out that they do NOT come on with the intermittant/auto wipers, but do come on (if set to do so) when the wipers are set to slow or high. It may take a few moments for them to come on after the wipers start.Assistance again, please specify. Do you mean the wiper is pushed up to the fastest speed or the knob is adjusted to a certain mark? Couldn't get anywhere yesterday in light snowfall with auto wipers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhackwyatt Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Assistance again, please specify. Do you mean the wiper is pushed up to the fastest speed or the knob is adjusted to a certain mark? Couldn't get anywhere yesterday in light snowfall with auto wipers.When they are set to "on" in either the slower or faster position, my moving the entire wiper stalk up (not just turning the knob which sets the sensitivity for auto-wipers or timeout for intermittent wipers depending on if you have a sel or se respectively). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roninsd Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) If you push the stalk up one notch, to the intermittant (auto/rain sensitive) wipe, the lights won't come on (even if set to do so). It's only when you push the stalk up two notches to normal wipe, or 3 notches to high-speed wipe, that the lights will come on. One thing I'm not sure of, and haven't tested, is if the rear lights come on as well when it rains (I keep my lights on "Auto", so the headlights are on all the time when driving). Edited March 4, 2013 by roninsd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwhitham Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Setting to Auto doesn't turn my lights on in brighter days. I've applied black duct tape to the light sensor which allows nearly 100% DRL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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