Headlights Auto on.....Auto Light Rain?

[Phil1336]

I know there is no longer anything like a simple line of code.

But how hard would to be to insert a line that says something like

 

If wiper wipes more than 1 time within 5 (4?3?) minutes TURN headlight on, if wiper does not wipe more than 1 time within 5 minutes turn headlight off.

 

OK programmers get to programing and submit it to Ford.

Perhaps Ford needs to get back to "basics" and put more emphasis on more important issues such as reliability and offering user friendly features and options.  Perhaps taking a step (backwards) and going back to buttons and knobs instead of SYNC and MFT.  There`s eventually a price to be paid for excess "gadgets".  They are fun and cool when they are properly functioning but cause nothing but aggravation and grief when they eventually fail.  Less Programs and even less Programmers, thank you.

[drdiesel1]

Perhaps Ford needs to get back to "basics" and put more emphasis on more important issues such as reliability and offering user friendly features and options.  Perhaps taking a step (backwards) and going back to buttons and knobs instead of SYNC and MFT.  There`s eventually a price to be paid for excess "gadgets".  They are fun and cool when they are properly functioning but cause nothing but aggravation and grief when they eventually fail.  Less Programs and even less Programmers, thank you.

May as well just drive a conventional car. How else could you have a hybrid or PHEV, if not for the computers ?

I like all the tech of the C-Max.  The Energi has more than the hybrid too :worship:

Edited November 4, 2013 by drdiesel1

[hybridbear]

What I don't understand in all of this is why the behavior is different between the Fusion & the C-Max...

 

So here's a question: is the behavior the same on both rain sensing wiper equipped C-Maxes as one without rain sensing wipers?

 

The FFH without rain sensing wipers will turn the headlights on when the switch is set to "auto" anytime the wipers are on at any speed including the slowest intermittent setting. The headlights don't come on the instant you turn on the wipers, but rather there is a slight delay to make sure that you really are going to turn the wipers on and leave them on. I'm curious if the C-Max behaves differently when equipped with rain sensing wipers versus those without. If all C-Maxes behave differently from the FFH then this kind of sounds like a programming error in the code, kind of like the missing door chime on the C-Max. That error amounts to an error in the code, it's possible the wipers are the same.

[drdiesel1]

What I don't understand in all of this is why the behavior is different between the Fusion & the C-Max...

 

So here's a question: is the behavior the same on both rain sensing wiper equipped C-Maxes as one without rain sensing wipers?

 

The FFH without rain sensing wipers will turn the headlights on when the switch is set to "auto" anytime the wipers are on at any speed including the slowest intermittent setting. The headlights don't come on the instant you turn on the wipers, but rather there is a slight delay to make sure that you really are going to turn the wipers on and leave them on. I'm curious if the C-Max behaves differently when equipped with rain sensing wipers versus those without. If all C-Maxes behave differently from the FFH then this kind of sounds like a programming error in the code, kind of like the missing door chime on the C-Max. That error amounts to an error in the code, it's possible the wipers are the same.

It's called vehicle configuration. It's the same language as in the Recall notice.

[Phil1336]

May as well just drive a conventional car. How else could you have a hybrid or PHEV, if not for the computers ?

I like all the tech of the C-Max.  The Energi has more than the hybrid too :worship:

I personally purchased my first Hybrid for improved Fuel Economy and for Environmental reasons.  The Gadgets, not so much.

[drdiesel1]

What was your first hybrid ? The C-Max ?

[Mr. Green Jeans]

I quit using the auto headlights shortly after purchasing.  Headlights off UNTIL parking in garage and not coming on in the rain did not make me happy.  Not much of an effort to turn the switch. 

[drdiesel1]

I quit using the auto headlights shortly after purchasing.  Headlights off UNTIL parking in garage and not coming on in the rain did not make me happy.  Not much of an effort to turn the switch. 

When the sensor detects the lack of daylight, it's designed to activate the headlamps. So when you pull into the garage, they will come on by design.

The headlamps will only come on with the wipers set to the low or high wiper switch settings. Not in rain sense/auto mode.

Edited November 9, 2013 by drdiesel1

[Tomasz Karwowski]

Auto Light rain . I Turn on the wippers nad lamps on after 10 sec . I Turn off the wippers - lamps off after 60 sec .

[ls973800]

When the sensor detects the lack of daylight, it's designed to activate the headlamps. So when you pull into the garage, they will come on by design.

The headlamps will only come on with the wipers set to the low or high wiper switch settings. Not in rain sense/auto mode.

 

 

The lights WILL come on according to the owner's manual if you have the rain sensor wipers and the headlight control in Auto.  The wipers do have to be in a continuous movement with no long delay between wipes, however.  I have had the lights come on when the rain sensor has operated the wipers in a similar fashion to the low setting of turning the wipers on.  When the wipes slow down, the lights go off.  No need for the driver to do anything while driving in a steady rain for the lights to come on with rain sensor on.

 

Pasted from the owner's manual

 

Note:

If you switch on the autolamps with

the autowipers, the low beam headlamps

will turn on automatically when the rain

sensor turns on the windshield wipers

continuously

[hybridbear]

The lights WILL come on according to the owner's manual if you have the rain sensor wipers and the headlight control in Auto.  The wipers do have to be in a continuous movement with no long delay between wipes, however.  I have had the lights come on when the rain sensor has operated the wipers in a similar fashion to the low setting of turning the wipers on.  When the wipes slow down, the lights go off.  No need for the driver to do anything while driving in a steady rain for the lights to come on with rain sensor on.

Yes there is a need for the driver to do something. This behavior does not meet the legal requirements of many states to have your headlights on anytime you use the wipers.

[ls973800]

Yes there is a need for the driver to do something. This behavior does not meet the legal requirements of many states to have your headlights on anytime you use the wipers.

So then Ford is building cars and trucks with illegal features?   The cars and trucks really aren't legal to sell in lights on with wipers states?

 

I would think the state laws require the lights on when the wipers are being used in a continuous motion.  If not, you would violate the laws by turning on the wash cycle and only having the wipers sweep several times and the lights weren't on.  Or if you hit the mist cycle and the wipers turned on for two sweeps but the lights didn't come on.

 

I will leave my rain sensors on and the light switch in AUTO as I have for the last 4 years or so in my vehicles that have those features.  The lights have always come on as I stated in my post, and I don't anticipate any citations or illegal actions to occur because of it.

[Marc Smith]

So then Ford is building cars and trucks with illegal features?   The cars and trucks really aren't legal to sell in lights on with wipers states?

Ford builds cars with turn signals.  the turn signals  don't work automatically  it takes driver input to turn them on..  The cars can exceed the speed limit.  it takes driver input to maintain the proper speed.

 

if you live in a state where the law states if you wipers are on, then you must also turn on your lights.  Driver input.    Pretty simple.  turn on the wipers, turn on the lights.

 

Personally I hate the Auto Wiper feature.  if the car in front of me on the highway cleans their window  and I get a few drops on my window,  Bam the wipers come on and smear the few drops around,  so then I have to run the spritzer and clean the whole window, which I also don't like the washer cycle  as it always wants to do one or two swipes more than needed and you end up with smears...

 

IMO  its almost to easy to drivers to drive cars anymore.  it take no thought or skill as the cars are becoming more and more advanced and automatic.  Which is why you see more and more people  driving, eating reading books, doing makup, texting, ect...  when all they should be doing is DRIVING...

[ls973800]

Personally I hate the Auto Wiper feature.  if the car in front of me on the highway cleans their window  and I get a few drops on my window,  Bam the wipers come on and smear the few drops around,  so then I have to run the spritzer and clean the whole window, which I also don't like the washer cycle  as it always wants to do one or two swipes more than needed and you end up with smears...

 

Personally, I love the Auto Wipe feature.  Ever pass or be passed by a big rig or bus while it is raining, snowing, or the road is wet or there are big puddles, etc?    You know, you get that BIG wave or gush of water from the passing vehicle.  With the rain sensor the wipers will turn on almost instantly and clear the windshield, and run the wipers fast if needed to keep it clear.  Without rain sensor, while the window is obstructed, you have to take your eyes off the road and look down to where the wiper switch is.  Or if you know by sense where the wiper switch is, you still have to take one hand off the steering wheel and turn them on.  Not a good thing to be doing when being passed by a big rig on a wet or slippery road.  You then have to make sure you set the speed correctly to keep the wipers going fast enough to clear the window.  Then you have to shut them off once the rig or bus has passed, again taking a hand off the wheel.

 

I have never had the wipers come on because someone in front cleaned their windshield and mine got some drops on it.  Of course, I don't have mine set on a super sensitive setting either.  You can set the sensitivity of when the wipers will wipe very easily by using the knob on the switch.  Problem solved.

[Marc Smith]

Ls  I use rain-ex  religiously...  so I try not to use my wipers if I can help it...

 

if you've had a rain at night and going under tree's the next morning  drops of water falling off the tree kicking the auto wipers on.  its a neat function,  but I thought it was gimmicky...  maybe my sensor is just more sensitive than others...

 

I can flick the wiper lever without taking my hands off the wheel or eyes off the road   pull the lever towards you and it sprays and wipes, or push down and it cycles once...

[ls973800]

Rain X is a great product, no doubt.  I had it on my Edge and my F150 before that and was very pleased with how the water beaded and rolled right off, usually to the top of the window because of the wind helping push it up.

 

I really do love the rain sensor wipers and how they operate.  I have never had any of the problems you have posted, or if I did, I must not have thought it was a problem?  But I do leave my sensitivity set pretty high so that might be a part of it.  Only problem I have had was a random sweep for no reason under what I thought was a clear sky.  Maybe it has happened two or three times over the last four years with the two different cars, but still not a problem.

 

Only other negative I would think about the rain sensor is if you forget to turn them off when using a drive through car wash where you get out of the car.  I seldom use one, but have remembered to shut them off so far.

[stevedebi]

....

Personally I hate the Auto Wiper feature.  if the car in front of me on the highway cleans their window  and I get a few drops on my window,  Bam the wipers come on and smear the few drops around,  so then I have to run the spritzer and clean the whole window, which I also don't like the washer cycle  as it always wants to do one or two swipes more than needed and you end up with smears...

 

...

You do realize that the auto wiper feature can be turned off? The wiper position just above the low speed "always on" setting is OFF. You have to go one step above that to enable auto wiper. The indent setting above that is for the brief wipe.

[Redshift]

When the sensor detects the lack of daylight, it's designed to activate the headlamps. So when you pull into the garage, they will come on by design.

The headlamps will only come on with the wipers set to the low or high wiper switch settings. Not in rain sense/auto mode.

That's not true. My 2015 C-Max SEL headlights will come on automatically if I have rain sensing wipers turned on and the headlights set to auto. I had it set like that for a 5k mile trip I took this summer. Worked like a champ. I never had to worry about the lights or wipers.

[raadsel]

That's not true. My 2015 C-Max SEL headlights will come on automatically if I have rain sensing wipers turned on and the headlights set to auto. I had it set like that for a 5k mile trip I took this summer. Worked like a champ. I never had to worry about the lights or wipers.

 

I'm wondering if this is a difference between model years. I've been noticing that there are times, even when the auto wipers are wiping continuously, my headlights (at least per the light on the dash) are not on. It appears on my 2013 that the lights only turn on when it is dim enough, even when the auto wipers are working.

[stevedebi]

That's not true. My 2015 C-Max SEL headlights will come on automatically if I have rain sensing wipers turned on and the headlights set to auto. I had it set like that for a 5k mile trip I took this summer. Worked like a champ. I never had to worry about the lights or wipers.

Doesn't work with my 2014 Energi.

[ls973800]

My headlights come on when using the rain sensor setting once the wipers come on for more than several wipes in a period of a minute or two.  2015 C-Max.  I leave my headlights in "Auto" and the lights aren't coming on just because it is dark enough during the rain.  I also leave the wipers in Sensor mode so I don't have to do anything once it starts raining or stops.

 

Yesterday in a spotty mist the lights would come on, but go off once the wipers would stop long enough.  They would come back on again when the wipers started several more sweeps.