[bluepuli]

The rain sensing intermittant wipers on my EOS seem to have a mind of their own. The exact same setting in the same conditions produces a variety of results. A few drops can cause the wiper to run continously. Or, the windshield fills up with rain to the point you cannot see out of it with no wiper activation. Changing the interval setting seems to do very little. When its running continuosly, going down a notch causes them to not come on at all. They seem very erratic in the way they work. I took it back to the dealer twice and have been told thats the way it is. VW will not authorize any repairs because this is normal. I have searched the forum and there seems to be no postings to indicate others are having the same problem. Can anyone out there confirm as to whether this is in fact how they all work? Thanks

 

[SoCalMan]

VW used two different units on the Eos...the early one was made by Bosch and then they switched to a TRW unit. A search on vwvortex.com will yield pictures of both for identification purposes.
The Bosch unit was apparently problematic.
No matter what, I have read that the windshield must be very clean for the unit to work properly.

 

[Stephb]

I had the same problem there is a little black switch on the top of the leaver for your wipers im not sure if that is something to do with it perhaps push it the other way it might make a difference it might not. i've just left mine as they are

Steph xx

 

[BobP]

I've got auto-wipers on my Golf Plus (but not my EOS) and they do seem a bit erratic but not unusably so.

 

[maxscience]

Way to go considering it's an useless feature to have

 

[neh321]

Way to go considering it's an useless feature to have

I agree but I didn't half ruffle the feathers of a particular forum member when I said so before...

 

[Artful500]

I agree but I didn't half ruffle the feathers of a particular forum member when I said so before...

I'm not bothered about having them or not, but the problem is that with them, there doesn't seem to be a way to manually set the intermittant wipe interval. With the amount of rain we've had recently, the erratic performance of the rain sensing system has become noticeable - often laughable, occasionally dangerous!

Peter

 

[sunscreemer]

I have the luxury pack on my Eos and had it on my previous car, a Focus ST, more for the fact that for resale i think people expect auto lights and wipers. I must admit that i like the auto lights but although i've not had any problems with the wipers i often switch them off. The luxury pack was essential although the main reason i got it as the garage opening is a bit tight and i thought i may have to fold the mirrors, but so far haven't had to bother!

 

[airdrummer]

my rsi wipers don't seem to work properly: i turn them on, get 1 wipe, then nothing
change sensitivity, 1 wipe then nothing
glass is clean, spray on sensor gives wipe every time, but NOT IN RAIN:-{
wtf? seems like previous owner had issues as well, as when i was adjusting the r.v.mirror it fell off:-\ apparently wasn't correctly seated in bracket...

 

[voxmagna]

I retrofitted RLS on MY07. There's a whole bunch of setups available through diagnostics. They work by reflecting IR light from the screen. Mine have been iffy on the auto wipe but my main reason for adding RLS was to close the windows and sunroof if any were accidentally left open in the rain - particualrly a rear LH window that can trash your roof controller with water. So for an EOS, it's not quite the useless addon some think it is. The light sensor part works and my Auto headlights come on when it starts getting dark or if I drive through a tunnel.

At the mo. I can leave some windows open, pour water on the screen and after 30 seconds all windows close. However, the linkup to the stalk is iffy and a pain. When RLS is added you lose manual intermittent wipe and are left with Auto RLS working or having to momentarily flick the washer or switch to get a wipe which becomes a pain.

I intend to go back and re-visit my install, but a lot has to do with the opaque silicone gasket under the sensor, the type and color tint of the screen and whether it's dirty or not. It's a hellishly complicated system with IR emitters, prims beam deflectors and a lot of surface mount electronics inside the sensor unit. If the system has worked before, I'd try carefully cleaning the screen surfaces with a domestic alcohol based glass cleaner first.

 

[airdrummer]

thanx, vm, it rained today & my intermittents are back to normal i guess the misaligned rvmirror affected the rain sensor...

 

[voxmagna]

i guess the misaligned rvmirror affected the rain sensor...

Doubt it. The rain probably washed away the surface dust. Next time it rains, rush out and put some washing up liquid on the screen and operate the wipers to degrease it.

 

[aku-aku]

I discovered that a previous owner or unscrupulous mechanic had done something with my RLS which caused similar issues. If you can see a circuit board when you remove the rear view mirror, then the rain sensor is missing the plastic cover that holds it in place properly. I guess even if the cover is there, it's also possible that it had somehow fallen out of its place. That will cause the rain sensor to either not work, or occasionally go crazy if you go over a bump.

So whilst the rear view mirror wouldn't affect it in and of itself, it's quite possible that the process of reattaching the rear view mirror might have inadvertently (and possibly temporarily) fixed it.

 

[voxmagna]

That will cause the rain sensor to either not work, or occasionally go crazy if you go over a bump.

Therein is a problem: The RLS uses a mini 2 pin Timer connector with tin plated pins. On occasions I've scanned MY07 and see an RLS fault code stored. I wiggle the connector and the scan comes good. I'm thinking of permanently soldering it now to do away with the small tiddly unreliable connector.