Automatic Wipers...

[gregozedobe]

No, that's a different function again. IIRC its called "tear drop wipe" or somesuch, and it is designed to clear up those last few drops remaining from the washers.

[SLA14h]

Is it so that a parking cop can slip a ticket under that wiper without causing damage to the bonnet?

[jausho]

As everyone has said ... It does it little movement thing every time you switch it off to preserve the wiper blades.

However - when the car's switched on and in motion, I've noticed that if you have the wipers switched to OFF then they'll sit higher on the windscreen, being visible (until you're at freeway speeds) than if you have them switched to AUTO. In the AUTO position they'll always tuck themselves away out of view when not in use.

[J-Tim]

No, that's a different function again. IIRC its called "tear drop wipe" or somesuch, and it is designed to clear up those last few drops remaining from the washers.

Yeah, we've had that on our old 10yo SAAB. It's very useful.

[cme2c]

Is it so that a parking cop can slip a ticket under that wiper without causing damage to the bonnet?

I had a Skyline new in 1986. It had a little ramp that lifted the wipers off the screen when parked. never got a ticket......

['fatboy']

Automatic Wipers...

I'm about to lose it with the automatic wipe function on my Golf. Having read the manual (maybe i just dont get it), I cannot work out how to disengage the auto wipe function (or rain sensor?).

I get that moving the stalk up once activites the intermittent wipe function, but I can't adjust the speed of the wipers regardless of which direction i move the slider... it has a mind of it's own.

I appreciate any tips on this

Thanks!

[darkfriend]

I've just accepted that the automatic wipers can appear a little psychotic at times.... I kind of like it.

[Pana]

I'm about to lose it with the automatic wipe function on my Golf. Having read the manual (maybe i just dont get it), I cannot work out how to disengage the auto wipe function (or rain sensor?).

I get that moving the stalk up once activites the intermittent wipe function, but I can't adjust the speed of the wipers regardless of which direction i move the slider... it has a mind of it's own.

I appreciate any tips on this

Thanks!

I'm assuming the Golf has the same auto wiper function as the Passat and your slider (which on the Passat is a little thumbwheel) adjusts the sensitivity of the sensor, not the speed of the actual wipers. Mine will sometimes wipe slowly, and sometimes scare the sh*t out of me and wipe very quickly all of a sudden - I found they are actually quite good when you get stuck behind a truck throwing a lot of spray up behind it on the freeway - they will clear the screen quickly.

[Olaf the Golaf]

i believe you can push the stalk up 3 times. once for auto (and the little knob thing on the top is your sensitivity as Pana said), twice for regular, and thrice for monsoon regular. and of course dipping it down is a one off wipe.

i only have it on if it's raining and i always have the sensor at the lowest, even then it's... twitchy at times, can't imagine why you'd have it at the highest sensitivity!

[Karlosovic]

The first day with mine it kept going off for no apparent reason, so I switched it off.
I swiitched it back on maybe two days later and have left it on since. So far it's only triggered on a phantom a couple of times. I guess I feel the same way Darkfriend does - it's an endearing quirk.
My only other complaint is that sometimes it's a bit slow to wake up initially, but once it's had that first wipe during a drive, it usually controls the water / visibility very well on the middle setting

['fatboy']

looks like there is no way around the auto wipers especially if you want to use an intermittant mode... flicking up the stalk twice sometimes is too fast for the level of rain / spray around.

And yes, i too have had the occassional frantic wipe for no apparent reason.

I wish they could just be turned off and allowed to function manually

[GTICam]

I leave my wipers in the "off" position to avoid phantom wipes. This also allows me to easily use the momentary one wipe downward flick of the wiper switch to clear the occasional drip that wouldn't trigger the auto wipers.
The intermittent/auto function works seems to work well once it is raining, but I find if the wipers stop because of a short dry spell then I often need to move the sensitivity switch one notch (more sensitive), then back to get them going again.
I think they're a good thing overall, but sometimes a little too "clever" for their own good. IMO

[Corey_R]

I don't have a MK6 yet, but I never had issues on the MKV GTI. Not a single phantom wipe in 4 months. I always had a clean front windscreen though, and I cleaned it with Meguiars Glass Cleaner and a Meguiars microfibre cloth. Not sure what other peoples cleaning process etc but if the windscreen sensor is not clean, issues can occur.

[BBP]

Coreying is right, keeping the sensor clean and clear is a must on cars with auto wipers.

[kik128]

I too am fed up with the auto function of the wipers.
They sometimes work and sometimes don't.

Phantom wipes happend regularly in night or day.

They are unreliable and I for one am getting this checked.

Car is only 4 weeks old