Auto Wipers as Default and temperature units

[Anonymous]

Hey all!

Just bought an 11 plate 200 gt after running an RX8 for three years. Needed a change and some fuel saving. Anyway, Ill put some pics up later, and I have a few mods in mind!

Now my questions - it seems as thought autowipers turns off everytime you stop the car. Is there anyway to have them enabled as default?

Also, how can I change the temperature units on a car fitted with an rd4? The manual has me looking for a switch that doesnt exist near the cigarette lighter!

Thanks for any help in advance!
James

 

[Tomas_90]

Nope, you have to activate the wipers every time you start the car.

 

[Anonymous]

Yip there auto wipers that need activating

 

[renegade79]

it is a very good question though. i'm sure some electronics guru could come up with some way of having the wipers set to auto all the time. damned if i know.....

 

[pete.garratt]

No doubt you could insert a box of tricks in the switch wiring that would, at switch-on, produce a simulated switch activation automatically.

Back in the '80s, for a car designed in the '70s, I developed a gadget that give a programmeable delayed wipe - the car only had three speeds: fast, slow & off.

Not sure if it's allreally worth the effort these days.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm, so basically ill end switching them to auto when it rains? Seems to defeat the point but oh well! If thats my only niggle it cant be bad!

Still cant find a way to switch the temperature units though, bahh!

 

[DKZ5745]

http://mira308sw.altervista.org/en/

Check out the sat Nav updates thread, the above link is to a download site, where you can download a program to usb stick, when inserted, the Z recognises the prog, which enables you to change many default settings.
You do need to read up on how to use the program first, I am quite sure it would be fairly easy to screw up what happens when you twist the key.
I don't know if it is possible to change the default setting for auto wipers, but if it is, this program will do it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Ah damn, that looks like I need the rt6, I only have the rd4 (for now!)

 

[DKZ5745]

Ahh! :brickwall: back to the drawing board.

 

[stagger321]

Hmm, so basically ill end switching them to auto when it rains? Seems to defeat the point but oh well! If thats my only niggle it cant be bad!

Still cant find a way to switch the temperature units though, bahh!

I think you'll find its set like this for a very good reason.
Lets say its icy and your nice new windscreen wipers are superglued to the screen.
You turn the key and......................

Most cars are set like the RCZ. Certainly my last two were - and for this very reason.

Having auto lights by default is one thing. Auto wipers by default in frosty conditions is not a good thing for both wiper blades and wiper motors.

Peace.

 

[DKZ5745]

Good call Stagger, yes my last Renault Megane CC was the same, you had to activate the auto wipers, although, you could actually leave the stalk switch in the auto on position on that car :eusa-think:

 

[Anonymous]

Same as vw

 

[Anonymous]

Can't get used to the auto wipe setting, it's either me or the car but something's wrong with one of us!

You push the stalk down for auto-wipe, it wipes.
Then it may wipe again.
Then it may not wipe for ages.
Then it may wipe furiously.
All this at the discretion of.....I don't know who/what - whether it's raining or not!

And the only way to turn off the auto-wipe is to turn it onto intermittent - again, whether you want it to wipe at that point or not!
Once you activate the intermittent, then you have to deactivate the intermittent by pushing the stalk down once more in order to deactivate any sort of wipe at all!

And then a couple of minutes later, you drive through a great big f*****g puddle and have to go through it all over again....!

 

[Anonymous]

I'm kinda with you Kroy, never found the RCZ auto wipers to be terribly accurately attuned to sensing what was actually required. However, that said, I have also encountered worse!!

 

[DKZ5745]

I'm kinda with you Kroy, never found the RCZ auto wipers to be terribly accurately attuned to sensing what was actually required. However, that said, I have also encountered worse!!

The Megane CC I mentioned earlier was a bit hit & miss too. You would find your shiny recently cleaned screen suddenly wiped for no apparent reason in bright sunlight, spreading any unsuspecting tiny bug nicely across your line of sight! But at least to turn off auto wipe on the Megane, you could just move the stalk up a notch.
I think, as with most technology, it's not exactly perfect, but to be honest, it's a feature I would prefer to have than not to have.
Having said that, I too have been struggling to get to grips with how exactly to stop the wipers once you have activated the auto wipe feature.

Still love the car though :auto-car:

 

[stagger321]

I'm kinda with you Kroy, never found the RCZ auto wipers to be terribly accurately attuned to sensing what was actually required. However, that said, I have also encountered worse!!

The Megane CC I mentioned earlier was a bit hit & miss too. You would find your shiny recently cleaned screen suddenly wiped for no apparent reason in bright sunlight, spreading any unsuspecting tiny bug nicely across your line of sight! But at least to turn off auto wipe on the Megane, you could just move the stalk up a notch.
I think, as with most technology, it's not exactly perfect, but to be honest, it's a feature I would prefer to have than not to have.
Having said that, I too have been struggling to get to grips with how exactly to stop the wipers once you have activated the auto wipe feature.

Still love the car though :auto-car:

The de-activation is quite simple really.
Having said that I understand the frustration on when it decides to wipe or not.

Had an MG ZT (75 shape) a while back with a wheel operated sensitivity control on the intermittent wipers - think Rover group lifted it straight from their owners (BMW) parts bin, .
You had no standard intermittent - just the rain sensing option. That gave you at least some control, unlike with the RCZ.
It was great - right up till the time that I had to have the screen replaced by autoglass. Was never the same after that - must have had a diff refractive index or something
Refused to wipe during a rainy day until you were at the point of a completely saturated window.
However the slightest drop of moisture on the screen at night on any sensitivity setting and the wipers would go like mad.

At least with the RCZ you have either option. It doesn't always get it right - but its not that bad in my experience.

 

[Anonymous]

I have also encountered worse (2008 A4), which was auto or on continuous and no intermittent at all, which I find is one of those small things that is really irritating. I find the auto settings on our RCZ's too hit and miss and you cannot adjust the frequency of the intermittent wipe (although it changes with speed), however, I have found something of a solution.....I rediscovered RainX, which I used to use 20 years ago and for some reason hadn't come across it again until recently - very simple to apply and basically not only does all water fly off the screen (and all my windows + mirrors too) once I am doing 35+ it also makes it *much* easier to see when it is raining.....anyway, back to topic, now I have the RainX I only ever use intermittent and even then only infrequently as your field of vision is 99% clear once moving along...

Stu

 

[frankvdb]

Most issues with auto wipers are caused by condensation in the sensor behind the windscreen.
Models of other brands with auto wipers sometimes also have heated windscreens which solves this.
However, if you make sure to use A/C in damp conditions this can be prevented so for me they work fine.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a Honda Civic a Type R Gt that had auto wipers that you could activate to be permanently on via the stalk. The down side was in winter when the screen was thick of frost and you turned on the ignition it tried to clear the screen and damaged the wiper blades. I much prefer the way the RCZ is set up to avoid this . :beer:

 

[frankvdb]

Recently got a new house with garage, so no more frozen windows!
The garage door is wide enough to reverse in with wing mirrors out.
I will only add some bumper strips on the garage wall on the driver's side (even though when parked exactly in the middle when the car door stops in first open position it just doesn't touch the wall).