Auto-wipers On Acensis T3x

[John Lang]

Is it possible to have the rain sensitive wiper system on my Avensis T3X replaced by a manually operated intermittent system .... as on the T3S?

Despite having a new sensor fitted by my local dealer, the auto system remains unreliable and very unpredictable in operation.

The parts should be interchangeable between the X and S models .... or am I being naive?

[runboy]

Probably I am wrong, I can't be bothered to find the manual, but can you not twist the colar round on the wiper stalk so they are on manual intermittent? I thought the + and - sign were for the auto, the other settings for manual?

[Steve84]

I too thought the auto feature could be cancelled out but nope it can't.

[Nightstalker]

I think that these must be the worst auto rain sensor wipers I have ever come across.

The other day I had them on auto while it rained then it stopped but the wipers thought it was still raining and kept on commin on.

Only way to switch them off is to push the wiper stalk all the way up, and when you come to use it pull it down twice, this bypasses the auto wipe, the setting of the sensor on the wiper stalk is pants, doesnt work as far as Im concerned

[uumode]

What's the swivel ring part for on the windscreen wiper stalk?

That almost looks like you can override the auto with your own intermittent setting... only it doesn't seem to do anything

[Nightstalker]

EXCACTLY what I mean, you can set it by turning it but it makes no difference to the actuall way the wipers work - Think Mr T should have kept building his cars in his own back yard rather than letting them being built over here in the UK or Europe.....

Over here it's all about mass production and selling first then sorting out the problems afterwards....(or not)

whereas over in the far east they seem (Toyota) to be more interested in quality product....I do wish I had researched more into the new avensis before I bought it....being naive I thought aaahhh Japanese car good history good build....WRONG on this one.... :ffs:

Well as long as my local dealer plays ball I will be kept happy, but as soon as the warranty is over so is my relationship with this car!

[uumode]

EXCACTLY what I mean, you can set it by turning it but it makes no difference to the actuall way the wipers work - Think Mr T should have kept building his cars in his own back yard rather than letting them being built over here in the UK or Europe.....

Over here it's all about mass production and selling first then sorting out the problems afterwards....(or not)

whereas over in the far east they seem (Toyota) to be more interested in quality product....I do wish I had researched more into the new avensis before I bought it....being naive I thought aaahhh Japanese car good history good build....WRONG on this one.... :ffs:

Well as long as my local dealer plays ball I will be kept happy, but as soon as the warranty is over so is my relationship with this car!

Slightly off topic the Yaris is built in the UK (I think), yet that tops customer satisfaction surveys, Avensis is not that bad - compared to French/Italian cars.

Honda at the top of surveys and those are built in Swindon

Sadly these days less Japanese cars are actually built in Japan, but I guess they would be less affordable if they were. Mitsubishi built in Holland, Suzuki in Hungary, Nissan in UK, Honda in UK, Toyota in UK, Aygo somewhere in Eastern block I think... German cars built in South Africa and Brazil all in a bid to lower manufacturing costs.

Same for electronics, DVD players, cameras, etc now made in China, Thailand instead.

It's down to the company and how they instill the process of continual improvement in their overseas operations. Honda probably does it better than anyone else.

[jamesholden]

Slightly off topic the Yaris is built in the UK (I think), yet that tops customer satisfaction surveys, Avensis is not that bad - compared to French/Italian cars.

Honda at the top of surveys and those are built in Swindon

Sadly these days less Japanese cars are actually built in Japan, but I guess they would be less affordable if they were. Mitsubishi built in Holland, Suzuki in Hungary, Nissan in UK, Honda in UK, Toyota in UK, Aygo somewhere in Eastern block I think... German cars built in South Africa and Brazil all in a bid to lower manufacturing costs.

The Yaris is made in France, Corolla Verso is made in Turkey and the Avensis and some Corolla's are made in the UK. Only the Honda Civic and CRV are made in the UK, all other Honda's sold in the UK are made in Japan.

[uumode]

Slightly off topic the Yaris is built in the UK (I think), yet that tops customer satisfaction surveys, Avensis is not that bad - compared to French/Italian cars.

Honda at the top of surveys and those are built in Swindon

Sadly these days less Japanese cars are actually built in Japan, but I guess they would be less affordable if they were. Mitsubishi built in Holland, Suzuki in Hungary, Nissan in UK, Honda in UK, Toyota in UK, Aygo somewhere in Eastern block I think... German cars built in South Africa and Brazil all in a bid to lower manufacturing costs.

The Yaris is made in France, Corolla Verso is made in Turkey and the Avensis and some Corolla's are made in the UK. Only the Honda Civic and CRV are made in the UK, all other Honda's sold in the UK are made in Japan.

Thanks for the clarification, I got my engines crossed for the Yaris, I read they were assembled by British workers somewhere.

[JAHill]

Thanks for the clarification, I got my engines crossed for the Yaris, I read they were assembled by British workers somewhere.

I think that they used to be. Now it's just Avensis and Corolla.

[Avensis luna 03]

I had the same problem with the auto wipers. When I changed the Wiper Blades, the problem improved dramatically, in fact, they behaved almost perfectly. Joe

[steveweave]

Try cleaning the glass over the sensor with "rain x". If you put it all over the windscreen you can drive without windscreen wipers altogether, amazing stuf! You can get it in Halfords and the water droplets just blow away in the air flow keeping the sensor dry and the wipers off. Mine comes on incorrectly sometimes but is generally ok. You do need to keep the glass clean though otherwise the dirt holds the water.

[uumode]

I think that these must be the worst auto rain sensor wipers I have ever come across.

The other day I had them on auto while it rained then it stopped but the wipers thought it was still raining and kept on commin on.

Only way to switch them off is to push the wiper stalk all the way up, and when you come to use it pull it down twice, this bypasses the auto wipe, the setting of the sensor on the wiper stalk is pants, doesnt work as far as Im concerned

It was raining today for the first time in ages.. long (very) hot spell

and swivelling the ring to + made the wipers more sensitive to the rain and wiped more often,

and moving it to the - side made them less sensitive and allowed more drops to accumulate before wiping.

The Toyota implementation is better than on my Mercedes where the sensitivity cannot be set. Additionally the Toyota execution allows super fast speed where required in auto mode (when the rain gets really heavy). On my Mercedes it only stays standard wipe speed, forcing you to manually to move to a faster wipe speed if needed.

The downside I think of the Toyota system is the manual says you cannot leave it on full time as the system forgets that it is in auto mode, and you have to manually flick it off auto and back again to prime the system if you have stopped and restarted the engine - but haven't done it in practise. On Mercedes you can leave it in auto and remembers it's in auto.

[Mkuk0]

The downside I think of the Toyota system is the manual says you cannot leave it on full time as the system forgets that it is in auto mode, and you have to manually flick it off auto and back again to prime the system if you have stopped and restarted the engine - but haven't done it in practise. On Mercedes you can leave it in auto and remembers it's in auto.

Thats interesting, I leave mine in auto mode 24/7, might have to play a bit.

[uumode]

The downside I think of the Toyota system is the manual says you cannot leave it on full time as the system forgets that it is in auto mode, and you have to manually flick it off auto and back again to prime the system if you have stopped and restarted the engine - but haven't done it in practise. On Mercedes you can leave it in auto and remembers it's in auto.

Thats interesting, I leave mine in auto mode 24/7, might have to play a bit.

If you leave yours 24/7 in auto mode then I guess it must work? Perhaps the manual means 'if' it forgets it is in auto you have to prime it again.

[Iain l]

I leave mine in Auto all the time and I don't think they have failed, yet. Not too sure how it can forget its in auto mode though, if you leave your lights on they stay on and thats it. My laguna would always require the switch to be turned off then put back into automode but then it was French!!

[uumode]

I leave mine in Auto all the time and I don't think they have failed, yet. Not too sure how it can forget its in auto mode though, if you leave your lights on they stay on and thats it. My laguna would always require the switch to be turned off then put back into automode but then it was French!!

Not sure how it can forget either

specific words from the manual:

'When the ignition switch is turned off with the wiper lever in the position 1 [auto], and then the ignition switch is turned on again, the automatic operation may not work even if raindrops are on the windshield.

In this case, move the lever to another position and return it to the position 1 [auto] again.'

[ulro]

I replaced my wipeer blades the other day. The original blades were 600 mm and 400 mm long. I replaced the shorter with a 430 mm blade as this is the one that wipes the rain sensor. I must say that the operation of the auto wipe is much improved since the sligthly longer blade wipes a larger area above the sensor.

Please note that this applies to LHD Avensis, it might be different length of blades for RHD cars.

[uumode]

I replaced my wipeer blades the other day. The original blades were 600 mm and 400 mm long. I replaced the shorter with a 430 mm blade as this is the one that wipes the rain sensor. I must say that the operation of the auto wipe is much improved since the sligthly longer blade wipes a larger area above the sensor.

Please note that this applies to LHD Avensis, it might be different length of blades for RHD cars.

Slightly off topic, it's the first car I've had with different length blades, so a bit odd to me, and probably costs more to replace as most blade manufacturer's pack twin blades the same length. Means have to buy 2 x different blade packs or do they do a 'special' pack for Avensis? back up is trying to get hold of blades in singles of course.