Autonomous wipers not working on Model S 2015 85D

[Harryseldon]

Hi I have a Model S 85D. On the wipe stalk it has off, auto slow, and auto fast and then the two speeds. On the two speeds the wipers work fine. However, the two auto positions either do not work at all. Or when first switched to these position they will operate the wipers once. Very occassionally the wipers will work once again in auto position but thats it.

I am thinking this may be a faulty rain sensor but would appreciate any possible fixes or views. If its the sensor are these easy to replace?

Many thanks for any input

 

[Ostrichsak]

Nope, that's how they work. If you search you'll see LOTS of similar posts from many owners who have been annoyed by this behavior over the years, myself included. There's nothing to "fix" and it's nothing new, sadly. I've owned seven now and they are all trash on the auto settings.

Cars I owned nearly two decades ago were flawless with their auto wipers. The automatic rain sensing wipers on these cars is and always has been trash. Neither setting will allow them to trigger at the first presentation of rain drops. Once it starts (usually from tapping the washer button on the end) it will often keep going. Then, should it stop, it will sometimes struggle to start again. Very annoying and for a company who touts their safety metrics this is a fundamental safety issue that time forgot.

 

[tesluv108]

I had a 2013 where they worked (I think). The few times I drove this 2015 in the rain they did not automatically come on. I had to manually hit the wiper side button or turn them on. So I concur, they are usually not rain sensing

 

[KalJoMoS]

I must then have one exception as mine does work. Wiping intensity does changes if the rain get’s harder. My only concern has been the missing function while stopped at the traffic light (wiping intensity does not change). I usually turn them off in this case. But this seems to not help OP.

 

[chronoreverse]

I must then have one exception as mine does work. Wiping intensity does changes if the rain get’s harder. My only concern has been the missing function while stopped at the traffic light (wiping intensity does not change). I usually turn them off in this case. But this seems to not help OP.

My 2015 works fine too and I'm in Raincouver. I've heard the newer models use vision to detect rain and are hit and miss sometimes but the 2015's still used standard rain sensors.

 

[vcor]

I am thinking this may be a faulty rain sensor but would appreciate any possible fixes or views. If its the sensor are these easy to replace?

The 2012 through 2015 S (and a bit later) had a hardware rain sensor, that worked reasonably well. Similar to other brands. With the forward cameras in 2016 refresh, Tesla elected to get rid of the sensor and use software to determine the amount of rain. It has never been quite as good as the hardware sensor but has very-very slowly gotten better over the years. It seems people's success depends a lot on the type of rain they encounter. I've had good luck with both my 2016 and 2022 S in the last year with rain and the automatic function. Others less so.

If your cameras are working (no errors), and the top front of the windshield is clean, it should work. I find the poorest condition is very light rain, but in normal rain, it should work. Although few do this if you rooted your car and/or are on old software (pre-11) that would reduce the quality of operation.

 

[vcor]

Thinking about it more, if you get a lot of streaking on the windshield, it might cause the camera/software rain detection to fail. I'd be sure to clean the camera area on the front center top of the windshield. I keep mine quite clean and have no windshield streaking.

 

[PCMc]

Removal of the rain sensor was linked per my memory to the introduction of AP2 and the 8-camera Tesla vision system, not the introduction of the 2016 refresh that happened about 5-6 months earlier. I own a mid-2016 refresh AP1 version and it does use the rain sensor, not Tesla's vision based approach.

I do agree that the intermittent feature was nothing to get excited about, but I have not experienced the type of issues which OP describes. Mine will come on, but even the slow setting is too fast to my taste and seems to migrate more towards a "fast" speed even in intermittent light rain conditions.

Honestly, I'd prefer a basic manually variable intermittent wiper capability like I have on my 2011 Honda Odyssey mini-van or my wife's 2016 Honda Civic. Both of those give me more useful functionality in terms of wiper control, even though my MS90D cost more than the combined cost of those two cars when new.

 

[vcor]

@PCMc - Thanks. I had a Dec-2016 S and thought all refresh S had AP2. Didn't remember that some had AP1 for a short time.