XLR82XS
D M C
New or used? If the windshield is covered in debris and or over-spray of foreign material - then wiper blades will skip/chatter.
This may help: How to Properly Clean your Windshield | AMMO AUTO CARE INC.
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MASTER THREAD: Auto Wiper functionality, complaints, praise, etc.
- Thread starter RC2785
- Start date
This may help: How to Properly Clean your Windshield | AMMO AUTO CARE INC.
New_Old_Stock
Member
It's important to remember that the driver in that case actually crashed his 3 while adjusting the wipers. But it is a wild case. Imagine crashing your car and then getting a fine and license suspension on top of it. Not a fun day.
Actually, not too surprising a driver crashed his car adjusting manually. I think Tesla made a mistake removing the wiper stalk. Unfortunately, I drive in the rain a lot. Auto wipers are OK most of the time and it's possible to use voice commands, but for edge cases (when it's most dangerous to have eyes off the road) nothing beats the wiper stalk. Huge mistake Tesla, sorry but it's true.
I see you're in CA...
My wipers auto run on mountain roads in filtered sunshine (Hwy101, Hwy410). Sunny day, no rain, but forest filtering the sunlight. They just spread squashed windshield bugs. Wipers in manual.
Raining at night, especially when lacking street lights. Wipers in manual.
Driving through snow and slush on Mount Baker Highway in winter? Not a chance.
It's dangerous taking eyes off the road in all 3 of those conditions.
Around town in typical daytime rainy conditions they work great. Yes, I think we all know about pushing the left stalk button.
My wipers auto run on mountain roads in filtered sunshine (Hwy101, Hwy410). Sunny day, no rain, but forest filtering the sunlight. They just spread squashed windshield bugs. Wipers in manual.
Raining at night, especially when lacking street lights. Wipers in manual.
Driving through snow and slush on Mount Baker Highway in winter? Not a chance.
It's dangerous taking eyes off the road in all 3 of those conditions.
Around town in typical daytime rainy conditions they work great. Yes, I think we all know about pushing the left stalk button.
So what's the issue here? It's not raining (it is sunny outside), so you have your wipers off. Why would you need them on?
Presumably, when you got in your car, you knew it was raining (or about to rain). That would be a good time to engage the auto feature (or normal "on" - non-automatic) before you start to drive.
Again: when you get into your car, you know it is snowing (or could snow). Another great time to turn on the auto wipers (or non-automatic on)
Surprisingly not
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I am not saying the Auto Wipers are the best. I have issues with phantom wiping when it is clear - I have one spot on the freeway that I pass every day and I would say about 60% of the time, the auto wipers trigger within about 50 yards (something must be triggering them, but I don't know what). So I leave my auto wipers off.
Those are real examples of auto wipers not working properly. Wiping when they shouldn't, or not wiping when they should. They must be operated in manual which requires the touch panel. With any other car you can do this without taking your eyes off the road. This car requires you to hit tiny little buttons on the lower left corner of the panel. Completely ridiculous on a curvy mountain road in inclement weather!
pdx_m3s
Active Member
It would be great if Tesla came up with some gesture combinations to manually activate the wipers. For example, push the wiper button on the left stalk, and then temporarily the left steering wheel scroll wheel would allows to adjust for wiper speed, and it would stay there.
In my last car I never really got comfortable with the washer stork controls. There were too many mini dials and clicky things to manage both front and rear wipers. Basically just left it in auto mode but even that was very unclear as to whether or not it was actually in auto mode!
But the key thing was that in a torrential downpour, on a dark twisty bit of back road I could ALWAYS just push the wiper stork fully up and immediately get maximum emergency wiper speed. I never had to think about it! It has been the same in every car I owned.
But the key thing was that in a torrential downpour, on a dark twisty bit of back road I could ALWAYS just push the wiper stork fully up and immediately get maximum emergency wiper speed. I never had to think about it! It has been the same in every car I owned.
Well, I live in Trondheim, Norway and the wipers are a bit of a p.i.t.a. When it's cold and damp (all the winter) the wipers operate for up to 5 minutes before the stop. When it's snowing, just a little bit, the wipers go at full speed. Ever since I bought the car I have called it my Californian car, because it appears that MANY of the problems I encounter could be down to the engineers at Tesla not knowing what it's like to own a car anywhere except California. I would love a pressure spray on the rear camera, although the side cameras get blocked by snow and ice too.
Anfieldgaz
Member
DopeGhoti
Active Member
Only in that you can adjust the sensitivity to either "on" or "off".
The operation of the Model 3 wipers in auto mode definitely could use improvement, for reasons well documented in this thread. That said, I do not agree that starting the wipers with the button is anymore issue that with the stalk. The button is very prominently displayed and easy to click. In previous cars, I have often had problems with operating wipers with a stalk, especially with the increasing complexity of the controls and having multiple stalks coming from the wheel. That has led to some uncomfortable situations. Also, I find that the Tesla voice control for the wipers works well in most situations (though admittedly not all - it seems to require connectivity, which occasionally can be a problem for me).
So I would definitely like Tesla to fix the auto wiper function, and also make the voice controls not dependant on connectivity. But having a wiper stalk? From my personal perspective, I hope not.
So I would definitely like Tesla to fix the auto wiper function, and also make the voice controls not dependant on connectivity. But having a wiper stalk? From my personal perspective, I hope not.
I just noticed that the latest Tesla software update has slightly reduced the prominence of the wiper button on the Model 3 display. It is now just another button on the lower part of the display panel. It is not a big change, but I would no longer say that the button is "prominent" as I indicated above. So this is not a good thing in my view. The change does not have a huge impact on me, since i mostly use voice control for the wipers, but still not great.
I would assume for the sake of argument that no amount of software improvement is going to make the auto function on the wipers better at this point. I think that it will take a better physical hardware in the form of new sensors, which is unlikely to benefit those of us who already own a Model 3. If that is true, I still think that the wiper function could at least be made better by programming in an 'adjustable intermittent' wiping function. Until my previous vehicle (a Ford) which also had auto wipers and which also did not work that well (although better than on the Tesla), all my cars just had the usual old-fashioned adjustable intermittent wiping functionality. I preferred that, and I would continue to prefer that until auto wipers get better. I see no reason why a Tesla software update could not at least provide adjustable intermittent wiping as an option.
I would assume for the sake of argument that no amount of software improvement is going to make the auto function on the wipers better at this point. I think that it will take a better physical hardware in the form of new sensors, which is unlikely to benefit those of us who already own a Model 3. If that is true, I still think that the wiper function could at least be made better by programming in an 'adjustable intermittent' wiping function. Until my previous vehicle (a Ford) which also had auto wipers and which also did not work that well (although better than on the Tesla), all my cars just had the usual old-fashioned adjustable intermittent wiping functionality. I preferred that, and I would continue to prefer that until auto wipers get better. I see no reason why a Tesla software update could not at least provide adjustable intermittent wiping as an option.
Knightshade
Well-Known Member
Why would you assume that?
The system is vision based.
You might not have heard, but Tesla is devoting considerable resources to improving their vision software for additional reasons beyond wipers.
It's already a lot better than it was a couple years ago. I expect it'll continue to get better over time.
I think "better" is a little generous. "Less bad" perhaps
