Windshield wipers are horrible, and arguably dangerous

[SJC3]

Concur. They are terrible even though they got better in recent updates. Mine chatter like crazy now and go into hyper insane embarrassing mode frequently. End up having to use manual swipes with the button.

 

[C141medic]

What and where is the sensor?

I believe the wipers are activated by the front facing camera in the rear view mirror housing.

 

[mswlogo]

If you could somehow bias the sensitivity in Auto, I'd be happy.

The wiper algorithm is terrible as is... it's either too fast or too slow, and the manual modes don't seem like they're speed sensitive (e.g. they appear to just wipe every X secs). It is completely incapable of handling spray from the car ahead, so instead of driving, I'm driving and periodically pushing the left wiper button.

That’s the problem. Both cars I have with Rain Sense have a sensitivity adjustment. Both are also not perfect but light years ahead of the Model 3.

Same goes for the difference in Auto Highbeam performance.

The Problem is, Tesla tried to use the Neural net Process it uses for AutoPilot for Auto Wipers and Auto HighBeam.

Guess it will take the 100x faster CPU in HW3 to fix it. Instead of using the dedicated sensors other cars use.

It’s great to think outside of the box. But so many issues we think are New to Model 3 are the same issues on Model S (frozen door handles, rain sense wipers etc. ).

 

[sperkin]

Only thing annoying is the auto wiper doesn’t use enough speed so it skips across the windshield making chatter noises. I kept having to go back to manual and adjust speed from low to high and back to low. Rain in LA is here and there at different intensities. Wish Auto works so I can just leave and forget.

 

[aronth5]

The auto wipers have continued to improve with each update. I think the latest update have the wipers operating fairly well now. I rarely have to use the manual wiper any more.

I thought things were getting better until the .50 updates which made mine worse. They just aren't aggressive enough for me. One item that would help is when you press the left stalk leave the manual card open much longer so the manual controls don't disappear so quickly.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Mine work fine in the daytime and under street lights. On dark roads, I have to use manual settings. Manual settings aren't too difficult to access; as mentioned above, pressing the mist button on the end of the stalk brings up the wiper controls.

Indeed,

The wipers are camera controlled.

If its light outside then the camera can see that it's vision is blocked by the rain and they come on. Same holds true for street lights.

Now....in the dark it's hard to see if rain is on the window - just like our eyeballs have the same struggle. Thank God for our ears that can attribute to helping us also hear the rain.

 

[nvx1977]

few things:

Auto wiping is horrible across S/X/3. No model is spared. S/X have a more familiar interval control on the stalk; Model 3 just has the button for single manual wipe (2 detents is wiper fluid and wipe). I've always been in the habit of using the manual button, and either 1 or 3 interval setting on the screen.

Tesla stock Bosch wipers are garbage, regardless of model. I recently replaced the stock wipers on my S with Bosch Icon wipers. They look identical but work so much better.

My research so far with replacing the Model 3 wipers with Bosch Icons require breaking one side off the mounting clips on the wiper piece. This is due to the integrated wiper mechanism getting in the way. At some point, I'm going to give this replacement a shot.

 

[ftlum]

I want to be able to safely adjust the wiper speed and sensitivity. I end up just manually pushing the wiper button all the time, which is just ridiculous. I liked someone’s idea to briefly allow a steering wheel button to make fine adjustments after you press the stalk button. Or voice controls. Just about anything would be safer than what we have now.

 

[Xevex]

I treated my windshield with Aquapel and I rarely use the wiper now, like one swipe every 3 mins. All the water slides away at 50km or above.

 

[Wahbash]

The auto wipers work terribly in light rain, mist or road splatter where it slowly accumulates until you can barely see at all. Works ok in regular rain. I really wish they would fix this, or give us the option to adjust the sensitivity in the settings.

 

[mswlogo]

The sensor is behind the windshield, top center.

Yeah, the sensor is called a Camera.

 

[Mod3forMe]

If you push the button on the left stalk the wipers will swipe and the controls for the speed will appear. With one quick tap you can choose the manual speed you want.

My wipers work okay. They are not perfect, but not as bad as other people report.

No they are that bad. Tesla has to get them fixed

 

[Lunares]

I guess I'm the only one who feels like his auto wipers work 95% of the time. I rarely need to engage manual control.

To be fair I live in San Diego, so only have had to use wipers 10x or so. But two of those were multi hour road trips during storms where auto worked the entire time through varying rain intensities

 

[chronopc]

No they are that bad. Tesla has to get them fixed

I was in a rain storm yesterday and they worked fine for the most part. The only issues I had was when it wasn't raining but other cars where splashing water on my windshield. In that case I had to manually turn on the wipers.

 

[Mod3forMe]

Pacfic Northwest for me - I have a LARGE sample size of rain. Wiper control is crap. Don't turn on too enough, not aggressive enough when they do, don't adjust fast enough to changing conditions.

I have to hit the button on the stock to bring up the wiper screen and go manual most fo the time.

 

[Esquire]

"Don't worry, guys. This is the same company that already has full self driving waiting to go!" - Delusional people who purchased FSD and want to convince themselves and everyone else they made a good decision

 

[jdcollins5]

Wilmington, NC broke a historical record for rainfall in 2018, over 100” versus 52” average. So I have seen more than my share of rain. The auto wipers work OK for me.

It is hard to believe our cars are so different.

 

[matto]

No they are that bad. Tesla has to get them fixed

This. Mine are absolutely useless. Except when you first turn on the car and they go bonkers.

I'm going to try contacting support and see if there is anything they can do.

 

[pbd87]

I love the auto wipers, haven't touched the setting in months.

My windshield is coated, I'm sure that makes a difference too. But with the coating, as it is now, I 100% love the auto wipers.

 

[Powered By Jay]

I’m in SoCal and the auto wipers have been terrible the past two weeks. They either don’t turn on when it rains or they are very slow to turn on. The speed doesn’t match the amount of rain either. On some cold mornings, the wipers turn on even though the windshield is clear.