[London_2012]

I've activated this a couple of times over the weekend, green light on the right hand stalk is on and the wipers wipe the screen once, then do nothing, as the screen fills with water I'm expecting the wipers to spring into action again but nothing happens until it becomes dangerous as I can no longer see through the screen and reactivate them myself by pulling the stalk down a notch onto intermittent - which deactivates the rain sensor. Then I try again repeating the process again until it becomes dangerous...
Has anyone else had problems with this or is it just me? Is there something I'm missing?
Thinking back the demonstrator I borrowed for the day in August did the same thing.

 

[MichelR]

You can set the sensitivity of the sensor with the right turning wheel on the handle.

I set it on 3 clicks from the zero. (wheel turned all the way down and then 3 clicks up).

 

[jens-peter]

I have almost never used the 'old fashion way', but always the sensor - even in heavy rain. Perhaps my default sensitivity is just right (or my girlfriend have set it).

I find it much more relaxing to use the sensor, but if it dosen't swipe when you expect it, then its no good.

 

[London_2012]

will try that thanks, sounds like it's just me.
It was raining in London earlier so might get a chance to try it out on the way home, that's the joy of working in the UK!

 

[Patrickv]

Must indeed be the sensitivity as Michel mentioned... Also I am only using the sensor as it works very good

 

[London_2012]

Tried this last night in the rain moving the wheel on the right hand stalk up to it's max sensitivity but the wipers still don't repeat by themselves. Green light comes on and the rain sensor icon appears on the dashboard but nothing else happens, I am going to wait for a rainy day (shouldn't be long judging by this weeks forecast) and take it to the dealership for them to check out.

 

[Harfin]

Can also report mine is working fine using the sensor and not on max. sensitivity, so probably best if you get it looked into

 

[mrlazy]

You could try giving the windscreen a clean infront of the sensor (top centre). If there is any dirt there, it could be blocking the sensor.

 

[GusGecko]

Maybe there's a bit of straw stuck in the sensor ay London_2012?!

 

[London_2012]

Actually I am still finding bits of straw! There's a load of it jammed between the number plate and the bumper :huh: I should have taken the car to the dealer today to get the rain sensor checked out as it has been raining all day here but was working from home, didn't have the time. :s

 

[London_2012]

Took the car to the local dealer in Chiswick today to get the rain sensor sorted. It's one of those really annoying intermittent problems, when they checked it in the service area it was fine, hooked up to the computer showed no faults, they brought it out to demonstrate to me it worked with a watering can, then it packed up again! :huh: They want to hang on to it for a while so they can do a full diagnostic check which means a courtesy car for a couple of days, apparently they checked on the system there are no known faults with the rain sensors on the V40.

 

[Starfighter]

I hate technicians that rely on the diagnistics codes - If the sensor is not detecting the rain then there is no fault to show!

The systems work on contract between drops and no drops on the sensor area. They will have difficulty detecting a sheet of water from as watering can in the same way as they you have problems with very fine spray and mist on the road. These things are a driver aid, you need to make a choice for yourself and use them manually when required.

 

[volver]

I have a slightly different problem with the rain sensor... I try to setup the sensivity but no setting is correct... Sometimes the windscreen becomes full of water and you can't see while others the wipers are at the maximum speed even if there is no rain on the windscreen. I tried all sensitivity settings and the only one which you can practically use is the max but then again the wipers work almost all the time. I 'm going to report this to my dealer and get some feedback today...

 

[London_2012]

@Volver
Did you get your rain sensors fixed?
Mine is at the dealers in Chiswick finally getting fixed today. They've given me a new XC70 as a courtesy car, it's nice.



Now, I know this isn't a Volvo but I thought you might like to see this, it's Jenson Button's 2011 Mclaren Mercedes F1 car, it just appeared unannounced in reception at work last week. That's my son sitting in the car whilst security weren't looking, apparently the steering wheel alone cost £40,000 (almost x2 decent spec'd V40s)

 

[London_2012]

Grrrr!! Dealer just rang me to say they are working fine. 'Yes', I explained, 'they did last time you looked at it on 6th Nov, until you took it out of the garage and into daylight'.

It's taken this long to get it back into them because they don't bother to return my calls.

The glimmer of hope that this Volvo dealer would be better than my previous awful BMW dealership is quickly fading. I'm thinking of leaving the XC70 here and taking the Mclaren home instead...

 

[uzbek]

Auto wipers; another triumph of technology over actual need. Since when was it so hard to control them yourself.

I used to drive all year in a Caterham, the indicators did not even self cancel.

FWIW I think they work OK although the lowest sensitivity is pretty tolerant of a seriously wet screen.

 

[London_2012]

I do agree, probably more trouble than it's worth.
Picked up the car, they said they replaced the sensor and checked it works ok.
Driving home in the rain tonight I notice nothing has changed, it's still broken. They now think it needs the latest software update. Interesting, that's the first mention of an update, hope it fixes the other bugs like the instant fuel economy on the driver display not going past 50mpg.
See, I should have stolen the Mclaren instead

 

[Mike]

Driving home in the rain tonight I notice nothing has changed, it's still broken. They now think it needs the latest software update. Interesting, that's the first mention of an update, hope it fixes the other bugs like the instant fuel economy on the driver display not going past 50mpg.
See, I should have stolen the Mclaren instead

.. and with the Mclaren there'd be absolutely no problem with a fuel economy gauge not going above 50mpg

 

[raytint]

I do agree, probably more trouble than it's worth.
Picked up the car, they said they replaced the sensor and checked it works ok.
Driving home in the rain tonight I notice nothing has changed, it's still broken. They now think it needs the latest software update. Interesting, that's the first mention of an update, hope it fixes the other bugs like the instant fuel economy on the driver display not going past 50mpg.
See, I should have stolen the Mclaren instead

I think you should !

 

[London_2012]

Can report the wipers are finally fixed, they did a software update.
Sadly though the software update didn't fix the instant mpg on the Driver display, it still doesn't go above 50.