General: rain sensors

[ianneal]

how do i know if my xc 90 has got rain sensors thanks for any replies in advance

[Viper_7]

There's a button on the wiper stalk. Well there is on the S60 and S80 - suspect yours to be the same.

[GSMGuy]

If it's SE or above, it should have them - if in doubt, pull the stalk down to the 1st click - wipers should wipe once, then get out, leaving engine running, and spray some water on the screen with a hose/watering can, a light mist should start intermittent wiping, and heavy spray should shart continuous, on speeds 1 then 2 - sensor is kust behind the rear view mirror.

HTH

Mike

[Ron_XC90]

Hi Ian,

Probably the easiest way is to check if you have an extra button on the wiper stalk (similar to the reset button on the indicator stalk). This button activates the rain sensor

[JimBob]

I wouldn't worry too much, my rain sensor drives me nuts, never wipes when I want it to and always seems to switch itself off when I get out and back in again (maybe this is a 'feature'?)

As they say in the movies "Switching to manual!" (usually following by some kind of dangerous manouver and a form of controlled crash)

Merry Xmas

JimBob

[Viper_7]

Yes, it's always off by default when you turn the car on.

You'd get much more grief if it was always on, for example jumping in on a cold morning then the wipers sweep (which are frozen to the screen) damaging the blades etc.

[Ron_XC90]

I think it's off by default for safety reasons. For example If there's ice on the windscreen or when you enter a car wash, having the wipers come on is not a good idea...

[Grumpy13]

Originally Posted by Ron_XC90

Hi Ian,

Probably the easiest way is to check if you have an extra button on the wiper stalk (similar to the reset button on the indicator stalk). This button activates the rain sensor

It depends on your model year. My '03 doesn't have a seperate button. Just one click down on the wiper stalk to activate then turn the intermitent setting dial to adjust sensitivity.

[oilburner]

I wouldn't really worry about whether or not you have it. I find it quite a poor implementation. Most of the time I find myself constantly adjusting the sensitivity to either get it to wipe enough, or stop it wiping too much!

I might as well do manual variable intermittant and be done with it...

Some systems work better than others. SWMBOs Zafira has rain sensors with no sensitivity adjustment and yet they always seem to work just fine, wiping exactly when you would expect.

[Ron_XC90]

I have not yet used the rain sensored wipers, so cannot really comment on how good (or bad) it works on the Volvo.
I did have the rain sensor on my previous car (Peugeot 807) which was far from good. I did find however that the function of the sensor much depends on the state of the wipers (new wipers work much better) and if there is a wax coating on the screen (after a car wash) this negatively influences the functioning as well.