I've always been of the "What the hell do they want those for, I can operate the wipers myself" field of thinking. However, the store where I work part time has just got a Pug 206 diesel estate with these fitted and I must say they are brilliant. No faffing about with the stalk in the squally type of shower which gets heavier, then lighter, stops for thirty seconds and then comes back with a vengence.
In fact driving home this morning in my own car I found myself thinking, "Hello, what's up with the wipers?", when they didn't speed up on their own. Great idea, though I wouldn't want to have to pick up the tab when they went wrong.
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On a French car? Never gonna happen.
;-)
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You either get a good reliable working system, or one with a mind of its own.
My previous Vectra (53 reg) was hit and miss, but my current one (06 reg) works fine on the whole.
It also defaults itself to the off position when the ignition has been switched off, and needs to be turned back on again next start up. Unlike the system in the Transit Connect at work, if you didn't return the wiper stalk to the off position the wipers would do a full sweep next time the key was turned.
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>>
>>
>> It also defaults itself to the off position when the ignition has been switched off,
>> and needs to be turned back on again next start up.
>>
The Pug has the same system.
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Having had them on my Pug 406 I would happily swap them for a manual stalk but with a variable control.
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I like to run my wipers to clear the screen when I garage the car. PIA with those.
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My last couple of cars have had them. On balance I'd prefer manual operation. They don't always do what I'd do no matter how much you swear at them. My dipped and high beam headlights are automatic too. That can tick some people off when it gets it wrong.
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I like auto lights, if other drivers realise that they don't work in fog. I don't like auto wipers, especially the Ford ones which give a wipe on engine start if they were on (even in intermittent and stopped) when the engine was stopped. Terrific if the wipers are frozen to the screen. Much like auto wipe of the rear window when selecting reverse. Also seen that done with a bike rack on the rear hatch, does not do the wiper any good at all. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 18 Dec 13 at 18:15
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Aye I don't mind the auto lights ON, but mine also switch from dipped to high beam automatically which is really handy but occasionally misguided.
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I have not driven a car with auto dip, I'm not sure I would be happy to use it on a narrow, twisty, rural road, can it be switched off?
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Yes you can turn it off. It is actually ( usually ) pretty good at "seeing" when it's safe to go to full beam but it isn't as smart as a human.
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>>.................it isn't as smart as a human.
>>
Have you seen how thick some human drivers are? No wonder cars are becoming automated. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 18 Dec 13 at 19:20
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>.mine also switch from dipped to high beam automatically which is really handy but occasionally misguided.
Mercedes-Benz Magic Body Control in the new S Class:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLwML2PagbY
Jaguar:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PQS8SFWNQw
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>> Aye I don't mind the auto lights ON, but mine also switch from dipped to
>> high beam automatically which is really handy but occasionally misguided.
>>
I was a passenger a week or so ago in the new Range Rover Sport...and that has auto dipping lights...which IMO were awful...because they waited until the car approaching was actually in direct sight before dipping...by which time you've burnt his/her retinas out.
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>> I like to run my wipers to clear the screen when I garage the car. PIA with those.
Different settings on mine. I can either select the auto wipers, slow speed, or fast speed. I can also adjust the sensitivity of the auto wipers too.
Thinking about it, you could also do all that in the Transit Connect we had at work. I assumed that you over-ride the auto wipers on all cars and switch them to slow or fast speed?
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>> I like to run my wipers to clear the screen when I garage the car. PIA with those.
Different settings on mine. I can either select the auto wipers, slow speed, or fast speed. I can also adjust the sensitivity of the auto wipers too.
Thinking about it, you could also do all that in the Transit Connect we had at work. I assumed that you over-ride the auto wipers on all cars and switch them to slow or fast speed?
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Never drove one you couldn't.
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>>
>> Thinking about it, you could also do all that in the Transit Connect we had
>> at work. I assumed that you over-ride the auto wipers on all cars and switch
>> them to slow or fast speed?
>>
You certainly can on the 206.
Which is why it appeals so much, it's very useful but if it doesn't work the way you like you don't have to use it.
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In the winter you have to make a conscious effort to switch them off when leaving the car, otherwise they'll try to wipe with the screen covered in ice and rip themselves to shreds.
Presumably, anyway. Don't know if the Vauxhall Ingrid is bright enough to inhibit the wipers first thing with a frozen screen.
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>> In the winter you have to make a conscious effort to switch them off when leaving the car, otherwise they'll try to wipe with the screen covered in ice and rip themselves to shreds.
As mentioned earlier, mine default to the off position the moment you stop the engine, so no risk of that. Surprised you Vauxhall doesn't do the same?
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>> >> In the winter you have to make a conscious effort to switch them off
>> when leaving the car, otherwise they'll try to wipe with the screen covered in ice
>> and rip themselves to shreds.
Audi ones don't start to autowipe until you move the vehicle forward at ~3Kph, so presumably the screen has been cleared by then. They also park randomly on the downstroke or a minuscule upstroke so that the rubber blade doesn't get deformed.
Last edited by: sooty tailpipes on Thu 19 Dec 13 at 11:54
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>> Having had them on my Pug 406 I would happily swap them for a manual
>> stalk but with a variable control.
>>
Having had them on a few cars, the 406 was the only one that worked well. And it didn't wipe a wet screen on start-up, as wifey's Honda does. Her's are terrible - even with variable sensitivity control they never seem right.
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The accord (04) was great, set the wipers on level 2 and hardly ever touched the switch. VW's system is nowhere near as good (on either the Octavia or the Passat) and may as well not be there, either it doesn't wipe or it wipe's a clear screen.
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>> VW's system is nowhere near as good (on either the Octavia or the Passat) and may as well not be there, either it doesn't wipe or it wipes a clear screen.>>
Rubbish.
What's more, because as mentioned earlier, it won't operate the wipers when damage would be caused to the blades (i.e. in snow or icy conditions from rest), much more considerate for their longevity...:-)
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We've had them on three cars - two different makers BMW and VW....the BMW ones are excellent in that you manually engage them with a stalk end button and then forget them until the next time you start the motor - no risk of ice damage. The VAG ones didn't and were a pain in all respects (adjustment etc) - The V40 has them - I will find out how they work in a couple of hours.
Last edited by: R.P. on Sat 21 Dec 13 at 08:08
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Interesting R.P.; I find manually engaging the BMW ones every trip a bit of a nuisance. On the MB (and the Audi) once on they stay on, but don't engage until the car is moving. The Audis were adjustable for sensitivity - the ones in the MB don't seem to be.
Mind you, I've paid more attention than usual to them over the last 24 hours because I had to have a new windscreen yesterday, so needed to check that all the gizmos still worked! The initial attempt by Autglass was aborted - they sent the wrong screen. Auto lights/wipers have a sensor of course, along with some sort of connection for the auto-dipping rear view mirror. But apparently I also have a forward facing camera in front of the rear view mirror, and that requires a different type of screen. Not exactly sure what the cameras for - I don't have lane assist or whatever it's called, so it must either be for the 'attention assist', which is what's supposed to alert you if you're falling asleep (fortunately never been activated in my car), or 'speed limit assist' which is what flashes the speed limit up on the centre display, and leaves it on the nav display, every time the limit changes...
Auto glass have done a cracking (excuse the pun...) job though. All sorted in the office car park yesterday, and no signs at all that it's actually been replaced. I was slightly nervous that there'd be stray sealant everywhere!!
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>> The Audis were adjustable for sensitivity - the ones in
>> the MB don't seem to be.
>>
Which MB have you got? On my E class there are two clicks on 'rain sensitive' before the constant setting.
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It's the current shape. And while yes, there are two settings on the rotary switch the second position results in wipers that are almost permanently on, in mine anyway! The Audi and BMW had a little toggle on the wiper stalk with a good 6 or so levels of sensitivity to chose from, which was far more useable.
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Strange how we see the same car's system in different ways. On my Golf the RS wipers have to be re-engaged each time you start the car so no false starts, they park themselves when you turn of the ignition where ever they are and they do a little random move so the blades aren't stored in the same way each time to preserve the rubber. I find they work OK but you must kept the sensor on the windscreen clean otherwise they can play up.
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"They park themselves when you turn of the ignition where ever they are"
That through me when I first came to clean the windscreen on my Golf. As a final resort I had to read the manual!
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On the works Pug they also self park after you shut down, something I love as I hate it when you go to a car in the morning and some twonk (ie the other two guys who use the car) has left them half way up the screen - and the blower on full and the radio on, another two things I can't stand. I like to turn the ignition on and only hear the whir of the starter and the engine rumble into life. Aside from anything else I want to be alerted to any strange engine noises that might have developed (No one else checks the oil or the water either).
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>> "They park themselves when you turn of the ignition where ever they are"
>>
>> That through (threw?) me when I first came to clean the windscreen on my Golf. As a final resort I had to read the manual!>>
Well they never have on my past Bora and current Jetta...!! Are you sure you are not confusing this with the need (as is the case with the Jetta) to temporarily have the wipers in an upright position to change the wiper blades? Cannot be done otherwise as the rear of the bonnet prevents the wiper blades from being raised and then, presumably, being stolen.
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The wipers will always park themselves at the bottom or the screen even if you turn off the ignition in mid wipe. Because they are then below bonnet level they cannot be lifted to clean the screen properly. You have to depress the wiper stalk with the ignition turned off to park them in a vertical position.
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The Volvo's have a switch to fire them up (or turn them off) - not quite got the hang of the sensitivity thing. There is a cute little warning light on the (very nice) TFT instrument panel
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Feel left out again. The Jowett has a brown bakelite knob with a 'W' engraved thereon.
You pull it out to use the 10 inch wipers and push it in to stop. No self-park let alone different speeds !
You're all a load of poseurs........apart from SP, who probably doesn't have any on his old Mog !
Pah !
Ted
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Original 2CV had wipers driven off the speedometer cable, so they went faster as the car did.
And of course we all remember Ford manifold-vacuum wipers that used to peg out just when you didn't want them to...
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>> Original 2CV had wipers driven off the speedometer cable, so they went faster as the
>> car did.
>>
>> And of course we all remember Ford manifold-vacuum wipers that used to peg out just
>> when you didn't want them to...
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The wipers on my Triumph 2000 mk1 are one speed...and above 50mph in the rain, inadequate....plus...being a dynamo, if you are driving at city speeds, with the lights, heater and wipers on, they are all inefficient.
I still love it though.
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Can a dynamo fitted car be converted to an alternator and is it easy, difficult, or not worth the hassle?
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>> Can a dynamo fitted car be converted to an alternator and is it easy, difficult,
>> or not worth the hassle?
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Yes, it is an upgrade that is relatively easy to carry out. However a lot of people like to keep to original spec.
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>> However a lot
>> of people like to keep to original spec.
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That's me...I was tempted to have an alternator that looks like an original dynamo, but decided against it wanting to keep the originality. I rarely use it in the rain or dark anyway.
Some years back, a mate was a director of an exclusive joinery company that used to service Bond Street shops and Eton Square flats and similar, real top end stuff...he'd stay at my place once a week in N.London..he offered to have my Triumph woodwork re-done with real good quality walnut or similar..for free...and I turned him down???....because it wouldn't have looked original....still not sure it that was the right decision or not.
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>>I was tempted to have an alternator that looks like an original dynamo, but decided against it wanting to keep the originality.
Bit like fitting uPVC windows & doors to a period cottage, I bet you've got 'em though hey Westie ;)
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>> I bet you've got
>> 'em though hey Westie ;)
>>
Well. As it happens...I have.
There wasn't much on the housing market here when we needed to buy..(about 7 miles away from your Subaru garage)..we put a sensible offer in on a fantastic 400 year old cottage in a popular, attractive village (Ugborough)...and the mad old biddy selling it turned us down..
..then at the last minute, this place turned up..a second sale had fallen through,. so we scooped up.
Everything was right about it, all the things we wanted on our extensive wish list...but...(there's always a but)...the house itself was an 80's build, (based on a really old brick built stables).
Gert big garden sealed it...but we did not get our old, character cottage.
The mad old biddy eventually sold for less than we 'd offered...and we did the right thing...courtyard garden versus 3/4 acre.
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>>we put a sensible offer in on a fantastic 400 year old cottage
Might have been a money pit, like old cars ...
This cottage is part 18th century and part 21st century, in as much as it was extended by the previous owners so even the old part has been re-everythinged (new word!)
All the windows are bespoke, well made/fitted but I wouldn't call them air tight :)
I wouldn't dream of replacing them with plastic though, although if I had Lud's sort of money, I would consider gas-filled aluminium jobbies.
On a slightly different note, that 50 bags of Anthracite I bought has been a bit of a disaster TBH, it's almost pure carbon really, and a devil of a job to ignite, and even if I light the multi-fuel stove at say 2.00pm, it's gorn out by 10pm, whereas with the Taybrite, it can still be a'glowing more than 24 hours later, so it's back to Taybrite next year!
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I've done this mod on the Javelin. Well worth it in my case. The Jav is electrified by Joe Lucas, The Prince of Darkness, so the job was easy. I used a Lucas 17ACR unit...mainly because the pulley off the dynamo fits straight on without any machining. This then matches the crank/water pump pulleys, which take a much more substantial belt than ' moderns '
The alternator is shorter but the mounting hole configurations are the same. A short length of good solid tube is used to make up the length, with some 8mm threaded bar. I cut 3 inches off an old Escort rocker shaft.
The new unit needs a permanent live and a feed out to the ign warning light. That's all. The old control box/fuses remain. The ammeter and coil needs the cables swapping over but I haven't bothered with the ammeter.. A modern radio can be fitted now.
It makes a huge difference...especially on dar, rainy nights. Not that she ever goes out at night now. I would imagine it would be a lot more difficult on some cars..eg continental stuff. The Jowett twins have the dynamo on top of the engine driven by the cam chain and driving the distributor at the back.......possibly impossible to alter.
Ted
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>> And of course we all remember Ford manifold-vacuum wipers that used to peg out just when you didn't want them to... >>
My best mate had a Ford Prefect that did exactly that - always used to make him mad...:-)
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Rain Sensitive Wipers - Alanovich
