Black squares behind the rear view?

Iceweasel

Can we have a pic from the outside, showing the bit immediately in front of the mirror mount?

What make, model, and age is it?

JustAnotherSaver

Well the strip has been fitted.

And yes, insurance HAVE been contacted - they're not interested, which was nice. They're only bothered about tinted windows.

Never thought about the wipers. I don't know what mine has. They're not auto as I have to turn them on but once on and if in the intermittent stage then they speed up or slow down depending on the severity of the rain. Only problem there is they have a mind of their own. On my wifes old MK4 Golf if you set it to 1 say it would have x-seconds between wipes, set it to 2, 3, 4 it would have a different timeframe between wipes but it would be consistent.

Set mine to 1 and it may be super slow, even slower than super slow as in you need to manually hit for it to wipe, or 1 may end up quite quick. The only thing consistent is that it'll be intermittent to some degree. What that degree is is completely variable.

[Deleted User]

JustAnotherSaver said:

Never thought about the wipers. I don't know what mine has. They're not auto as I have to turn them on but once on and if in the intermittent stage then they speed up or slow down depending on the severity of the rain. Only problem there is they have a mind of their own. On my wifes old MK4 Golf if you set it to 1 say it would have x-seconds between wipes, set it to 2, 3, 4 it would have a different timeframe between wipes but it would be consistent.

Set mine to 1 and it may be super slow, even slower than super slow as in you need to manually hit for it to wipe, or 1 may end up quite quick. The only thing consistent is that it'll be intermittent to some degree. What that degree is is completely variable.

You do need to turn auto wipers on, for most cars it is similar to putting in intermittent mode so it does sound like you have auto wipers and from the photo you provided I can see what looks like as ADAS type extension behind your mirror.

I've seen all sorts of negative experiences from people with auto wipers over the years, I've had them since 2006 and I love them but they do need some attention to make sure they work properly.

The wipers must clear the sensor area each wipe, some people fit wrong length of wiper blades and that causes the auto wipers to be erratic. Wipers must be in good condition as well and the windscreen properly cleaned. In my case the passenger side wiper is longer to clear the rain sensor, but some people fit them the other way round with the longer one on the driver side by mistake.

I've currently got a problem with mine though, I have an infrared blocking windscreen which keeps the heat out of the car on sunny days. The rain sensor uses infrared to sense the rain on the screen and there is supposed to be a patch of the windscreen that allows IR through for the rain sensor, sadly Autoglass got the wrong screen with full IR block so now my rain sensor can't see the rain - awaiting warranty man to come and see my car because they don't believe me.

JustAnotherSaver

Iceweasel said:

Can we have a pic from the outside, showing the bit immediately in front of the mirror mount?

What make, model, and age is it?

2006 (06) plate.

[Deleted User]

JustAnotherSaver said:

Iceweasel said:

Can we have a pic from the outside, showing the bit immediately in front of the mirror mount?

What make, model, and age is it?

2006 (06) plate.

Thought that photo looked familiar, so yes I had a 2006 Ford S-Max which has pretty much the same as the Mondeo around the windscreen / rain sensor etc.

Auto wipers worked great on that model, check you have the right wiper sizes as per above - if it is like the S-max then the passenger one is longer and wipes the sensor. If that is ok, make sure the windscreen above the sensor is squeaky clean and check the mounting for the sensor as well in the unit, the sticky patch sometimes degrades.

JustAnotherSaver

Deleted_User said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

Iceweasel said:

Can we have a pic from the outside, showing the bit immediately in front of the mirror mount?

What make, model, and age is it?

2006 (06) plate.

Thought that photo looked familiar, so yes I had a 2006 Ford S-Max which has pretty much the same as the Mondeo around the windscreen / rain sensor etc.

Auto wipers worked great on that model, check you have the right wiper sizes as per above - if it is like the S-max then the passenger one is longer and wipes the sensor. If that is ok, make sure the windscreen above the sensor is squeaky clean and check the mounting for the sensor as well in the unit, the sticky patch sometimes degrades.

I actually bought new wipers for it last year I think it was. Used this site https://www.wiperblades.co.uk/ and put my reg in.

I'm a bit OCD with the keeping the glass clean. Winds me up no end when it's dirty.

However, I have applied over time Aquapel and Glaco Soft 99 to the windscreen. Obviously not at the same time In case you don't know what they are then think Rain-X type product (just better than Rain-X). Whether this makes a difference or not, I don't know?

As for sensor mount - if you mean the plastic thing on the inside that I thought was part of the rear view mirror unit, I don't know how secure that's supposed to be? Feels a bit wibbly-wobbly in mine.

Iceweasel

I'm pretty sure that you do have auto-wipers. If you haven't done so already, read the handbook to make sure you know how to operate them. They do need to be activated - they do not switch on when rain starts - you need to activate them and then you can leave them activated until next time you start the car. In m y car when the rain starts I simply press the auto-wiper button and then forget about it. They stop start and/or speed up as required. Very rarely does it get it wrong and I need to adjust the sensitivity. Good luck. p.s. the wibbly-wobbly bit is just a dust cover.

[Deleted User]

JustAnotherSaver said:

Deleted_User said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

Iceweasel said:

Can we have a pic from the outside, showing the bit immediately in front of the mirror mount?

What make, model, and age is it?

2006 (06) plate.

Thought that photo looked familiar, so yes I had a 2006 Ford S-Max which has pretty much the same as the Mondeo around the windscreen / rain sensor etc.

Auto wipers worked great on that model, check you have the right wiper sizes as per above - if it is like the S-max then the passenger one is longer and wipes the sensor. If that is ok, make sure the windscreen above the sensor is squeaky clean and check the mounting for the sensor as well in the unit, the sticky patch sometimes degrades.

I actually bought new wipers for it last year I think it was. Used this site https://www.wiperblades.co.uk/ and put my reg in.

I'm a bit OCD with the keeping the glass clean. Winds me up no end when it's dirty.

However, I have applied over time Aquapel and Glaco Soft 99 to the windscreen. Obviously not at the same time In case you don't know what they are then think Rain-X type product (just better than Rain-X). Whether this makes a difference or not, I don't know?

As for sensor mount - if you mean the plastic thing on the inside that I thought was part of the rear view mirror unit, I don't know how secure that's supposed to be? Feels a bit wibbly-wobbly in mine.

Yes so I'm sure you bought the correct blades, but did you fit them the right way round? 22" on the drivers and 20" on the passenger? If the wrong way round it might not wipe the rain sensor.

Rain repellent products do affect auto wipers, because the rain beads more it looks different to the rain sensor and can deceive it. Sometimes the wipers smear the rain instead of clearing it completely, it also makes the rain form larger blobs - all of this can fool the rain sensor into thinking the rain is heavier or lighter than it really is.

Yes the sensor casing can be a bit wobbly, possibly also causing issues if the IR rain sensor has also dislodged.