thehedge

jefman -- that has been my exact scenario. I'm just of the mindset that if I put them on low, they should stay there. If I wanted them on auto-rain-sense mode, I would have selected that.

btw. where are the rain sensors on the windshield. How do they actually work?

The G Man

It is on low when you put it on low, its just that its speed sensitive. Meaning the faster you go, the less intermittent the wiper become. The rain sensor is located in the rear view mirror assembly. It works by sending a infrared beam thru the windshield, water droplets on the windshield will reflect the beam back, thats how it sense rain.

jefman

IIRC, the sensor is the small black hump on top, in the middle of the dashboard.

BTW, that post was back in '05 right when I got the car. My '08 seems to function much better and if it doesn't I wipe the hump with a micro-fiber cloth. (hope I'm wiping the right hump).

I did find it a nuisance to have to hit the switch again at a stoplight. I think the best solution is to have the ability to turn on /off rain sensor yet still have intermittent wipe work for both settings.

Maybe they can update your ’05 software – my ’08 seems better.

thehedge

G Man,

Perhaps my description wasn't clear. On the A6, (as all know), there are four settings for the wipers

1. High
2. Low
3. Intermittent (or Rain Sensing) with its own high-low setting
4. Off

In my previous posts, when I mentioned putting the wipers in the low setting, I was referring to #2 above. The manual clearly states and I have seen it happen one too many times, that if I have it in setting #2 and stop the car at a stoplight or in a traffic jam, the wipers automatically switch to the next lower setting, in this case #3. The wiper stalk is still in position #2 but the wipers behave as if it is now in setting #3. Once you begin to move again, it reverts to the higher setting.

The G Man

My old Lexus use to do the same and the sensor on that car is even less relaible. I have the same issue as you, I usually just turn it to high back to low when starting from stop.

BTW, the sensor in the middle of the dash is the solar sensor, the rain sensor is in the rear view mirror.

jazznuts699

i wish i could go back to my 00 a6 with the simple wiper settings without the sensors... my wipers go crazy with just a little rain -- very annoying

jefman

Yup, you are right about the location of the sensor

pierreb

they do? you know, there's an adjustment in vag-com...maybe the dealer can adjust it for you. I believe it's based on the thickness of the windshield or something...

jazznuts699

hey peirreb you have any more info on that vag-com setting? i was at the dealer the other day and asked if they can recode keys and such. was told they dont know how and dont have the coding

schalliol

I'll just add my 2¢ that my '05 wipers seem to work very well on the rain sensitive setting. I love it. I usually keep it one notch above the bottom in the stalk and it works well. So, perhaps some tweaking is in order. Understanding how the sensor works, I do find in very light rain I might have to give it a manual wipe every now and then if the sensor isn't getting much, but it doesn't seem bothersome to me.