Seat Leon Rain Sensor Operation

[Col]

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere on the forum, if it has I haven't found it yet.

Pretty sure I understand how the wiper controls function, however the sensor works OK'ish with light rain but is ineffective in heavy rain despite being on the most sensitive setting (switch to the right), I had to set manual operation to see clearly.

I've read the blurb in the manual everything looks fine i.e. glass is clean, wipers OK in fact everything looks like brand new.

So am I expecting too much from the sensor? My son has an identical Leon and his seems to work OK, so could mine be faulty?

Perhaps there is an experienced user out there who knows the answer ....

 

[scrich7]

Could be faulty, really difficult to say. I've had no issues whatsoever with mine as yet, I have mine one setting from the left and it operates just fine.

 

[Col]

Thanks for that.

Just got back from Seat service getting mixed messages from them, yours is reassuring, they're saying if it doesn't work effectively switch to manual operation, sounds a bit "wishy washy"

 

[scrich7]

Thanks for that.

Just got back from Seat service getting mixed messages from them, yours is reassuring, they're saying if it doesn't work effectively switch to manual operation, sounds a bit "wishy washy"

Just what you want to hear after paying £100 for the convenience pack so that you don't have to operate them manually!

 

[taran93]

Along with the 4 part switch on the stalk there is also an option in settings where you set the sensitivity further so maybe turn it to high and should work quicker

 

[Col]

Actually thought I'd seen something in the settings, so I'll double check.

Thank you!

 

[Col]

Just gone through all the options but can't find anything connected to it, may be my model doesn't have this option?

 

[terryt]

There is an option in the settings but that's just to switch auto wipers off, I think if you have it off the sensitivity adjuster on the stalk changes to the intermittent wipe frequency.

 

[Col]

Yes indeed adjuster is on the stalk and set to max i.e. most sensitive.

Guess its back to looking for problems or living with it.

Thanks for helping, I'll post if I find anything.

 

[Col]

Just been out in the rain, stalk switch on maximum sensitivity.

Driving at 30mph, no matter what the rain intensity i.e. drizzle, light, heavy etc. its impossible to drive safely, in the end I have to resort back to manual.

I've cleaned the whole windscreen which is now optically clear i.e. no smears or surface contamination and it made no difference.

Altering the sensitivity switch has some effect but generally makes it worse. All in all its as if the sensitivity is out by a factor of 10 the end result being its unusable.

Any suggestions welcome, but at the moment I'm considering returning the car.

 

[dieselface]

There maybe a VCDS adjustment to be made on this like the mpg read out on the dash.

Will require some looking through the coding though

 

[kingstonian]

it may well be the case of a broken or lose connector pin.
did you try clearing this with either compressed air or contact spray?

 

[Col]

Thanks for the suggestions, however I'm pretty sure I've identified the problem.

The sensor array looks like it has 7 detectors with possibly a light source at the very top. Comparing it to my sons car, identical to mine, I can see the sensor is only partially bonded to the inside of the screen i.e. only 2 detectors in view. This could mean that only 2/7ths of the rain monitoring is working which would account for the poor detection.

This problem could have been caused be a poor screen replacement, ingress of cleaning agent on the inside or just faulty workmanship. As the car is only 1 year old I'm taking it back under warranty and I will let you know what they find.