Rain-sensing wipers don't activate wipers often enough?

[Kirkaiya]

I've had my Telluride SX-P for about four weeks, and while I really love the vehicle, I think I might have an issue with the rain-sensing wipers. Maybe my rain sensor is defective?
Living in the Pacific NW, we get lots of light rain, drizzle, etc, and with the wipers on "Auto", and even at the highest frequency setting, they don't activate very often. In light rain, almost not at all, and I end up needing to manually bump the wipers knob up or down to clear the windshield. I haven't driven in very heavy rain yet - that's coming soon, I'm sure - so I'm not sure if it's just a sensitivity issue.

What's your experience? Do your wipers come on sufficiently often when on Auto? I'm wondering if it's just me, or if it's just the way the Telluride's sensor is. Thanks!

 

[jw_tx21]

I've had my Telluride SX-P for about four weeks, and while I really love the vehicle, I think I might have an issue with the rain-sensing wipers. Maybe my rain sensor is defective?
Living in the Pacific NW, we get lots of light rain, drizzle, etc, and with the wipers on "Auto", and even at the highest frequency setting, they don't activate very often. In light rain, almost not at all, and I end up needing to manually bump the wipers knob up or down to clear the windshield. I haven't driven in very heavy rain yet - that's coming soon, I'm sure - so I'm not sure if it's just a sensitivity issue.

What's your experience? Do your wipers come on sufficiently often when on Auto? I'm wondering if it's just me, or if it's just the way the Telluride's sensor is. Thanks!

No, they don't activate enough, unfortunately. But, they do auto adjust speed when raining hard, so that's good. My Mazda gets stuck sometimes when it's humid outside ... and keeps activating unnecessarily, so this Kia is the other end of the spectrum. Oh well.

 

[ucinn]

I have it on my Stinger and it works great. It hasn't rained here since we got the Telluride so don't know yet.

 

[G-358824]

No, they don't activate enough, unfortunately. But, they do auto adjust speed when raining hard, so that's good. My Mazda gets stuck sometimes when it's humid outside ... and keeps activating unnecessarily, so this Kia is the other end of the spectrum. Oh well.

I have had my Telluride SXP for two weeks and have experienced the same issues. It rained the day after I picked up the car from the dealer and noticed the wipers on auto would not sense the drizzle at all. Took it back to the dealer and they struggled to explain how to set the sensitivity. I have also noticed my auto wipers will activate in totally dry conditions when turning a corner. Anyone else experience the same issues?

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[G-342936]

I also own a Telluride SX-P. My auto setting doesn’t activate at all; however, the wipers randomly swipe one time when turning a corner too. This is clearly an issue that Kia needs to resolve.

 

[G-169934]

I also just purchased a Telluride SX-Prestige and my auto wiper setting will not work. They will wipe once when i choose the auto wiper setting; however, no matter how much rain is coming down, they will not activate.

 

[Tentek]

I am experiencing the same issue. The rain wipers do not work often enough. Sometimes it is so annoying, especially when the windshield becomes totally invisible. That is bad that Kia did not install one more step with manual interval-wiping option. Auto mode creates a trouble, and might be unsafe. Not sure, if a dealer is going to fix it. Because, technically the wipers work.

 

[mrad31]

What setting do you have the interval set at? If I pull down once on the wiper arm it activates Auto, and then you can increase sensitivity by using the interval switch on the wiper arm itself, this usually does it for me.

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[ucinn]

Ours is just the opposite. We have the sensitivity all the way down and they wipe too quickly. The auto wipers on the Stinger work wonderfully. You would think they would be the same, but they aren't.

 

[WhiteSX]

Kia has issued a TSB for this issue. TSB 189 201910 - Rain Sensor - Inspection and/or Replacement

 

[bogie]

Kia has issued a TSB for this issue. TSB 189 201910 - Rain Sensor - Inspection and/or Replacement

The TSB if for a very narrow build date window - June 24, 2019 through July 17, 2019

Personally, my wipers in auto mode seem to work OK (Aug 23 build).

The TSB indicates something different than the owner's manual - in the testing procedure, TSB says to set "switch (B) setting also in the “AUTO” position." where the owner's manual indicates the rotating switch in the center of the stalk is the speed control. So a bit confused here... does setting 'switch B' to 'Auto' require it to be in the position shown (i.e. arrow pointing to the word 'Auto' to the left) or should 'B' be pushed all the way up to the word 'Auto' at the top... or is it really the speed setting when the wiper function is set to 'Auto' in the gauge cluster...

Rain Module and Sensor Inspection – Testing:
1. Turn the engine ‘ON’ and set the front wiper function to “AUTO” mode in the instrument cluster (A). Set the wiper switch (B) setting also in the “AUTO” position.

 

[ucinn]

In the non SXP switch B sets the speed of the intermittant wipers. In the SXP that adjusts how much rain is allowed on the windshield before it swipes.. the higher up is less rain and the lower is more rain. On ours I have it all the way down and it still swipes too often IMO.. in my Stinger I have it at the midway point and it's perfect.

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[BabyRide]

Ours is just the opposite. We have the sensitivity all the way down and they wipe too quickly. The auto wipers on the Stinger work wonderfully. You would think they would be the same, but they aren't.

This has been my experience as well. The wipers swipe way to much vs the amount of rain coming down.

 

[Husker Soze]

The TSB if for a very narrow build date window - June 24, 2019 through July 17, 2019

Personally, my wipers in auto mode seem to work OK (Aug 23 build).

The TSB indicates something different than the owner's manual - in the testing procedure, TSB says to set "switch (B) setting also in the “AUTO” position." where the owner's manual indicates the rotating switch in the center of the stalk is the speed control. So a bit confused here... does setting 'switch B' to 'Auto' require it to be in the position shown (i.e. arrow pointing to the word 'Auto' to the left) or should 'B' be pushed all the way up to the word 'Auto' at the top... or is it really the speed setting when the wiper function is set to 'Auto' in the gauge cluster...

Rain Module and Sensor Inspection – Testing:
1. Turn the engine ‘ON’ and set the front wiper function to “AUTO” mode in the instrument cluster (A). Set the wiper switch (B) setting also in the “AUTO” position.
View attachment 5504

I think that they defined the "AUTO" on figure "B" setting as the "intermittent" setting on all other cars.

My Rain Sensing wipers work on any setting of the speed control in figure "B", as long as the it's enabled in figure "A"

 

[blitt]

Rain sensing wipers........the only thing I can say is: just like all of the previous vehicles that I have owned with this feature........set the sensitivy to highest, and....if it is "down pouring horrendous rain"...move the the control to full manual ! No difference from all that I have owned previously!

 

[AustereSpoon]

Does only the SX(p?) have auto wipers? I dont think any lower trim levels have it do they? I wish my EX did.

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[blitt]

Does only the SX(p?) have auto wipers? I dont think any lower trim levels have it do they? I wish my EX did.

I don't know the answer but I suspect that it is an SX or SX P option. Somebody else may know for sure......

 

[Mickey]

The Prestige option for the SX includes it.

 

[Tellthemride]

Agreed. Compared to my previous Audi with auto sensing wipers, it is not as sensitive to light rain conditions (mist/drizzle). My windshield can be completely obstructed with rain droplets and the wipers still wont move, even on the highest sensitivity setting. Sometimes I toggle back and forth to low then high sensitivity and it will wipe in extra fast mode even though the windshield is already cleared by then. Conversely, it will go off randomly with one wipe when the windshield is dry, which the Audi wipers were also guilty of as well.

 

[blitt]

So far....no issues....I leave it on the highest sensitivity and it does its thing to the same degree that previous vehicles have done. That being said.....it's all based on "programing" and I THINK the programing in this vehicle is a bit more simple than some previous vehicles I have had. By that I mean that I have noticed that if it detects more rain, rather than alter the timing from less frequent to more frequent it tends to simply shift to the "low on" position......and in heavy rain, I simply take over and move the lever to "full speed". ......and I had to do pretty much the same with the Ford Explorer that I traded in. Auto wipe is helpful and will USUALLY work....but human takeover and control is still the best guarantee with truly nasty weather!