Rain Sensing Wipers

[kevinwang]

Has anyone ever replaced this before? Mine don't seem to work..

[rlx101]

did you try adjusting the sensitivity of the rain sensor? its in the manual.

Has anyone ever replaced this before? Mine don't seem to work..

[cduluk]

What exactly do you think needs replacement? Is the system totally not working?

First, the position of the windshield wiper stalk (on the right side of the steering column) needs to be in the right place. The up-most rest position is "OFF" meaning the auto system will not activate. The position below that turns the auto system to on- so when it senses rain, it will work. And there is a "rotation" position on this switch that adjusts sensitivity. But you're telling us the system isn't working at all, so i doubt this is your issue.

Has your windshield ever been replaced before? The sensor is located at the top behind the rear view mirror. Maybe it's been unplugged?

Has the system ever worked for you before and has now died? Are you the first owner?

And are you sure your car even has this function? I'm not sure if all ES300's have this function.

[kevinwang]

What exactly do you think needs replacement? Is the system totally not working?

First, the position of the windshield wiper stalk (on the right side of the steering column) needs to be in the right place. The up-most rest position is "OFF" meaning the auto system will not activate. The position below that turns the auto system to on- so when it senses rain, it will work. And there is a "rotation" position on this switch that adjusts sensitivity. But you're telling us the system isn't working at all, so i doubt this is your issue.

Has your windshield ever been replaced before? The sensor is located at the top behind the rear view mirror. Maybe it's been unplugged?

Has the system ever worked for you before and has now died? Are you the first owner?

And are you sure your car even has this function? I'm not sure if all ES300's have this function.

Yeah I have this function, it came with the HID package I believe. It used to work flawlessly but lately it does not respond. I have opened the sensor a little to see if it is plugged in and everything seems to be in place; no the windshield has never been replaced.

I've read somewhere that if you disconnect the plug that's connected to the sensor, you actually get intermittent wipers??

[Lexusfreak]

The previous owner of mine had the system replaced 3 times under warranty.....I guess 3rd time is a charm because it's worked flawlessly for the last 2 years.

[SW03ES]

Mine has always worked fine...

Is he glass in front of the sensor pitted or cracked?

[kevinwang]

Nope, nothing seems cracked or pitted. I called my mechanic he said it might be a fuse and he'll have to check it out tomorrow. So we'll see by then.

[SW03ES]

Could be...keep us posted...

[BALOO BELLE]

i REPLACED my windsheild and had massive problems. replacing the sensor is about 150$. if you can reach up and touch the sensor and your wipers turn on it is a connection issue. if it is not your fuse try removing the sensor and disconnecting the harness so it is not getting power and clean the sensor and gel pad with a smooth lint free cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol. dont soak it it is electrical... if it just stopped working prob the fuse i would think if no one had messed with it or hit it somehow.

to remove it you have to slide the pin out and i believe pull the casing in a downward or upward motion to unhook it. i cant remember which way now. be careful, dont force it. if you break the plastic clips in the casing you have to buy the complete set for $150. aslo if the plastic clips in the casing break the circuit will not complete cause of slack connection of the sensor and the gel pad... hints what the a**hole windshield peop did to mine.

PS you can get the sensor through toyota cheaper probably...i think avalons use them..

[kevinwang]

i REPLACED my windsheild and had massive problems. replacing the sensor is about 150$. if you can reach up and touch the sensor and your wipers turn on it is a connection issue. if it is not your fuse try removing the sensor and disconnecting the harness so it is not getting power and clean the sensor and gel pad with a smooth lint free cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol. dont soak it it is electrical... if it just stopped working prob the fuse i would think if no one had messed with it or hit it somehow.

to remove it you have to slide the pin out and i believe pull the casing in a downward or upward motion to unhook it. i cant remember which way now. be careful, dont force it. if you break the plastic clips in the casing you have to buy the complete set for $150. aslo if the plastic clips in the casing break the circuit will not complete cause of slack connection of the sensor and the gel pad... hints what the a**hole windshield peop did to mine.

PS you can get the sensor through toyota cheaper probably...i think avalons use them..

Just came back from the shop; technician told me it would cost about $200 to fix and he recommends that I leave it alone since my lo/high settings work fine.

As a matter of fact, if I touch the sensor during rain, it would turn on. I can't seem to remove the sensor completely as the bottom is somewhat stuck to my windshield. I disconnected the wire a couple of days ago and put it back in but now I can't remove the wire for some reason..

[BALOO BELLE]

yeah im anal so i had to fix it when i had my windsheild replaced and they broke the casing. it urks me when your wiper settings are to fast for the amount of rain and the make noise or skip. :P ill look at the broken sensor i saved and see if i can tell which way the casing clips on. there is a wire bracket that is mounted in on the windsheild it hooks into.

Im all about the bells and wistles..call me vain but i perfer princess

[BALOO BELLE]

THe sensor needs to be pushed up toward the roof. the metal hooks attached to the winsheild point up and the pin holds the bottom secure. I would take a pic for you buy both of my clips are broken but placement was the top so it has to incert downward

when i say connection issue its not the harness but internal on the sensor or the sensor to the pad. My sensor was recked along w the casing. It wouldnt work cause it was not flush with the gel pad. but when i pushed on it and it completed the circuit it ran nonstop cause the sensor was wacked. I can actually hear something rattling in the bad sensor :(

[kevinwang]

It's okay. Thanks for your help but while waiting for class, I took the liberty to remove the pin that connects to the sensor. I found out that there are 2 pin like things that hold the actual sensor to the casing. I removed it and the sensor popped right out. Now, I have the intermittent wipers that I looove so much more than the Auto Sensors..

If anyone wants intermittent on the 02 ES' lemme know, I'll take some pics

[BALOO BELLE]

w out the sensor it runs intermittant on auto setting?

[ricehead]

It's okay. Thanks for your help but while waiting for class, I took the liberty to remove the pin that connects to the sensor. I found out that there are 2 pin like things that hold the actual sensor to the casing. I removed it and the sensor popped right out. Now, I have the intermittent wipers that I looove so much more than the Auto Sensors..

If anyone wants intermittent on the 02 ES' lemme know, I'll take some pics

me me! please post some pics so I can see exactly how to do the intermittent (my sensor has the same problem as yours)

[kevinwang]

Okay so first you have to pull the pin off of the box. If the sensor is still stuck on the windshield try removing the long black plastic connecting to the box by moving it up/down. If you're successful, the sensor should dangle since it is still plugged in.

Next, turn the sensor around and as you can see in the picture; remove the 2 pin like things holding the sensor (shown in the red). You might have to use your nails to somewhat "dig" out. It shouldn't be very difficult.

Sorry I was using my phone's camera. If this isn't clear enough feel free to ask again. I'll use my camera when I get back to school. Hope this helps!

[kevinwang]

w out the sensor it runs intermittant on auto setting?

Yeppp! And the knobs on the side are the second intervals.

[kevinwang]

Oh and this is what the actual sensor looks like.

[mkla]

Thanks for posting the pics. I actually would like to keep the auto-sensor function, but I must have a bad connection since I have to push on it for it to work (once I push on it, it works until I shut the car off, then I have to do it again the next time I start up). The windshield has been replaced, so I'm assuming that's the issue. How do I make a better connection??

[kevinwang]

Well I read somewhere that you might have to touch it because the sensor "falls" asleep at times; and you might have to wake it up

[cduluk]

Touching the sensor tricks the computer into thinking there's water on the glass, because when you press the sensor you move the little "bubbles" in the film which simulate rain droplets.

[mkla]

So I have to touch the sensor every time I want the automatic sensing wipers to come on? That doesn't seem very "automatic" to me. I still think there must be something wrong with the connection, I'm just not sure how to fix it. There have been times where it's pouring rain and they don't start until I push on it....

[BALOO BELLE]

before you dig you sensor out there are invest in very small or glasses screwdrivers. there are two clips at the top and a clip and an arm bar at the bottom you have to apply pressure on all for it to release. if you scratch or chip the sensor your SOL and auto will run non stop. my sensor was chipped by the morons doing the replacement.....

windhsheild replaced - i didnt have problems until i replaced mine...twice cause they did it wrong. if functioned differetly each time. you can try replacing the gel pad with an $20 oem lexus one. im not sure if this will work but was recommended to me as aftermarket make it slower to function..which is kinda good cause they are soo sensative. also clean the unplugged sensor and gel pad w alcohol and a lint free cloth. if they didn clean or keep the original gel pad it will function differently.

[PJA41]

Well I read somewhere that you might have to touch it because the sensor "falls" asleep at times; and you might have to wake it up

I "snooped" at this post and thank you for the pictures! I finally know where the sensor is, what it looks like and how it works (my doesn't). I am going to unplug the thing today!

[varuscelli]

Okay so first you have to pull the pin off of the box. If the sensor is still stuck on the windshield try removing the long black plastic connecting to the box by moving it up/down. If you're successful, the sensor should dangle since it is still plugged in.

Next, turn the sensor around and as you can see in the picture; remove the 2 pin like things holding the sensor (shown in the red). You might have to use your nails to somewhat "dig" out. It shouldn't be very difficult.

Sorry I was using my phone's camera. If this isn't clear enough feel free to ask again. I'll use my camera when I get back to school. Hope this helps!

Old post, I know -- but I'm trying to deal with the same issue of not being very happy with the way the rains sensor behaves on my vehicle. I find it too distracting and would much rather have standard intermittent wipers for which I can set my own preferred wiper speed.

I've got an '05 ES330 and have been trying to disable the rain sensor and switch over to intermittent as kevinwang has shown.

I got the housing for the sensor detached from the windshield and tried merely disconnecting the main cable from the sensor.

When I disconnect the main cable, I get nothing as far as intermittent. I have low and high, but the dial for intermittent (or sensitivity) does nothing.

I'm not sure I quite understand what the difference would be from removing the sensor from the housing (as shown by kevinwang) and just disconnecting the cable.

Perhaps the way it is configured in the ES330 is different, but the sensor and housing seem the same as what kevinwang shows...still, when I follow the steps, I get no intermittent.

Just looking for suggestions. I can easily put it all back to standard rain sensor state, but would like to know if manual intermittent wipers can be achieved on the ES330.

Thanks! :)