Why Do Headlight Washers Go On W/ Windshield Spray?

[cduluk]

Hey guys. Anyone notice that when washing the windshield (pulling the stick on the steering column forward) that the headlight washers go off as well?

I know there's a separate switch JUST for the headlight washers, but for some reason whenever i put the windshield washer spray on, the headlight washer sprays too, but only the first time i pull the switch.

Anyone know if this setting can be adjusted? I just detailed my car the other day, and today i tried to wash JUST the windshield to get rid of some bug spatter, but as usual the headlight washers went off too and sprayed the entire front end which has now collected a bunch of pollen

I couldn't find anything in the list of dealer programmable options...

[pauljcl]

Hey guys. Anyone notice that when washing the windshield (pulling the stick on the steering column forward) that the headlight washers go off as well?

I know there's a separate switch JUST for the headlight washers, but for some reason whenever i put the windshield washer spray on, the headlight washer sprays too, but only the first time i pull the switch.

Anyone know if this setting can be adjusted? I just detailed my car the other day, and today i tried to wash JUST the windshield to get rid of some bug spatter, but as usual the headlight washers went off too and sprayed the entire front end which has now collected a bunch of pollen

I couldn't find anything in the list of dealer programmable options...

The simultaneous windshield and headlight washer operation is not the case for my 09RX350. Each operation is independent.

[chand3]

Hey guys. Anyone notice that when washing the windshield (pulling the stick on the steering column forward) that the headlight washers go off as well?

I know there's a separate switch JUST for the headlight washers, but for some reason whenever i put the windshield washer spray on, the headlight washer sprays too, but only the first time i pull the switch.

Anyone know if this setting can be adjusted? I just detailed my car the other day, and today i tried to wash JUST the windshield to get rid of some bug spatter, but as usual the headlight washers went off too and sprayed the entire front end which has now collected a bunch of pollen

I couldn't find anything in the list of dealer programmable options...

My understanding is that when the head lights are on, pulling of the stick for the windshield will also activate the headlight washers. I guess the thought here is if you're windshield is dirty, so is your headlights. Again this only applies when they're on, such as when they automatically turn on at night or when you manually turn them on. Try pulling the stick in the daytime when your headlights are not on, the headlight washers won't spray.

One solution may be if driving at night and you want only the windshield, manually turn off the headlights (not sure if this is possible on the left hand stick), spray windshield to your satisfaction, then turn back on headlights.

[cduluk]

Hey guys. Anyone notice that when washing the windshield (pulling the stick on the steering column forward) that the headlight washers go off as well?

I know there's a separate switch JUST for the headlight washers, but for some reason whenever i put the windshield washer spray on, the headlight washer sprays too, but only the first time i pull the switch.

Anyone know if this setting can be adjusted? I just detailed my car the other day, and today i tried to wash JUST the windshield to get rid of some bug spatter, but as usual the headlight washers went off too and sprayed the entire front end which has now collected a bunch of pollen

I couldn't find anything in the list of dealer programmable options...

My understanding is that when the head lights are on, pulling of the stick for the windshield will also activate the headlight washers. I guess the thought here is if you're windshield is dirty, so is your headlights. Again this only applies when they're on, such as when they automatically turn on at night or when you manually turn them on. Try pulling the stick in the daytime when your headlights are not on, the headlight washers won't spray.

One solution may be if driving at night and you want only the windshield, manually turn off the headlights (not sure if this is possible on the left hand stick), spray windshield to your satisfaction, then turn back on headlights.

good idea! But there's still gotta be another way to turn this off...

[1990LS400]

You might be able to "turn this off" by cutting a wire or two but the industry standard has long been for headlight washers to activate when the windshield washers are activated while headlights are on. I drove a Mercedes with this feature for 10 years and never found it to be a problem ... I thought it was a nice feature.

[cduluk]

You might be able to "turn this off" by cutting a wire or two but the industry standard has long been for headlight washers to activate when the windshield washers are activated while headlights are on. I drove a Mercedes with this feature for 10 years and never found it to be a problem ... I thought it was a nice feature.

It might be useful in the dead of winter when i have a layer of sand and salt on the car (maybe?) but in the summer all it does is ruin the hood

I tried chand3's idea of turning the headlights off, and it worked! The headlight washers did not spray. So i guess from now on i'll just have to make sure the headlights are off before i spray I usually leave my headlights on 24/7 so i guess that's why they've always gone off...

[RX400h]

I usually leave my headlights on 24/7 so i guess that's why they've always gone off...

...and that's probably why you have to buy a new battery every 6 months...... :cries:

Seriously, why would you feel as if your headlights should be on a sunny day? I could understand that philosophy if you were on a motorcycle, but a big SUV? - kinda overkill if you ask me.

[maseace]

I usually leave my headlights on 24/7 so i guess that's why they've always gone off...

...and that's probably why you have to buy a new battery every 6 months...... :cries:

Seriously, why would you feel as if your headlights should be on a sunny day? I could understand that philosophy if you were on a motorcycle, but a big SUV? - kinda overkill if you ask me.

Same reason DRLs are used - for safety. Other drivers can see you better with lights on - even on bright sunny days. But since the RX already has separate DRLs, there isn't much reason to use the headlights during the day unless one wants the taillights on too.

Leaving the headlights on while driving will not kill the battery, since it's being recharged while the ignition is on. On the hybrid system it's charged by the traction battery so the ICE may need to burn slightly longer, but still should not reduce the life of the 12V battery.

[cduluk]

I only keep them on because my lights look good. <_< I've got the philips ultinon HID lows and yellow fogs, they have a lot of flicker effect during "dusk". I'm prepared to replace the few "bulbs" on the car that might blow out prematurely so it's OK...

[RX400h]

Same reason DRLs are used - for safety. Other drivers can see you better with lights on - even on bright sunny days. But since the RX already has separate DRLs, there isn't much reason to use the headlights during the day unless one wants the taillights on too.

Leaving the headlights on while driving will not kill the battery, since it's being recharged while the ignition is on. On the hybrid system it's charged by the traction battery so the ICE may need to burn slightly longer, but still should not reduce the life of the 12V battery.

I was just kidding about the battery, since he did say that he leaves his lights on "24/7".

Personally, I think having lights on while driving on a bright, sunny day is NOT going to make you more visible unless you have 10 million lumen lights.

I plowed into a guy while I was riding my motorcycle (bright, sunny day) because he didn't see me and moved into an intersection, so I have my doubts about lights on a motorcycle on such days.

[RX400h]

I only keep them on because my lights look good. <_< I've got the philips ultinon HID lows and yellow fogs, they have a lot of flicker effect during "dusk". I'm prepared to replace the few "bulbs" on the car that might blow out prematurely so it's OK...

Oops, I forgot your age - that explains everything! :chairshot:

[cduluk]

I only keep them on because my lights look good. <_< I've got the philips ultinon HID lows and yellow fogs, they have a lot of flicker effect during "dusk". I'm prepared to replace the few "bulbs" on the car that might blow out prematurely so it's OK...

Oops, I forgot your age - that explains everything! :chairshot:

duh! lol...

[rx400h2007]

I HATE this feature too for the same reason as cduluk. It's funny how sometimes the simplest answer is right in under your nose, and you don't think about it because you have tunnel vision on a more technical solution!

I would like to point out one thing, cduluk...One of the things I like about the car is that it does everything for you. When it starts to rain, my wipers come on, when it get's hot/cold, my air conditioner takes care of it, and when it gets dark out, my lights come on! Take advantage of that feature...at least you will only have to remember to turn off your lights half the time to keep from wetting your front end. :P

Also, it is really hard to see the HID lights during the day because they mimic natural sun light. This is why the DRLs burn the high-beams at 80% power...makes them highly visible during the day. Although they are not the best looking, they do what they were DESIGNED to do.

Just sayin'...

[cduluk]

Good points, there are a lot of nice things about the car, but there are also a lot of inconvenient ones.

I have to disagree on the air conditioning system. I think what you're describing is the "AUTO" function. My first Lexus was an Rx300 which had the same feature as my Rx400h does. In the 5 years of driving with this system, i still can't get the "AUTO" feature to keep up with my needs. It either blows at MAX speed, or shuts off the "re-circulate" or changes which vents to blow from... it's a pain in my butt. Plus in the Rx400h to change the temperature you need to press the "up" or "down" button once, for every degree. So if you enter the car and it's set to 65, you've gotta hit it literally 20 times to get it up to 85! On the Rx300 you just rotated a little dial and you could move from one degree to the next VERY quickly. It might not seem like a big deal, but it's very time consuming.

It's also pretty annoying when you've gotta do it every morning (when it's FREEZING) and every afternoon (when the car's heated up from the sun) and again at night (when it's cold again)... In the frigid fall mornings of RI, i've gotta set it to MAX HOT with medium fan speed (i HATE fast speed, as it doesn't actually make the car hotter quicker, just blows the cold air faster and makes a ton of noise) then have to set it back down to 73 when i get in the car later on. I wish Lexus just made it simple like on any other car; one dial for temp (BLUE on one side for cold, and RED on the other for hot), one dial for vent position, and one for fan speed. The same is true for the volume control button on the steering wheel. On the radio itself it has a rotating dial which can quickly control the volume, but the steering wheel control is the same type of switch as the temp button; you've gotta hit either the "up" or "down" once, for ever integer of sound. So to go from "min" loudness to "average" loudness, you've gotta hit it about 30 times! 0 being low volume and 30 being average.

And for the DRL's, the only reason they use the HIGH BEAM bulbs at lower power for DRL is because 1.) at full power, even during the day, they're blinding! (try it and you'll see, even during the day the high beam lights are dangerously bright) and 2.) they're too cheap to come up with some creative technique like Audi or BMW using LED's or Halo's... Not that i like either (because i don't) but it would be creative...

But i will give credit to the automatic windshield wipers, and ESPECIALLY the back-up camera. Every weekday, 2 times a day, i've gotta parallel park at my college, and the rear camera is a NECESSITY for squeezing into tight spots. I don't know how people parallel park without it! It's nice to be able to SEE, visually, how much space you've got between your back bumper and the license plate of the car behind you. Without the camera, i'd have to move an inch, get out and check... move another inch, check, move again, so on and and so on. This feature saves me time and energy, exactly what what a car is supposed to do. <_<

Sorry if this sounds very anti-Lexus, because i love it! trust me. Just being picky...

[skyfish400h]

The reason the headlight sprayers come out when you wash is because the lights are on.

For me the lights are on when I first start up in the carport, but once I move out into the light, they go off. I just wait until the lights go off and then wash. Of course this doesn't work if its dark outside. In that case you will have to turn the lights off manually if your are that bent on not washing the headlights.

I think the AC works great on AUTO. For the first year I wanted to control everything manually, including the recirculate. But now I just leave it on AUTO, set the temp to a seasonal comfort level (75 summer, 79 winter) and let it do its thing. This saves on cabin filters too, since using fresh air all the time really loads them up quick.

And the rain sensing wipers are the best. When I drive a car without them now I end up squinting thru the raindrops wondering why I cant see ;)

[maseace]

And the rain sensing wipers are the best. When I drive a car without them now I end up squinting thru the raindrops wondering why I cant see ;)

My rain sensing wipers didn't work well in fine mist (didn't come one soon enough, even on the fastest setting), so I ended up disconnecting the rain sensor above the rear view mirror, which makes it revert back to regular intermittent operation. In regular rain they worked fine, but not for mist.

[cduluk]

Very true, the auto wipers don't work when it's misty. Other than that, they work GREAT though. It's not too much effort to just pull the lever the one or two times needed when they don't kick-in quickly enough.