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Disabling Honda Rain-Sensing Wipers on Elite

3898 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  BigJosh, 
V
Hi all,
Hoping this wasn't discussed (couldn't find this specifically) before. I just realized that my 2019 Elite doesn't have intermittent wipers, but Honda's Rain-Sensing Wipers. The sensitivity settings are absolutely useless and always wipe much faster than I'm expecting. I was surprised there's no setting to turn these off and re-enable the intermitten settings. The only way I could find to disable this is to unplug the optical sensor which also disables the auto-high beams. Has anyone disconnected their optical sensor in their Passport? Wondering if this would also interfere with my auto-dimming rearview and side mirrors.

Link to a similar post for Rain-Sensing wipers in the Civic
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darksky
I found this on the downloaded version of the manual. I'm getting a 2022 Elite at the end of the month, so I was curious about this.

When you push the lever down to AUTO, the
windshield wipers sweep once, and go into
the automatic mode.
The wipers operate intermittently, at low
speed, or at high speed and stop in
accordance with the amount of rainfall the
rainfall sensor detects.
■ Auto sensitivity adjustment
When the wiper function is set to AUTO, you
can adjust the sensitivity of the rainfall sensor
(using the adjustment ring) so that wipers will
operate in accordance with your preference.
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V
I saw that in the manual as well. I usually like my windshield wipers on the lowest intermittent setting during most rain situations so even setting the auto wipers onto the lowest sensitivity setting is still way too fast. I was hoping there was a simple way to disable this. Since the weather is getting nicer, I might play around with disabling the opitcal sensor.

darksky said:
I found this on the downloaded version of the manual. I'm getting a 2022 Elite at the end of the month, so I was curious about this.

When you push the lever down to AUTO, the
windshield wipers sweep once, and go into
the automatic mode.
The wipers operate intermittently, at low
speed, or at high speed and stop in
accordance with the amount of rainfall the
rainfall sensor detects.
■ Auto sensitivity adjustment
When the wiper function is set to AUTO, you
can adjust the sensitivity of the rainfall sensor
(using the adjustment ring) so that wipers will
operate in accordance with your preference.
Click to expand...
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Moab Junky
I find much of the modern automation in these vehicles just laughable. No wonder we fall asleep at the wheel. We barely have to think and our cabin environment is close to perfect.
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steve.puzach
vwjeep said:
Hi all,
Hoping this wasn't discussed (couldn't find this specifically) before. I just realized that my 2019 Elite doesn't have intermittent wipers, but Honda's Rain-Sensing Wipers. The sensitivity settings are absolutely useless and always wipe much faster than I'm expecting. I was surprised there's no setting to turn these off and re-enable the intermitten settings. The only way I could find to disable this is to unplug the optical sensor which also disables the auto-high beams. Has anyone disconnected their optical sensor in their Passport? Wondering if this would also interfere with my auto-dimming rearview and side mirrors.

Link to a similar post for Rain-Sensing wipers in the Civic
Click to expand...
I have been trying to find a way to change the automatic rain sensing wipers to manual intermittent wipers for 4 years with no luck. I agree that the rain sensing sensitivity is useless. It is super annoying that a company like Honda does not allow the user to choose what speed to operate the windshield wipers. What they sell as a convenience and a safety feature is actually a safety detriment and big inconvenience, either causing the wipers to go slow in a steady rain or go super fast in the lightest of sprinkles.
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darksky
steve.puzach said:
I have been trying to find a way to change the automatic rain sensing wipers to manual intermittent wipers for 4 years with no luck. I agree that the rain sensing sensitivity is useless. It is super annoying that a company like Honda does not allow the user to choose what speed to operate the windshield wipers. What they sell as a convenience and a safety feature is actually a safety detriment and big inconvenience, either causing the wipers to go slow in a steady rain or go super fast in the lightest of sprinkles.
Click to expand...
AGREED! Moving from a 2019 Touring to a 2022 Elite the one "upgrade" I was not pleased to see was the rain-sensing wipers. I had them a few years ago on a Lexus RX350 and they were horrible. I've found already though the Honda system is better than the Lexus, but I still don't like it.
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V
They seem to work better when it's a moderate to heavy rain. Any light rain makes them swipe way too fast. After we get past this rain storm on the east coast, I'm going to take a peak at the optical rain sensor to see if disconnecting it has any other adverse effects. I'm still confused as to why there isn't a setting somehwere to disable these. Every other car I've had with rain-sensing wipers had the ability to turn them off.
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M
darksky said:
AGREED! Moving from a 2019 Touring to a 2022 Elite the one "upgrade" I was not pleased to see was the rain-sensing wipers. I had them a few years ago on a Lexus RX350 and they were horrible. I've found already though the Honda system is better than the Lexus, but I still don't like it.
Click to expand...
I had a Lexus ES 350 a few years ago with those same rain-sensing wipers, the biggest (and only) real flaw in that car, I understand the pain you had!
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B
my 15 F150 has rain-sensing wipers...that can be turned off via menu setting. They actually work pretty good tho.
Lots of menu controlled items...ACC, Auto high beams and more, all of which can be turned off very easily and very quickly,
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