Wiper speed issue

[Pugwash]

I’ll take a look tomorrow but I’ll be staggered if that is a button. It doesn’t look like one in the video either and nothing happens when the chap presses it, with a response only when the stalk is moved or slightly earlier with the steering wheel controls.

As before though, I’ll save any conclusion until I try it for myself!

If that is a button, that is surely the least intuitive approach and simply having it set to auto should normally suffice for the rest of the driving population!

At 6.48 in that video you can clearly see a switch on the end of the stalk which appears to show intermittent or not. He doesn’t mention that. The Emira doesn’t have that. Without a car and with only the manual I am looking for a button / switch that does that. Is there any chance it’s a haptic button like the ones on the steering wheel? So you touch and hold?

 

[Pugwash]

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to have a button to activate the auto wipers. As with most (all?) recent cars with auto wipers, you just click the stalk to the AUT position.

Ah yes, but the base model doesn’t have rain sensing wipers. Its Auto is simply Intermittent.

 

[Johnson]

Ah yes, but the base model doesn’t have rain sensing wipers. Its Auto is simply Intermittent.

I’m guessing in that case the AUT text is replaced with INT (as per any other car without auto wipers).

I‘m still befuddled by that auto “button”. Why??

 

[912Matt]

F*ck me, if the windscreen wipers are this complicated, am I going to need to go on a course to work the seats?

 

[Kimmax]

I looked and pressed at the stalk from every possible angle now, if there is indeed some kind of button hidden on there I'm flying to England and ask the engineer if his toilet flush is operated by a hidden button beneath the seat...

 

[Eagle7]

I looked and pressed at the stalk from every possible angle now, if there is indeed some kind of button hidden on there I'm flying to England and ask the engineer if his toilet flush is operated by a hidden button beneath the seat...

Did you look at the video that @Johnson posted? At the 8:30+ mark it shows that you press the symbol itself on the stalk.

 

[Porter]

Did you look at the video that @Johnson posted? At the 8:30+ mark it shows that you press the symbol itself on the stalk.

There's no way this is true. That's not a capacitive touch surface.

Based on the illustrations in the manual, it appears that the user is intended to push the stalk forward toward the dash. It's illustrated as the reverse of the motion used to engage the windshield washer spray.

You know, there's a possibility here that they simply got a bad (or incorrect) batch of wiper stalks.

 

[virtualmacho]

I looked and pressed at the stalk from every possible angle now, if there is indeed some kind of button hidden on there I'm flying to England and ask the engineer if his toilet flush is operated by a hidden button beneath the seat...

He/she might tell you how to use the three seashells...

 

[Porter]

At 6.48 in that video you can clearly see a switch on the end of the stalk which appears to show intermittent or not. He doesn’t mention that. The Emira doesn’t have that. Without a car and with only the manual I am looking for a button / switch that does that. Is there any chance it’s a haptic button like the ones on the steering wheel? So you touch and hold?

The stalk end control on that vehicle is for the rear wiper, I believe.

 

[virtualmacho]

There's no way this is true. That's not a capacitive touch surface.

I don't have a car to verify this, but could that "surface" house an actual microswitch that you can press / squeeze? Something like a button on your computer mouse.

 

[Mh59]

The stalk end control on that vehicle is for the rear wiper, I believe.

There is no rear wiper. Not on UK vehicles anyway.

I would be surprised it overseas vehicles have one too as the place a wiper would normally be has a void under the glass so there is no place to mount it. It would have to be mounted from the top which wouldn't do drag any favours.

 

[Mh59]

There's no way this is true. That's not a capacitive touch surface.

Based on the illustrations in the manual, it appears that the user is intended to push the stalk forward toward the dash. It's illustrated as the reverse of the motion used to engage the windshield washer spray.

You know, there's a possibility here that they simply got a bad (or incorrect) batch of wiper stalks.

I have checked again just now. That is not a button and has no response when pushing it forward (it does move slightly forward, with a spring back which suggests it might have been designed for a purpose in this or other vehicles. The same as the opposite stalk for the full beam flash).

It isn't a touch control or anything else. It is solid plastic. Nothing appears on the display when it is pressed, swiped, pulled etc.

I have again experienced the loss of fast wiping while doing some testing this morning in auto mode.

I think we can safely conclude that the wipers dont do what you would expect them to in allowing manual intervention if in auto mode, ie using full speed in the event you need it. In addition, the manual(s) are seemingly wrong, suggesting display icons appear that are not mentioned anywhere else in the manual including the section on the various display icons.

Over to Lotus to resolve I guess. I have mentioned to my dealer and will do so again if no news. I understand the Lotus central software team are onsite today so assume my snagging list will be shared. The more people report the issue the more likely it will be resolved for future purchasers (and us).

 

[Tonygcar]

It’s probably designed by a graduate who just left university and has changed the concept of how wipers works

 

[Kimmax]

It’s probably designed by a graduate who just left university and has changed the concept of how wipers works

At this point with the absence of any update whatsoever, I'd guess said graduate was instead in an internship and left with the signing keys on his laptop and is now abroad in Australia, impeding Lotus from making updates available ever again

 

[robrmon]

After catching up on this thread, I feel I need another coffee…

 

[ott]

I'm quite sure that mine was stuck in "Intermittent Wiping" mode, not lower continious speed. Not 100% sure if it still responded to interval adjustment, as it was raining a lot and I turned the adjustment wheel to minimum interval.

 

[Porter]

There is no rear wiper. Not on UK vehicles anyway.

I would be surprised it overseas vehicles have one too as the place a wiper would normally be has a void under the glass so there is no place to mount it. It would have to be mounted from the top which wouldn't do drag any favours.

The vehicle in the video is a Lynk & Co 01 and it absolutely does have a rear wiper.

 

[Mh59]

The vehicle in the video is a Lynk & Co 01 and it absolutely does have a rear wiper.

View attachment 21887

My 1991 Vauxhall Cavalier had a rear wiper too. And our Nissan X-Trail.

I was talking strictly in the sense of the Lotus Emira parked outside my house and what appears limited functionality of the wipers, as others have also reported.

I'll feed back if any developments from Lotus but again, if any other owners have this issue, please report it to Lotus CC so they can take action accordingly.

 

[Nova]

I noticed there's hidden text on page 124 of the user's manual, unmasked and...

 

[Porter]

My 1991 Vauxhall Cavalier had a rear wiper too. And our Nissan X-Trail.

I was talking strictly in the sense of the Lotus Emira parked outside my house and what appears limited functionality of the wipers, as others have also reported.

I'll feed back if any developments from Lotus but again, if any other owners have this issue, please report it to Lotus CC so they can take action accordingly.

I feel like we're communicating through some kind of reality distortion mechanism.

Let's summarize the current state of this thread, so we can try to be on the same page:

• This thread was about the wiper Auto feature issue, which is relatively well documented as a real problem and prevents the use of On/High operation in heavy rain after the Auto Rain Sensor has been active.
• Back-and-forth on the issue led to @hml_xy confirming that he experiences the problem, and he contextualized it for troubleshooting purposes in terms of Expectation vs Result.
• You made a very good post describing your experience with the issue on your own car, and the steps you took to try to reproduce the issue and test the Rain Sensing feature.
• Several people brought up the Owner's Hanual and noticed that there is explicit instruction there regarding a control that could manually engage or disengage the Rain Sensor feature. @duff revisited their own vehicle to investigate.
• I provided screenshots of the relevant pages of the Owner's Handbook that refer to the wiper controls, and noted my own (possibly flawed) interpretation of the written guidance.
• @Johnson linked a video describing the use of the SAME DESIGN wiper stalk system and AUT auto rain sensor wiper control mechanism on a Lynk & Co 01, a Geely vehicle which is widely understood to be the source of much of the electronics and switchgear used in the Lotus Emira.
• @Pugwash pointed out the wiper stalk end button controls shown in that video, and wondered if those buttons were the relevant controls that seem to be "missing" on the Emira compared to the Owner's Handbook guidance.
• I responded to Pugwash explaining that the wiper end stalk button controls shown in the video were for the rear wiper, a feature that is specific to that vehicle, a Lynk & Co 01. My post was simply intended to clarify the L&C 01 endcap button function so that we could return to an investigation of the controls that do exist on the Emira.
• You responded to my post by stating that the Lotus Emira doesn't have a rear wiper. This response was likely well-intended, but indicated a lack of context regarding some of the previous posts.
• I clarified that my prior post was referring to the vehicle shown in the video, which is not an Emira.
• This exchange seemed to frustrate you, and you referenced two other vehicles with rear wipers that are not in any way relevant to the topic at hand.

It was just a contextual misunderstanding, it happens. Can we move on?


This thread has excellent info in it! Let's keep assembling specific owner investigation reports.

If anyone has experienced any variation in behavior compared to what has been described, or has been able to get the system to operate at max speed after any period of time in AUT mode, please let us know.