Car: 2005 Mazda 3S

My automatic wipers turn by themselves even when the windshield is sparkling clean, no rain, not even a cloud on the sky!
I happens once a week or so. The dealer says that since it's not reproducible they cannot do anything with this.
We try to keep the wipers off almost all the time but anyway from time to time we simply forget about it.
After three years, the windshield is scratched and looks like one from a seven - eight years old car.
Anyone has the same problem?
Anyone knows how to fix the issue / prove the dealer that there problem?

Thanks in advance,
Greg.

 

do you have rain sensing wipers?

 

Well if he has auto wipers in a '05 model (assuming he's in the US) then he must have a sp23. Have you tried making sure there isn't any haze or anything directly over the sensor? That's the only part of the windshield that matters.

 

Yes. These are rain sensing wipers, and yes it's sp 2.3.
The problem with the wipers are from almost day one. They kick in very, very randomly. I wish I could reproduce it at the dealership, but I cannot. The probability of them working is like once a week, so even if I leave the car at the dealer, they would have a little chance of detecting it. Who knows if this is simply a 'faulty' trigger or a mechanical problem (like running over some small bump on the road which closes some connections.)
Now I'm checking if anyone else has the same problem. If not then I'm probably screwed. If there are more people with the same problem there could be a bigger chance to have Mazda accept the problem and eventually replacing/fixing it (hopefuly with the windshield which is really not looking good now.)

Greg.

 

poping, hoping someone else has the same problem as me...

 

I read that with auto-wipers, dirt can make them go off. Like spots said, the sensor is what you have to look at. If the sensor gets blocked it will go off. You might have tried this, but have you tried to lower the sensitivity? I also read the post you had aboutyour air circulater switching settings. You might have an electrical problem.

 

I agree with the dirt on the sensor. I have a 2008 with the rain sensor and it states that anything placed over the sensor like tint for example, can cause it to function diffrently than normal. They even state that vibration or hitting the windshield can cause them to activate. I will take another look and try and scan in the section. Try and observe when they go off if you just hit a rough spot in the road or if a bug or dirt hit the windshield. It might be a combination of the environment that causes it.

 

'The bug' idea sounds logical.
Someone told me before that he had an electrical problem and the sensor was being triggered every time he run over a bump on the road. After finding the culprit in the electrical wiring, the problem disappeared.
I will have to take the car from my wife now to do some bumps-on-the-road and 'flying-objects' test.

Thanks for all the ideas.
Greg.