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This is one of those "aha" sharing experience.
I had my windshield replace a few weeks ago with Audi factory glass by an independent glass company that my insurance company uses. The tech did a very nice job, took his time and it looks good as new from the factory.
When the first rain occurred I noted my rain sensor wipers were acting up in that the intermittent feature was sporadic or not working at all. I suspected it had something to do with the windshield replacement and had my dealer check it out when I was in for a replacement rear view mirror due to bubbling of the plastic housing (unrelated issue). There were no fault codes so they ruled out a bad sensor or wiring/connector problem. The tech removed the sensor housing in front of the mirror and lo and behold - there was NO gel pack present. Not even the old one which must have been stuck to the original windshield
I found it odd (and disappointing) that the glass installer would fail to order and install a new gel pack with the windshield since he handles glass replacement for several Audi dealers.
Moral of this story for those not familiar with gel packs, if you are having your windshield replaced, be sure the installer replaces the old gel pack with a new one. There must be one installed correctly or the rain sensor will not work properly, if at all, and they cannot be reused. Cost is nominal at around $20.
Its a small round piece of a gel material that goes on the windshield in front of the rain sensor. You can see the spot where the gel pack is located on the inside of the windshield from the outside on the top center of the glass. It's required for the rain sensor to operate. Something to do the diffusion of the rain pattern detection by the sensor.
Last edited by snagitseven; 06-02-2015 at 07:05 PM.
Its a small round piece of a gel material that goes on the windshield in front of the rain sensor. You can see the spot where the gel pack is located on the inside of the windshield from the outside on the top center of the glass. It's required for the rain sensor to operate. Something to do the diffusion of the rain pattern detection by the sensor.
Can the sensor be turned off?
Or is it automatic thing to detect rain?
06-02-2015, 05:17 PM
Windshield replacement and gel pack
