Wiper control speed issues URGENT SAFETY

[My_Blue_Bronco]

My 22 Badlands did not do this but my 23 Wildtrak I traded for definitely does. Had a lot of hard rain yesterday and I had to spend quite a bit of attention to getting the wipers going again. Maybe we should all file an NHSTA report to get Ford moving on this? It’s quite dangerous.

We have a 2022 Badlands that does have the issue, it was made in November 2022.
It seems like the earlier Broncos do not have it too often, as judging by my asking a few people with Broncos that I happened to meet.

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[KustomKarl]

Mine has had this issue since day 1 (21 Badlands). I've now been to 2 dealerships with no results, they find the "smart wiper" bulletin and say everything is working fine. I've submitted a complaint to NHTSA, I believe there are only 6 complaints logged there, others with this issue need to submit something if we have any chance of getting help from NHTSA to pressure @Ford Motor Company to create a resolution.
From a regulations standpoint, the 'limp mode" wiping at approximately 4sec intervals (15 cycles per minute) does not meet the mandated requirements of FMVSS 104 section S4.1.1.3 (20 cycles per minute) and thus means the vehicle should deemed non compliant for on road use until corrected.
@Ford Motor Company please help those of us with this issue.

 

[KIILew]

Just FYI there is an SSM 50692 that published April 13th.


2021-2022 Bronco vehicles are equipped with a smart windshield wiper motor, which has the capability of sensing load of the wiper blades coming across the windshield glass. As a result of this operational characteristic/design, the operation may not be what is expected in certain conditions. The vehicle is programmed with protection features to prevent damage to the wiper motor in case of overheating, operation with dry windshields, or obstructions to the wiper blade (snow, ice, etc.). In such conditions, the wiper motor will temporarily reduce its speed and/or reduce area of cleaning until the condition is no longer present.

Can't believe this is still an issue with these Broncos. My 2021 Badlands (manufactured 12/2021) has this peculiar wiper function. It seemingly won't maintain the constant pace desired in any non-interval switch setting beyond several minutes. After time, I pretty much concluded on my own that this operation was intentionally designed in to the system. And now reading through this thread and finding the above post, I see I was correct. On occasional visits to rainy Western Washington it gave me fits. In the eastern part of the state, where it rains less and where I spend most of my time, I didn't think much about it. But last night, I got reacquainted with it in a bad way. The problem is that the wipers don't recover the necessary speed as the rain conditions re-intensify. I hope Ford gets this fixed as this truly is unacceptable.

 

[ScottyC]

Update: I took it to my local dealership for a look into this issue. When I got out of work, I stopped in and they took me to the service bay where my Bronco was running with the wipers going and a water stand jig with a shower head spraying water onto the windshield...wipers were going, going, going....the service writer said it has been like that for an hour (the shower head jig was like driving in a monsoon) so, I picked it up and went out last night for dinner, in the rain...guess what...still does it. Luckily, I woke up this morning and it was still raining hard enough that you would want your wipers on (not intermittent). I stopped down at the dealership and took the service writer for a ride, and SHOWED him what it was doing. He agreed that there is an issue, so I am bringing it back on 1/17 for them to start "tearing into" the system further.

 

[KIILew]

Update: I took it to my local dealership for a look into this issue. When I got out of work, I stopped in and they took me to the service bay where my Bronco was running with the wipers going and a water stand jig with a shower head spraying water onto the windshield...wipers were going, going, going....the service writer said it has been like that for an hour (the shower head jig was like driving in a monsoon) so, I picked it up and went out last night for dinner, in the rain...guess what...still does it. Luckily, I woke up this morning and it was still raining hard enough that you would want your wipers on (not intermittent). I stopped down at the dealership and took the service writer for a ride, and SHOWED him what it was doing. He agreed that there is an issue, so I am bringing it back on 1/17 for them to start "tearing into" the system further.

Good luck with that; I will be hoping the best for you. However, it would seem that - until Ford recalibrates this "load sensing" system or replaces it with an optical rain sensor - "tearing into" the system might not be very successful on a dealership level.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Mine has had this issue since day 1 (21 Badlands). I've now been to 2 dealerships with no results, they find the "smart wiper" bulletin and say everything is working fine. I've submitted a complaint to NHTSA, I believe there are only 6 complaints logged there, others with this issue need to submit something if we have any chance of getting help from NHTSA to pressure @Ford Motor Company to create a resolution.
From a regulations standpoint, the 'limp mode" wiping at approximately 4sec intervals (15 cycles per minute) does not meet the mandated requirements of FMVSS 104 section S4.1.1.3 (20 cycles per minute) and thus means the vehicle should deemed non compliant for on road use until corrected.
@Ford Motor Company please help those of us with this issue.

Hello! Send us a private message with your VIN and the name and location of your local Ford dealer. I’d be happy to see what I can do to assist with this concern on your Bronco. Thanks!

 

[Paul Gagnon]

Hello! Send us a private message with your VIN and the name and location of your local Ford dealer. I’d be happy to see what I can do to assist with this concern on your Bronco. Thanks!

I'm sure you're just some marketing person but how about actually passing these concerns on to the engineers instead of continuously asking for someone to PM their VIN?

 

[ScottyC]

My Bronco is back at the dealership. They will check the mechanisms and I suggested they look at the Body Control Module via Forscan to check what value the wiper resistance is set at. The service writer looked at me funny and said "that's a good suggestion"

 

[BAronco]

I thought about putting it on an auxiliary switch for high speed. Not sure how it would work. When it rains hard it’s very dangerous @Ford

 

[TATRunner]

Just bought my 2023 Bronco Raptor a month ago. First time driving in a hard rain. Yup, same exact thing. Bouncing between the high and low speed setting just to keep it out of the intermittent speeds. Unreal. Will also deal with my dealer, though it seems a waste if 1) they don't acknowledge, and b) can't fix it anyway.

 

[ScottyC]

So, the dealer has it again, they checked the wiper transmission to see if there was any binding (none) and ordered a new wiper motor. We'll see if that cures it.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Just bought my 2023 Bronco Raptor a month ago. First time driving in a hard rain. Yup, same exact thing. Bouncing between the high and low speed setting just to keep it out of the intermittent speeds. Unreal. Will also deal with my dealer, though it seems a waste if 1) they don't acknowledge, and b) can't fix it anyway.

Good afternoon. Would you send over a private message with your VIN and dealer info so I can look into this concern on my end? Thanks!

 

[AZSky]

I'm sure you're just some marketing person but how about actually passing these concerns on to the engineers instead of continuously asking for someone to PM their VIN?

To give an appearance of action.

 

[JonDW29]

I think the last major rain storm I was in, was a few days after I bought it... Could be scary though. I'll need to test this out once it's warm enough to turn the hose back on.

 

[HoosierMan]

I noticed this issue with my 2023 Basequatch. Will be having the Dealer look at it when I get a chance.

Do not understand why a problem like this would crop up. Smart Wiper Motor? Stick with what works on your other vehicles!!!

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