Automatic windscreen wipers and winter weather

[DaveBerlin]

Squierrel, OK this is what I meant by the Maintenance Mode. But when you lift off the wipers do not forget to return them to the operating position before the Crunch with the Bonnet happens.
bigk, we had our 14 QQ mirrors modified by our Nissan Dealer to enable them to stay permanently open in the winter because of the icing problem and motor damage - Dave

[rod9669]

anybody else have problems with the wipers not wiping when there's misty rain? every other car I have had has an intermittent mode as well as auto - qq doesn't seem to do this

[gvmdaddy]

Dont have any problem with mine at all. If its misty rain or clingy fog then you can just use the flick wipe as and when required, or the auto wipe and adjust the sensativity. There really is no need for an additional intermittent setting. With regards to turning the auto wiper setting off over winter, again there is no need to do this. Why not just turn the wipers to 'off' as soon as you get into the car, clear the screen as you are required to by law, then put the wipers back on auto as you drive off. Stick to this routine in freezing conditions and you will not damage either your wiper blades or wiper motor.

[sporttourer]

With most cars you can lift the Wipers clear of the Screen but in the QQ - Not !. Our 's is a LH Drive and definitely you cannot lift the Drivers Side Wiper clear without contacting the Bonnet and chipping the paint. OK you can go through the maintenance mod and lift them clear but who in the early morning wants to do this when they are half asleep
Safest way is set them out of "Auto" as mentioned, stick the screen heater "ON" and within minutes you are away. You are absolutely correct that you can ripe the rubbers off as here we do tend to get minus temps, just checked ours at -2*C and they were stuck. As a tip which I have posted, I stuck a small rubber buffer on the Wiper Arm where it can touch the Bonnet to prevent chipping - it works Dave

I meant just pull the wipers away from the screen briefly to free them from any ice before starting the engine. I know you need to go in the maintenance mode to pull them away fully.

[DaveBerlin]

gymdadday, absolutely correct, but it is a habit you have to get into your mind (sometimes difficult when old I still forget) and then the missus or the kids want to use it and they forget - Dave
For me and we get our fair share of minus temps, frost, ice, snow etc - it is Wipers OFF / Screen Heater ON and wait a few minutes - Job Done !

[Deleted User 1571]

I seldom leave the wipers in auto. Nevertheless I can't help comparing the system with that of my old Audi Q7. This had a superbly designed system but, at the end of the day the Nissan does the same job just as well. Except for the way it parks. Every time the wipers parked on the Audi it left the rubber lying on an alternate side. It did this by pulling the blade very slightly up the screen, only half an inch, every other time it parked. Also when it was cold, maybe under 3 degrees, parked wipers would be automatically raised off the glass to prevent them sticking to the glass.