I have a 2009 XF.SC. I got hit by a rock that spread into a 12" crack after a few days and last week the windshield was replaced by Autoglass under my insurance. They installed an original Pilkington/Jaguar windshield, which was pretty spendy.

Today was the first day since the windshield replacement that it was raining and to my annoyance, I found that the sensor does not appear to be working. I confirmed this by using a hose when I got home and it doesn't react at all to a heavy shower. I read on forums for other manufacturers that there is sometimes a re-learning procedure after a windshield replacement. Does anyone know if this is the case with Jaguar's? Also the sensor has what looks like bubbles, which I don't recall being there on the old windshield. Can anyone confirm whether this looks like it is correct?

BTW before the replacement, the wipers would swish one time on startup. They don't do that anymore....

Thanks

- Tim

 

Wow, 252 views and not one comment. Apparently I am unusual....

 

For the good of the board, the fix was to use a sealing agent that Autoglass called 901. It is now working fine. Apparently when it was reinstalled the first time around the technician didn't use this bonding agent.

 

Good info, thanks. I'm pretty sure no response resulted from no solutions. This board is pretty responsive so likely you're the first to experience this issue.

On the "dry wipe" symptom, my '13 does two dry wipes whenever the wiper switch is set to auto and I start the car in a dark place like a garage, even if artificially lit. My dealer contacted Jaguar and I am assured this is "normal operation". Very odd that yours did this and has now stopped doing it and only one wipe rather than two.

I am currently driving a '15 Evoque using the same system and it doesn't do this either.

 

LOL..You stumped us! But thanks for posting the solution, we ALL now have been educated!

 

Since the "fix" it is now doing 2 wipes. Very strange!

 

For what it is worth I always have wipers on Auto and my 2011 XF never does dry wipes on start-up.

 

Thanks for posting this!!!!


I am dealing with the same thing and just put a similar post out.


I will ask them to use this bonding agent.

 

EASY FIX!!!!!! I had exactly the same problem with my 2011 XK that I bought a couple of months ago....stunning vehicle, only 22K miles...Caviar ext/Tan int and every option. LOVE IT!! Everything worked except the rain sensor and I looked at the picture of yours and mine had that same look....air bubbles. I took it to a glass company and they popped off the cover, pressed on the unit to improve the adhesion, sprayed some water on the windshield and it commenced to work perfectly!!!!! It still has a couple of small bubbles in it, but I drove it 50 miles home in light rain and it kept working. If it stops working, I will just repeat that process and if it continues to be flaky I will just take it back and have them reattach it with what they called new GEL.

HOPEFULLY THIS INFORMATION WILL SAVE FELLOW JAG ENTHUSIASTS SOME TIME, WORRY, AND MONEY.

 

I have the same issue with the same car. Dealership installed a new windscreen (wtf?) and forgot to fully flood the sensor. I have some Permatex Silicone RTV 75151 on my counter and will likely complete the job in the next day or two. Thx for the post, I was about to replace the sensor...but glad I researched the issue on the boards and saw your guidance. Thx!

 

I thought they had a clear silicone gasket that's sticky and you just stick the gasket to the sensor and then to the windscreen. Prob you can get a similar effect with some sort of liquid agent. But when I looked on an old Volvo years ago I couldn't get rid of the bubbles and it never worked properly. So I found the replacement gasket which was prob $5 and it was perfect.

 

Update - The Persmatex RTV 7515 worked just fine, but was like others mentioned. During my first attempt to place the sensor there were bubbles in the silicone - this was because I attempted to spread the silicone out evenly across the sensor before placing. I did this using a toothpick, which likely created little air pockets within the silicone. Upon noticing the bubbles by looking at the windscreen from outside the vehicle, I pulled the sensor back out and wiped off the silicone. My second attempt worked perfectly - rather than me spreading the silicone around, I used the silicone tube to apply a liberal amount to the sensor in rows across the sensor with the rows of silicone overlapping. When applied to the windscreen the air bubbles were gone. I think this was because the rows of silicone did not have air bubbles introduced into the silicone by me (i.e. incorrectly introducing air bubbles when swirling around with a toothpick on my first attempt). My second attempt had excess silicone coming out of the mounting brack but it was easy to wipe off without getting any silicone on the back of the sensor or chip.

As was mentioned, there are sheets of adhesive or gaskets, that might be used by trimming to the shape of the sensor. I was wary of this approach for fear the thickness of the sheet might not be enough or too much. After seeing how close my sensor was to the glass I think the sheet might be a good approach, but having had the dealership incorrectly apply silicone the first time and not being able to get an entirely clean surface on the glass or sensor, I choose to use the raw silicone to avoid bubbles that might happen from a sheet not having a perfectly clean surface (similar to imperfection on a cell phone screen when attaching screen protector). Yet again, this was just my fear without having any experience with the sheets. Others will likely be able to speak to how well a sheet or gasket might be with old silicone on the surfaces. Thx!

 

Interesting, thank you for the information and updates. I have had similar issues and have had the repairs done at the installers but I have just run into one with my windshield defrost only working on driver side. This gives me some ideas. Thank you again!