2023 FORD BRONCO Visibilitywiper Problems

87 NHTSA complaints on file

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Visibilitywiper Issues in the 2023 FORD BRONCO

87 visibilitywiper complaints have been filed with NHTSA for the 2023 FORD BRONCO. Of these, 0 involved a crash, 0 involved a fire, and 0 resulted in injury.

87
Complaints
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths

All Visibilitywiper Complaints

#11714082 |
Parked my car overnight, I had the car for 3 days , I came out in the morning and the windshield was shattered, it looked like it burst or exploded outward from inside the car , there was no foul play involved, I checked my cameras etc. I have no idea what caused this but this is a potential safety issue especially if the car was in motion or being driven…
#11709525 |
Chronic water leak from roofline obstructing vision and causing confusion while underway
#11645870 |
Rear window defogger electrical connection broke off leaving a connector and wire hanging. this could cause an accident from running over someone or something, since you can't see out of a fogged up window.
#11644053 |
The windshield wipers switch to intermittent without warning. It happens when it is raining and the wipers are on fast or slow. This is distracting because visibility is impacted and you need to fumble with the wiper switch while struggling to see to in an effort to reset the wipers. The reset works for a short while and then goes back to intermittent. There was no crash. The issue is dangerous and annoying… but I do not drive the car often and just reached out to the dealer for a fix. The dealer denies the “customer satisfaction program” as I think that program for this issue expired in December 2024. This is dangerous and should be a recall without an expiration date.
#11605797 |
While 400 miles from home on vacation, driving in rain, the windshield wipers quit working. As rain picked up from a sprinkle to a more steady rain, I increased the wiper speed. After adjusting a time or two to match the rain coming down, the wipers stopped in the up position. When I change the speeds on the wiper control nothing happens, and it also will not spray washer fluid for the front windshield. The rear wiper and fluid spray work as expected. I checked the fuse identified in the manual, and it looks good. I even swapped the fuse with the rear wiper fuse, and the front ones still do not work. The two dealerships in the area are not able to do much, so I'm facing a 6.5 hour drive home with rain in the forecast and no working windshield wipers on a 1.5 year old vehicle.
#11564895 |
LED headlights on new 21+Ford Bronco do not have enough heat to melt snow or ice that builds up on the headlights while traveling. There are thousands of posts online from different drivers confirming this issue with winter weather. The headlights become clogged with snow and visibility at night is reduced to an unsafe amount. The headlights will have to be cleared manually, resulting in additional unsafe situations, and get filled back up again in under 10 min. This has not been inspected by the manufacture for my vehicle - but should be recalled and replaced with heated headlamps of some sort. The problem can be reproduced any time by anyone driving a Bronco in freezing rain or snow. I have attached photos of other Broncos with this exact issue.
#11564993 |
Windshield wiper speeds are extremely slow. and at times quit working.
#11559398 |
The windshield was faulty upon delivery of our new 2 door Ford Bronco. Every time it rains, water pours inside the vehicle through the gaps in the windshield sealant. The water flows through the passenger side A-pillar, and comes out of the airbags, as well as the defrost vents, then flowing down the side of the dashboard, and landing on the front passenger floorboard. The service department had to replace the entire front passenger side A-pillar during our most recent visit. The windshield is a major structural component of a vehicle, and our dealership service department confirmed that our faulty windshield puts our safety and the safety of our passengers in danger of experiencing serious injury when the windshield sealant completely fails. We have been to the dealership twice for the water intrusion caused by the faulty windshield. The Ford service department staff said Ford has previously issued a recall...
#11558502 |
While driving at multiple different speeds in the rain and snow, the wiper blades on the vehicle slow down on their own to an intermittent speed without driver input. This slowing of the wiper blades causes the driver to lose visibility while driving, creating a safety hazard on the road. This issue has occurred numerous times when the wiper blades are set to the highest speed. After about one minute, the wiper blades start to slow down and eventually reach a stop/start speed where the blades only wipe every 5-10 seconds. To remedy this, the driver has to turn the wiper blades off and turn them back on again to get the wiper blades going again at the higher rate of speed. However, this only lasts for a short period of time (about one minute) and then the wiper blades slow down again on their own. The driver has to...
#11557852 |
My 2023 Ford Bronco has these "Advanced" wipers that automatically stop wiping when they think the windshield is dry or think the wiper motor may be damaged. When driving in heavy rain and you put the wipers on High (or even Low), they automatically switch to Intermittent after about 1 minute. They actually stop wiping at a high speed and pause between wipes for several seconds. In order to keep the wipers going in heavy, blinding rain you have to keep switching the wipers from Low to High to keep them moving. This is a safety hazard since you honestly cannot see though the windshield during heavy rain. After reading the Manual it appears this is a "feature" of the new Ford Bronco. This is a major safety issue and Ford should be required to fix the wiper motor on these vehicles.
#11557907 |
Received Truck end of Dec 2022, immediately noticed that when it rains, the wipers at a certain speed have a glitch that suddenly stops and starts at a lower speed. I have video recording and took it to dealer. Dealer told me that it is a feature so the motor does not overheat. It made no sense because I could activate the higher speed and no problem with that one. First time it happened, was heavy rain at night while changing lanes and could have ended in an accident if there was more cars on the freeway. In short, dealer dismissed my concern even though I provided video of the issue.
#11543591 |
My 2023 Ford Bronco has these "Advanced" wipers that automatically stop wiping when they think the windshield is dry or think the wiper motor may be damaged. When driving in heavy rain and you put the wipers on High (or even Low), they automatically switch to Intermittent after about 1 minute. They actually stop wiping at a high speed and pause between wipes for several seconds. In order to keep the wipers going in heavy, blinding rain you have to keep switching the wipers from Low to High to keep them moving. This is a safety hazard since you honestly cannot see through the windshield during heavy rain. I have spoken to many Bronco owners and seen a thread on online message boards that everyone has the same issue. After reading the Manual it appears this is a "feature" of the new Ford Bronco. This is a significant safety issue...
#11530159 |
First time driving the vehicle in the rain at 55mph the wiper motor was turned on to high continuous during heavy down pour. After about 30 seconds the wipers just quit and started wiping on the lowest intermittent setting. Rain was hard enough I couldn’t see the road lines without the wipers and ran off the road. Had to greatly slow down 30mph to see clear enough to move forward while having other cars pass me and about cause another accident. I was able to find a spot to pull off the road and wait on the rain to stop. Called the dealer and they looked at it and said it was the rain sensing wipers and everything was working like it should. Broncos do not come with rain sensing wipers at all. Got a video of the issue and sent it to the dealer and they said same thing...
#11523107 |
My 2023 Ford Bronco has "Advanced" rain-sensing wipers that automatically stop wiping when they think the windshield is dry or think the wiper motor may be damaged. When driving in heavy rain with the wipers on High (or even Low), they automatically switch to Intermittent after about 1 minute. They actually stop wiping at a high speed and pause between wipes for several seconds. In order to keep the wipers going in heavy, blinding rain you have to keep switching the wipers from Low to High to keep them moving. This is a safety hazard since you honestly cannot see though the windshield during heavy rain. I have spoken to many Bronco owners and seen threads on online message boards that everyone has the same issue. After reading the Manual it appears this is a "feature" of the new Ford Bronco. This is a major safety issue and Ford should...
#11521757 |
Resistance sensing wiper motor does not operate as advertised. The motor is designed to automatically slow if the windshield is dry or obstructed in order to keep the motor from overheating. However, regardless of windshield condition or setting the wipers begin slowing to the lowest setting after approximately 45 seconds. This creates an extremely dangerous condition during moderate to heavy rain as it leaves the driver with extremely poor visibility during critical driving conditions. The only way to speed up the wipers is to again cycle the switch which results in another 45 seconds of high speed operation. Again, this creates a dangerous situation by requiring the driver to repeatedly remove hands from the wheel during heavy precipitation. If left un-corrected this malfunction will most certainly be causal in injurious or fatal accidents.
#11521773 |
I set my wipers to the speed that fits the weather conditions. However, after about 45 seconds the wipers automatically slow down. They are NOT rain sensing wipers. This is extremely dangerous during a heavy rain as they automatically slow down and you literally cannot see.
#11520994 |
I live in southern Wisconsin and the rainy season is upon us. While driving in mild to hard rain on 35 MPG and 70 MPG roadways I've had the wipers stop or randomly slow where I can't see vehicles ahead of me. I have tried to manually change the setting quickly to try and engage adequate mode and had it continue to malfunction. This has happened in at least 4 separate incidents. Am concerned I will not be able to safety navigate to the offramp or side of road to safely wait for the rain to pass and ok to drive again. Bare minimum the top 3 speeds of the wiper controls should stay on unless driver manually choses intermittant option for road mist or light rain conditions. This is an accident and death waiting to happen. I will be alerting my local dealership of the issue and would expect...
#11519950 |
When driving in heavy rain/sleet and you put the wipers on High (or even Low), they automatically switch to Intermittent after about 1 minute. They actually stop wiping at a high speed and pause between wipes for several seconds. In order to keep the wipers going you have to keep switching the wipers from Low to High to keep them moving. This is a safety hazard since you honestly cannot see though the windshield. This is a major safety issue, and makes driving in bad weather even more hazardous. Ford should be required to fix the wiper motor on these vehicles.
#11518729 |
Wipers go to an intermittent state while in the constant wipe positions. Both low and high speed.
#11518770 |
The intermittent wiper feature stops. Even when I turn the wiper control to “on low speed setting” (Not intermittent or rain sensing) the wipers stop after a short time then resume as it they are on an intermittent setting. This occurs in light rain, drizzle, and heavy downpours. I can get the wipers to resume if I turn the wiper control knob. Then in a minute or two they stop again.
#11518523 |
While driving in moderate rain and wipers set on constant low speed the wipers stopped running continuously and went to intermittent even though no changes were made to the wiper control. I moved the control to high speed constant and soon after they went to intermittent. I have not taken it in for service yet but have an appointment this week. This is very dangerous and is a hazard in rainy conditions. There were no warning lights or other indicators of a problem on the vehicle instrument panel or the Ford Pass app.
#11518073 |
Windshield wipers revert to 4 second intermittent delay after approximately 1 minute, regardless of the speed setting that was selected. E.G. Driving through heavy rain and sleet, the wipers were put onto the constant low setting. After approximately 1 minute (approximately 25 swipes), the wipers slow to a 4 second delay intermittent setting on their own, resulting in a completely obscured windshield for 4 seconds until the next wiper wipe. Changing the wiper knob to any other position resumes the newly selected position operation for another approximate minute, then reverts back to 4 second intermittent delay. With moderate or greater rain, or spray from nearby vehicles, the driver is forced to choose between operating the wiper control knob every minute, or having a completely obstructed windshield every 4 seconds. This problem has been present since the vehicle was purchased, and remains today.
#11517549 |
When driving in rain & snow (both heavy and light), the wipers slow down on their own while I was driving on the freeway from full wiping speed to intermittent wiping once every 5-7 seconds. I kept having to toggle from fast to slow to fast again just to see. It scared me so much the first time it happened. Thank goodness I have only experienced this weather during the daytime. The temperatures were near, or below freezing, which should've helped keep the motors cool. The windshield was not dry, at all. There was little to no debris or sleet build-up on the windshield or blades, impeding the blades. Other Bronco owners that have reported it to Ford were told "this is normal" per multiple online reviews. How can impeded vision due to erratic wiper blades be normal??!! There were no warning lamps or messages indicating why it is happening....
#11516693 |
While driving in a rain/sleet storm with my windshield wiper set to the normal (slow) speed, they suddenly stopped but then resumed in an intermittent fashion. They then continued to slow down making visibility nearly impossible. I could not see other roadway users nor signage. The only remedy at the time was to to toggle them off and back on again. I did this for nearly two hours, which was a considerable distraction. I have not used the vehicle in inclement weather since then and it has not been diagnosed by my dealer. The vehicle instrument panel made no warnings or messages while this happened.
#11516083 |
My 2023 Ford Bronco has these "Advanced" wipers that automatically stop wiping when they think the windshield is dry or think the wiper motor may be damaged. When driving in heavy rain and you put the wipers on High (or even Low), they automatically switch to Intermittent after about 1 minute. They actually stop wiping at a high speed and pause between wipes for several seconds. In order to keep the wipers going in heavy, blinding rain you have to keep switching the wipers from Low to High to keep them moving. This is a safety hazard since you honestly cannot see though the windshield during heavy rain. I have spoken to many Bronco owners and seen thread on online message boards that everyone has the same issue. After reading the Manual it appears this is a "feature" of the new Ford Bronco. This is a major safety issue and...
#11516096 |
Windshield wipers when set to full on, either slow or fast, will slow down on their own in moderate and heavy rain. This leads to poor visibility. The wipers sometimes stop all together. I constantly have to adjust the wiper control to another setting to get the wipers going at a usable speed.
#11515300 |
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Windshield wipers. Yes, it's available, but since it is environmentally dependent, it may be harder to capture. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Per Ford: "The vehicle is equipped with protection features to prevent damage to the wiper motor in case of overheating, usage on dry windshields or obstructions to the wiper blade due to snow or ice accumulation on the windshield. In such conditions, the wiper motor may restrict its speed, reduce area of cleaning or completely stop operation. System returns back to normal operation mode once conditions are resolved." The current "safety" measures put in place by Ford are actually causing a safety hazard when driving. When driving in rain so heavy that I couldn't see, in 37-degree weather, the wipers slowed down to once every 3-7...
#11514100 |
On many occasions, when we have excessive rain, the windshield wipers on the Bronco will go from the high speed settings to much lower speed. Ford says this is by design to prevent overheating of the windshield wiper motors. In my opinion, it poses a severe safety risk, as the windshield wipers you cant count on when you need them the most. As of now Ford isn't acknowledging it as a problem, and claims its normal... but normal or not its a problem. As a side note, I've owned about 20 diff vehicles of all makes, shapes and sizes... and never had one that I couldnt leave windshield wipers on high without the motors burning up. Ford needs to do something about this.
#11513844 |
The wipers will turn slow way down or turn off completely even though it is still raining very hard. You have to constantly turn them off and back on. We live in the Portland, Oregon area where it rains frequently!! This is becoming very problematic.
#11513855 |
While driving on the highway during a rainstorm I had my wipers set to the highest setting. After about 1 minute they began to slow down on their own until they were only working intermittently. I was unable to see as soon as the wipers began to slow down. I had to toggle the wiper switch in order to get the wipers back to the high setting. They once again began to slow after 1 minute and my visibility became next to nothing. It was very dangerous traveling down the highway at 70 mph and being unable to see, as well as having to continuously toggle the wiper switch while trying to focus on the road.
#11513595 |
Windshield wipers, on multiple settings will slow and then stop on their own. During many string rain events I have set the wipes to higher speeds to only have them slow down on their own or stop completely. This has been reported to Ford directly. At the time of operation the rain is heavy and once the wipers slow or stop it because very difficult to see and the person driving must react quickly to reengage the wipers. Continually having the wipers slow or stop and having to reengage them creates a very high risk of accident. Ford refuses to acknowledge the issue and instead indicates they are made this way to protect the wiper motor. I do not use my wipers when it is not raining, nor do I use higher speed on the wipers unless the rain is heavy. This is a reoccurring and ongoing issue every time...
#11513384 |
When I put the windshield wipers on standard speed, they will stay there for about 60 seconds and then drop down to a very slow intermittent speed. It happens in very hard rain so I don’t believe it is the rain sensor. If I turn it to fast speed and then back down to normal. It will continue again for 60 seconds and then drop back to intermittent speed.
#11513298 |
Wipers will not stay in continuous setting (low) for more than 20 seconds before slowing down to extra slow for another 20 seconds, then stopping continuous and becoming intermittent. Have to keep changing the wiper speed control manually to keep them going continuously. It appears that the factory windshield is extra high friction even when clean and since new, which may be causing the issue of wiper motor slowing itself down to protect itself.
#11512820 |
Windshield wiper blade action slows down or comes to a stop, no matter low speed high speed or intermittent. Driving at 55 mph at early morning darkness during a heavy rain the windshield wipers come to a complete stop. Oncoming traffic headlights glaring through the rain soaked windshield provided almost zero visibility. Quick action had me reaching for the wiper control to fiddle with it upon which the wipe motor started up again, no matter the position the blade continually stopped, unless I constantly flipped the wiper stalk from high to low to keep the blades functioning. I have a manual transmission, imagine trying to shift gears with one hand, flipping the wiper stalk with another all while maintaining control of the vehicle. This not only endangers me, but others on the road should I lose control and hit them head on! What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and...
#11511785 |
When wipers are used on higher settings during moderate rain it will maintain speed for a short period of time then automatically go to a very slow intermediate speed on its own. This caused zero visibility without warning. My understanding is they do this to protect the wiper motor and do not value lives by causing obstructions in my vision. I have video of the issue.
#11511789 |
During moderate rain the wipers were turned on and switched between the top 2 speeds. After a short period of time it automatically goes into a very slow intermittent mode causing loss of visibility. From my understanding this is part of fords “smart wiper” system to save the motor from burning out. This is extremely dangerous and almost caused an accident. I have video of this condition.
#11511803 |
Wiper control issue - when the wipers are set to the standard slow or fast speed the wipers start to slow down after about 30 seconds and eventually go into intermittent. We have experienced this in the pouring rain, while traveling with children and it makes it impossible to see. We have contacted 2 dealerships, and both were able to replicate the problem and acknowledged it. However, Ford will not acknowledge that there is a problem, and we are told that there is nothing that they can do. We also called Ford Customer Service and were told to read page 100 of our owner's manual and if we still had problems to seek out dealerships until we got a resolution.
#11511842 |
The contact owns a 2023 Ford Bronco. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH in inclement weather, the windshield wipers were activated on high-speed but failed to operate at the highest setting. The contact stated that the windshield wiper defaulted to intermediate speed and deactivated and turned off independently on other occasions. The contact stated that there was a safety feature to deactivate the windshield wipers if the windshield was dry however, it was raining and snowing so the feature should not have been activated. The contact stated that his vision was affected by the failure. The contact toggled with the settings, causing his attention to be diverted from the road which could have caused a crash. The contact stated that the windshield wipers then activated independently. The vehicle was driven and parked at the residence. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to...
#11511867 |
When windshield wipers are on high speed during a storm they will slow down after 30 seconds to a speed of wiping the window maybe every 5 seconds causing a significant reduction in visibility.
#11511581 |
When driving at any speed from local roads to highways in inclement weather from light rain to sleet to heavy rain, the wipers revert from high speed to intermittent (slow) speed after a period of 30 seconds to 2 minutes and do not revert back to the necessary speed for safe vehicle operation. During sleet and heavy rainfall it became difficult to see out of windshield and I had to keep adjusting the speed of the wipers every 30 seconds to 2 minutes in order for them to operate correctly. Vehicle was brought into the service department at a Ford dealership and I was told it is a “feature of the Smart Wiper Motor Operation” and to pick up the vehicle with no repair available. According to service department it is Ford Special Service Message #51377. I have also found the statement referred to as “SSM 50692” in my own...
#11511166 |
Windshield wipers operate for a limited time before slowing & then stopping completely. Multiple adjustments are required of the wiper control to reactivate the wipers. However, after a few minutes, the wipers will again slow & stop functioning completely. This situation creates a safety hazard, due to limited visibility & obscured driving conditions, during wet conditions.
#11511184 |
While driving in the rain the windshield wipers will randomly slow down to a very unsafe level, making it very difficult to see out of the front windshield. I talked with the dealership and they said there is no known fix for this issue. Ford does not seem to have an answer either. This happens every time the wipers are on. And happens frequently, like every 30 secs the wipers will slow way down. They are not rain sensing wipers.
#11510946 |
This is the same complaint as #11509166. I couldn't find a way to add more documentation to the already filed complaint so here is the original information plus more complaints and examples of the safety issue. .... https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/wiper-control-speed-issues-urgent-safety.31809/ .... https://youtu.be/9F8Gc2Huejo .... After less than a minute of running, the wipers suddenly slow down to the lowest wiper delay setting. You notice because, if you're in a storm or rain, you suddenly can't see out of the windshield. It does this on all of the wiper settings. If you're in a bad storm and you have the wipers running on maximum, they suddenly stop and go to like a once every 30 second wipe. you have to constantly turn the wiper control back and forth the whole time you're driving to keep the wipers working.
#11511100 |
When driving in rainy conditions, the windshield wipers cease to function at the selected setting. This happens at any setting. Specifically, after approximately 30 seconds, the windshield wipers slow to a greatly reduced and intermittent speed. This causes extreme issues with visibility, which in turn, creates a major safety issue, especially at highway speeds. This is not one incident. It happens every time the windshield wipers need to be turned on due to visibility.
#11510719 |
I was driving in rain and the wipers were initially working fine. Then for no reason they just started slowing down. The rain was still heavy and the vehicle does not have rain sensing wipers so there is no reason they should have slowed down. I had to keep changing the wiper speed from high to low to high to get it back to the necessary speed. This is a major safety issue that the wipers do not work consistently.
#11510639 |
Windshield wipers stop moving at regular wiping speed. After a short time the wipers change from regular speed to intermittent speed causing loss of vision to the road ahead during rain and snow.
#11510697 |
In moderate or even heavy precipitation the vehicle will reduce wiper speed from high or low continuous to intermittent, severely reducing and limiting visibility. I took it to Corwin Ford in Reno to fix this and they say that it does this on purpose and it is working as designed. Picture was taken while it was doing this, even with this much rain on the windshield the wipers won't stay in low constant and reduces the wiper speed to intermittent resulting in this level of visibility.
#11510320 |
Windshield wipers slow down when driving in rain/snow. Even on the highest setting, they start to slow down after a few minutes and you have to toggle them off and on again to get them back to normal speed.
#11510471 |
When attempting to use the wipers on low speed setting (constant on at a low speed, not on any of the intermittent settings) in medium and heavy rain situations, the wipers will initially operate at the constant low speed, and then after 1 to 2 minutes, the wipers will slow down significantly to a very low speed intermittent speed. The only way to get the wipers to return to the constant low speed setting is to switch the control stalk setting to high speed wipers and then return the switch to the low speed setting. Even when turning on the wipers at the high speed setting, the wipers will slow down significantly to a very low intermittent speed. This is a dangerous condition that creates issues in attempting to see during steady rain conditions.
#11510256 |
Wiper motor does not stay on Low or High. Within a minute, they revert back to Intermittent and the driver must constantly switch between Low and High in order to keep visibility. This has been happening since the day I took delivery (in the rain). I will be contacting the dealer on 3/6 to discuss. Many others in forums have reported the same exact behavior. There has been no inspection yet. No warning lamps, etc.
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