WQ Fiesta Retrofit Auto Headlights and Wipers

[Aaron]

This post is a more detailed breakdown of the process and parts needed to enable Factory Automatic Windscreen Wipers and Automatic Headlights to a WQ Fiesta.



It draws heavily on the exploration and research done in these threads:


WQ Fiesta Options not available in Oz


and


WQ Fiesta XR4 Diagnostics/OBD2 Reverse Engineering

I have not provided specific or absolute part numbers because there are actually quite a few variations of the parts that will be suitable, and doing this sort of conversion will require some commonsense and your results may vary.

* Note: After going through the hardware changes you will need to enable the features in the GEM and that will require a tool such as Forscan and appropriate license and OBD2 cable.

What you need:
- Fiesta/Mondeo/Focus Rain/Light Sensor
- Wiring harness that supports the rain sensor
- Rear view mirror with post to attach the Sensor covers
- Rain/Light Sensor covers
- Headlight Switch with "Auto" position.

In addition to the Ford hardware you'll need to be able to create a light mask on the inside of the windscreen over the area the sensor covers cover, it will need a "window" for the sensor too.



I found that most of the rain sensors don't come with a mounting bracket and many have a damaged gel pad. Mounting can be done with a new adhesive style Gel pad, OR you can bend some simple brackets from ABS.


I bought a kit of used parts via eBay for around AUD150 delivered.




When this arrived I realised I should replace the glass portion of the mirror due to aging, but luckily the posts and mirrors can be interchanged.



The mirror post needs to have these clips on it to attach the sensor covers. If you google the mirror Part number (014276) you'll find it resolves to different part numbers based on the car, so make sure you specify it's going into a car with Rain sensor.


TBC

[Aaron]

The rain sensor is a bit of a pain to mount. If you are lucky you’ll manage to source one that comes with its mounting frame, but if not an adhesive gel pad and/or some ABS plastic bent up to allow the metal clips to engage will work.


I bent the mounts up and then drilled a hole for the mounting tangs to engage through. The long flats then gets epoxied (or taped with some pretty strong tape) to the glass of the windscreen.




In the above pic you can see the factory silicone pad is still intact. It it’s damaged or missing you’ll need hunt down some. I bought one through AliExpress for about AUD7 but haven’t had to use it.

AU $6.10 25％ Off | For Car Rain Sensor Double Sided Transparent Glue Stickers Self Adhesive Front Windshield High Strength Heat Resistant Gel Pad

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mMrNg0X

Now onto the Mask.

It sounds pretty tricky but all I did was grab some vinyl wrap and cut out the shape of the sensor covers adding a 3-4mm margin.



I then used the sensor and cover together to locate the window. You want the sensor to be as far down the screen as possible otherwise the wiring connector will hit the mirror post, or just be really awkward. Don’t forget to allow for the bracketing so 7-10mm from the inside end of the cover would be about perfect, so 15-20mm from the end of your mask is a rough guide.

[Aaron]

Before we get all enthusiastic about sticking stuff to the windscreen let’s talk wiring.

In a Fiesta the wiring that goes to the roof light and rain sensor terminates at a plug on the left (passenger) A-pillar. The factory glues and tapes this to the headlining so it’s probably better to not try and swap the looms over - instead stripping the three wires for the sensor out from the donor loom and clipping it to the existing connector shell is the smart move.


The sensor wires are mostly “all black” in this particular loom with one distinguished by 3 red dots at the connector. I applied a piece of tape to each that was numbered and match a map I drew out.



Factory twists one pair and leaves the third seperate.


Re-wrapped in cloth loom tape. You can see my creative labels.


The chassis side plug.


Loom pins plugged into the connector and wiring clipped into the cable guides alongside the existing loom.


I fed it into the front edge of the headlining and had it pop out at the mirror location.

[Aaron]

At this point you may as well install the headlight switch. It’s 100% plug and play, so really can be done any time. I did a LED swap on mine so it illuminates blue.


The sensor and cover can be installed. The upper part of the cover that I received is longer and hits the headlining. I’ll modify the headlining with a notch at some point.


You need to have the sensor pressed tight on the glass. My homemade clips are pretty good, but I also put a foam pad between the sensor and the cover to add pressure.


Now you can fire up Forscan, and using the Extended license, enable the Rain Sensing Wipers and Automatic Headlights in the GEM programming section.

[Aaron]

Thanks for reading. I’m happy to help out if you’re trying this upgrade, but honestly, all the info you need is in the threads linked in the first post. This thread should give you the practical “how to I get it installed” guidance.

It’s not intended to be detailed follow each step as I would expect anyone wanting to do this modification should be able to join the missing dots, have a collection of tools and tape etc to do the wiring neatly and most importantly be prepared to do some of their own research


Now for some videos of it in action.

https://youtu.be/h7HT2bGCCC4

https://youtu.be/4qbVB1HN5sM

[Luke Plaizier]

Nice. Are we getting a similar detailed write up of the Cruise Control installation?

Lukeyson

[Aaron]

Well past six months and a few thousand kilometres of commuting - some in the rain - and overall I’m pretty happy.

The AutoWiper function is a bit on the primitive level, but I think that also is because I still haven’t switching to a fresh mounting pad for the sensor, so it may be a little daft compared to a fresh new sensor pad.

Like most of these functions though, it’s about 80% right and as such a good thing.

[Luke Plaizier]

Question for you Aaron.

The pins you inserted into the A-Pillar connector. Did they come from the loom you were given, or did you manage to locate pins for that?

There are many connectors I can identify to the original manufacturers part so I can usually find pins to fit - but this isn't one of them. This, the door A pillar connector, the headlight connector all seem to be secret .


Lukeyson