What 344 owners told NHTSA about the 2022 Ford Bronco 2dr

On numerous occaisions while driving in the rain, my wiper speed suddenly starts to drastically slow down/wipe intermittently, even though my vehicle speed or the amount of rainfall has not changed. This drastically reduced my visibility. If I change the wiper setting, the wipers function normally for a short time but will start to suddenly slow down again. This happens on any of the various higher wiper speed settings. I am entering a date of today, because it happened today, but it has happened before.

NHTSA ODI 11513776

Windshield wipers slow down and stop when used in continuous mode

NHTSA ODI 11513651

Ford has installed a "Smart Windshield" function on 2021-23 Broncos. It is intended to protect the wipers from overheating. The issue is that it does not work. Every time I use my wipers in low or high mode after about :30 seconds they reduce speed. When driving on the highway in the rain this is extremely dangerous and the driver has to keep switching modes over and over to get the wipers to work. I have had the vehicle into the dealer twice and they agree that this is an issue but can not do anything as it is a "normal" function.

NHTSA ODI 11513047

When wipers are set to continuous operation, they slow down and start going intermittently. This is making it hazardous driving in rain and snow.

NHTSA ODI 11512686

When wipers are turned on they work for a minute and then change to intermittently working regardless of how much rain. If you flip it to max wiper speed to keep the window clean it does the same thing. There is no setting you can put it on and the wipers continually work. Makes it very hard to see or you are always flipping the switch just to keep them working.

NHTSA ODI 11512078

With the windshield wipers on in the continuous low setting, the wipers will slow down and stop after a minute or two of operation. This has happened more than once while driving in the rain. The wipers were not obstructed, no snow/ice (40 to 50 degrees outside) and it was raining, so the windshield was not dry. This stopping of the wipers caused me to remove one hand from the steering wheel, and fiddle with the wiper controls to get the wipers to start back up, while the rain outside was obscuring my vision. I switched the wipers off and back to the continuous setting, and the same thing happened after a few more minutes, the wipers slowed down and stopped. The wipers were never on the intermittent setting, always on continuous setting. I don't find it safe to be driving in the rain with these wipers, since I do need both hands on the wheel, incase there is a pooling of water on the road, which can pull the vehicle to one side and I need both hands to correct, as well as loss of visibility when the windshield fills with rain when the wipers stop.

NHTSA ODI 11510826

Windshield wipers stop working while driving in both heavy rain and light rain. When turned on low, or high, not intermittent, the wipers slow down, and sometimes stop altogether. I was driving in heavy rain on the highway and the were on high. Repeatedly they kept slowing down, and then stopping. I had to turn them off, and back on each time, to get them to work on high again. This happened 6- 7 times. Not only was it very scary to lose visibilty completely, but also distracting to have to adjust them over and over. I was terrified I would get in an accident. I finally pulled off the highway. The same happened in light rain. I did get video of that incident. This has occurred 8 times in the last month, and one time 2 months ago. The problem seems to be getting worse and now occurs everytime I drive it in the rain. I did let my dealer know today. They had heard nothing about it. I will be taking it in to get looked at in 3 days. Brondes Ford Toledo. Unsure if it will be able to be duplicated without driving in the rain. But I do have video from driving in light rain. Unfortunately I was unable to take video on the highway and a few other times. There are no warning lights or information showing me there is a problem. I felt very unsafe driving the vehicle. This is a hazard. This application will not let me upload the video.

NHTSA ODI 11510711

The contact owns a 2022 Ford Bronco. The contact stated that on numerous occasions while driving at an undisclosed speed in inclement weather, the front driver’s and passenger side windshield wipers inadvertently changed speeds. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the windshield wipers were operating as designed. The contact was concerned that the issue could cause and crash and injury. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,673.

NHTSA ODI 11510420

I turn my wipers onto the constant wipe setting, either high or low, and after about 20-30 or so wipes, they will decrease their speed across the windshield over about 5 or 10 wipes until they pause for about 3 or 4 seconds after each wipe and then continue a slow wipe. I will turn them off and on immediately after this happens. When I turn them back on to high, they will operate on high and again repeat the slowing down speed and frequency after about 20-30 wipes until they are very slow and pause for about 4 seconds which is slower than even the slowest intermittent wipe settings. This happened during a recent ice storm during a long drive making it difficult to keep the window clear causing a hazardous condition. It happened again just testing in my garage. I reported this to Ford who said they do not have a fix for it.

NHTSA ODI 11510458

The wipers will slow down or stop even during heavy rain and on a constant setting (not an intermittent setting). I have to turn the wiper speed switch off and on to get them to wipe continuously again, which is very dangerous during heavy rains. This has been reported already as an issue by many bronco owners and needs to be investigated. While the smart wiper feature may be a good idea, slowing down in the middle of a rainstorm due to a programming issue or design flaw is extremely dangerous.

NHTSA ODI 11510011

in my 2022 ford bronco, while driving in the rain, I turned wipers on at the highest speed. However, within a short time, the wipers started slowing down and then eventually worked only interminently. I turned them off and then back on to the highest speed and this happened again. they just do not stay at the highest speed. This greatly affects the visibility while driving.

NHTSA ODI 11510073

The windshield wipers stop after a while. This occurs regardless of whether the switch is set to rain-sensing or the two constant speeds. This occurred during a heavy rain storm and my visibility essentially went to zero. This happened at all vehicle speeds. There were no warning lights associated with the occurrence. On the bronco6g.com forums there are many, many, reports of this very dangerous situation. I have video evidence of what happened.

NHTSA ODI 11509801

When it is snowing or raining and you have the wipers on they operate at normal speed setting for about 1 minute. They then begin to slow down creating a very dangerous situation of not being able to see. The wipers automatically slow to a speed that is unacceptable for best visibility while driving thru weather.

NHTSA ODI 11509237

On 2/08/2023, I came out of my garage and backed my bronco to our fence gate to feed our horse. I left the vehicle running with the heat on. The outside air was 20-40 degrees and raining. When I came back to the vehicle there was a crack from the outer edge of the windshield approximately six or more inches across. From the driver's side towards the passenger side. I had driven the bronco the day before and there was no damage or crack. When the crack occurred, no one was in the vehicle. When I brought the bronco back to the house, I wiped the rain away for a picture and found a very tiny chip in the crack. I'm not sure if a tiny rock did the damage or if that was from the windshield cracking. The chip is smaller than a pinhead and less than a millimeter deep.

NHTSA ODI 11508405

Wipers will slow down because of resistance setting during hard rain sleep or snow. When put on the fastest setting they will slow down after 30 seconds and you are constantly needing to adjust the wipers during low visibility conditions. This is a huge distraction while I drive.

NHTSA ODI 11508044

When operating the vehicle in the rain, the wipers will start to slow down between 30-60 seconds after turning them on. In a driving rain this becomes a safety concern as I have to turn the wipers off then back on. If the wipers are set to always on rather than intermittent, they should not behave like this. This problem has been reported by numerous owners on a Bronco fan site on the Internet affecting all model years. The owners manual claims this is a feature to prevent damage to the motor, but the wipers should never stop on their own while driving in the rain or snow.

NHTSA ODI 11508046

Wiper slow down ( wipe every 30 seconds) during heavy rain even when set to high speed. This occurs after a few minutes of operation and is intermittent.

NHTSA ODI 11508017

Wipers slow to a very delayed intermittent speed after around 40 seconds. This problem doesn’t just happen once in a while, it happens every time I use them. It is extremely dangerous when wipers suddenly stop in heavy rain or sleet, in highway traffic, because the driver instantly cannot see the road. This is a very serious problem.

NHTSA ODI 11507841

The windshield wipers have some sort of system that will automatically slow or increase their speed from what I can tell but the system is not working as intended or if working right is downright unsafe. This morning I had heavy rain in my area and moved the setting to the highest and fastest it could go, after about 20-30 seconds it would automatically slow itself down to where it would only wipe every 3 seconds or so which during the heavy rain was not enough and I could not see. To "reset" the automatic system I would have to cycle the intensity modes on the wipers up and down every 30 seconds or so to keep my blades moving fast enough to repel the water off the windows. From reading other forum posts a lot of people are having this issue and FORD is blowing it off to customers who take them in for repair or to be looked at for this issue. This needs to fixed and mandated from you all to fix at this point before someone gets seriously injured from this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11507586

Windshield wipers slow down and then stop while in either high or low switch position regardless of amount of moisture on windshield. The only way to get the wipers to continue is to turn the wipers off and then on again.

NHTSA ODI 11507440

While driving in a hard rain/snow mix in central Wisconsin on February 14th 2023, I had to set my wipers to high in order to maintain safe visual clarity of my surroundings. For unknown reasons, my wipers would progressively slow to a standstill. The only way to maintain wiper function was to keep one hand on the wiper control and manually turn it from one function to the next to wake the system up and make it work again. After about a minute of working, it would slow and stall again. This felt very dangerous and clearly WILL cause many accidents if left unaddressed.

NHTSA ODI 11507501

As a concerned consumer, I was informed by the dealership that the new Bronco comes with "smart wipers" that automatically switch to a slow intermittent feature after running on constant Medium or High speed for around 45 seconds to a minute. However, during a heavy rain on the morning of 2/14/23, my wipers stopped on me, putting me in a dangerous situation where I almost ran off the road due to poor visibility. This is a major safety issue that needs to be addressed urgently. After researching, I discovered that this problem is widespread among Bronco owners and there are no warning lights to alert drivers of the issue. The dealership also failed to inform me of this problem when I purchased the vehicle just 5 days ago. As a loyal Ford customer, I am disappointed that this is the only Ford vehicle I have owned that has this issue. I strongly urge the company to recall and replace the "smart motor" wiper system with a standard motor to prevent further safety hazards.

NHTSA ODI 11507245

During heavy rain or snow fall I turn my wipers to full power mode, but the Ford Bronco will automatically sometimes slow down and stop completely the wipers during the middle of the storm. The first time this happened I almost crashed because I suddenly could not see out of my windshield because the wipers were too slow (or completely stopped). This is so dangerous and I was only driving 30mph. This now happens consistently, and I have to turn the wipers on/off to clear rain/snow off my windshield to allow me to drive. It is distracting to turn wipers on/off consistently while driving during heavy storms. This urgently needs an immediate recall/fix.

NHTSA ODI 11507288

When set to high speed the wipers after a brief period will "slow down to protect the wiper motor" or something, creating a situation where in even mild rain the car forces the wipers to slow down making it unsafe. Clearly... Ford has severely under spec'd the wiper motor/gearbox hardware and "fixed" it with software making the vehicle unsafe where it will just randomly decide that high speed wiper's are not available anymore.

NHTSA ODI 11506405

The contact owns a 2022 Ford Bronco. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed during rainy weather, the windshield wipers failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11506428