cracked windshield

[Ford Man]

I've never changed one by myself, but have helped other people remove them. If you can get a hole through the gasket or chalk you can usually use a piano wire to saw the windshield loose. I have also heard of people using guitar strings. You'll need someone on the outside of the car and someone on the inside to do the sawing. Always pull the wire away from the glass otherwise you'll cut into the glass or crack the windshield, this can get extremely difficult especially around corners. You should be able to pick up a new gasket at an auto parts store. I think they usually have some directions in the box how to install the windshield. A salvage yard might remove the windshield from the salvaged car for you, that way if it gets broken you're not responsible for it.

[R.I.D.E.]

Check to see if she has insurance to cover the damage. In the US its part of comprehensive coverage which pays for damage from various natural events, storms, floods, tornados, etc.

In the US when they started using airbags, in the early nineties, they had to switch to a very strong urethane bonding agent that actually would keep the airbags from blowing the windshield out of the car, which would make the airbags ineffective.

In the old days it was usually in a separate gasket. If this is the case it will have flexible rubber at both the inside and outside edges of the glass itself. That is the type where you actually push the glass and gasket out of the body of the car and use a piece of cord to reinstall the glass.

In 1965 GM pioneered the glued in glass, which was a softer non curing type of rubber that was supported by spacer blocks at the bottom. The windshield's edges were covered by mouldings to cover up the gap between the glass and the car body. First place to rust out.

Over here (in the US) glass replacement is a mobile unit that can come to your work parking place, your house, or you can go to them. It's a job that I would definitely hesitate to recommend trying yourself if you have not done it before.

regards
gary

[lunarhighway]

well i had a look at the haynes manual wich also recommends to leave this sort of work to a professional, but than proseeds with an explanation wich doesn't looks to complicated (in theory) it gives the same instructions for the front and back windown, and from the looks of it the window sits in a rubber like gasket... they don't mention any sort of glue in the instructions so i assume it's just the gasket holding it in place.

it shoudn't be a problem to get the car to a glass repair center, there's some nearby, and for an extra fee they'll sure come over and fix it at home, but unless the insurance coveres this expence i could be looking at a rather large bill, maybe that's the only option, but as far as car repairs go i don't mind getting my hands dirty if it gets the job done in a safe way and saves me quite some cash.

my girlfriend will give the insurance company a call to see if it covers glass repair...

thanks for the advice

[zero_gravity]

a word on the crack repairs - larger cracks like the one you're describing usually don't repair well. its really meant for small cracks and chips or small impact chips that turn into internal fractures like what i've got. i don't know about the diy kits having never used them, but when you get a shop to fix this kind of thing they will fill it but they are required to put a lot of pressure on that crack to push the filler in. smaller cracks is fine, but larger ones can just get worse and break the whole windshield.

i'd call around and ask. maybe things have changed over the years maybe not. see what they say. if that doesn't work for you i'd call some scrapyards for a replacement windshield. small chips can be filled, its the cracks you have to worry about.

oh and yes it will go further over the winter.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

I remember it being about 1/4 the price for a professional to install it if you supplied your own glass, so if scrap/salvage/wreckers yards have a windshield cheap enough, you might do it that way to save some money.

[lunarhighway]

just called one of the most known glass repair centers around here (they keep bombarding me with adds on the radio waring people to have little chips repaired as they would result in cracks which could be more costly to repair....not much use to me now)

anyway, their prise is 321€ all inclusive, with original pieces and a lifetime warantee on the work and the pieces... should take 2 to 3 hours to install and for an additional 21€ they'll come over and do it at home. don't think they'll allow me to supply my own window though

the price includes a 10% reduction on the glass, but it's still a lof of cash on the other hand i don't think i'll find the same service much cheaper elsewhere. i'll see if a ford dealer could sort if out any cheaper but i doubt it.

i asked my dad about the possibility of a diy job, but he said the main problem would be to get the glass out of one car and into the other without cracking the glass.... he said sometimes brand new replacement window crack during install.

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by lunarhighway

.... he said sometimes brand new replacement window crack during install.

I have a friend that used to run a body shop and he told me once that's the reason windshield replacement was so expensive. He said his wholesaler had new windshields priced so if he cracked it during installation they could give him another one at no charge. This was 20+ years ago so things may have changed since that time.

[JanGeo]

THere is a big concern about safety if the glass is not install properly - in a crash the glass does protect you to some degree and in cases where the glass was not installed properly it had been know to pop out from the inside causing injury. If you had any idea how much force was on that glass when driving down the highway at 60-70 80 mph you would probably not be thinking about changing it yourself. In the xB it is a structural part of the roof and helps support it.