I just woke up this morning to a 14 inch hairline crack on my front windshield. The funny thing is that last night when I parked the TL in my garage the windshield was fine. What's even stranger is that there is neither I nor the service department could find an impact point. Even they are puzzled as to what could have caused the windshield to crack (stress fracture?). Eventhough they're replacing it under warranty, I'm worried about the durability of the TL's windshield. C'mon now, the car is only two weeks old.


Has anyone had a similar experience?

More importantly has anyone ever had their winshield replaced? I'm worried about leaks.


Thanks in advance.

 

not yet

 

Including your case, IMO, I only heard 3 guys in this forum ever having this windshield craking issue. Can I say it's rare?

Hope your new windshield would stay perfectly.

 

If it was truly soft, rocks wouldn't easily damage it. When you want to protect paint, you put something soft over it, like the clear bra material. It's hard, brittle paint and glass that chips, not soft.

I've never visted a car forum where people don't claim glass isn't like it used to be. I've seen people say that their previous cars had glass that was absolutely perfect, and they never heard of a rock chip (paint or glass). But I remember chips in cars as far back as I remember. I do know that small defects in past cars tend to be forgotten over the years.

Stress fractures are possible in glass, possibly due to bad installation (gasket/sealant higher in some areas?). You'd think it would actually happen while driving, such as over a speed bump or something where the body flexes, but it seems to happen when the car just sits. Maybe thermal changes have an effect too, or the glass just eventually can't stand it any longer and cracks. I don't think it's common with the TL. (Visit a Mini Cooper forum sometime to see a car that has lots of windshield cracking problems!) Good luck with your replacement! Make sure it's a shop that knows what they are doing. Windshields are now considered a structural component and affect airbag performance.

 

Someone else complained about their windshield doing this...

 

Remember that the windshield is "acoustic" glass to complement the sound system. Now, I no friggin' clue what acoustic glass is. But it may be more susceptible to cracking.

Sometimes windshields crack when mounted improperly with direct body contact instead of riding in their rubber seal. I'd be willing to bet that you'll have no problems after a windshield replacement. Mine have always gone smooth - I used to oversee a company garage, and we never had problems with replacements.

 

If there is no impact point than this is a defect covered under warranty....congrats, you are now the owner of a new TL with a newer windshield

 

I drove down the block and halfway to the corner my windsheild cracked in an arc ending at either end of the defroster vents. Not my TL, (01 Altima) but seems like a similar occurance. Nobody had a real answer for me when it happened. Someone mentioned something about Japanese cars and the way they are sealed up and pressure or something. Sounds like BS though.

 

I have had my windshield replaced. It was the same as you, a crack appeared less than a week and 150 miles. I took it in and the service dept said 'it was a rock'. You could barely see a pin prick on the crack.

The Acura regional guy came and looked. He had a 25X scope and you could BARELY see something on the side of the crack. Nobody else believes it is a rock, but they said they would not replace under warranty. They did take some off, so it only cost me $250 after insurance.

So far, I have had NO problems with the new windshiled. They did say to replace all of the mounting parts (a big list of them on my repair bill, but not expensive).

Glad to see that you are getting it replaced for free!!

 

Glass can crack if it was not properly annealed when it was made. Annealing is a process of allowing the glass to cool at specified rates so that stresses do not build up in the glass. Additionally, the glass can be stressed if it is improperly installed and this can lead to stress fractures.

Years ago I can remember a friend had a blown glass sculpture the that she had paid over $100 for and one day it just exploded on her dining room table. This was about a year after she bought it. She phoned the high end store where she bought it expecting no satisfaction. They advised her to bring it in. When they saw the shattered sculpture, they told her that it had not been allowed to cool properly or had a bubble in it and refunded her money.

If there is no obvious impact mark on a new glass windshield I would suspect a problem in the windshield it self or improper installation.

 

I've had my 04TL windshield replaced at the dealer. Like you, I was concerned that the new one "wouldn't be the same." I'm happy to report no leaks, wind noise, etc.

 

ISH,

The the weather change significantly around the time this happened? I was wondering if it was hot one day and very cold the next morning. That may have been what triggered the crack. I suspect that the windsheildwas not installed properly, where there may have been more pressure on one side of the windshield vs. another.

I had a patio door shatter "for no reason" during a very cold, sub-zero day in the winter. What actually happened upon investigation was that my house had shifted over the years, where my patio door tracks were taller on one end versus the other. The additional stress exerted pressure on the glass, and the cold snap triggered the glass breakage.

BTW, glass is not really "soft" (although it is both a liquid and a solid), it's very brittle. If the problem was that it the glass was "soft", you could bend or flex your windshield glass without it breaking. Instead, when you try bending/flexing glass, it shatters because of it's brittleness.

 

Non impact crack can be caused by sudden heat and cold. Like if you have a super tiny chip, not visible to the eye and say take your car to the car wash on a hot day...the cold water hitting the hot windshield can cause it to start to crack, then as you drive it the crack gets bigger very quickly and you may not even notice it. Then overnight as the windshield temps changes the stress forces on the glass change causing it to crack more.

Not saying that's what happened to you, but if you have glass with a built in flaw, rapid changes in temperature can crack it.

 

I had an Accord where the windshield cracked right while I was in it. It was very cold outside and I had the heater on. I think the temperature difference is what did it in my case.