This Was a First in Over Thrid Years at Detailing

Beemerboy

Beemerboy

Just One More Coat
Last week I worked on a 2005...350Z for a very good friend and customer. He had just brought the car and the paint (jet black) was pretty ruff. No big deal to me just a ton of polishing.

I washed the car in the driveway it was about 9 AM temps in the 80's. Once I got done and was drying the car. I noticed a crack in the the windshield starting on the passenger side at the top and went down about 3 inches and then across the windshield about 8 inches.

I started thinking was this there already or was this something that I did?


When he picked up the car I asked and he said no it wasn't there prior to washing.:(

I was perplexed as this has NEVER occurred not once in all the years that I've detailed cars. He has AAA and I offered to pay the 100 deductible. He wouldn't have anything to do with it. said that he was going to change the windshield anyway ( it was pretty pitted) So I offered a car wash after he gets the new windshield in. He was good with it, I've cleaned cars for this guy for over 8 years.

That said I called a window place and asked what they thought what might have happened. The guy said that there must have have been a hair line crack there already and when the cold water hit the hot window it cracked.

I guess from now on I will pay closer attention to the windows for cracks prior to washing and to make sure and point those out to the customer.

Just an FYI to all of you:D:D:D:D
 
Ive heard of that happening but never had it happen to me personally yet. In fact theres a Safe Lite Glass Co commercial on the radio here about it. It could have ended up being a WHOLE lot worse though. Thank goodness he was a friend and loyal client and not one of those people who would freak out and make you pay for it, then go and tell everyone they know what happened.
 
I'm glad for you he was good with it. At least you stood up to the plate and it all worked out.
Some of the 50's Caddilac's with wrap around windshield were prone to cracking. The frame is put in a twist when jacking the front by the side to take a wheel off.
The 57 Eldorado Brougham is one. The windshield is not replaceable.
 
Concours.John said:
I'm glad for you he was good with it. At least you stood up to the plate and it all worked out.
Some of the 50's Caddilac's with wrap around windshield were prone to cracking. The frame is put in a twist when jacking the front by the side to take a wheel off.
The 57 Eldorado Brougham is one. The windshield is not replaceable.
Click to expand...

So I'm curious.... what is the correct jacking procedure?



Thanks for posting that Dave; I've only had that happen once and luckily it was on my own car. Inspecting the windshield is one of the first things I do when I get a car in.
 
One day I had a lady knock at my door and asked if she could inspect the windshields on my cars. She said she was paid by State Farm to do repairs on chips to help avoid cracks like what you had happen.

I've heard that turning on your A/C on a hot day can cause cracks too if you have a chip. It's the air trapped in the crack that expands and causes the crack
 
It happened to me once on a warm summer day when I was washing a Ford Escort that was my beater/winter car. I had washed it many times before under the same conditions but this time when the cold water from the hose hit the windshield I heard it crack and then watched the crack grow. It was out of the line of vision so I never replaced it.

Hopefully it will never happen again.
 
I've had the reverse of this experience happen to me in a car I owned. I was sitting idling in a parking lot during a very cold spell. As the defroster heated the window, it went bang sounded like a .22 rifle crack. It was about 6 inches from the bottom and went from one side to the other of the glass straight across the whole width of the windshield. The crack was very uniform and straight. If I hadn't been in the car I never would have believed this could happen to what looked like a perfectly good windshield. The windshield was only about 6 months old. I had the same guy install the second one and he said that it was possible that he didn't have the first one seated completely. He gave me a very good deal and was more than decent. Like I said, wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.
 
I had something similar myself. Had my car painted after some tree branch decided to liberate itself and land on my car. They replaced the windshield and about 3 months later while sitting in the drivethrough of a burger joint I watched my windshield start to crack.

I had rolled down my window to order , it was very cold out but it was nice and toast inside, I heard a POP and as I drove forward I notice the new line start to creep up the side of the glass. When I took it back to the bookshop they said it dint seat properly and the temp change just stressed it too much.
 
Crazy stories. I know the the windshield cracking do to frame twist is not something that is just limited to old cars. Lamborghini recommends (on the Gallardo Spyders) that the auto lift (the system that lifts the front end for speed bumps) is active when the front of the Gallardo is raised to avoid cracking the windshield.
 
Todd Helme said:
Crazy stories. I know the the windshield cracking do to frame twist is not something that is just limited to old cars. Lamborghini recommends (on the Gallardo Spyders) that the auto lift (the system that lifts the front end for speed bumps) is active when the front of the Gallardo is raised to avoid cracking the windshield.
Click to expand...

You are right. 16M's and the new Gran Cabrio are others.
 
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