Hey guys...just drove in heavy snow today for the first time in a while. After I got home, I noticed a huge crack across the windshield that appears to have come out of nowhere....not sure if it was a small crack that expanded really quick because of the weather and I had really hot defroster air blowing against the window. Anyways, I can't feel it from touching the outside or the inside, but when I pushed against it, the crack expanded...arghhh..

Do I need a new windshield?? any way to fix this? Crack probably covers half the front windshield now...

 

you need a new windshield

 

You can't fix broken glass. Replace the windshield.

 

This is why you are suppose to always direct heat to the foot vents for winter time. Putting direct heat to windshield will crack it everytime.

 

I'm not sure how accurate that is, honestly. Range Rovers for many years have had heated windshields. You can't see the elements unless you get really up and close to the glass.

 

I don't think that's true either. You'll have to use defrost in winter eventually. That's why it's there, to direct heat to the windshield to defrost it.

 

As others have stated the above is not accurate. If you blew a large amount of extremely hot air directly onto the windshield while frozen over, yes, you could crack it. However, if your maxima can produce instant-scalding-hot-air, you need to share your secretes with the rest of us. Even my G37, which I considered very quick to warm up, stood no chance in cracking the windshield.

Do not be fooled by these distorted 'truths'. They exist for a reason but are perversions of the ignorant; propagated by the same.

 

I also disagree with you. I have also experienced this a couple times over the years and it is just a case of the conditions being just right. Or should I say wrong? Maybe 3 years ago, summertime, I went out to my car one morning and the winshield was cracked. It happens.

 

like everyone else said, this is not entirely accurate. it is however accurate when your windshield is already cracked. you could have a chip, which is repairable if it is only on the top layer of the windshield glass. but once heat is applied to freezing glass, yes it will cause the chip to expand.

and you definitely shouldnt have pressed on your already cracked windshield, even tho the damage is already done.

 

jus get ur insurance to replace it. dont know how ur insurance works but iv done it a few times through mine and didnt cost me anything

 

Depends on the state's laws regarding insurance on replacing your windshield. Here in Florida, the crack has to be a minimum of 6 inches in length and be in the visible line of sight of the driver, and you have to have the proper insurance coverage. Basic PIP and liability won't cover it. You have to have comprehensive coverage, which is only available if you have "full" coverage insurance, and the cost of the windshield replacement is covered without having to pay your deductible.

So the OP needs to check his state laws regarding his windshield replacement under his insurance policy.

 

A windshield is $121.85 installed on a 4th gen Maxima from Safelight auto glass here in UT. That's not bad considering you probably won't have to replace it years later. Just get a new one or drive with it cracked until it has to be replaced for renewal and safety.

My windshield has 2 huge cracks. One that goes clear across the bottom and another about 9" long on the passenger side. I'm getting a new one next week.

 

Is it so bad that the repair epoxy would work? Doesnt Safelite do repairs instead of having to replace the whole thing. Even so, $130 is a great price and it would look new again so I would go the new route if money isnt an issue

 

That's for chips not a crack going across the windshield. I thought it would be a couple hundred for a new one installed. That's cheap.

 

you can only repair a windshield if its a chip thats a certain size(pretty small) and if its only on ONE side of the windshield. which im sure you know, a windshield has two pieces of glass with a layer of plastic in between. if it goes through to the other side of the barrier in the middle you usually cant repair.

 

Well, since the OP hasn't replied back to us yet after all of our imput...

 

I guess I must have phrased myself wrong. If you have icing on your windshield and you send the heat directly at the windshield without scraping it off first, it will eventually crack over a period of time IMO. Lets just analyze it for a minute.

If your windshield has ice and you was to pour hot water on it, it will crack because of the rapid change in temperature. If you let your car fully warm up befor eturning on the heat to defrost the windshield, it like doing the same thing...just my thoughts.

 

its not like doing the same thing at all. first you were trying to say what you were saying is a fact. then all of a sudden its in your opinion. which is also wrong. if your windshield is undamaged it will never just crack from your defroster.

 

youre thinking of like a frosty mug from your freezer and adding hot coffee to it. your windshield is not the same kind of glass as that dollar frozen mug.

 

You can't compare heat transfer between air and water. When it's 45 degrees outside, step out of your house wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt... yeah it's chilly, but you can stand outside for a few minutes before you want to go back inside.

Now, go jump into a swimming pool when the water temperature is also 45 degrees and tell me the difference between that and 45 degree air.

Also, when it's freezing cold outside, it takes your car time to warm up, so therefore your car with a frosted/frozen over windshield will not get a sudden blast of hot air since it takes time for the engine to heat up.

Also, did you read my post about Land Rovers having electrically heated windshields? Those elements in those windshields heat up much faster than your engine would to produce hot air out of the defroster vents. I've seen ice melt and slide off of Rover windshields after only being on for a few brief minutes.

 

This is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of physical science. You can speculate, and hypothesize, but you cannot state opinions in a matter like this. At the rate our cars warm up, you will not crack a flawless windshield using a little common sense. If you switch your defrost on, start the car, let it heat up gradually, and don't have rock chips, you wont have a problem.

Yes, if you warm the car up and then turn the defroster onto a frozen windshield, you MIGHT break it.
If you turn run your defroster normal, gradually warming a windshield with a bad rock chip you will MOST LIKELY break it (i did this).
Our Sentra had full coverage, and insurance did pay for a rock chip repair, however to replace the windshield we would have had to pay the deductible, which was $20.00 less than the price of replacing the windshield. On the Max, I did not have full coverage, or comprehensive glass, so insurance would not pay for the rock chip repair. I now have a crack across the bottom of my windshield.

I believe you can get comprehensive glass replacement with $0 deductible added to most policies.

 

im only talking about the bold part. but even if you let your car warm up, and then instantly turn the hot air on your windshield thats frozen, i have NEVER heard of that alone cracking a windshield. there HAS to be prior damage for this to happen, trust me. one of my best friends does ONLY glass repair and replacement. so i know this for a fact because i asked him.

 

The reason I said MIGHT, is because i've never seen it either. But you really can't prove a negative, can yah?

 

I live in the far north - Canada and have been using the defroster right from start at temperatures down to -35 Celsius. I think Fahrenheit and Celsius meet somewhere there for the US folks reference. Never cracked anything.

 

i got a new windshield installed for 150