Windshield replacement fun

[Altus]

Well - I've just gotten my windshield replaced for the second time in a week. Seems our cars have a pretty complex seal around the windshield that's easy to get wrong, causing a leak -- which is what happened to me.Background info - got a major rock chip/crack 8 days ago, bad enough that I went to have it replaced. Standard Auto Glass here in Canada did that for me 5 days ago -- great service, and really good price. So the basic instructions - no power washing for 72 hours etc...... Alrighty - so it's been arctic cold here since, and no precipitation at all -- until last night. Heavy snowfall. This morning, I'm driving the wife to work and every time I accelerate. I'm getting a stream of water drips from the upper corner of my A pillar! Right where the healiner meets the plastic trim. Back to Standard to have them check it -- and they found the leak in 5 minutes..... seems our cars have some odd holes in the body at the top of the windshield, and if the seal & sealant don't sit JUST RIGHT - it leaks. So they had to dry the whole thing out, remove the windshield, clean up all the old seal/sealant, and reinstall the whole thing again - which I'll admit they did quite happily under their lifetime warranty BTW.So now the waiting game begins again.... another 72 hours for the sealant to set, and then we'll see when we get some more snow or rain if I've got any other leaks again.Just something to watch out for - for those having to get the windshield replaced.....

[DavidPIL]

Hi Altus,Just a quick question... Will the window sealant actually cure or set properly in the freezing cold weather? Every vehicle I've had, although never had window leaks, have always creeked a bit around the window making it sound like the sealant had become a bit rigid. Just wondering how that stuff wold set in the extreme cold air you've been getting up there. DO they suggest parking it in direct sunlight? Just bein nosey...Dave

[Mavrik]

Yeah having several days of "extreme" colds of about -25 here in ont... how well would that window seal cure?

[Altus]

No problems with the temps really - they use a Urethane sealant that never really hardens anyway... something like silicone but much stronger. I've seen it sold as construction adhesive as well. Anyway, I'm told that it doesn't matter what the temperature is outside, the adhesive is totally unaffected. So - we'll see how they did with this seal when I get a chance to get a car wash!