[saket77]

Such an enigmatic event happened with me some 12-13 years ago. We owned a Fiat 1100D back then. Things went this way that we and a friend's family in a Maruti 800 were returning from a picnic in the evening. Since, the road was an open highway, both cars were periodically overtaking each other.
Once I overtook the 800 at about 70-80KMPH and accelerated away. We had planned a stop at a specific point and since I was ahead, I waited for the 800 to catch up at that point. When the 800 reached the spot, I saw it driving slowly with a completely cracked windhshield. On enquiring that how did it happen, my friend told me that when I overtook him, his glass just cracked, though he did not notice any pebbles flying across. Still we do not know how exactly it happened.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by saket77

Still we do not know how exactly it happened.

A friend of mine who had earlier worked in Saint Gobain explains:

Glass is made from Sand (Silica ) which comes with certain impurities, one of which is Nickel Sulfide inclusions. When in normal state, NiS is dormant. It gets activated at higher temperatures like 200 C, when the glass undergoes toughening.
The laminated glass in windshields are toughened, so in them the NiS gets activated. the chances of NiS in your windshield is very rare, but extremely unpredictable. It is like NiS has a mind of its own.. and as it becomes active, it expands and this leads to cracks in toughened glasses.
It may happen immediately after the glass is manufactured or may happen after 2 years or may not happen for 15-20 years. there is no way to predict.
this is the reference from pilkington,
http://cms.pilkington.com/resources/...lassats165.pdf

It seems there is a process called heat soaking which helps to eliminate glasses with NiS inclusions (destructive process) its not 100% effective.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

this leads to cracks in toughened glasses.

Thanks Sandsun for coming up with this, but I think you are only talking about toughened or tempered glasses. Most cars & people prefer laminated windshields and probably cannot be categorised as tempered or toughened. Or did you mean to say that the phenomena can occur in laminated glasses too, since silica is present in both of them?

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by saket77

but I think you are only talking about toughened or tempered glasses. Most cars & people prefer laminated windshields and probably cannot be categorised as tempered or toughened. Or did you mean to say that the phenomena can occur in laminated glasses too, since silica is present in both of them?

Silica is perfectly ok. It is NiS which is the troublemaker.

All car glasses are Toughened. Just that front Windshields are toughened and then laminated with a Polyvinyl Butryl layer in between 2 glass panes. Toughening/tempering as it may be varyingly used builds up the internal stresses in the glass, that is why it breaks into smaller chunks which doesn't hurt so much.
And lamination is done to 1. hold back the broken glass pieces 2. To prevent any external object from penetrating into the car
Even Bullet proof glasses are multiple layers of laminated glass. Different grades of lamination for different bullets.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Silica is perfectly ok. It is NiS which is the troublemaker.

All car glasses are Toughened. Just that front Windshields are toughened and then laminated with a Polyvinyl Butryl layer in between 2 glass panes. Toughening/tempering as it may be varyingly used builds up the internal stresses in the glass, that is why it breaks into smaller chunks which doesn't hurt so much.
And lamination is done to 1. hold back the broken glass pieces 2. To prevent any external object from penetrating into the car
Even Bullet proof glasses are multiple layers of laminated glass. Different grades of lamination for different bullets.

Thanks for the above information. I thought the process of toughening a glass is what makes it different from laminated ones. Knew about the layer in between 2 glasses though Appreciate the information put up by you in the previous 2 posts.
ON a lighter note, basically you are telling me to relax from the blame of breaking the glass on the other car after 13 years of the incident

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by saket77

Thanks for the above information. I thought the process of toughening a glass is what makes it different from laminated ones. Knew about the layer in between 2 glasses though Appreciate the information put up by you in the previous 2 posts.
ON a lighter note, basically you are telling me to relax from the blame of breaking the glass on the other car after 13 years of the incident

Yes, you could feel lighter now and if you could explain this to your friend, would be even better, relationship might improve

Regarding the information, all credits to my friend who is an avid reader of the forum, It is he who has provided me with the relevant details in realtime!!

[vidyanand]

I was in my hometown 2 weeks back and went to HASS to get the Windshield and Engine hood repaired on my i10 (made insurance claim after 4 years).

The windshield had this crack which would look like an impact point by a pointed object near the hood from where it expanded outward with a longer one reaching the roof (I don't have a picture). But if you feel it, there was not a single rough point (inside/outside both) which might have suggested that there was an impact and also crack lines could not be felt by hand. My dad does not know how it happened. Strangely when I parked it in Service Center with all windows closed, the SA said the heat (it was still hot in Patna) may break windshield if you keep all windows closed in Sun (he realized later that I was there to get it changed ).

So if we go by the SA's advice, the glass may shatter by itself if parked in Sun but I don't believe him as the car cannot be air-sealed 100% for such pressure to build up.

[GRAND23]

Guys,
Help me!

My new "Hyundai Grand i10 Diesel sportz" front windshield has started to show some cracks. I don't know how this happened. On sunday morning I saw this crack. I am presuming it may be due to temperature difference. I would like to know experts view here as I am new to car ownership.

Mods: - Actually I posted this concern already here. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post3297384
But, I need more suggestions from fellow bhpians, hence I am starting a new thread.

I already read few threads in team bhp about changing windshield from "Windshield experts" or from dealers. But this is secondary. Before I go to them, I would like to know whether it's because of low quality glass or anything else.

I also touched the glass surface from both outside and inside, but I can't feel the crack. I really don't have an idea, what caused to crack? As far as I believe there were no such situations, where it caused to crack the car's front windshield.

Today, I visited to service centre. But the engineer explains that crack would have developed due to some foreign object impact on highways and he says there are many such cases.
I told him that if that is true there should be mark of that foreign object and crack should start from that point. Whereas in my car crack is starting from bottom (near wiper) and travelling towards right side windshield. I am sure this deserves investigation. But my question is how?

The service engineer didn't agree to replace with free of cost, he says replacing glass will cost around 8000 Rs.
I am not convinced with his answer. I want to know the exact root cause. This car is just one month old and moreover front glasses are well toughened and consists several layers. I still doubt is this manufacturing defect?

Please let me know your opinions if anyone has experienced this issue, any suggestions are most welcome. I have to get it done as soon as possible.

[Cesc]

The glass can crack on its own. Happened to one of my cars just days after I had got the windshield replaced and in the exact same spot as yours. And yes it is most likely the temperature which led to this. I dont think anybody will replace it free of cost. However if you can show some sort of impact then you can claim insurance to get it replaced. In my case I fought with Windshield Experts and the second time around did not pay any excess charges over what the insurance company paid to them. So there are no hard and fast rules around free replacement. Whatever you can settle for between you and the service center is what it will be.

[wildsdi5530]

I have a Honda Mobilio RS bought in June 2015. The front wind screen of the Mobile RS is different from the regular Mobilio in being heat resistant. About a month back, I had parked my car in the sun near my hospital. When I came back there was a L shaped crack from the centre of the top down about 3" and then turning 90* (soft curve) and extending about 40" and then tapering down about 5" in an angle. There was no evidence of any impact point. The crack could be felt from the outside, but not from the inside. It was almost as though someone tried using a glass cutter to cut through the glass.
I had taken it to the service center and had it replaced under insurance. The service advisor broke the glass a bit more using a hammer and point to mimic a stone hit to claim insurance. (I didn't witness this).
This morning when the car was washed at 0700, the glass was pristine. At 1100 after being in the sun again for a couple of hours, there was a similar crack, partial thickness, curving from the right lower edge to the centre of the windscreen. I have called the SA and he has advised to bring the car in for inspection on Thursday.
I had a feeling the first time and even now that the windscreen glass is cracking due to some manufacturing defect. Should I claim insurance again? that will being my claims this year to 2 already (renewed in June). This will make me black listed and my next premiums will be higher. (I'm already paying about 40k per year on Honda assure, as Honda does not give cashless for other insurance). Since it is a week from the new glass being fitted, can I ask for warranty?

[itwasntme]

Certainly demand full warranty replacement including consumables and labor. Have never heard of anything like this and that too from a brand like Honda.

Glass CAN crack in case of extreme heat (or cold) if suddenly splashed with water, but this is unique as your car was washed at 0700.

By the way, please document every step and event in case you need to escalate. Do not blindly trust what the service center says. Be ready for some unpleasantness but be firm. Why should you be blacklisted for no fault of yours?

Have Honda india cut costs too much?!#

[Nohonking]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

I have a Honda Mobilio RS bought in June 2015.
.....
.....
There was no evidence of any impact point.
.....
.....
The service advisor broke the glass a bit more using a hammer and point to mimic a stone hit to claim insurance. (I didn't witness this).
.....
.....
Should I claim insurance again?

Hi wildsdi5530, believe you have complicated the matter a bit. Did you buy extended warranty? If not, then based upon your date of purchase, you might not be able to claim it under warranty.

While during first incident, when there was no evidence of impact, why did you let the SA bash it to claim under insurance for stone hit? You should have rather claimed it under warranty. Trust me, these Honda service centers always insist you claim under insurance for they get a sale + labour work. It is you who should decide which way you want.

Now since that(warranty) wasn't done and rather claimed under insurance with you agreeing on the papers that it was a stone hit, you now legally cannot claim anything on that. Remember, you signed it. Its only you and your SA know the reality.

Yes, multiple claims will rather question your worthiness and thus impact future premiums. If unable to make the second incident covered under warranty due to "date of purchase" being past due, may be it will be prudent now to pay from your pocket considering overall cost calculations. Your decision depends post your visit on 29th June. Try seeing the same SA and tell him to consider this second incident from the back date to get it covered under warranty.(I am assuming your date of purchase being before 26th June 2015 and you do not have extended warranty in your kitty)

I too had faced cracking of the windshield on my Honda Jazz when parked under the sun and simply claimed it under warranty. I have mentioned about it in my initial ownership review "18 months with a Honda Jazz" being featured on the homepage these days. You may have a look how was it done. Sharing the link below. Hope this helps.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...jazz-v-mt.html

Do share the outcome post your visit on 29th June'17. Thanks & good luck!

[OSH]

If your windshield is replaced only a month back, the windshield itself will carry some warranty period irrespective of your car's warranty. The warranty on your replaced windshield will most probably be 6 months or 1 year, check this with your service center.

Now even if that windshield has warranty, I doubt your service center will change it under warranty as it was not a faulty part, the windshield cracked due to some other reason only.

Don't claim insurance, instead you should try out windshield experts. They use AIS glass which I think is the OEM for Honda (atleast for the City it is AIS), it will even cost you lesser than the service center.

If possible post some pictures of the cracked windshield, someone here may be able to find the cause of the cracking just by looking at the pictures.

[wildsdi5530]

I do have extended warranty for 4 years. Posting picture of current crack for expert opinion.

[hserus]

Clearly a stress fracture but possibly not thermal as you say. You might consider using windshield sun film to avoid even more of this issue if it actually is thermal.

The stress and strain of being installed and then pressed in by all four sides of the car windshield frame may itself cause a crack if the glass has a manufacturing defect.

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/amp.i...5/01/41550.htm