Tiny Bubbles

[Almost-New WSR]

Hello all. It has been a while since I've been on, but need to reach out to see if anyone has ever encountered this one:

I just looked at a windshield on a 05 Cobalt this morning and have never seen this in the field either since doing windshield repairs or before wholesaleing cars. It had tiny bubbles in the glass ranging from pencil tip to oversized erasers. They are spread out over the drivers side in no particular pattern and do not look impact related whatsoever. They are most definately between the glass and cannot be described any other way.

My first thought was some kind of defect...but it was built over a year ago and is in a rental fleet that is pretty anal about their w/shields and never been noticed.

Anyway, I was hoping that someone may have heard of or seen this before and could help me advise my client. I would probably try and get something covered under warrantee since there are waaaaaaaay to many to drill and fill.

Thanks to all in advance.

Dave

[Glasseye]

What you are seeing is local delamination caused by small particles of dirt that were trapped between the glass and the interlayer during manufacture. The glass will look ok when first made but over a period of time the bond between the laminate and the glass will begin to break down causing this random bubble effect. When the 3 layers of material ( glass/pvb/glass) are put together, it takes place in a "clean room", which should be free of any contaminates. Obviously the quality for this particular manufacturer has not been met which usually results in at least a whole batch of glass that will have this same problem. Make a note of the glass manufacturer and inform the car dealer. This kind of problem is usually corrected under warranty.

[Almost-New WSR]

Glasseye,

Thank you for the response. I had a guess that is what it was, although had never seen it before. Very strange indeed. I have informed the customer and they are trying to get it covered under warantee.

Again, thanks for the help!

Dave

[Dependable Dave]

It might also be cause by the windshield being heated to an abnormally high temperature. The first thing that comes to mind is a windshield tech torching the glass to make the resin flow. If there is no obvious repair work in that area, it might have somehow been subjected to a focused sunbeam, either on purpose (I can't imagine what purpose) or accidentally.