Windshield Repair Forum

Has anyone ever repaired a windshield that has been cracked from the inside? apparantly someone pushed from the inside and cracked the windshield, now they want me to come out and fix it. This is the first time i have come across this, any advice before i head out there?

Dont bother going out, it can't be fixed it must be replaced

Technically, it's possible it could be fixed, but it's a much better idea to just replace it. Personally, I would never fix a crack on the inside of the windshield.

I have in a way. I'm a repair and replacement shop, so if something is to much to repair i usually just switch it over to a replacement.(i've been doing repairs since '93) But one day I had someone come in, and he had a crack coming down from the top of the windshield on the inside. He didn't want to replace it, and more or less begged me to do something. The only thing i could really do was drill the end of it, and make the crack run into the hole i just made. So thats what i did on the inside, and belive it or not it held. Now i didn't charge the guy for it, because i wasn't sure if it was going to hold. But hes been back a few times for normal chips and keeps showing me the crack on the inside that hasent moved. And he's been very happy with it. :eusa_danc

The only way i can think of to get some resin in it from the inside is to unsrew a cyclinder with resin it already and take it out of the bridge. Then hold it your self and see if you can squeese some resin in the crack then harden it. Now i've never tried that, don't even know if that would work. But its the only way I can think of to push resin in upside down.

Hope my two cents helps.... :eusa_clap

ps And if you haven't seen the crack yet, and just going on what the customer is telling you about it being on the inside. Don't beleive till you see it. I've heard it so many times about it being on the inside and when i look at it, its not. Just a normal repair that looks different. So unless you know for sure there is a good chance that its not on the inside.

Crack filling can be done on the inside, but with caution, and customer signed approval. I will not repair an inside crack that is caused by rust, or transfer from an outside dammage. That said, it can be done with a resin that has good capiliary action, and exceptional bonding strength. I place the resin on a curing tab, the apply the tab to the crack, the resin should wic into the crack fairly quickly, repeat with the number of tabs you need to cover the crack completely. Once the resin has completly wicked in, I then start curing. For the curing "over cure" the resin, because sunlight will not do it for you, I leave the light on for 3-5 mins per section. An inside crack usually has the benifits of not being damp or contaminated. Just remeber to go with your insticts, and if you feel confident try, if not have the customer repalce.

Enjoy

That sounds like an interesting method;Do you drill the end of the crack?

NWRA guidelines says cracks on the inerlayer should not be repaired. I wouldn,t do it.

If you run your fingernail across the middle section of the crack you should be able to tell if it is from the inside or outside. If it is indeed from the inside it becomes necessary to try and open the crack up a bit because of the outward curveature of the windshield. I will place a crack opener on the outside of the windshield and this helps the resin flow into the crack better. Since you are working against gravity it is necessary to tab the crack quickly to prevent the resin from coming out which will result in hair line refraction near the lamination.

Those of you that have repaired a crack on the inside, did you make a follow up call 6 months or one year later to see if all was still okay?

The warrenty we provide ensures that the repair remains as repaired, or we refund the customer, and I make sure the customer is aware of our refund policy(I much rather he contact me then complain to others).

I unfortunatly had a follow-up on a repaired inside crack (originaly caused by a 2x4 hitting the glass when the hatch was closed on the SUV(the 2x4 was a few inches longer than the space) 8 months after the repair. The customer had an accident which caused tha air-bags to deploy. The crack(as well as the WS) remained intact and did not suffer from the shock of the impact. The customer was so pleased that he called me to go see the crack, and it was as repaired. Again though before repairing an inside crack the determination of the cause is important.

Merci