Windshield Repair Forum

Hey guys, new to the forum here, but not new to the autoglass world. I've been doin autoglass for the past 13 years on and off. I just started a new job for a bigger company a few weeks ago. Last glass shop I worked at was a small time autoglass/tint shop. Tintin windows was way to tedious and knit-picky for me, so I found a better payin job at this shop. I haven't been a mobile glass tech since 06. Since then I have worked in shop and have always had another hand around if I ever needed one. Now I'm on the road all day, dealin w the traffic and changing windshields in parkin lots. I was sent out last week to change out a chevy surburban windshield (2010). Like always I feel rushed during my day of drivin all over town and rarely feel the need or have the time to inspect every vehicle I work on (usually doin 7-10 per day), so I started my routine, cut the top and sides w my cold knife and used my equalizer (which I had to buy out my own pocket for this job) with the long 14" blade, to cut out the bottom. I always do every car the exact same way startin on the passenger side and ten go to the drivers side. I had the ws loose. Went to the drivers side to take the old glass out and then noticed a nice size crack in the dash right to the left of the hump for the gauges. It was about 4-5" long and the plastic was sittin unlevel where it was cracked! It was very noticeable and I freaked out! I made sure not to touch the entire dash w my equalizer and I had no idea what I could have done to make this happen. I tried to push one side ofthe crack down to make it line back up and that seemed to work. But after settin the new glass in, it went right back to being one side higher than the other! Man I tried and tried to get this crap to line back up and hopefully not look as noticeable. I ended up poppin the plastic up that is closest to the ws and shoved a tip for urethane under this cracked side of the dash that was sittin too low. It seemed to help keep it n place. I freaked out in this parkin lot for over 25 minutes. And being the new guy at this shop I was totally worried about keepin my job. Ended up callin my office and explained it to the woman who answers the phone. She didn't have much to say about it. Sooooo I called the customer to get her to come out and pay and sign paperwork. Ended up lettin her know that I think I messed up her dash and wouldn't you know, I actually ran into an honest customer, and she admitted that the cracked dash had been there since she bought that truck! She said it was cracked within 3 months after buyin her 35-40k Chevrolet! I felt all the blood go down to my feet as I was very very relieved that it was not me who messed up her dash. Even though I spent bout half an hour tryin to fix/cover it up. All and all it had me really worked up, but I was so glad it wasn't my fault. Thing is I really think I would have seen this crack n the plastic while I was using my hand tools to cut the ws out, but I did t see it till later.
So today I get sent out to our local land rover dealership to change a 2010 Yukon Denali. I get there and start my process. Not noticing anything being broken or cracked or anything. I cut the top and sides w the cold knife and the grab my equalizer and spray some water across the bottom. I used the same long 14" blade and start cuttin from the passenger side. Only cut to the middle then got n drivers seat and finished cuttin across the bottom. Pulled the ws out from
the drivers side and voilà, a big ass crack runnin up the plastic just to the right of the hump (same spot just on the other side of the hump). Only thing is this time it was not a 4-5" split, more like a split that ran all the way up onto the hump and then forked off into two cracks! So now the question for me was, was this a stock ws. Nope, I was changed already. So was there a small crack that had already started in the plastic and the vibration of the equalizer just made it grow as I cut out the bottom?!? I did not tell anyone atthe dealership and just assumed it must have been cracked before I ever got there and I didn't notice it before I started, but once the equalizer was used across the bottom, it made this small crack alot bigger? I told my boss and she just seemed to agree that it must have already been there and that my vibrations made it worse. I asked the two other installers if they have been noticing cracks on newer GM truck dashboards and both said no. So is this just me messin stuff up unknowingly or is this a problem other people are running into?

Sorry for such a ling post, but I try to explain myself fully

Hi cj4a,
It looks like there is a problem with the dashboards that chevy are fitting. I typed in " chevy dashboard problems " into You tube and a guy is showing several different chevy models that have dashboard problems. The plastic material these dashboards are made of, looks very brittle and I would guess that the exposure to strong sunlight, would only make the material more brittle over time. I would do 2 things, first make your company aware of this situation, so other fitters can be alerted to this. Secondly, before starting work on any vehicle ( not only chevy) that has this hard plastic dashboard, check for small cracks the same way this guy in the video does. A few years ago I had a problem with a car made in the UK by GM, I was able to prove that the cause was a faulty assembly during manufacture but they would not accept my findings. So we briefed all our fitters to inspect carefully BEFORE starting work, and bring it to the attention of the owner. The monkey was put firmly back on the manufacturer. Hope this helps

cj4a,

I no longer do glass replacement but we had many similar situations with GM vehicle dashes. When we used our equalizer we always sprayed water as lubricant before cutting. If water hit a hot dash panel it would sometimes crack. Not sure if that was your experience but after a few incidents we would only do them in shop or drape something over dash before proceeding with removal when hot conditions existed outdoors.

Thanks for the info guys. Actually the night I wrote that post, I googled 'cracked chevrolet Yukon dashboards' and it brought me to many different places this same issue was being discussed. So no, I no longer think that I messed this dash up, but I am sure that the equalizer made it worse. I'm just gonna have to inspect these piece of crap GM vehicles. No wonder the company went under a few years ago and our president decided it would be a good
idea for the American taxpayers to bail em out.

cj4a,

Have your customer check this out. Found it today. Cracked Yukon dashes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ikSCklf7g8