[Jigsawman]

Two mornings ago, it was cold so I engaged the cold weather warmer upper thingy. I was really more curious about how well it worked than warming up various car parts. When I hit the windshield wipers, there was a "pop" followed by an ever expanding crack at the bottom of the windshield.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? It's very strange!

 

[tdelker]

You had a small ding there you didn't notice. Water works its way in there, and then you get something called 'slow crack growth' although it can happen very quickly and quite dramatically. The water starts to weaken the glass, and then a stress is added (like temperature change, vibration from driving down the road or even just the intrinsic stress of the tempered glass) and it 'pops' a crack.

 

[nipper]

Ive had it suddenly crack parked in the sun on a hot summer day, turn on the ac and CRACK.

Windshields can be very fussy things. They hold up to a lot of stress, but the right ding in the right place at the right time....

 

[Efmall]

Yup, got the chip here

Noticed it when washing the windshield. It's just above the wiper and difficult to see from the inside drivers seat. It could spread , it might not. If I can get it repaired by the injection process I'll try that 1st. That's if I can get it done before it consumes the windshield.

Time will tell, the weather being very changeable this time of year is not good for a stable chip

 

[Euchre]

I'd heard this was an issue before I got my hands on my car. My brother had replaced the windshield at least twice. Now that its mine, its got 2 rock hits that didn't help, and they were low where the heaters are so it just made it basically a sure thing I'd get a crack and it would spread. AFAIK, my brother's issues didn't involve an impact on the windshield, but I know he liked to fire up all of the heater options on bitter cold days. I always let the car warm a bit before engaging the wiper heaters. I've seen cars that have cracked their windshields from just having the engine warm enough and the defroster applied at full heat to a very cold windshield.