Windshield repair?

Recently bought my Riviera. When I bought it, it was very dirty, covered in dust etc. On my way home from buying it I stopped at a gas station to clean the windshield. After cleaning the windshield I noticed the 6" crack located at the top passenger side. (out of view from drivers side).

The crack itself doesn't bother me too much, but I do want to stop it from ever spreading.

Anyone done any "do it yourself" crack fixes?
I seen some posts on the internet about using superglue and/or nail polish.

Any ideas or experiences with windshield cracks? Or should I just go see a professional?

One of my friends is a top level installer for SafeLite. I've also worked on some product development for a 3rd party firm who supplies his company with its crack-mending devices. I've healed a crack or two using their process and equipment. It's not that hard to do, but the process is pretty sophisticated. I watched an hour of video and talked to a pro beforehand. It's not something the average DIYer can do. The tools needed (called a "bridge") cost literally hundreds of dollars, and takes weeks of training to become proficient.

Here's what you can do. Take a dollar bill and place it over the crack. If you can cover the crack corner-to-corner with the bill, it's fixable. Even if it almost fits, consider having it quoted for repair. Typical cost for this service is $100, and most insurance companies will include coverage on full coverage plans. Most important thing: get it taken care of before winter, or else the crack will spread, and once that happens, it's $500+ to replace the windshield.

Best of luck. Let us know how it goes.

Also consider replacing the windshield but don't do it the typical way.

If you have a business relationship with any auto body shops, ask if they will let you leave the ca for windshield replacement and you pay the entire sublet cost (almost no shops do it themselves). That cost will be the cost of the glass plus an install charge and will be less than you'd pay an installer to come to your workplace.

If you ask you may find a salvage yard (junkyard) near you (within 150 miles) that replaces windshields from their stock. Yeah you get a used glass but it will not cost that much, depending on. Your market may be less than the retail "cash" price of having it repaired.

GM dealers can, but usually don't bother, get the glass from GM parts pretty reasonable. They usually don't because it can take many days compared to a roving installer who can get replacement glass in a heartbeat. If things are slow in the dealer's body shop you may be able to get them to do the replacement for cash for less than the roving installer would charge. I think you can check pricing on monsterpartsonline.com, or GMPD.

I had many issues when I had my windshield replaced because the insurance company would only pay for the "thick" or "narrow" universal gasket. The Riv was unique in that the narrow gasket was too narrow, and the wide gasket was, of course, too wide. After they replaced the windshield for the 3rd time because the gasket came loose, I purchased the OEM gasket at the dealer and had them do it a 4th time... no problems since then.

Just something else to talk to your glass people about if you do replace the windshield. They may be aware of how to handle it, or have better "universal" windshield gaskets than my company offered.

deekster_caddy wrote:

I had many issues when I had my windshield replaced because the insurance company would only pay for the "thick" or "narrow" universal gasket. The Riv was unique in that the narrow gasket was too narrow, and the wide gasket was, of course, too wide. After they replaced the windshield for the 3rd time because the gasket came loose, I purchased the OEM gasket at the dealer and had them do it a 4th time... no problems since then.

Just something else to talk to your glass people about if you do replace the windshield. They may be aware of how to handle it, or have better "universal" windshield gaskets than my company offered.

The "universal" flat out won't work and GM sells the gaskets cheap enough (to dealers) anyway, I would not bother with a universal... When I had rust repaired on my Riv the dealer got me a replacement gasket for short money... and this situation may have changed, when I had a windshield replaced on a Lincoln I own, the replacer used a Ford gasket. Maybe the quick replacement folks have gotten smart and started stocking certain factory gaskets. (lots of Lincoln parts are same as other Fords, would not surprise me if a Taurus gasket fit).

albertj wrote:

deekster_caddy wrote:

I had many issues when I had my windshield replaced because the insurance company would only pay for the "thick" or "narrow" universal gasket. The Riv was unique in that the narrow gasket was too narrow, and the wide gasket was, of course, too wide. After they replaced the windshield for the 3rd time because the gasket came loose, I purchased the OEM gasket at the dealer and had them do it a 4th time... no problems since then.

Just something else to talk to your glass people about if you do replace the windshield. They may be aware of how to handle it, or have better "universal" windshield gaskets than my company offered.

The "universal" flat out won't work and GM sells the gaskets cheap enough (to dealers) anyway, I would not bother with a universal... When I had rust repaired on my Riv the dealer got me a replacement gasket for short money... and this situation may have changed, when I had a windshield replaced on a Lincoln I own, the replacer used a Ford gasket. Maybe the quick replacement folks have gotten smart and started stocking certain factory gaskets. (lots of Lincoln parts are same as other Fords, would not surprise me if a Taurus gasket fit).

I definitely agree. But at the time I had no idea they wouldn't even use the OEM style gasket... it wasn't until I had them doing the 3rd windshield I asked what was going on... and I had no choice in the matter, because in MA if you have comp insurance all glass is 100% covered, so the consumer has very little knowledge or choice in what's being installed.

Well I stopped at Novus, professional windshield installer/repair. He said my crack wasn't fixable.
So basically I am probably going to go with the superglue route and hope for the best this winter.

did you even call a junkyard? just saying...

albertj wrote:

did you even call a junkyard? just saying...

I will look into salvage yards still. I just don't have the cash to buy a brand new one.

Maybe I should look around more for a repair... I was watching youtube vids last night of windshield techs repairng cracks between 18-24"...