Windshield-Crack

[impalator]

When I attempted to fix the "Wet-Footwell" issue about 2 months ago, I had a really hard time, 1st, getting to the screws under the rubber-window gasket and 2nd opening it as it was pretty much rusted on.

So while working away on that screw, I must have applied just a tiny bit too much pressure towards the windshield with the flat screwdriver holding the gasket up - and "crush!" I managed to get a tiny little (1.5 cm) crack in the glass.

Over the weeks since this incident, the crack has grown to a respectable 7 cm's and appears to not want to stop.

I will definitively wait out the winter before attempting to have the windshield replaced.

But since many of you Delica-Fans are driving on logging roads and go up north / to the interior, I must assume that I am not the first one with a cracked (or chipped) windshield.

Would I just go down to the North Vancouver Broco Autoglass? Or do I need to go someplace special for such Mitsubishi Windshields? Are they readily available or is it a "pain in the butt" to get them here?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Cheers,
Chris

[konadog]

We had a cracked windshield (rock from a truck ) last summer. I called a couple of glass shops here in CR and one guy said he had done other delis and could get them and that he would call me back - but never did. I ended up getting a new one from ccautos. Make some calls though, as I bet some ICBC glass shops about will be able to get them: MB421735
http://wikrad.com/delica/index.cgi?wind ... _mouldings

[bae146]

Mardy from amazing auto has a couple of delica windshields in his shop. Reasonable prices too.

[quadzilla]

I had my windshield replaced in Sidney at Capital City Glass - they are one of the ICBC express glass shops and they had no problem sourcing a windshield for my van, so I suspect that any ICBC express shop could do it - but remember to say that your window was cracked by a projectile and not your own actions.

[jwfchase]

They can also sometimes attempt a repair to stop the crack from worsening- doesn't always work, but if it does it could keep your 7cm break from spreading all over the place before springtime.

[impalator]

As a further update to the saga of trying to dry out the footwells which led to the crack in the first place: They continue to be wet - and today I have (upon recommendation of Butch from CVI) paid a short visit to Vision Autoglass (Jeff Freeman) on Bathgate (behind IKEA in Richmond) and he squeezed some black urethane sealer below my windshield gasket.

As I had told him that my cracked windshield would need replacement once the nice weather is here again, he actually performed the 20 minutes procedure free of charge - I am definitively a customer who will return once I will have to replace my windshield. Thanks Jeff - really appreciated!

For anybody with wet footwells: Don't "just" reseal underneath the two front side panels as described in other posts - but have your windshield seal also checked / sealed!

Cheers,
Chris

[fexlboi]

For anybody with wet footwells: Don't "just" reseal underneath the two front side panels as described in other posts - but have your windshield seal also checked / sealed!

Well, I resealed it all the way around with black urethane sealer (and did all the other stuff), but is still wet. It's getting really annoying....

[quadzilla]

I hear you one the wet foot thing - did the front quarter panels and windshield and still wet. A 3rd possible place is the top weld on top of the A pillar where the gutter ends - some people have had some luck reducing water inflow by sealing that area -apparently a crack can form there and there is also a body seam that has the same kind of sealant as the quarter panel - not sure how one would even attempt to redo the sealant.

[fexlboi]

I hear you one the wet foot thing - did the front quarter panels and windshield and still wet. A 3rd possible place is the top weld on top of the A pillar where the gutter ends - some people have had some luck reducing water inflow by sealing that area -apparently a crack can form there and there is also a body seam that has the same kind of sealant as the quarter panel - not sure how one would even attempt to redo the sealant.

I already done this as well

[kidwrecked]

Just a thought, but since I have my van front end in pieces, I have noticed that there are a lot of holes that go right through to the interior that are behind plastic panels and plastic screw anchors. You may want to stick your head under the dash with a good light (WAAAYY under the dash) with someone outside with a high pressure hose. Have this someone spray the hose in many directions (up, down, from side to side, ect) to re-enact driving throug the rain, and see if you can see where any drips might be coming from. Possibly it ight be from a broken plastic tab or a failed plastic tab gasket.

Andrew

[quadzilla]

Almost forgot about the front panel clips behind the Mitsubishi face plate or whatever it is called - apparently the grommets and seals can shrink and water can penetrate through there, too. So - kidwrecked's idea is a good one and would probably reveal if that was the source of the water.

[impalator]

Any tips or ideas on how to remove the Mitsubishi face-plate / plastic grille or whatever it is called?

Since I already cracked my windshield when sealing the front quarter panel seams I would hate to also crack the "Mitsubishi Plastic Front Cover"..

Thanks and regards,
Chris

[quadzilla]

I haven't tackled this yet, but it looks like the bush bars need to come off, then the removal should be relatively straight forward - but then again, the easy things always seem to be harder then one hopes! I plan on trying this in the spring.

[loki]

Any tips or ideas on how to remove the Mitsubishi face-plate / plastic grille or whatever it is called?

Since I already cracked my windshield when sealing the front quarter panel seams I would hate to also crack the "Mitsubishi Plastic Front Cover"..

Thanks and regards,
Chris

if you mean the long plastic body panel between the headlights it just pulls straight out, can be hard the first time as it likely hasn't moved in a long time.