Pressure crack on Windshield at -16F

[twodogsdennis]

Temps over the weekend got to -16F, which is not that cold depending on where you live. I turned on preconditioning Monday evening and went out ten minutes later to clean the windshield of about 3" of snow and ice in preparation of a 7:30am departure on Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, I again turned on preconditioning at 7:00am. Well, as I was leaving, I discovered a pressure crack across the bottom of the windshield. The crack is about 3" in the middle and 4"-6" above the bottom of the glass on either side. This has been a concern of mine for some time as the preconditioning temp set at warm seems to do a great job of warming the windshield until it creates a problem. I've tried looking to see if the temp or direction of air can be adjusted but haven't found anything other than the "warm or hot" settings. I've had this problem before on other trucks and cars, sometimes in the summer or winter here on the front range of Colorado. When temps drop and the sun comes out, glass occasionally doesn't respond well. Any advice from the Canadians, northern states, or Gunnison and Grand Valleys of CO, where I'm sure the temps are even colder on the trucks that park outside and are connected to shore power?

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[RickLightning]

Ford covers stress cracks for 12 months / 12,000 miles. With all the glass on these vehicles (and my Mach-E), I have zero deductible glass. Mach-E got its 2nd windshield (rock) in July or August, and its 3rd this month.

 

[twodogsdennis]

Ford covers stress cracks for 12 months / 12,000 miles. With all the glass on these vehicles (and my Mach-E), I have zero deductible glass. Mach-E got its 2nd windshield (rock) in July or August, and its 3rd this month.

Thanks for the info. At the time of purchase, the dealer wanted an arm and a leg for glass coverage, so I stuck with the glass coverage on my personal policy.

 

[RickLightning]

Thanks for the info. At the time of purchase, the dealer wanted an arm and a leg for glass coverage, so I stuck with the glass coverage on my personal policy.

That's what I have also. To go from the regular deductible to zero is $175 for total for both vehicles. A windshield, with recalibration, is like $1,800. Roof is like $2,500...

 

[paulcusick3]

I got same crack this week on my 22. In MA it is covered by insurance. I made the rookie mistake of putting max defrost on with ice and snow.... the temperature differential is a receipt for this. I take the blame.

 

[Heliian]

It's not the heat or the preheating or the snow on the windshield.

Yes, the windshield will expand and contract but that alone doesn't cause cracks. Cracks are usually caused by existing damage like a stone chip, even a very small stone chip that you won't notice will eventually crack when it's cycled enough times.

That's why it's important to fix stone chips if you don't want your windshield cracking. Personally, I never have them fixed and run the windshield until a crack becomes problematic, ie in the line of sight. After about 5 years of driving around these parts, the windshield gets so sandblasted that light reflects poorly and you can't see out of it anyways.

Windshields are consumable items Imo, make sure you've got good glass coverage ON YOUR INSURANCE.

 

[twodogsdennis]

It's not the heat or the preheating or the snow on the windshield.

Yes, the windshield will expand and contract but that alone doesn't cause cracks. Cracks are usually caused by existing damage like a stone chip, even a very small stone chip that you won't notice will eventually crack when it's cycled enough times.

That's why it's important to fix stone chips if you don't want your windshield cracking. Personally, I never have them fixed and run the windshield until a crack becomes problematic, ie in the line of sight. After about 5 years of driving around these parts, the windshield gets so sandblasted that light reflects poorly and you can't see out of it anyways.

Windshields are consumable items Imo, make sure you've got good glass coverage ON YOUR INSURANCE.

Thanks for the reply. If indeed this was a stone chip, it was microscopic and at the bottom of the windshield. Like you, I don't fix the chips on the Silverado since often the cost to repair is half the price of the replacement windshield that my ICE mechanic shop charges. Safelight gave me a chip quote last time and I just laughed. Since buying the Lightning, the miles have been limited on the Chevy and in turn is keeping that windshield chip free. haha!

 

[paulcusick3]

I had a small chip where it started, yes

 

[Heliian]

High heat on a cold windshield is well know to cause cracking.

The heat generated by any of my vehicles in the last 29 years has never caused a crack. It was - 30 deg C here yesterday and preheating didn't cause any cracks. It's entirely possible but highly improbable that an intact windshield will crack. My truck lives outside and is covered in snow and ice all winter.

I found the worse places for windshields are jurisdictions that use gravel on the roads in winter. BC was notorious for that, Ontario uses mostly sand, hence the sandblasting.

 

[RickLightning]

Thanks for the reply. If indeed this was a stone chip, it was microscopic and at the bottom of the windshield. Like you, I don't fix the chips on the Silverado since often the cost to repair is half the price of the replacement windshield that my ICE mechanic shop charges. Safelight gave me a chip quote last time and I just laughed. Since buying the Lightning, the miles have been limited on the Chevy and in turn is keeping that windshield chip free. haha!

My insurance has free crack repairs, because they want to avoid replacing windshields.

 

[VermontEagle]

I got same crack this week on my 22. In MA it is covered by insurance. I made the rookie mistake of putting max defrost on with ice and snow.... the temperature differential is a receipt for this. I take the blame.

I’m just north of you in VT. I didn’t have any preexisting damage to the glass. I entered my truck yesterday after turning on the cabin preheat to find a crack approximately 24” long in all. The crack is in the shape of a smiley face of all things, with the bottom inches above the dash. I can’t imagine that the low/high temperature difference wasn’t the cause.

I bought the truck over the summer. The high preheat was the default setting that I’ve used all winter. Using it shouldn’t be a “rookie mistake.” They have F-150’s all across the snow belt and the glass should be made to withstand such temperatures.

 

[paulcusick3]

I’m just north of you in VT. I didn’t have any preexisting damage to the glass. I entered my truck yesterday after turning on the cabin preheat to find a crack approximately 24” long in all. The crack is in the shape of a smiley face of all things, with the bottom inches above the dash. I can’t imagine that the low/high temperature difference wasn’t the cause.

I bought the truck over the summer. The high preheat was the default setting that I’ve used all winter. Using it shouldn’t be a “rookie mistake.” They have F-150’s all across the snow belt and the glass should be made to withstand such temperatures.

I had a very small crack right next to ford stamp in the middle bottom. I only knew it was there because I heard it when it happened. It did not grow at all, until I had ice and snow and now is 3-4 feet.

 

[RickLightning]

Glass gets very brittle in cold weather. I heard my latest stone hit, and should have more carefully checked things. The hit was below the wiper on the Mach-E, way down. MIGHT have been fixable. Then, it wasn't...

Stress cracks happen, which is why Ford covers it for 12 months. After that, that's what insurance is for.

I strongly recommend to my friends to get $0 deductible glass coverage, especially when the vehicle has a glass roof as both mine do. The Mach-E glass roof is something like $2,500 I think.

 

[twodogsdennis]

Update Thursday: I appreciate all of the comments, and I had a good idea that things would turn out as they have thus far. I spoke with the dealership today and the service manager traced the crack nearly the full width of the windshield and thought there was a chip that would prevent Ford from standing behind their glass. We couldn't see a chip, but something snagged his pen. Unless we always drive in reverse, there is bound to be a "chip" in the windshield. The service manager knows how picky the company is when it comes to warranty work in general and glass in particular, but gave me a number to call at Ford. The first person to answer couldn't help, so she sent me to a second person who told me that the dealership should know how to file a claim but promised to submit my comments.

Reps like these two at Ford often have a place on their screen to write a client's comments, which most of the time is used to report nasty remarks made by the client. I always ask the rep to write down my comments since these usually go up the chain of command. I love my Lightning Pro for many reasons, but the infrastructure behind the product is often an embarrassment for a company that's been in business for over 100 years. Two concerns, owners should be given more control over the preconditioning mode. Today, because of the mild temps I could hardly hear the fan motor when I got in the truck. Last Monday, the fan could have moved paper on the dash as it was running hot and at full speed. Secondly, if a dealer has a high rating, and I believe mine does the tech should be able to submit a claim without having to ship the entire windshield to Ford for microscopic examination. I'm not angry, just annoyed. In my experience, GM and Mazda has nearly the same reputation so we are not alone as Ford owners.

 

[Ddefazio]

Update Thursday: I appreciate all of the comments, and I had a good idea that things would turn out as they have thus far. I spoke with the dealership today and the service manager traced the crack nearly the full width of the windshield and thought there was a chip that would prevent Ford from standing behind their glass. We couldn't see a chip, but something snagged his pen. Unless we always drive in reverse, there is bound to be a "chip" in the windshield. The service manager knows how picky the company is when it comes to warranty work in general and glass in particular, but gave me a number to call at Ford. The first person to answer couldn't help, so she sent me to a second person who told me that the dealership should know how to file a claim but promised to submit my comments.

Reps like these two at Ford often have a place on their screen to write a client's comments, which most of the time is used to report nasty remarks made by the client. I always ask the rep to write down my comments since these usually go up the chain of command. I love my Lightning Pro for many reasons, but the infrastructure behind the product is often an embarrassment for a company that's been in business for over 100 years. Two concerns, owners should be given more control over the preconditioning mode. Today, because of the mild temps I could hardly hear the fan motor when I got in the truck. Last Monday, the fan could have moved paper on the dash as it was running hot and at full speed. Secondly, if a dealer has a high rating, and I believe mine does the tech should be able to submit a claim without having to ship the entire windshield to Ford for microscopic examination. I'm not angry, just annoyed. In my experience, GM and Mazda has nearly the same reputation so we are not alone as Ford owners.

I had the same issue just a few days ago. Been nearly 0 degrees at night and not above 20 for the last couple weeks.
Last Sunday night/Monday we had a long durations storm.
My truck was covered in about 3" of snow and a layer of ice on top. I started my vehicle and put on Max defrost and proceed to finish clearing driveway.
I cleared snow off truck, didnt notice anything. I got into vehicle to turn it off. and noticed a BIG "U" shaped crack started at top of window down to nearly the bottom and circled around and back up to top. It was on both sides of the rear view mirror mount.
My windshield didn't have any detectable chips that I ever noticed.
I called my dealer and the said it was not covered by warranty even the extended plan I have.
They also said they never heard of this happening before.
I was able to get a replacement through my insurance.
Though it was a big pain. I had to get a uber to get a ride to and from the glass replacement shop, and it took ALL DAY. literally. I dropped it off at 7:30am and it still was not finished at 5pm as they stated it would be.

But in over 40 years of driving and living in this area, I have never had a windshield crack from defrosting.
I also have a Ford Explorer, that I turned on the max defrost as well and it was fine.

I'm disappointed .

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