Your windshield is supposed to protect you from the elements while making it easier for you to see where you’re going. It’s not supposed to crack as you drive down the road. What would make a windshield crack if all you did that morning was run your defroster? Let’s take a closer look at one driver’s adventure and find some answers.

The Event

Forum member GT Gone posted in 2013 about a problem with his Mustang’s windshield. He was driving to PetSmart one day, it was cool but not terribly cold — around 50 degrees — and he was running his defroster to defog the windshield when disaster struck.

Well, maybe not a disaster, but a massive crack appeared at eye level across the glass of the windshield. He couldn’t feel the crack on the inside or outside of the glass, and as far as he could tell, nothing had struck the glass to cause the crack while he drove.

What could cause a crack like this?

The Investigation

The internet is good for many things — shopping, keeping up with friends you haven’t seen in years, and getting answers to questions you didn’t even know you wanted to ask. It didn’t take long for GT Gone to get his answer.

Funkboy316 found the answer — a chip in the windshield, at the very center of the crack. The temperature change — from the 50-degree exterior temperature and the warmer interior of the car — caused the chip to run, becoming a full-blown crack.

Could this seemingly random crack have been prevented?

The Solution

What could GT Gone have done to prevent his windshield from cracking due to the thermal shock?

According to industry experts — and casual mechanics — the best thing you can do to prevent a chip from becoming a full-blown crack is to repair it as soon as you notice it. This can be done at home, with a DIY chip repair kit, or by a professional.  Some insurance companies even offer free chip repairs if you have comprehensive insurance.

Once the crack is there, though, the only option you really have is to replace the entire windshield.  For something like GT Gone’s Mustang, he has the option of using a replacement windshield — or opting for an OEM windshield from Ford with the Mustang logo. Unfortunately, to get that extra logo is expensive — figure on adding a couple hundred dollars to your bill which may not be covered by your insurance.

If there’s a lesson here, it’s that if you have a chip in your windshield, even if it doesn’t seem like a big problem, take the time to repair it as soon as possible. A slight change in temperature, or a tap from a bird or a stone, can make that little chip run into full-blown crack that can cost time and money to fix. Don’t ignore those chips — they’ll come back and bite you in the end.

The post Forum Fix: Windshield Cracked Right In Front of His Eyes appeared first on AllFordMustangs.