Hello all, hopefully on Sat. I will be the owner of a year old element. The guy I am buying it from had the windshield crack and be replaced in his second month of use (bought in Jan. 2003) and today he gave me a call informing me that the windshield had cracked on his way to work. I insisted he replace it before we close the deal, but if this occurs again will Honda cover the problem under warranty since my VIN is pretty darn low (in the 1,000's) and included in the TSB? Anyone within the TSB had any problems with windshield replacement under warranty? Thanks guys, and I'm happy to be making my first post after two months of lurking! Sorry if this has been covered (which it prob. already has), but the search feature is down and just giving me a bunch of SQL output (?)

Took my E to the dealership to discuss my rear right bumper problem (got it fixed for the 3rd time) and discuss with the service mgr. about the windshield problem which they claim to know nothing about!!!! (yeah right!?) We need to encourage everyone to call the NHTSA and complain to Honda about the design flaw and problems with the windshield so we can get a RECALL! (Hopefully before someone gets hurt or dies!) The dealer told me that in California the police can give you a ticket for a cracked windshield. I have 2 cracks but not replaced the windshield yet! Let's get on the ball so we can get our windshields replaced!!!!!!!! I just joined the club yesterday and posted about my various other problems: horn defect/keyless entry problem (Honda fixed it), rear bumper problem (had it fixed 3 times already), cracked windshield, and CD problems--CD player gets hot and stops playing CD's.....and the list goes on.....but I love my E--just want the windshield fixed!!!!! :cry: :twisted:

just what is the nature of this design flaw with the windshield? Lots of complaints, but no little evidence of a specific flaw, much less a solution.

The installer of the replacement windshield should have made sure that the installation surface was smooth, and that there was an adequate layer of beding compound.

If the underlying cause of all these cracks is the angle of the windshield, should we expect Honda to reshape the whole front of our cars? What about other cars with steep windshields?

If the problem was inferior glass, a recall would be easy, though expensive for Honda. But that is not obviously the case. Does the Element glass meet DOT requirements?

paulj

[quote:b087b51933=" "]just what is the nature of this design flaw with the windshield? Lots of complaints, but no little evidence of a specific flaw, much less a solution.[/quote:b087b51933]

Paul my *theory* (not a fact, a theory) is that the shapes of the mounting surfaces and/or the flexing of those surfaces are putting torsional stress on the windshield under certain conditions or on certain vehicles.

Another theory: that the shape of some of those mounting surfaces are out of spec and/or more likely to bend on some Es.

My "evidence": the vast majority of cracks start under one of the wipers and contains a very small pit in the blackened zone of the windshield. That just seems regular too be coincidental.

not a real engineer,
-brendan

neelie - can you take a picture or two of the cracks on your windshield and post them to see if the fall into (what I consider to be) the stress crack pattern?

-brendan

keep in mind, though, that rock hits near the base of the windshield are more likely to grow into cracks than ones near the top. This is because the base goes though strong temperature changes when you use the defrost or AC.

data from personal experience:
- S10 pickup, rock hit near top center, stable for more than 10 yrs
- RAV4, rock hit near wipers, stable for a few months, then spread before my eyes while using defrost
- Element, rock hit upper left corner in black area, star shape, stable since last fall.
- Element, rock hit lower left (5 inches up), crecent, stable since last summer. Stability may be due more to shape than position.

If an Xpel like film could be applied to lower 2 inches of the windshield without messing with wiper motion, a lot of these low cracks might be prevented - if they originate with rock hits.

There is not doubt that glass cracks most easily if something like a scratch or pit concentrates stress at a point. The classic way to cut glass is to scratch the surface with a diamond, and bend the glass over a sharp edge. Windshield glass, despite the fact that it has a plastic mid layer, probably behaves the same. In the absence of such a stress concentrator, the large scale flexing or torsion of the glass may not do anything.

Could the shape of the hood cause rocks to hit the lower part of the windshield more often? I haven't noticed any concentration of bug hits at that level. I also wonder about the prominent trim on the sides of the windshield, and how it deflects the air flow, but again, no special bug problems there.

How about inadequate bedding compound along the lower edge. Is too much weight supported on the lower edge? One person's glass installer thought that was a problem, but I would think a lot of other glass installers would have noted such a problem, if it really existed.

How about the steepness of the glass? There are other cars with glass as steep as the Element's. I had an Isuzu Trooper II with steep flat windshield, with no rock hits or cracks in 4 years. I'm sure its body wasn't stiffer than the Element's. For that matter, what of the windshields of soft top Wranglers? Why no loud complaints from those quarters?

paulj

[quote:aca5c31054=" "]How about the steepness of the glass? There are other cars with glass as steep as the Element's. I had an Isuzu Trooper II with steep flat windshield, with no rock hits or cracks in 4 years. I'm sure its body wasn't stiffer than the Element's. For that matter, what of the windshields of soft top Wranglers? Why no loud complaints from those quarters?[/quote:aca5c31054]

Or Greyhound buses...they traverse highways 90% of the time? And I'm sure their wraparound windshields are *very* expensive to replace. :)

It can't just be the angle...

-brendan