[phishy4]

I just had my windshield replaced a couple days ago. The work was done by the auto glass division of the honda dealer I use for work (the better of the honda dealers around here). The install itself looks good, but upon inspection I noticed that the plastic wiper cowl doesn't sit on the windshield itself except for at the corners, there is a 1/4 inch gap between it and the glass in the middle. Is this normal? I can't remember if it was like that with the factory windshield or not. I told them they've gotta come check it out tomorrow, but I don't know much if anything I can tell them if they try to argue with me about it.

 

[brwntrt]

Just had a look at mine while scraping 6" of snow, ugh, spring in the rockies! Strangely enough that's normal?

 

[phishy4]

Huh. So your's has the gap as well? I was sort of wondering if this was the case. Anyone else?

Just had a look at mine while scraping 6" of snow, ugh, spring in the rockies! Strangely enough that's normal?

 

[don sailing]

Two red clips

I work in collision repair and I have a friend who installs glass at our shop. I removed the lower black plastic cowl cover and the windshield post covers myself before he came to cut my glass out. Then, after we set the new windshield in, I reinstalled the trim. When I first put the cowl cover back on, I thought I'd put it back perfectly...only to notice that I had about a quarter inch gap in the center. So, I pulled it off again and realized that I did not have the two red clips in their holes. When I reinstalled it, I made sure those two clips went into their holes. I believe you may take a flashlight and look down into that quarter inch gap and you may see those red clips. It's my guess that they aren't inserted. If that's the case, have the glass shop remove the wipers...pull that trim up again...and when they go to snap the cowl cover back down, they need to snap the center area first...to make sure those clips are in. Then, I believe you'll be happy with that gap in the center. Hope this advice helps!

 

[ramblerdan]

Please take pictures, Phishy.

 

[lizzurd]

My wifes windsheild was repalaced 2 years ago and i never even noticed untill now that the center wasn`t sitting flush. I will be getting another windshield soon so i will fix it then.

 

[phishy4]

Thanks for the input guys (that's why I love this place). I'll get some pics tomorrow when I'm at work. They're coming back out to check it out, so I'll have them pull the cowl off and look for those 2 red clips, that seems to make sense as the rest of the install looks really clean.

 

[phishy4]

I didn't get a chance to grab pics yet, but he glass guys came out again, and I ran the clip thing by the installer and he knew exactly which clips I was talking about (he did most of the element windshield replacements for the recall or whatever). We kind of poked around in there and from what he could tell they were set right.

 

[don sailing]

Of course, without actually looking at your car myself, I can't say for certain that the red clips are not snapped in correctly. I know for my situation, I looked into the gap and could see those red clips....and they appeared to be snapped in place. As hard as I could push them, I still had the gap. So, I decided to remove the entire cowl cover again. It was when I removed it that I realized the clips hadn't been snapped into the holes. So, when reinstalling the cover, I was able to successfully snap those clips in first...and that large gap was gone. If that still doesn't work for you...well.....I don't know why the gap would be there. The cowl cover comes in two pieces. I know they have to be attached to each other precisely....and there are many other clips that must be in place. Like all Honda trim pieces, they are precise. No slop. Believe me, I work on a lot of cars that have a lot of slop!

Lots of luck!

 

[brwntrt]

fixed

Things thawed out enough this morning that I was able to push down on the cowling and hear the clips pop back into place. Probably a good thing to check every once in a while to keep stuff from building up behind it. Now if honda would re-design it so its flush with the hood to keep snow from packing underneath the wipers the E would be perfect!