Beware! Do NOT wash your car in the sun!!

[PhantomVE]

Hi All!

Has anyone ever heard of a windscreen cracking in the heat when splashing a bit of hosewater on it??

It was a warm, not boiling hot, day. Windows were down. I put them up, hosed my car down, washed with cold soapy water, washed the soap off with the hose. suddenly, CRACK. There is a large crack down the front of my windscreen and shooting off to the passenger side!!

I have not heard of this happening before. Any similar experiences? More importantly, do you think Holden will cover this under the new car warranty? - windows don't seem to be excluded from my warranty book.

I will try my luck and post an update on how i go..

[savage1987]

lmao I have never seen that happen in my life, and we washed 50+ cars a day in full sun at the caryard.. freeeak accident!

[LightningVP]

Thats a strange thing to happen I washed my the other day in the boiling hot sun windows up and mine didn't crack

[Zuicider]

any chance it was started from a small chip or sumthing?

[TA 91 WA]

Got any photos?

[v8_stato]

thats weird as mate.how longs the crack?

[Cobez]

If you used a high pressure hose, most likely you hit a small chip or tiny crack in the windscreen and the water pressure may POSSIBLY have forced the crack to split down the windscreen.

Who knows, freakier things have happened.

[Troy5L]

its mainly from something hot gettin cooled to quickly and it contracts causing it to crack i think...
probably didnt help that you had the windows down then put them up, coz the car would of filld with hot/warm air...
its happend at my work, a peice of glass has been sitting in the sun and then gets moved into shade and it shatters in the guys hands

[Morton]

There was probably already stress on the structure of the glass Obviously if you put glass in ice cold water, then hit it with boiling water, it will crack - but 40-50deg down to 20deg shouldn't have that effect unless there's something wrong with the glass.

[Cobez]

I thought windscreen glass could withstand extreme temperature changes as opposed to say a glass you drink out of (which i have seen that happen to a few times).

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Happened to me in my old VN commy!
Was a real hot day and i turned the hose on untill the water ran cool ect then washed the windscreen and she split straight down the middle its just when the glass heats it expands and when its hit with real cool water it shrinks to quickly and cracks!

[greenacc]

Thats an expensive car wash mate.
as said above, plus the fact that the glass is hot on one side and cool on the other( from the water). The difference in temp creates tension in the glass and you know what happens next ... bit surprising tho, i thought the double layer would have stopped that happening.

[Scooter79]

lmao I have never seen that happen in my life, and we washed 50+ cars a day in full sun at the caryard.. freeeak accident!

Thats a strange thing to happen I washed my the other day in the boiling hot sun windows up and mine didn't crack

You never, ever wash a car in direct sun on a hot day. The water instantly evaporates and what you are left with is minerals from the water sitting on the paint. That's what creates water spots which will actually etch into the paint and will be irreparable. Nothing to do with window cracking but still something to think about.

[greenacc]

Not to mention the detergent baking onto the surface. Every bottle of 'car wash' i ever read says don't wash your car in the sun. ( I do rinse mine to cool it down sometimes... never again tho )

[vlv8vic]

Try and avoid washing it in full sun.

My thought is that there was already a crack or fracture in the glass.
I had a small crack on my windscreen from a bit of the old rust under the seal. Nice few days in the sun while i was on holidays sent the sucker full width of the screen. Goes to show how change in temp can affect glass.

[aceventura]

bit surprising tho, i thought the double layer would have stopped that happening.

I think the double layer is to blame. I have never seen a glass jar or beaker crack changing from 60 degrees to 20 degree, but I have seen it happen from 100 degree to 4 degrees.

It is happened to me once and Dad once, both times there was already a small crack in the windscreen.

I think the main problem (apart from the cracks) is the plastic laminate insulates the inside from the outside of the glass. You spray the car with water, the outer layer cools and contracts, but the inner layer stays hot and doesn't contract. Puts stress on the glass and gives at any point of weakness.

[Ozzie]

Its not uncommon for glass to crack under extreme temp diffrences.
Reason ur not sposed to wash ur car in the sun is cous the soap dries on it too quick leaving streaks.
Not because of the glass cracking however

Did you apply much preasure to the glass when you washed it?
As someone mentioned.... a stone chip can start it.

[PhantomVE]

Thanks for the posts guys. I do usually try not to wash my car in direct sunlight - reason is the paint thing. However, as i said it wasn't a scortching hot day. maybe around 30C at around 2pm. The car was also semi-shaded by a tree.

The strange thing is, there was never even a small crack or chip (that i noticed). and the hose water wasn't THAT cold, also it happened when the hose wasn't aimed at the glass, i was standing in front of the car rinsing off the roof. May have been a fault in the glass. I am yet to find out if warranty or insurance will cover it (i have a quote for $275 though)

Did i mention it is a BLACK car? and yes it does heat up REAL quick lol.

One of those freak things i guess, but i know i won't be washing my car in the sunlight again!

[Scooter79]

Black cars do definitely get hotter than lighter colours. Believe me, I've owned a white VS for eight years and now the black one for the past three years.

Talking about the windscreen thing. I don't know how true it is but I've heard someone mention that on a really hot day with all the windows up, the inside of a car can get so hot that the pressure builds up and in extreme cases the windscreen seal can 'pop'. This is why I always leave the front windows down a cm and use a silver sun shade when parked.

[vlv8vic]

Black cars do definitely get hotter than lighter colours. Believe me, I've owned a white VS for eight years and now the black one for the past three years.

Talking about the windscreen thing. I don't know how true it is but I've heard someone mention that on a really hot day with all the windows up, the inside of a car can get so hot that the pressure builds up and in extreme cases the windscreen seal can 'pop'. This is why I always leave the front windows down a cm and use a silver sun shade when parked.

i've heard teh same thing. would have though there were other places for heat and pressure to 'vent' before having to break something.
My merc has these two little trunks into the engine bay for helping de-pressurise. something different.

[Zeussy]

haha.. ooops!!

yeah i had this happen to me one day when i was washing my VT, i had a decent sized stone chip on the passenger side of the windscreen, and was washing on a warmish day, in shade from a big tree, and same thing windows down, was cleaning the inside of the car first,
wound the windows up started by hosing down the whole car, first on the screen, then went around the side, then heard this big a** crack, didnt think anything of it, kept washing when i got the the windscreen thought of S*** that wasnt there before lol..

i think its something to do with hot air in the car, and the windscreen from being hot aswell, then cooling it off with the water?
ive seen quite a few VT's with big cracks on the passenger side, so im thinking there could be a bit of stress on that side of the screen,

i just put it down to the chip, and the temp. change, drove around like it for two years!
what sort of car is it, i know a few places around the central coast to get a windcreen for a VT-VZ for like $200 - $220 trade, fitted, where i used to work (council) we had quite a few that got done, and the guys always lookd after us employee's..

[PhantomVE]

haha.. ooops!!

yeah i had this happen to me one day when i was washing my VT, i had a decent sized stone chip on the passenger side of the windscreen, and was washing on a warmish day, in shade from a big tree, and same thing windows down, was cleaning the inside of the car first,
wound the windows up started by hosing down the whole car, first on the screen, then went around the side, then heard this big a** crack, didnt think anything of it, kept washing when i got the the windscreen thought of S*** that wasnt there before lol..

i think its something to do with hot air in the car, and the windscreen from being hot aswell, then cooling it off with the water?
ive seen quite a few VT's with big cracks on the passenger side, so im thinking there could be a bit of stress on that side of the screen,

i just put it down to the chip, and the temp. change, drove around like it for two years!
what sort of car is it, i know a few places around the central coast to get a windcreen for a VT-VZ for like $200 - $220 trade, fitted, where i used to work (council) we had quite a few that got done, and the guys always lookd after us employee's..

That is earily the EXACT same story as mine lol! my car is a black VE. I have drilled a hole at the end of the crack to stop the rapid spreading. I also noticed a small bit of glass wedged in the dash, i assume the guy before me smashed his windscreen and replaced it. Probably wasn't put on properly or allowed to cure completly.