Hello forum,

I noticed that the bottom of my car's windshield isn't sealed at the corners. The rubber seal that runs along the bottom edge of the glass is loose and easy to lift at the corners and there is water and debris in there. Once cleaned out, I can reach in with my finger and feel the bottom edge of the glass. Is this somehow normal? The windshield was replaced in 2017, I'm concerned it wasn't done right but don't have another 8 to compare with.

Thanks!

 

where exactly are you talking? I drove my 8 today and can run out a snag some pics if you want.

here's a pic I found of whats under the cowls

 

Remembered about this thread while deep cleaning the car for the summer. So here's the situation. The corner of the cowl seal is not water or even dirt-tight, which isn't filling me with great feelings. The windshield was replaced a while ago, is this how it's supposed to be?

 

I think that's normal. Mine is the same way and I never had any problem related to that area.

 

Interesting, thanks for confirming. The reason my windshield needed to be replaced in the first place was because the frame metal under the windshield rusted and put pressure on the glass. I took the car cover off in the spring to find a crack. If they're all like this, feels like less than ideal engineering...

 

Windshields are wear items, and cleaning under the trim should happen when they're replaced. Also, don't park under trees. The windshields are glued on in the frame, and the trim pretty much just covers up the transition. The rust is because someone who replaced the windshield in the past did so carelessly, and messed up the paint without fixing it. My glass guy uses a sawsall with a flexible stainless steel spatula sort of attachment to cut the glue and remove the old windshield. If he's not careful, the paint gets scratched in the obvious way. Kinda hard not to. There's a black sealer paint they're supposed to use when that happens, but half assed glass guys won't use it because it costs a few cents and seconds to do the job right. I can imagine quarter assed glass guys not even using the right tools.

 

Yeah this is why I'm concerned... they said they cleaned up the rust and sealed the area when replacing the cracked glass, but it's hard to imagine it wouldn't rust given the moist stuff in there. The windshield that cracked due to rust was the original factory windshield and I lived in condos back then, it was parked in the garage 95% of the time. She spends a ton more time outside now than before.

 

Can't rust unless the moisture and salts can get to the steel. If the paint is in tact, it should be fine. What's the road salt situation in Montreal?

 

Yeah we have salt. I guess I never thought to rustproof under the cowl, but the rest of the body is holding up well for 20 years old.

 

For the past 2 years I have been using NH oil undercoating for my rust prevention. They sell a fairly cheap 250$ kit that comes with 5gal(5+ cars) and a spray gun wand. Works great for all of the inner frame and impossible to reach areas. Only downside to the oil undercoat products is that we have to work on our cars so often. High chance you will touch something oil covered if you do the bottom of the car.

Otherwise one of my buddies just found the amsoil heavy duty metal protector product. Instead of staying oily it is more of a wax like coating.

Perhaps oil spray the inner areas to make use of the oil creep/spread. Then use the wax in common touch areas.