[james509]

Have you ever heard of this before? I was setting in my 2005 X letting the ice melt on the windshield the other night, and heard a sharp snap. The glass broke right where the defroster was blowing on it. I have a 5 or 6 inch long crack now. Has this happen to anyone else?

[Erik T.]

Yep, it happens a lot to folks. Especially if you got a chip in your windshield.

I've always been afraid of this happening, especially with Jeep windshields that are almost verticle and catch tons of rocks and gravel. I usually turn the heat on to the floors or torso height.

In other words, I don't use Defroster cause it puts immediate heat on the windshield. This way it warms up more slowly and less likely to crack.

I try to fire up the jeep I good 10 minutes or so before I drive on cold mornings.

[james509]

Thanks, Something I didn't put in the first post is that I had pulled the fuse for the AC compressor so it wouldn't be running all the time on defrost. I wonder if that made the defroster air too hot?

[Erik T.]

To be honest I'm not sure, I don't know much about that.

But Wrangler heaters are hot as hell as they are. Sometimes the plastic gets pretty hot to touch on the vents.

[masetj]

Yep just happened to me 2 days ago while driving down the highway. Small chip from a semi truck right by the middle defroster and now there is a crack 5 inches vertical. I had the defroster running for about 15 minutes and the crack grew another inch.

[scrnnmssuck]

Every morning the when its cold mine starts to crack slowly but surely alittle more...

[davenjeip]

Had a huge stone chip that turned into a vertical crack.

Turned on my defroster on the trail a few weekends ago and watched a big vertical crack appear.

Very common on all vehicles.

[Pointblank]

Its fairly common, usually happens when its cold. The heat from the defrost causes the windshield to slightly expand. A weak spot in the glass, (such as a stone chip), gives a place for a crack to start. Once they start, they usually continue to grow over time.

[JeepCreepn01]

that crack will just get longer over the winter

[Combatsylvania]

lol, my brother (way back in the day) wanted to defrost the windshield on the wagoneer quickly, and plugged an electric microfurnace in and set it on the dash... CRRAACK

With regards to AC being disabled, your fine.. the AC runs with defrost to remove moisture from the air, its not required to 'cool' the hot air... heck some of us poor souls dont got AC at all..

As mentioned above, it wouldnt hurt to start with floor or dash heat, and once the interior warms a touch, then put on the defroster... Just to limit the shock to the glass..

I would invest in some liquid de-icer, spray that on to melt most of the frost, and use a lower heat setting to melt whats left...

Some of us change our windhshields more often then we change our oil..

[Erik T.]

What's this liquid DeIcer stuff?

[james509]

As far as I know, I didn't have any rock chips. Jeep dealer quoted me about $200 to replace it. You can bet I'll be careful with this one.

[None]

yep happened to me too. bought my brand new LJ august 15th of 05 and october 15th i was driving on a cold morning and the windshield cracked. got it replaced the next day...

[unsung]

Originally Posted by james509

As far as I know, I didn't have any rock chips. Jeep dealer quoted me about $200 to replace it. You can bet I'll be careful with this one.

Does the dealer do the work or do they send it out? You might save money calling a glass house first.

[james509]

It will be Factory glass instaled at the dealership. I called a glass place and they wanted $260.