e-man

Hey guys. It's been a while. Hope everyone is doing well.

I'm hoping someone with some knowledge can chime in here. I have a 99 GS400 with 133,000 miles. In May, 2006 (yes, 3 years ago), a rock hit my windshield (the original Toyota OEM glass), and the windshield needed to be replaced. I watched the installer do the entire job. He used a tool to cut out the original glass that kind of resembled a meat cleaver. It was basically a hand tool with a hook at the end of it. I assume that's pretty standard for the industry.

Anyway, as he was pulling the tool along the top edge of the glass from the passenger side of the car, the tool got stuck, about 1/2 way between the center line and the end of the passenger side of the glass. At this point, it looked like he had to exert a lot of force, and when he was finally able to pull the hook through the point where it was stuck, the hook released and he almost lost his balance, stumbling backwards.

Anyway, that was 3 years ago. As I was washing my car today, I noticed this, pretty much in the exact same spot where his tool got stuck and he had to force it through.

Has anyone ever seen this before? Let me know what you think. Thanks.

e

BLAZE

iTrader: (2)

When he cut out the original window, he must of dug the blade into the paint exposing bare metal. He should of applied a bare metal primer, all around the edges, once he removed the windshield. This would have prevented the rust. That sux that these guy's don't take pride in what they do.

3UZFTE

My friends gs4 did the same thing, except he bought his from the dealer like that. He got it for cheap and just had it painted. I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune.

e-man

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm 99% sure that the windshield company will deny any responsibility. And, I guess I can't say that I would blame them. After all, it's been 3 years, and there's no way the installer would remember the incident.

So, here's my questions:

(a) Can it be fixed?

(b) What will it entail to fix it? Is it just a matter of removing the molding at the top of the windshield, sanding off the rust, putting on some filler, and repainting? Will they have to remove the windshield to do the job properly?

(c) What are the chances that the rust will come back?

(d) About how much will this cost?

Thanks.

e

garabaldy

Well my 98 GS4 is doing the same thing from a shotty window replace... I'm gong to have the window removed then spend time grinding the rust out, treat with a rust encapsulator, fill with body filler, smooth it out, then repaint. Then have a new window (mine is pitted) installed under my close supervision.

e-man

I thought I would provide an update.

I had the rust fixed about a month ago. As it turns out, the rust was not coming from under the windshield, but rather was limited to the edge of the roof. Apparently, I had a few stone chips there, and it began to rust.

Here's how it played out. As I stated above, I was ABSOLUTELY SURE the rust was coming from underneath and that they would have to pull the windshield in order to fix it. The body shop agreed. As luck would have it, their glass guy was out of town for the week so they had no one around to pull out the windshield. So I decided to call the windshield company that installed it. Even though it had been 3 years, the owner of the company remembered me well (or at least so he said). He wanted to avoid removing the windshield at all costs because he was concerned that it would break due to a small stone chip I got about a year ago. He thought if we could remove the molding strip at the top of the windshield, we could get a better look of what was going on underneath and could actually see whether the rust was originating from under the winshield. I thought this was a good idea, but the problem was that the molding strip is actually tucked under the windshield. In fact, as I recall, it was actually attached to the new windshield before they installed it.

Anyway, they came up with the ingenious idea of cutting the molding strip off the car. By doing this, they were able to inspect the area more closely and determine that the rust was limited to the edge of the roof and not anywhere near the windshield. By cutting out the molding strip, obviously, the lip of the molding strip remained tucked under the windshield, so after the job was done and the area was repainted, in order to install the new molding strip, they had to cut off the lip portion that would normally tuck under the windshield, and then they just glued the molding strip in place. It's kind of hard to explain, so hopefully this makes sense.

Anyway, the moral of the story here is that you shouldn't assume anything. You have nothing to lose by cutting out the molding strip to see whether the rust is actually coming from beneath the windshield. If it turns out the rust is just limited to the edge of the roof, you saved yourself the hassle of removing the windshield. If it's coming from beneath, well, then you have to remove the windshield and you've lost nothing other than the time and money it takes to cut out the molding strip.

e

VNN326

iTrader: (21)

i dont think this is the window's replacement's fault. it looks like normal wear and tear. the paint is bubbled ready to chip off, and that takes time to happen. 1+ your weather really effects rust. just a little sand and repaint should fix the problem.