Alas, new problem: Windshield Stress Fracture. Anyone else?

[ModelS1079]

Have a crack I just noticed, about one inch only, to the right of the windshield mirror, looking from inside the car. Looks like a stress fracture to me. Have to give my S a calcium supplement with vitamin D. and bring it to Service.

 

[smd]

I just had my windshield replaced by the Fremont Factory's Service Center. I was told they would get it done in one day. It turned out that they finished it at the end of the work day and didn't want me driving it right away (let the adhesive cure for a few hours), so I picked it up this morning. I had the Enterprise rental car provided by Tesla. The windshield looks great now. Initially, the service advisor tried to say it started from a chip and tried to make me pay for it. What he was claiming as the chip was barely visible and but you did feel a small divot as you run your finger along the crack. Maybe it was a small chip that started it, but there are chips like that on ALL cars of ALL makes and it does not result in a crack, so that would still be a design/manufacturing issue that the windshield cannot stand up to a tiny chip like that. I insisted on having it covered under warranty and after he briefly spoke to the manager, it was covered.

While I was there, I shared a ride over to Enterprise with another service customer. She was getting her rear child seats installed, but she said that she's had her windshield already replaced twice and is now on her third windshield. That one also has a crack on the driver's side that started with a chip from road debris. It really does seem like the windshield is much more fragile than those on other cars.

 

[Trnsl8r]

Dropped mine off at Fremont this morning for windshield replacement. No big deal. Replacing it goes quickly but it needs to sit for X hours and cure. I was told I could pick up around five. Got a rental from Enterprise as part of the deal. All on warranty.

And feast your eyes of the view from their parking lot. Easily 100+ Model S waiting for treatment and owners...

 

[goaliemanshark]

That picture is both glorious and terrifying (if all those cars need work)

 

[smd]

That picture is both glorious and terrifying (if all those cars need work)

Most of those cars are brand new off the assembly line. They get some final inspection and testing before factory delivery or shipment. I would guess there are maybe 15 Model S and 5 roadsters there for actual service.

It is really cool to be able to see all the different paint/interior/wheel combos that folks are ordering. The brown is more attractive than I remember from the test drive event.

 

[Getting Amped So]

I think the windshield cracking is a design flaw, not a supplier or manufacturing issue. Just conjecture, but I believe it is a thermal stress problem created at low temperatures. Glass is not designed to flex and and a curved brittle material needs to be able to "float" in its restraint system during thermal contraction. Any restraint will create bending stresses in the curved regions. The only fix for this is to allow the windshield to float more, either with a different elastomeric adhesive or one that doesn't stiffen up as much at cold temperatures. Too many people are noticing this after a cold night in the garage for this to not be a thermal stress problem, IMO.

 

[4sevens.com]

Mine delivered with three cracks three weeks ago. Waiting for a replacement to arrive... They estimate this week sometime.

 

[badpenny]

I am so glad to find this thread. I too got a crack after a few weeks of having the car in the exact same place as Vger. I thought it was a rock, but couldn't find any chip anywhere along the crack. I am going to call Service today.

 

[meduri]

I'm glad to see this thread but worried about my windshield. It's been 9 days after my windshield had a crack of more than a foot length and Atlanta Service Center still waiting to get the replacement windshield from the factory. The crack getting bigger day by day. May be too many cracks in the west coast and nothing to ship to east coast??

 

[jerry33]

Well, you can at least tell the California origins as they have faithfully copied the San Andreas fault.

 

[steve841]

Curios to know ..... anyone who has received a new windshield:

Is the OEM blacked out areas the same?
Is there any distortion in the lower inch or so? Worse/better?

 

[efxjim]

I am not surprised there is a lot of cracking going on. The glass that they selected (Ashai glass) is usually very good glass. But I question the quality of our glass. The windshield glass has the large distortion band across the bottom and the back window is very uneven (distorted) which tells me the thickness is not uniform. Glass that is not a uniform thickness when placed under stress tends to have concentrated areas of force that leaves the glass prone to cracking. I would be interested to know if the replaced windshields are also breaking. The factory installation method might have introduced abnormal stress. The replacement glass might not have that built in stress.
If the bond between the frame and the glass is too tight the aluminum has greater expansion than the glass. (Coefficient of Expansion in inches of expansion per inch of material per degree F. Aluminum 0.0000123 - 0.0000129 vs Glass, plate 0.0000050.) The urethane glue should allow the expansion to occur if there is a little space between them.

 

[Robert.Boston]

It really does seem like the windshield is much more fragile than those on other cars.

This is important to note when you choose your insurance. $0 deductible on glass is a cheap option.

 

[UMD86]

This is important to note when you choose your insurance. $0 deductible on glass is a cheap option.

Good point

- - - Updated - - -

I think the windshield cracking is a design flaw, not a supplier or manufacturing issue. Just conjecture, but I believe it is a thermal stress problem created at low temperatures. Glass is not designed to flex and and a curved brittle material needs to be able to "float" in its restraint system during thermal contraction. Any restraint will create bending stresses in the curved regions. The only fix for this is to allow the windshield to float more, either with a different elastomeric adhesive or one that doesn't stiffen up as much at cold temperatures. Too many people are noticing this after a cold night in the garage for this to not be a thermal stress problem, IMO.

I love this message board. You get an appreciation of everyone's occupational/technical field whether it's electrical, mechanical, medical, finance, you name it. I have to commend everyone's helpful opinions and expertise.

 

[85KWh]

Got the phone call from Tesla 2 days ago. They will ship out a new windshield to an installer of my choosing. I am worried this is going to happen again after reading these additional comments. Incredible that so many of us are having them in the exact same spot, with the same extension pattern !

 

[ggr]

I think the windshield cracking is a design flaw, not a supplier or manufacturing issue. Just conjecture, but I believe it is a thermal stress problem created at low temperatures. Glass is not designed to flex and and a curved brittle material needs to be able to "float" in its restraint system during thermal contraction. Any restraint will create bending stresses in the curved regions. The only fix for this is to allow the windshield to float more, either with a different elastomeric adhesive or one that doesn't stiffen up as much at cold temperatures. Too many people are noticing this after a cold night in the garage for this to not be a thermal stress problem, IMO.

I agree. In my case I came down from a cold mountain top (well, about 55 degrees F, but cold for here) to a quite warm valley (95 F). But the replacement has been fine for 4 months, despite some pretty extreme temperature variations. So I think it is indeed the adhesive or something related.

 

[smd]

Curios to know ..... anyone who has received a new windshield:

Is the OEM blacked out areas the same?
Is there any distortion in the lower inch or so? Worse/better?

My replacement is done by Tesla service at the factory service center in Fremont. It is exactly the same as my previous windshield (minus the crack!). The main difference is that the replacement is installed by hand and the factory install is using the robots. I hope that difference means less stress on the windshield and no further cracking for me.

 

[mrbry]

doooh, this just happened to me after a bit over 1 month of ownership and 2.9K miles! I also just had the windshield tinted too.... Spot is just like other posters that uploaded pics. It's this sort of L shaped line coming up from the center of the windshield.

 

[mrbry]

doooh, this just happened to me after a bit over 1 month of ownership and 2.9K miles! I also just had the windshield tinted too.... Spot is just like other posters that uploaded pics. It's this sort of L shaped line coming up from the center of the windshield.

I take mine back. Mine was actually due to a rock that got trapped under the windshield wiper arm. What a weird angle for a rock to come in...

 

[andybm3]

I had the same issue less than 2 weeks after delivery and it was replaced under warranty