Interesting observation

Post by **Briano1234** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:15 pm

I noticed that my Green cabby has had a replacement windshield it has rust around the window frame.

My old rabbit diesel had the same windshield for 20 years... never rusted.

My blue one has the original windshield no rust...

So is the rust around the windshield frame, from a shoddy replacement, Oh I suspect so. They must nick the paint or something and that allows water to penetrate..... So in the future if your windshield needs to be replaced make sure that all nicks from a knife or scratches through the primer are covered..............

gull · Post by **gull** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:08 am

That probably does contribute, but I can honestly say I've had rust around original, factory glass on some of my cars.

I think the root of the problem is water getting under the seal -- either because the rubber is dried out and shrunken, or because an aftermarket seal was fitted poorly. Once rust starts, it pushes the seal out further (because steel expands as it rusts) and that contributes to more water leakage.

Post by **Calimus** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:27 pm

Ding, ding, ding - I think we have a winner.

I've seen factory as well as replacement windsheild areas rust. It all boils down the seals as far as I can tell. The onein my rocco started leaking about 2 years ago after it rained and then froze one night. Best I could tell, some water got a bit down into the seal but not enough to leak untill it froze and pushed it out some more. Bad thing was that the water would leak right onto my fuse panel. I fixed it with some clear bathroom sealent. Not the greatest fix, but it will do my bidding till I can do the right thing and it's held for two years so far.

However, I always make sure to test it every time I wash the car.