advice windshield sealed with urethane but has leak - > silicone to seal?
 

I have a good windshield in place with a urethane seal ... except in one place :) where the urethane separated from the glass. I went to buy some 3M urethane to seal the leaky area but it states to let the two surfaces get tacky before putting them together. So, it does not appear urethane can be used to fix the leak where the glass meets with the metal with the urethane already there in between. I am wondering if this is where one uses silicone to seal that leak. Or, use some other "glue".

I'm not optimistic that silicone will do the job. I'd say RTV would be a better choice. But, if the urethane seperated from the glass, it wasn't prepped correctly, so you can probably expect more separation. OTOH, maybe they just missed one part with the primer, and it won't come apart any more. Long out of warranty, I assume?

A removal and reinstall would be the best fix.

Long out of warranty.

Removal would be best but 10 mins and right materials ($5-$20) might be all that is needed.

I have seen articles that recommend butyl but they all say it is very messy. There are a lot of silicone products.

I dislike silicone. Especially for exterior or automotive applications. Try Lexel.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lexe..._AUoAHoECAAQAw

It has its place, but this ain't its place.


Hmmm. New to me! If the manufacturer is to be believed, this is good stuff. :)


Thanks for the tip!

I'm not saying you should do this, but this is what my brother did. If you have total glass coverage in your insurance, purposely crack the windshield and get it replaced. It's free. Stones come flying off trucks quite often. You're paying for that insurance, why not use it? Then you will have a windshield free of miniature stone chips.

Thanks for the suggestion. Some states, like Michigan, have this coverage to my understanding. I wish they did where I live. It makes no sense to do windshield claim on insurance in my state as it goes under your comprehensive deductible which would run more than paying for the windshield outright. Having said this when windshield insurance was more prevalent replacing a windshield was much more expensive. To give you an idea currently - $85 + 40 install with ppg windshield.

It generally comes with Comprehensive Damage coverage and only costs me $14 a year additional. With the Comprehensive, there is a deductible, but not on glass.

My brother purposely broke his. I had a tree limb fall on mine!

That would be defrauding the insurance company.

Yup. Moral questions aside, risking a felony arrest for a $250 windshield?

Does not compute.

This is absolutely true which is why I said it wasn't my idea, but that's why my brother did it. As I said, Mine got cracked in a storm by having tree limb fall on it. My stupid brother took that as a chance it get his replaced for free. Same storm, BTW.