Windscreen Edge Trim Came Off ! How To Repair?

[jasonic]

yikes:::This morning cruising merrily on the Autoroute 110km/hr and strong crosswind, suddenly the rubber trim seal down the driver-side vertical edge of the windscreen came undone !

 

This is a long single piece of rubber, with an inner soft aluminum [?] channel designed to hold it in place. Runs in a single piece all along the top of roof under the roof rack, then down the edge of windscreen to near the wiper cover.

 

I was able to bend it quickly and puts lots of tape on it, so at least I could return safely.

A friendly young mechanic at body shop garage, said these can be crazy expensive to replace, or pay garages, so advised me to do it myself. He said use pliers and screwdriver carefully to:

 

-- take the big kinks out

-- tighten the metal channel within the rubber

-- then apply a building grade polyurethane adhesive [liquid nails] along metal ridge near the windscreen edge

-- carefully fix the rubber profile back onto this glue bead

-- tape it back over and wait till it sets..

 

Before I tackle it, does anyone here have experience of doing this, advice or warnings?

thanks

 

 

[BrianH]

I'd use proper windscreen adhesive personally rather than liquid nails. At least then if you have to replace the windscreen at some point it shouldn't cause too many extra problems.

 

Not had to do it personally though.

[jasonic]

"windscreen adhesive"  ... Brian, thanks for the heads-up. Until today I had not known about this /doh!

 

I found this: http://en.foerch.com/productgroup.aspx?g=41cceb44-297d-48b0-a6ef-e8a0ee7cb8a7

Seems to be all-seasons polyurethane glue+sealant as suggested, but suitable against frost especially. Nice :-)

 

I'm curious about "Highly modular, 'non-conducting' (10^-8 Siemens)" what does that mean do you think, and why important?

Edited April 3, 2013 by jasonic

[BrianH]

Not sure what the second bit is referring to. At a guess non-conducting is referring to either heat or electricity. Wouldn't have thought electricity would matter as only a heated screen would have any electricity on it anyway and that would be sealed inside the glass as far as i know. Maybe someone else can suggest a reason why this might matter or not?

 

The main reasons for the windscreen glue is you should be fine with having it in contact with the bit thats come off of yours, it shouldn't do any harm to the windscreen (anything that dries hard could cause it to crack due to stresses involved) and should be ok in an outdoor application (the weather shouldn't affect it).

[chrispb123456]

I used black silicone sealer on mine, the strip fits in a channel down the side of screen so is not actually stuck to the glass.

Edited April 3, 2013 by chrispb123456

[jasonic]

right..

I just looked around some french forums for "colle pare-brise"  [windscreen adhesive]

 

They advise against regular 'liquid nails' products as they won't last long!

Many do recommend SIKAFLEX 11FC+

.. but note it takes some hours / overnight to really set --use tape or better clamps till done.

It seems there other specific professional windscreen adhesives.

Same chemistry as the Sikflex above, but tweaked to set faster, more expensive, less widely available.

 

clean up solvents if one makes a mess..

-- petrol as solution for glue spills on paintwork

-- acetone on windscreen/glass 

 

Surprising\\scary to read of many in france using this same glue also to fix AILERONS on the tops and back of their cars!

Hate to be on highway at speed behind that - though perhaps we all have.

Adhesives are improving so fast these days, but still I'd think a couple bolts would be advised? 

Edited April 3, 2013 by jasonic

[jasonic]

I used black silicone sealer on mine, the strip fits in a channel down the side of screen so is not actually stuck to the glass.

 

-- how long to dry ?

-- Do you have any tips  for straightening out the seal, prep before glueing back? 

Mine is bent //ffuggled in in two places.  

[chrispb123456]

Set overnight, I just wedged a peice of rolled cardboard between the strip and the bonnet to keep pressure on it, mine wasn't really bent so went back easily, can only suggest straightening carefully and make sure it will fit in position before applying sealer/silicone as you could get very messy otherwise.

[jasonic]

Set overnight, I just wedged a peice of rolled cardboard between the strip and the bonnet to keep pressure on it, mine wasn't really bent so went back easily, can only suggest straightening carefully and make sure it will fit in position before applying sealer/silicone as you could get very messy otherwise.

 thanks

 

..as it happened, while local garage was testing and refilling the AC, they offered to glue windscreen trim back.

Applied some good strong black mastic. Only charged me a couple of euros = ok

Told me to wait 48 hours with tape over it. Any excess can remove carefully with a knife. It has now hardened up really well.