So my disco's had a leaky windshield for a few years now - I'm getting quite tired of having it take up more than half of my garage at all times because it rains quite arbitrarily here in the PNW.

I haven't had it fixed because I only seem to find glass shops who insist they won't even TRY to simply re-seal it, and will ONLY replace it. It's the original factory heated/antenna windshield in otherwise excellent condition, and replacing it with even an off-brand version is very pricey.

I know there's always a chance a windscreen will break when trying this, but I at least want someone to TRY.

I recently had a guy come give me a quote for an AC system in my home and he loved my disco. When I mentioned its only problem being the windscreen leak, he said he knew someone in the state (Washington) who could re-seal them. I asked him to let me know who that was, and he never followed up with me on it.

I genuinely don't mind driving the damn truck to the other side of the state, I just want someone to try to save my windshield, all it needs is a new gasket.

Does anyone in the PNW know of a glass shop/body shop that is willing to try this surgery?

 

Hey fellow PNW’er, I feel the pain, or at least used to. Part of the problem is that windshields aren’t sealed with a gasket, they are literally glued in place which both attaches it and acts as the watertight seal. Where is it leaking from that you need to reseal it? If it’s from the sides you can move the A-pillar trim and get in there and if it’s coming in from the bottom (as mine was) you can undo the windshield cowl to gain access. If it’s from the top, that’s the trouble, be cause the windshield finisher is a “one and done” component and can’t be removed and replaced without changing the windshield.

Story Time #1: When I bought my truck it leaked from the bottom and would just blast air in there as well, the top of the windshield was “trimmed” with black duct tape because there was no finisher but at least it didn’t leak from there, so I left that alone. What I couldn’t stand was water and wind blasting up from underneath in to the front seats. I removed the windshield cowl and found a 6” gap in the sealing where there was just a literal hole from the outside to the inside. I sealed it up with some caulk which fixed it (as ghetto as it was, it was obvious the windshield had been replaced very poorly by the PO). I have a post documenting my experience somewhere if you want to search it out.

Story Time/Tip? #2: Windshield insurance is cheap, $5 a month with a $100 deductible and no impact on your insurance rates. I have it on all my cars, my Subaru is coming up on it’s 3rd replacement (the heat wave in July caused the exterior trim to buckle). When I got a rock chip on my Disco I just waited and “encouraged” it to develop in to a crack. Pulled in to Safelite and $100 later had a brand new professionally installed windshield. No more leaks, no more duct tape, AND got the OEM heated glass installed (the PO had replaced it with non-heated in his super cheap and crappy fix).

FYI: The antenna is only in the rear quarter panel glass, any wires in the front glass are for the heating elements.

 

What's the windshield finisher piece? That upper trim that surrounds the windscreen? If so, I removed mine when I was hunting down the leak in the first place.

As for glass coverage - I have it, but the windshield is just perfect otherwise and I don't drive it very much because of the aforementioned leak (it's ridiculously small, not enough to run down the windshield any more since I chased the line with some RTV (wrong, I know, but was a ghetto repair since it was outside and my garage at the time didn't have space) so the windshield is likely never going to actually get a crack that requires replacement on its own - short of the old "golf ball and a hammer" trick.

The big worry for me is that the interior has sprung mold once when I didn't realize the truck was leaking for a few weeks unused. I had to run an ozone generator in it and VERY thoroughly clean and scrub the whole damn truck. Not something I want to happen again.