Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Morgan 4/4 Sports: broken windscreen :-(

Well, finally the weather has improved and I was planning to take the Mog for a larger trip over the Easter Weekend... but alas... I am off to a bad start:

Today when I removed the hood I got aware that I have a large crack in the windscreen right in front of the drivers seat (I am LHD) ...
... and I have no clue why :-(
I drove the car last time four weeks ago and the windscreen was still fine. Since than the hood was up permanently (as the car is parked in a shared garage).

All I can guess is that there was continued stress due to the hood. But this should clearly not happen?
Is this covered by the manufacturers guarantee?

Wilhelm,
Cracks such you describe are not uncommon.

I'm only guessing here, but do you/anyone else who drives the car/ any passengers ever hold on to the windscreen when you get into or out of the car?
This can often result in stress or flexing which then weakens the screen and can cause cracking.
As I say, it is purely a 'shot in the dark,' but it is a common cause of cracking
Putting the hood up in such a way that the tension is not evenly distributed can have the same result ( although less so with your car than the old, multi stud type of hoods)

best wishes,
G

Hello GLLHG,

thanks for your concern. No, I am the only driver and due to the harsh winter in Switzerland I had only twice a chance to drive the car (alone) since I fetches it from the UK dealership before Christmas.

But now that you mention it, from the start the hood was sitting tighter on the drivers side (LHD). The fasteners go off harder. Hmmm... if the hood is the problem, what could I do about it??

Wilhelm, if it is the hood, a dealer should be able to adjust it for you. The alignment may be off; however, as GLLHG said, there are other possibilities.

The frame of the screen also may be slightly off and therefore exerting stress on the glass. As was stated above, this often happens when people put weight on the windscreen frame when entering or exiting the car but it can also occur for other reasons (someone leaning on the car, etc).

Does your insurance have a windscreen policy? In the UK, it is quite common to have windscreen glass cover built into our car insurance and claiming on it doesn't effect our policy (or premiums).

If you have/had wind deflectors.. then the screws that hold them on, if over tightened cause the windscreen to crack.

Hello Cerealsurfer,

thanks for the advice on the wind deflectors. No, I have no deflectors so far. But actually I did consider buying some ... maybe I should reconsider.

If I can manage I will bring the car to the local Swiss dealer (fortunately just 15 miles away) an Monday and see what he thinks.

The crack is quite large. At least 7 inches :-( What are the risks of driving longer distances (probably with no hood in order to avoid further damage)?

Wilhelm,
From a UK point of view ( I'm not sure of the Swiss situation) it seems to me that there are two issues involved in driving the car

The first of these is the legal/ insurance issue because cracked windscreens can attract the attention of the legal system here

The second is from a safety point of view. If the hood is not erected then clearly that means there will be no tension/ stress from that source on the screen. The issue therefore becomes one of stress/ twisting from other sources acting on a screen which is already weakened.

Two problems immediately 'spring to mind': the force of the airstream against the screen ( which you can, to an extent reduce by driving more slowly) and flexing via the chassis ( an obvious issue in a Morgan because the chassis, is of course, flexible)

You might try running clear tape over the crack or using one the the several 'glues' which are designed to be spread over the crack. Both of these are, naturally, very temporary measures.

Regards,
G

Is your hood material everflex ? if so avoid long periods in very cold weather with the hood fully tensioned.You may be able to relieve the stress by lifting the rear section slightly.
With the old popperd hoods this appeard to be a common phenomenom in very cold weather.

Hi Basilisk, trust me, this is the issue on all 4/4 S (soon or late). I had mine replaced on the first day in traffic. The guys from Autoglass thought they received the wrong frame, when they replaced it. The windshield frame is 1cm too large for the original fitting. I picked up (replacement) screen pillars last week in the UK. The "dogleg" form creates an extra space of approx 1cm which takes the tension away from the windshield. The crack starts at the weakest spot and you will notice that it goes right down to the bottom of the windshield in a couple of days. Check if your insurance covers it as Autglass mentioned a price of +- 1200Euro. And...forget about MMC to cover the cost...you might be lucky if you get a reply;

Yesterday I drove to the local Swiss dealer. He thinks that this damage should be covered by the manufacturers guarantee.
He solved a similar case on a 4/4 Sport (also produced in Dec 2009 like mine) on guarantee just two weeks before.
Photos of the crack have been taken and send by email to Malvern.
I will keep you posted on the situation.