Stress crack on windscreen.

[Tetley Tiger]

Hi, anybody had problems with an internal stress crack to their windscreen? The photo is not great but the crack is well over 30 cms long and has not been caused by anything hitting the screen from either inside or outside. My insurance covers some of the cost but it will cost me £100 which seems unfair when it is obviously some sort of manufacturing fault.

[Heidfirst]

have you asked your dealer?

[Tetley Tiger]

I am taking it to a local Toyota dealer tomorrow morning. Problem is , it is due to have new windscreen fitted tomorrow as well which was sorted out through insurance. It was only when a friend looked at it and said it’s an internal stress crack today that I realised that it should not happen. I just wrongly assumed that although I never saw anything hit the car like a stone etc that that was the cause .

[flash22]

It's a case of proving the cause, someone smacking their head on the mirror could have done it

[Cyker]

I strongly suspect my first windscreen cracked for similar reasons,  albeit aided by a stonechip of some sort, and Toyota have had a recall on their replacement windscreens which caused a shortage of them earlier in the year.

My current windscreen took a much nastier impact but didn't get a massive crack quickly propagate across like the first one did.

As flash22 says though, the problem is proving it...

 

[Tetley Tiger]

I am taking it to a local Toyota dealer tomorrow morning. Problem is , it is due to have new windscreen fitted tomorrow as well which was sorted out through insurance. It was only when a friend looked at it and said it’s an internal stress crack today that I realised that it should not happen. I just wrongly assumed that although I never saw anything hit the car like a stone etc that that was the cause .

[Tetley Tiger]

Nobody has hit their head on the mirror. I did wonder if the dash cam fitted would possibly have some effect on it but that was fitted by the Toyota sales room at purchase as an added extra. 

[Tetley Tiger]

Update: local Toyota dealership has acknowledged it as a manufacturing defect with many Yaris affected . Was told as the numbers are large it could take sometime to sort out !

[Heidfirst]

what are they going to do about it - probably not legal to drive?

[Haliotis]

2 hours ago, Tetley Tiger said:

Update: local Toyota dealership has acknowledged it as a manufacturing defect with many Yaris affected . Was told as the numbers are large it could take sometime to sort out !

Is there any indication of a recall? - large number of vehicles affected and dealership confirmation of it being a manufacturing defect suggests a recall should happen.  Will a new windscreen benefit from the fault being rectified, or could it happen again?

2 hours ago, Heidfirst said:

what are they going to do about it - probably not legal to drive?

There is certainly the possibility of the weakened screen seriously breaking up - and suddenly.  You are still paying for your tax and insurance, and prevented from using your vehicle because of a manufacturing error.  A lengthy suspension of use does, IMHO, justify the provision of a courtesy car.

[Tetley Tiger]

I was told on the phone by Toyota customer services that they would liaise with my local dealer to sort out a courtesy car but as yet they have not got back to me.

[Cyker]

When mine cracked I was told it was fine and legal to drive as the crack was only on one side of the glass, even when it started to grow  

I am surprised Toyota acknowledged it as a manufacturing flaw though!

 

 

[Tetley Tiger]

Update: my car is now booked in for a replacement windscreen under warranty. I am told it is caused by the heat from the camera system . If anyone gets a crack that comes from this area and can only be felt on the inside they should pursue a free change under warranty. As luck had it my local dealer said they had exactly the same problem on a demonstrator Yaris .

[FROSTYBALLS]

Topic moved to the Yaris forum.

[Cyker]

flippin' heck the camera gets that hot!?  

Then again given the HUD generates enough heat to keep that part of the windscreen frost-free overnight maybe I shouldn't be so surprised...!

The funny thing is glass shouldn't crack from heat - You can pour boiling water on a windscreen in deepest winter and it should still be fine. It's sudden cold that usually gets them...!

[MikeSh]

4 hours ago, Cyker said:

Then again given the HUD generates enough heat to keep that part of the windscreen frost-free overnight

You think the HUD stays active when the car is off? I can think of another cause. 

4 hours ago, Cyker said:

flippin' heck the camera gets that hot!?

I think the "I am told" (presumably by the dealer) info means that it's probably b****cks. It's likely just a defective screen. Boring, but that's most of life.

[anchorman]

That little enclosure for the forward facing camera actually has a heated element on a timer which is actually very upmarket on less than high end cars.  Those without can have fault light and system shutdown nightmares due to unwipeable condensation on the inside of the enclosure.  I don’t know whether the timer is iffy or I suppose if you were to keep turning the ignition on in succession for some reason it might get too hot.  

[Cyker]

20 hours ago, MikeSh said:

You think the HUD stays active when the car is off? I can think of another cause. 

No, you misunderstand what I'm saying - I'm talking about *residual heat* from the HUD display that's causing it - I can hold my hand over it a few minutes after turning the car off, esp. this time of year, and you can still feel the warmth coming off of it!

I don't know what the source of it is (Are they still using a cold cathode (which are not actually cold at all  ) for an LCD backlight, or maybe a CRT (!) or something?!  ), but it's a surprising amount of heat for a projected display!

If we get any frost (unlikely) and I remember (even less likely) I'll try and take a picture of the windscreen in the morning to show the clearly delineated frost-free bit caused by the HUD! 

 

 

20 hours ago, MikeSh said:

I think the "I am told" (presumably by the dealer) info means that it's probably b****cks. It's likely just a defective screen. Boring, but that's most of life.

That does seem more likely  

[MikeSh]

3 hours ago, Cyker said:

I'm talking about *residual heat* from the HUD display that's causing it

There's a lot of other residual heat behind the dash of most cars. All the displays and the pipes for the heater just for starters. Then there's the heat from the engine bay keeping the firewall warm (and on these cars I think the exhaust is there), which warmth will rise to the top and out through the HUD hole.

If you made a HUD size hole in the dash of any car you'd probably see the same effect.

[Cyker]

That's a pretty good theory but the HUD projector would be blocking the heat from below (It's not just an empty hole going to the firewall!) so if that were the case I would imagine the effect would be more uniform.

I should note I don't get a similar effect from the front vent holes, as the warm air they put out dissipates too quickly - If it was heating from underneath as you postulate you'd would expect that area to also be frost-free!

[Tim5000]

On 9/30/2024 at 7:27 PM, Tetley Tiger said:

Update: my car is now booked in for a replacement windscreen under warranty. I am told it is caused by the heat from the camera system . If anyone gets a crack that comes from this area and can only be felt on the inside they should pursue a free change under warranty. As luck had it my local dealer said they had exactly the same problem on a demonstrator Yaris .

Good luck, I hope it goes well! Although does that mean if you got your own third party camera (not fitted by Toyota) and the fault arises they might blame it on that and not cover it? I can't see how so let's hope not...