[BravoJohny33]

Not sure what to do I took it to a highly rated place in town but of course everyone fucks shit up on this car. They did a shitty job on the cowl and instead of replacing the seal they just used silicone from what I can tell. I just noticed it was leaking today but its been doing it for months. I assume this is why my blower motor started to go squuueeellllll when I turn on the AC. I don't know if I should try to get a new blower from them or what. Or if they are even going to fix it right. Apparently when you do the windshield you should replace the top and bottom seal. The top seal was replaced by generic windshield molding it looks fine. The bottom seal where the cowl is looks like it might have just been replaced with silicone.

[max_330i]

I had my windshield replaced a few months after I bought my car and I also have the chirping blower motor. I wouldn't bother trying to get the shop to cover any expense, they will deny any wrongdoing. You can DIY the top seal and the blower motor pretty easily and the OEM parts are not expensive. No idea how to help you with the bottom seal, the cowl on the bottom of my windshield looks normal to me.

[BravoJohny33]

Originally Posted by max_330i

I had my windshield replaced a few months after I bought my car and I also have the chirping blower motor. I wouldn't bother trying to get the shop to cover any expense, they will deny any wrongdoing. You can DIY the top seal and the blower motor pretty easily and the OEM parts are not expensive. No idea how to help you with the bottom seal, the cowl on the bottom of my windshield looks normal to me.

Yeah I know how to DIY the top windshield trim. Honestly it looks fine but I wonder if its as good as OEM. As long as the top trim is not causing any leaks I don't care. But the thing is if I have to start replacing these peices of trim its kinda garbage because I gotta spend 20 bucks on top trim which should have been included in the install. The bottom cowl trim is the one I can't do and its the one causing the leak I think.

[Jim_B]

Every windshield I've ever had replaced by someone else has leaked.

[BravoJohny33]

Originally Posted by Jim_B

Every windshield I've ever had replaced by someone else has leaked.

Yeah before I got the windshield put on I googled around about replacing the glass on our cars. It seems like a ton of people were having problems with them breaking fogging or rain sensors not working afterwards or leaks from the cowl.

I made sure I got pilkington glass and I took it to a local shop that was highly rated. They still broke my fogging sensor and now I have a leak that ruined my blower motor. I don't know what to do. The solution seems to be that they need to redo it but replace the rubber strip at the bottom of the windshield with OEM rubber and make sure they correctly put the cowling back on. But I doubt that is going to happen. Most likely they will just put more silicone on it and call it a day. I can prob forget about them replacing my blower motor or the broken fogging sensor.

[Jim_B]

Originally Posted by BravoJohny33

I made sure I got pilkington glass and I took it to a local shop that was highly rated. They still broke my fogging sensor and now I have a leak that ruined my blower motor. I don't know what to do.

Do it yourself, if you've got the skills.

Back in the 90s I had an RX-7. Got a bad crack in the windshield, and had it replaced by a "professional" glass place. It leaked horribly. I removed the windshield (wasn't that difficult, considering how poorly it was installed), removed all the old sealant, cleaned everything really well, and reinstalled with the proper sealer. What do you know, no more leaks!

[robthewrench]

Originally Posted by BravoJohny33

Not sure what to do I took it to a highly rated place in town but of course everyone fucks shit up on this car. They did a shitty job on the cowl and instead of replacing the seal they just used silicone from what I can tell. I just noticed it was leaking today but its been doing it for months. I assume this is why my blower motor started to go squuueeellllll when I turn on the AC. I don't know if I should try to get a new blower from them or what. Or if they are even going to fix it right. Apparently when you do the windshield you should replace the top and bottom seal. The top seal was replaced by generic windshield molding it looks fine. The bottom seal where the cowl is looks like it might have just been replaced with silicone.

Two options of what to do next:

- Go back to the shop that did the work. If possible get pictures of someone else's car where the install is factory and show this in comparison to yours. If possible, have them demonstrate the leak with a hose. They will either admit it was installed wrong, or you'll have to fight it. If they admit they installed it wrong, you can then discuss how they also need to cover the blower motor replacement. At most good shops, they will own up to this. Usually this is just one tech (who may have been fired by now) who took shortcuts. I've had the same experience with a large glass company who broke the cowl trim on a miata and did a messy job with the silicone. They fired the tech.

- Decide fighting the shop is not worth your time. Get a quote from another shop but tell them about the botched install. Be very specific about how you want factory cowl parts, correct installation etc... They may need to buy new factory parts if the prior shop broke or did not install all the original parts.

I had this same problem on my e90 that I bought CPO. Prior owner had replaced the windshield and they screwed up the bottom cowl seal leaving out the new trim the is supposed to be glued to the bottom of the windshield. I had no idea who did the first install and ended up just having safelite pull the glass, put in new trim pieces and re-install. Perfect now.

I also had a similar experience many years ago with safelite and a miata. The tech broke the cowl plastic trim, didn't tell me, and just siliconed the whole thing together, but messy. I had to complain to safelight. They fired the tech, paid for the new trim pieces, and did a re-install at no cost.

[BravoJohny33]

Originally Posted by robthewrench

Two options of what to do next:

- Go back to the shop that did the work. If possible get pictures of someone else's car where the install is factory and show this in comparison to yours. If possible, have them demonstrate the leak with a hose. They will either admit it was installed wrong, or you'll have to fight it. If they admit they installed it wrong, you can then discuss how they also need to cover the blower motor replacement. At most good shops, they will own up to this. Usually this is just one tech (who may have been fired by now) who took shortcuts. I've had the same experience with a large glass company who broke the cowl trim on a miata and did a messy job with the silicone. They fired the tech.

- Decide fighting the shop is not worth your time. Get a quote from another shop but tell them about the botched install. Be very specific about how you want factory cowl parts, correct installation etc... They may need to buy new factory parts if the prior shop broke or did not install all the original parts.

I had this same problem on my e90 that I bought CPO. Prior owner had replaced the windshield and they screwed up the bottom cowl seal leaving out the new trim the is supposed to be glued to the bottom of the windshield. I had no idea who did the first install and ended up just having safelite pull the glass, put in new trim pieces and re-install. Perfect now.

I also had a similar experience many years ago with safelite and a miata. The tech broke the cowl plastic trim, didn't tell me, and just siliconed the whole thing together, but messy. I had to complain to safelight. They fired the tech, paid for the new trim pieces, and did a re-install at no cost.

So I took it back and they admit the cowl is leaking but they say it's leaking and does not fit right because it's old and warped