Replacing the windscreen in my Disco!

[drooby]

Time to replace the windscreen in my Disco. I have had quotes from $190 to $560. Some people are telling me that the rubbers will be destroyed and HAVE to be replaced, others are saying no need. I am confused :? :?
I am in Kyneton Victoria, can anyone put me on to someone trustworthy that wont break the bank?!

[mauricem]

I needed a new windscreen recently. The concensus was that the seals would need replacing and cost wise around $400 was the average from fitters who seemed to now what they were doing and knew how to stop it leaking. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif[/img]

Does your insurance cover it? I get one windscreen a year with no excess for an extra $30 or so.

[4bee]

Does that include the plastic surround finisher, which I am told gets stuffed up in the process & will need replacing, or can it be done without wrecking that?

[landrovermick]

Have had mine replaced without the rubbers being done . leaks a little bit in extremely hard rain - not that we see that much !! more improtantly are you getting the windscreen with the inbuilt demister ?

cos they were about $1200 doleros when i got mine done

mick

[101RRS]

You really do need to shop around and ask the right questions.

I had the windscreen replaced in my freelander recently for $250 (the windscreen is larger than my disco and fixed in a similar manner) - the max quote was $500 plus seals

When ringing around - the issues of seals came up - some people want mega $$ extra for the seals - when I spoke to the person who did my windscreen they said the cost would be the same with or without the seals - he indicated that they were really cheap from the right suppliers and that many places just used these as an excuse to increase the price. He didn't charge because it was a point of argument with customers, was generally not needed to be replaced and the few that had to be used were included in his price structure.

When the guy did my windcreen he said the seal in it was already an aftermarket one and was in good condition and didn't need to be replaced. The windscreen has been in for about 10 months and the car is left outside all the time and it doesn't leak.

So - my advice is to shop around widely and be aware of BS.

Gazzz

[one_iota]

I have heard that the snorkel needs to come off and that the windscreen places won't touch that part of the job. Is this true?

[CraigE]

When I had my Disco and had a windscreen replaced the snorkel did not need to come off. However this reputable windscreen service in Kalgoorlie had me drop the car in twice 110km round trip to find they had ordered the wrong windscreen. When they actually did do it it leaked repeatedly, 3 trips back for re sealing and they broke the inside plastic pillar cover on the mounts and did not say anything. I only found this out about a year later when I got sick of their dodgy job and decided to fix the leaking area with sikaflex windscren sealant myself. Whome ever you get to do it get a hose and make sure that it has sealed properly after it is fitted as the last thing you want is water running down into the electrics.

[101RRS]

Just be aware that series 1 Discos do have a design fault in the ventilation system that will allow water in in really heavy - wind driven rain - it gets sucked through the air intake to the interior.

Air is taken in from the outside through the course filter at the back of the bonnet into that tray area at the back of the engine bay - insulated from the engine by the rubber strip at the back of the engine bay and bonnet.

The air intact is a the top of this area and in theory water cannot be sucked in and any water simply flows out of the tray - however in real heavy wind driven rain some splash can get sucked into the interior air intake and leak into the inside and you could think there is a windscreen leak. Of course there actually could be a wndscreen leak!!

I used to keep a can of WD40 in the tray at the back of the engine bay but it used to knock n the body work so I wrapped it up in an old rag - about a week later the interior fan started making a horrible noise and wouldn't work properly - on pulling the fan out I found that the rag had been sucked in from the tray at the back of the engine through the ducting and got caught around the fan - so anything that does find its way into the tray can find its way into the car - and this can include water.

Gazz

[4bee]

I guess all you can do then, is ensure the 2 x side drains are kept clear of rubbish at all times.

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

[MacMan]

Drew,

My Disco has an after market screen fitted, and it has a band of tint at the top. This band is STUPID and is directly in the line of sight of anyone over 5'6". So if you are looking around, make sure you get one without ANY tinting at all.

On a side note, I have been chasing a leak in the screen for about 3 weeks and I THINK I have it licked now. If I have actually fixed it now, I'll post pics of the repair. At the same time I had to cold gal and Killrust the floor on the passenger side. The leak has obviously been a problem for some time and there were a handful of little spots of rust that had etched through the paint. The carpet underlay is a very dense rubber mat that stays wet for ages.

Mike