Windshield Cowl cracked in half for no reason, lol.

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Rick Shellenbarger

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Hello all. I was driving around and at WOT I started hearing this strange vibration coming from what I thought was the rear of the engine bay. I was looking at all sorts of things trying to figure it out... Then today I notice the plastic cowl that sits between the windshield and the hood was just cracked right in half... I have no idea what could have caused it, but I assume it is rattling around at WOT and that's what I have been hearing.



Anyway, this thread really doesn't serve any purpose other than to tell my story. Any ide's what would cause that trim to crack in half? It doesn't seem to be under any kind of stress, strange.



Rick
 
I just looked at mine and it is cracked as well. It does appear as though it was actually made in two pieces but where the two pieces overlap at the center of the cowl the passenger side piece cracked along the edge. Weird design.



Probably has something to do with the fact that I disabled the speed limiter using an SCT programmer. Did you? :grin::driving:
 
Ha! I hope it's not so cheap that a little extra wind could cause it to break like that! I do have the limiter disabled, SCT X3 with 93 tune, 4.10 gear ratio, CAI, magnaflow exhaust.



Have you noticed any additional sounds coming from that area when you get on it? Mine really makes some noise at WOT, I thought something was seriously wrong with my truck until I saw that crack. Now I just have to find out how much it is to replace:angry:
 
I also have a CAI and Magnaflow exhaust. Between those two mods there is a lot more noise than stock anyway. Next time I exceed the speed limit I will see if I notice anything. Does yours make the noise at any speed during WOT or just above oh, say, 92 mph?

I have a hard time believing that the cracked cowl would cause any extra noise but I do recall driving a rental Jeep Cherokee that whistled like hell at anything above 70 mph. :grin:



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I think all gen1 cowls are 2 peice. When I geet on the back roads to the lake. I always push mine to over 100mph. No problem with the cowl.
 
"I have a hard time believing that the cracked cowl would cause any extra noise but I do recall driving a rental Jeep Cherokee that whistled like hell at anything above 70 mph. "



For a while I drove a straight truck that made a noise that drove me nuts. I figured out it was the wind flowing around the supports for the mirror. Fixed it by taping a Bic pen between 2 of the supports. No more wind noise. Point being, it doesn't take much to create a lot of noise.
 
My noise is definitely coming from the crack. I stuffed some paper towels underneath it and in between the cracked part and the noise went away. The noise was from the now loose cracked edge vibrating against the windshield. Went to ford today, the part is 108 for each piece. I'm hoping fast parts network has them much cheaper!
 
My guess is: Since the two guys with cracked cowls live in the northern snow belt, it may have been caused by the winter freezing and thawing cycles.



The photo does appear to be a crack rather than the separation of a two piece cowl, but perhaps the effects of the freezing and sun have caused the two pieces to separate with a large gap that is causing a vibration from the wind at higher speeds.



I don't know how the cowl is mounted but perhaps a mounting screw or clip came loose and that caused the cowl to flex enough to break?



It would be interesting to see if anyone else with Gen2 can see if it is a two piece cowl?



...Rich
 
Rich, it is definitely made in two separate halves. If you closely at my photo you can see that there is a clean separation between the two pieces. The only crack is in the passenger (right) side piece along the edge where it forms a rib. Rick also confirmed that it is a two piece design when the dealer gave him the price for each piece.
 
I took both sides off today, superglued the cracked parts back together, gave it a coat of black paint, and put new weatherstipping in place of the old stuff... Looks good as new, vibration gone.
 
blksn8k,

Yes, it looked like a two piece cowl by the clean evenly spaced parting line, but the rib part absolutely looks cracked...with only have that one photo it is hard to tell for sure, and I don't have a Sport Trac to check out.



Anyway, it sounds like Rick fixed it and is happy...:grin::grin:



...Rich
 
Checked my cowl last night and noticed that I have a crack as well ('07). I have been searching for a few years now for a high pitched vibration at speeds. In my troubleshooting, I was noticing that the noise was more prevalent when it was windy (side winds) and at speeds. This may be it.

I live in San Diego. The truck has been in Southern CA all of its' life. So weather extremes may not be the cause.

Thanks for the thread Rick. You may have pointed me in the right direction to solving an ongoing problem that has frustrated me for a few years.

:haveabeer:

Lou...
 
I saw the picture posted above, and thought someone had been in my driveway taking a picture of the cowl on my '07.. Same crack/same spot. Mine I had delivered to me in VA and now I live in Sunny So Cal, so hot/cold/snow/rain has seen it all... I just shrug at it and move on..nothing more I can do since it doesn't really bother me..
 
I honestly have never noticed any noise or vibration but now that I know what to listen for maybe it will actually be there and I just wasn't paying any attention. That or the radio was too loud. I will be making a trip tomorrow so maybe I will pay more attention. :grin:
 
Snapped a couple pics of my cracked '07 for comparison. Enjoy!







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Last edited by a moderator:
Reminds me of all the Explorers where the trim on the back tailgate under the wiper arm is cracked in half. Never seen an Explorer with this trim piece on it that wasn't cracked in half.
 

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