Rear window replacement

[Sandfobs]

Hi everyone I have a Oldsmobile Silhouette, 1998 and last night the rear window was fine and this morning as my wife left for work noticed the rear window was broken. Unsure what happened but I am thinking of a smaller price by either finding a replacement at the scrapyard and having someone install it for me or if I can not find an old one buying a new one and installing it myself.

My question is what is the best way to remove the remainder seal left on the vehicle with pieces of glass still attached and should I remove this even if I have someone install it to keep costs down

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by Sandfobs

Hi everyone I have a Oldsmobile Silhouette, 1998 and last night the rear window was fine and this morning as my wife left for work noticed the rear window was broken. Unsure what happened but I am thinking of a smaller price by either finding a replacement at the scrapyard and having someone install it for me or if I can not find an old one buying a new one and installing it myself.

My question is what is the best way to remove the remainder seal left on the vehicle with pieces of glass still attached and should I remove this even if I have someone install it to keep costs down

The breakage sounds like someone did a 'smash-and-grab' break in on your van. Was anything missing inside?

Imo if you have never replaced a window before, let a professional do it. Rear window glass has to resist a lot of air pressure and suction at high speeds.
If you do it yourself and anything goes wrong, then the window may blow out on the highway.
This may damage cars behind you and cause an accident, for which you could be held responsible. Also, losing a window suddenly is a safety issue for the drivers and passengers in your van.

Last time I looked at a Silhouette, it's rear window was held in place with a special high - strength urethane adhesive. Most modern cars use this material for fixed windows. The adhesive comes in tubes like house caulking. Although the urethane tubes will fit a regular caulking gun, the substance is much thicker and requires a special gun to get the material out.

Do not use any other seater (like silicone) other than the appropriate material for this design of window.

Window installers usually use an electric hot knife to remove the old adhesive usually in just a few minutes.

Installers tend to charge a flat rate, so unless there is much rust around the window to clean up, you will not save any money by cleaing up the area yourself.

It is reasonable to buy used rear glass from a wrecking yard to save money. Just be warned if you break it, it is your loss. I have had glass installers install glass that I have provided but sometimes they do not want to do so because they don't want to be held responsible if they accidentally break your glass.