Weatherstrip - Damage From Window Tinting

SOURCE: Acura Service News

TITLE: Door Glass Weatherstrip Damage from Tinting

APPLIES TO: 04-05 TL

SERVICE TIP:

Are owners of '04-05 TLs complaining of window noise and binding after having their windows tinted? The cause could be door glass weatherstrip damage by the window tinting guys.

To save time, window tinting shops often leave the door trim panels on. But with the trim panels left in place, there's just not enough room to apply the tint far enough down the glass to hide the end point of the film. To get around this problem, the tinting guys fold the door glass weatherstrip wipers under so the wipers are pointing straight down instead of straight up like they should. This lets them apply the film where they want it, but it permanently deforms the wipers, causing the windows to make noise and bind when you raise or lower them.

So what's the bottom line? Tell the window tinting guys they've got to remove the door trim panels, and they should never fold the door glass weatherstrip wipers under. Damage to the door glass weatherstrip from doing this isn't covered by warranty.