Imploding Windows?!?!

[vinny2]

can anyone tell me if they have ever heard of this, or why it might have happened?
i took possession of my 08 from Woodhouse in June. about 30 days later, i went to the garage, and saw that the driver side window had completely "imploded". it was totally shattered, only held together by the window tint film. it was not vandalism, no one smashed it, and no signs of anything whatseover, that would imdicate why it did this. Bill P at Woodhouse said he he had never heard of this before. i had it replaced at local dealer, at my expense. since the window fell out, when i opened the door, i had no way of showing anybody, so warranty didn't cover, as proving what happened was impossible. yesterday, at a local club event, several people were standing near my car, which was parked, and started hearing popping and cracking noises. they turned around to see the passenger side window cracking, and "imploding", while they watched. again, the entire glass cracked and broke, only held together by the window film. everyone there said they had never seen anything like this before. since it was passenger side, i didn't have to open the door, so it is still "as is", which is completely shattered, but still in place. i called Bill Pemberton, and told him what happened, and that i really think it is now clearly a defect in glass or install, or something, and should be covered under warranty. i took pictures, and got names and numbers of the witnesses, and forwarded to Bill and mark yesterday, and they will hopefully assist in getting Chrysler to cover.
has anyone heard of anything like this ever happening before, or have any idea what could be the cause?
thanks for taking the time to read this............

 

[Chrissss]

That is one of the most bizzare things I have ever heard of. Not just one but both windows. Obviously some sort of glass defect either in production or lamination. I doubt seriously an install defect would make the window implode on its own without movement. Very strange.

 

[vinny2]

my thoughts too. in fact, i can't remember the last time the passenger window was moved. probably once or twice in the 4 months i've had the car, and probably not at all the last 2 months.

 

[DMan]

Poltergeist?

lol.

And it's a coupe so it couldn't even be some weird conv top pressure or something, good luck.

 

[SylvanSRT]

if there was some sort of scratch or defect in the glass it could happen for no appearent reason what so ever, that is the nature of tempered(safety) glass.

 

[viper GTS-R]

There's a possibility instead of a V10 you got a Large Hadron Collider and there are atoms smashing between your seats creating a black hole, thus your windshield imploding...

but I could be wrong... Hell for all we know you might have a flux capacitor!

--RS

 

[GR8_ASP]

Any possible connection to the film mentioned that was on both windows?

 

[Camfab]

Is'nt there a problem with the window regulaters on these cars? I'm just going to throw a wild idea out there. Is it true on the new cars that the window drops slightly before you open the door? If so, and the regulator is not working properly then the glass would be under extreme pressure as you close the door. I could be way off here.

 

[Flexx91]

Sounds like there is something in your door assembly that is shifting - binding the glass causing it to stress and ultimately crack.

 

[vinny2]

i think camfab may be on to something.........if the windows don't drop , meaning the regulator is not working, the pressure could be whats causing the glass to break. make ssense, if thats what the regulators are supposed to prevent.

 

[FE 065]

Any possible connection to the film mentioned that was on both windows?

If the film is aftermarket, maybe the glass had been scratched (as Mike suggested) ..only by the installer on both sides of the car

I had a cargo window shatter on a station wagon for no reason once, no aftermarket window film on it, and it happened while the car was sitting in the garage..

 

[rocman]

Does anyone remember seeing this kid around the car?

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[viperbilliam]

Did your local dealer look at the window regulator mechanism? This might happen again if it's still a "mystery" as to the cause.

 

[vinny2]

doubt it, but i will make sure they do this time.

 

[ROCKET62]

My first thought was regulator and glass angle adjustment. There is a significant amount of adjustment that can be done to the angle of the glass. If not properly adjusted, when you closed the door it may have been hung up on the pillar. I typically close my door by pusing in at the front top of the window to help ensure it gets under the lip.

Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[vinny2]

i will have them check regulator and glass angle. thanks for the help.

 

[Mopar488]

The windows have had an indexing problem for some time. I have checked on the body control module, etc. to find there is no real solution at this point that I know of for sure. You may have either open or shut the doors and the windows are hitting the roof and suffering stresses in the windows which result in fracture and ultimate failure. You may or may not have some nicks in your roof from this.

 

[lankhoss]

Hey Vinny, this is Brad from the track yesterday.

That was definitely VERY bizzarre. I will check this thread for updates on the car, and feel free to PM me with what you find out. I am very curious to see how everything turns out.

Hope they don't charge you again for it


P.S. I forgot to tell you that your car is GORGEOUS

 

[ViperCr8zy]

One thing I noticed on my '08 is how thin the side glass is compared to my other vehicles. It reminds me of lightweight glass from '60s era muscle factory racers. I was going to post about it to see if anyone else noticed how thin it is.

Sylvan is correct about tempered glass being somewhat fragile. I once scratched a piece of glass on my pinball machine, and the next day was greeted with an entire room full of glass chucks in my rec room from what looked like a violent explosion. Since I remember nicking (and just barely, too) the glass, I spoke with a glass shop about it and they said that is the nature of tempered glass.

 

[vinny2]

thanks Brad. i'm hopeful it will be covered, and i appreciate you being willing to "testify", if you have to.

 

[ViperJay]

i did glass blowing for several years in college and know first hand that if the glass is not taken down in temp very slowly then weeks, months, or years later it can all of a sudden "implode". sounds like a defect in the manufacturing process but i doubt that they made left and right windows in the same batch. if that was the problem, im sure that lots of other stories would be out by now. if anything happens to the new drivers side then you know its a regulator problem.

 

[Dustman]

Is'nt there a problem with the window regulaters on these cars? I'm just going to throw a wild idea out there. Is it true on the new cars that the window drops slightly before you open the door? If so, and the regulator is not working properly then the glass would be under extreme pressure as you close the door. I could be way off here.

+1

Same (common) problem with window regulators exists on the Prowlers.
When a friends regulator 'busted' this past august his driver side window shattered just like described in this thread, only being held together by the window tint.

 

[Cop Magnet]

Glass is coated with a plastic laminate to keep broken glass together. Just FYI, this "tint" thing holding the glass together may be factory, and sounds like its doing what it's supposed to.

I also puffed through some glass devices in college, but will categorically deny it if called to testify.

 

[JonB]

Is'nt there a problem with the window regulaters on these cars? I'm just going to throw a wild idea out there. Is it true on the new cars that the window drops slightly before you open the door? If so, and the regulator is not working properly then the glass would be under extreme pressure as you close the door. I could be way off here.

EXACTLY! Something is mis-adjusted with the window 'parking' mechanism that ties into your door handle / body control module. Maybe the glass DID NOT DROP befor door closed, as it is supposed to?? Maybe the door closed, GLASS FULL UP..... and the constant stress cracked the glass.........

It MUST be that (Mercedes-design) glass auto-adjuster

 

[InjectTheVenom]

EXACTLY! Something is mis-adjusted with the window 'parking' mechanism that ties into your door handle / body control module. Maybe the glass DID NOT DROP befor door closed, as it is supposed to?? Maybe the door closed, GLASS FULL UP..... and the constant stress cracked the glass.........

It MUST be that (Mercedes-design) glass auto-adjuster

Is Viper designed with interior pressure relief vents? The windows on my Calibra never drop down and they slam against the weather stripping constantly, never had a problem even after installing power window mechanisms myself.

 

[JeffY]

Door glass and hatch glas is tempered glass. Its designed to break into very small fragments when it breaks. It is not fragile at all - in fact, its extremely strong. When you see tv cars where the glass shatters easily because someone hits it with their elbow, its completly fake. You can hit it with a ball peen hammer and it won't break. However, if you release the surface tension of the glass by hitting it with a pointed object, or scratch it, it will then shatter. During the making of tempered glass, if it is not treated correctly, it can shatter instantly, usually looking like an explosion. Windshield glass is laminated glass - its a sandwich of two pieces of glass with a transparent piece of plastic between them. This glass will break and stretch on impact, quite different from side glass.

It sounds like the side glass may have ha an imperfection in it that on some temperature relief did cause it to shatter. Even an air bubble (too small to be seen) could have caused the stress relief.

 

[GR8_ASP]

Again, the coincidence of after-market film applied to both windows that broke seems to be too much of a coincidence. I have had mine close incorrectly and press on the window without any explosion. Since it was stated that a tiny scratch can be the cause how about the film installer made such a scratch on both sides.

 

[vinny2]

and the alleged scratches were made at the same time, during installation, and the windows broke 4 months apart? not sure about that.

 

[GR8_ASP]

So if you are in disbelief take a poll and see how many have broken a window, especially with the car standing still and not in the act of closing it. First I ever heard about it and both windows on the same car. I have heard many people complain about the window alignment issue since 2003. But no stories about broken windows.
Just my $0.02 (and with less than zero knowledge about glass or windows)

 

[lankhoss]

Well, it has been stated the window regulators are not working. There are far fewer Coupes on the road than Convertibles, and it seems that either the regulator isn't necessary, or isn't a problem when it doesn't work right on the convertibles. That might be why there aren't any stories about this happening.

I don't know anything about window tinting, but how would they cut or damage a window installing it?