Prius rear widow explodes

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Sep 24 2007, 11:47 AM) [snapback]516882[/snapback]</div>

Yikes! This better not happen to my rental when I'm in Orlando at the beginning of October!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Sep 24 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]516882[/snapback]</div>

This happened to my cousin's camaro a number of years ago. It was cold in the morning when they checked on something in the car (letting in cold dense air), then got hot during the day. A brief rainshower came along, contracted the metal and the window blew out. I suppose some of the glass then fell back in, but a good deal blew out onto the trunk. If that's what really happened, it's a sign of pretty tight seals.

Maybe it's a good thing I tend to crack the windows on hot days. It's a pretty secure place here, I'm only worried about rain getting in.

 

I would think the battery vents would allow air preassure to equalize. Besides, wouldn't a perfectly sealed car present a suffocation hazard?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Sep 24 2007, 08:47 AM) [snapback]516882[/snapback]</div>

Public parking lot + no apparent impact = spark plug chip

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_rocks

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Greenkeeper @ Sep 24 2007, 12:12 PM) [snapback]516928[/snapback]</div>

You're probably right. Just the metal contracting from sudden rainstorm. Could this happen if the sprinklers soak your car? Could be colder water, but not as much at once.

The old VW beetles were known to have tight enough seals (when new) that it could be hard to close the door with the windows rolled up tight, and they could float. But I'm sure the vents still let a little air in and out.

 

I wonder how can one be sure that it was not vendalized by a passerby who hates Prius?!
All it takes is a quick blow when no one is around. :angry:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sonny Jim @ Sep 24 2007, 12:28 PM) [snapback]516938[/snapback]</div>

There is at least one published press account of these being used:
Suspected car burglars arrested in Newport
Maliki is accused of breaking apart spark plugs and throwing the porcelain insulator at windows to smash them and burglarize at least 15 cars along Back Bay Drive and neighboring streets.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homep...cle_1617608.php

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ceric @ Sep 24 2007, 02:44 PM) [snapback]516980[/snapback]</div>

A spring-loaded center punch works well too. <thwack...crash...tinkle>

Tom

 

A spring loaded punch-down tool would also work nicely, especially if a #66 blade was inserted

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Sep 24 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]516882[/snapback]</div>

Why? It happens to other cars.

My father's Taurus had the very same thing happen many years ago. We never did figure out why. But I did get the prize for "most exciting theory" by saying it could have been struck by a micro-meteorite.

 

Not as uncommon as might be expected.
Stresses built up in the glass during manufacture can cause this to happen and with no warning either.
The stresses are invisible and therefore pass through quality control where a chip or crack would be seen and the glass taken out of the line.

Had something similar happen with a glass coffee table. It sat for years in the living room holding nothing heavier than a magazine. One day there was an extremely loud noise like a rifle shot. It was loud enough people heard it about thirty feet away in the back yard.

We all went into the living room to find the coffee table glass top neatly broken in two pieces and no other glass shards or splinters. In fact we put the two pieces together and the matched perfectly.

The general theory was stresses causing the demolition but I have to say the mini meteorite theory sounds a lot more impressive !

Cheers , Pete.

 

Happened on my Toyota Sienna on a side window. I think this must happen more often than people realize. I was driving along a freeway over the Rio Grande... not much chance of a BB shot making it. There was a loud BANG and I looked back at the big window on the right sliding door and it was totally crackled. Scared the heck out of us. And it kept crackling for a couple hours. Drove straight to a glass shop and State Farm paid for replacement.

 

Had same thing happen riding in a friend's Accord. Cruising down the highway, no other vehicles around. Loud pop and tinkle from the sunroof overhead. Fortunately the shade was pulled or we would have been wearing it.

Rob

 

Had the rear windshield completely fracture on my 2001 Prius. Here are some details:
1) Had to leave the car outside the home garage for one Floride winter night since home repair equipment was stored in the garage that night.
2) Condensation on the window required turning on the rear window defrost for the first time ever when going to work.
3) When returning to the car from work, the rear window was in 10000 pieces. This is in an enclosed parking garage, many floors up. Very, very unlikely to be middle of the day vandalism due to the empty car, undesirable parking spot, the security cameras in the surrounding accesses, and all the nearby cars with nice things to take.

The first lesson is that (unlike the front windshield), the deductible must be used on your car insurance. The second lesson is that your rear speakers will not survive this. The third lesson is to use a vacuum cleaner with enough horsepower that it can pull the paint off the car (else your rear passengers will find little pieces of glass for years afterwards).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Sep 24 2007, 08:47 AM) [snapback]516882[/snapback]</div>

One of the most common ways of breaking into a car is by flicking a porcelain chip, such as from a spark plug insulator, at a window. The glass will shatter and there will be no tale tell signs of the manner in which the breakage was accomplished.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FL_Prius_Driver @ Sep 25 2007, 04:30 PM) [snapback]517649[/snapback]</div>

hm what does one advise to prevent this kind of things from happening to a guy like me?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(philmcneal @ Sep 26 2007, 05:53 PM) [snapback]518151[/snapback]</div>

Option 1:
Move to Florida, buy a house with a garage, and keep your Prius in it every night.

Option 2:
Decide to inspect you rear windshield very closely and carefully, especially around the edges. Look for any cracks or fractures. If you notice any, call a car glass shop. Cracks can be drilled and filled.