[adagio]

Hey y'all,

Haven't been here in forever but I have a question I hope you may be able to answer.

Last night around 9:40 I heard what sounded like someone busting a car window. Decided not to go outside (girl home alone, don't live in the poshest apartment complex, all that stuff) and found out this morning...it was mine.

A good 2/3 of the back window is gone and the remaining glass is shattered - no evident point of contact. There are chunks of glass all the way up on my dashboard, throughout the vehicle (had the backseat folded down) side to side, and on the ground behind the vehicle (at least 6 feet back) in a kind of explosive pattern. My first thought was "damn, somebody was reeeeeally angry at my vehicle" cuz it had to be a helluva swing. A piece of the rear wiper (little snap-on piece at the crook of the arm) is even hanging loose off of it. I also noticed that the glass remaining in the window is blown outward away from the vehicle, rather than inward as if someone took a bat to it from the outside. Nothing was stolen (nothing inside to steal really).

So, the reason why this post is in electrical...is there any chance there could have been a short circuit in the rear defroster causing the glass to explode? (Ok I guess I know there's a *chance,* but has anyone heard of it happening?) I haven't used the defroster in at least a month. The vehicle had been sitting, locked, since 5:30 when I got home. It's been warm here recently (40s at night, close to 80 during the day) so it hasn't been suddenly heated or cooled.

This is the first time I've seen a window smashed out like this so I don't know what it looks like when it's vandalism. I don't know if they normally "explode" when they're hit. If there's a possibility that it was a malfunction I'd definitely like to let Nissan know. If y'all have had an experience like this with the X or any other vehicle, please tell me what you know.

Thanks!
Leigh

 

[lostboy]

no clue but that does sound very odd.

 

[willgr1]

very strange indeed...but it is possible, anything could happen

i had a friend a few years back was doing some work on his cherokee, removed the rear window and was holding it in his hands...it was laying across is arms, normal summer day, not too hot not too cold, the thing just shattered it his hands!...total strange, but like i said, anything could be possible!

 

[bigwilly11189]

I could be wrong but aren't the defroster lines, Short Circuits, to begin wtih?

 

[GISX]

We had a 95' Ford Bronco and this happened to it one time (but the defrost was actually on).

Two years ago we were deer hunting in January and it was a pretty cold day (prolly around 10 deg. F). We came back to the truck around 4PM (after it had been sitting since prolly 1PM). 5 Min. down the road (while the defrost was on) and we all heard a loud BANG (make your best gunshot sound here...) 3 seconds later the entire window falls into the back of the Bronco.



I think it was because of heating the back window from such a cold start. We had the defrost on and off all day until around noon so maybe it just had too many temp. changes. Appx. $400 later it was fixed and havn't had any problems since.

 

[Erick]

Personally I don't think it's likely that it was a short circuit in the glass. A different possibility is that there was simply too much stress on the glass. Since glass isn't a great conductor of heat, if the car was very warm inside when you parked it the inside of the window would be very warm but the outside was likely to still be pretty cold. As it got later, it probably got colder outside and thermal stress could have caused it to break. Issue with either theory, is although either are possible it would take massive pressure to shatter the glass up to your front seat. It 'should' actually just behave how GISX described his issue with the Bronco.

If someone did try and break in, it would be pretty tough to tell regardless; because the glass used in car windows is designed to break into harmless pieces and a 'contact' point really isn't easily found if at all.

EDIT: With the Thermal Stress the reason it doesn't occur is because something like this usually requires an existing crack, even at an almost microscopic level. If that was the case, it could have been during the creation of the glass or even from some contact at one point or another.

 

[adagio]

I could be wrong but aren't the defroster lines, Short Circuits, to begin wtih?

Doing a really good job of talking over my head. Thanks.

I'm just trying to understand what may have happened. When the guy from the glass shop gets here I'll ask him if it looks like a normal break-in or not. I just don't want something to be wrong in there that will go wrong again. Thanks for your ideas & stories!

Leigh

 

[juntao]

dude, did you cut someone off or flip the bird to a stranger? :blackeye:

some fooo mighta kept a grudge on ya from I-75 three days ago, lol.

j/k......I'd take it up with the stealership as well......see if you can get some info out of them. good luck
________
How to roll a blunt

 

[GreyWolf]

I've seen a concrete block thrown through a window before and it behaves much as you discribed. If something hit's the glass with enough force it would "explode" back out. Not sure a baseballbat would do this, but a sledge hammer probably would. If it was a person that did it, they most likely got a face full of glass.

I'm interested in hearing with the glass repair guy says.

 

[max6spd]

I know a guy who had a Scion TC and the sunroof exploded for no reason. He was just driving on the highway and then BAM! and was showered with glass. He took it back to the dealer and the dealership bought back the car no questions asked at what he paid (not what it was worth after 20k miles).

Now, THAT's customer service.

 

[dragonplayboy]

yeah if you haven't called the stealership yet, you should paint this up as if it happened when you got in the car and started it up or something, and start crying and moaning about the anguish it's caused you and that you're scared to drive the car, etc. Maybe you can get something cool out of this, especially if it's under warranty. if you're not too great with cars take a reasonably car-smart (and preferrably big and intimidating) guy in there with you and don't leave till they start coughing up a new armada or 350z or something.

Whisper "lawsuit" and the dealership will quietly pee itself.

 

[kokopop]

When I was living in philly this crap happened all the time. Typically was a kid or some drunk college jacka$$ that either threw a brick (stupid brick sidewalks) or kicked it out.

PITA.

 

[NyCXterra]

yeah if you haven't called the stealership yet, you should paint this up as if it happened when you got in the car and started it up or something, and start crying and moaning about the anguish it's caused you and that you're scared to drive the car, etc. Maybe you can get something cool out of this, especially if it's under warranty. if you're not too great with cars take a reasonably car-smart (and preferrably big and intimidating) guy in there with you and don't leave till they start coughing up a new armada or 350z or something.

Whisper "lawsuit" and the dealership will quietly pee itself.

lol i like that :thumbright: :thumbright: :thumbright:

 

[adagio]

yeah if you haven't called the stealership yet, you should paint this up as if it happened when you got in the car and started it up or something, and start crying and moaning about the anguish it's caused you and that you're scared to drive the car, etc. Maybe you can get something cool out of this, especially if it's under warranty. if you're not too great with cars take a reasonably car-smart (and preferrably big and intimidating) guy in there with you and don't leave till they start coughing up a new armada or 350z or something.

Whisper "lawsuit" and the dealership will quietly pee itself.

If I had the balls (boobs?) I'd love to do something like that. Not quite sure I could pull it off tho.

The repair guy just finished up; he said he thought it looked like most other vandalism he'd seen...didn't seem too impressed by the glass sprayed backwards, but did mention it was "one of the worst" he'd seen in a long time (after spending 40 minutes vacuuming the glass out of whole interior). There's still glass dust and small shards everywhere.

What a hassle. Thanks again y'all.

 

[syndicate]

Sounds exactly like what happens when you whip a golf-ball at a car window.

 

[Duck_Hunt00]

i like dragons plan, but someone should email myth busters :compress:

PS

Sounds exactly like what happens when you whip a golf-ball at a car window.

hey, congrats on your 1000th post!

 

[RiNkY]

All you have to do is shoot a metalic BB at tempered glass and the whole window will explode. Watched a friend just tap the side window with a screw driver once - not particularly hard, but the impact was enough for the whole window to shatter.

 

[X11]

going along with what you said about not living in the best neighborhood, it was probebly vandalism. If it was hit with a bat, then after impact when the bat was pulled out it would have pulled some glass with it, explaining why the glass looked like it was blown outwards as well as inwards.

either way it sucks.

 

[NativeXterra74]

I know if you take the ceramic off a spark plug and throw it at glass it will make it explode unless you have tinited windows and then it just has that nice shattered spiderweb design for a window.

And hello to all,,new person here.

 

[Erick]

Spark plugs work well for that. As well as porcelain, one would be surprised with how easily a broken piece of porcelain can break a window just with a little tap.