Window glass burst - Can this happen ?

[prince_alex]

Yesterday night while I was driving back home I heard a blast like sound from behind my car . I immediately stopped my car and found that my driver side rear window glass is all cracked. To my knowledge no vehicle was passing by when this happened.

The road is also pretty wide hence i don't think sombody has thrown a stone at my window from the other side of the road.

Can this happen due to some sort of pressure build up inside the car, I always drive with all windows rolled up, vent closed and A/C on.

One of my friend also had a similar experience sometime back.

Its sad that I need to shell out 3K for the glass replacement ... in just a week after I got my Innova.

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[Wheeliej]

I havent heard of window glass breaking like this. Perhaps you can get it replaced under warranty. it is possible that it wasnt fitting properly in the 1st place and thats why it lasted only for 1 week.

[diesel_headrock]

dude the same thing happened with me,only on a larger scale.i ws driving at bout 60 on a wide open road.suddenly heard this loud bang.stopped my car immediately just to find out tat my rear windshield had been cracked completely.for a sec i thought something fell on my car,rock or something.but later i realised tat if tat would hav happend it wld make a scratch on my hood also as i was travelling in forward direction,but nothing.also there was no one single point where the cracks started.but it was al throught.the glass was transformed into a large nimber of tiny pieces.luckily it was held by the thin film from inside as my relatives were inside.consulted many car techniques.every is tellin me it was b'coz of the A.C. i had actually parked my car in hot sun in a mall for good 3hrs nd then when i started it within 10 mins i switched on the A.C. as i thought it would be ok now.then after about hlf hour it broke.i some how couldn't believe them.as i think our windsheild glass is made to withstand all such situations,isn't it? neways i had to spend 3900rs for the same.since then hav been taking extra care bout the A.C.

[suman]

Happened in my Ikon last year - LOUD bang and then the rear windscreen disintegrated; was passing through Nehru Place, just before the flyover going towards GK. Slow moving traffic & no way that a stone from a car in front or the side could have caused that.

On subsequent examination after I got home, noticed a small hole like would have been caused by something travelling through the glass at high speed. Don't know what caused it, the workshop said it may have just been the age of the glass and perhaps a pellet or something had hit it, it was just the velocity or perhaps the angle......

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by Wheeliej

it is possible that it wasnt fitting properly in the 1st place and thats why it lasted only for 1 week.

By all chance.

Could be a problem related to the channel/beadings that would have made the glass bent.

Perhaps it could be a problem with the glass itself. Microscopic cracks? It can happen if the annealing (Hardening glass by heat treatment) had gone awry. In that case, it could affect the entire batch of Innovas....

[sumitkalindi]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

By all chance.

Could be a problem related to the channel/beadings that would have made the glass bent...

This seems to be the perfect explaination. Seems that the glass fitment itself was not perfect, and it was under stress. And it shattered due to vibrations putting extra stress on the glass.

[sbasak]

Around 7-8 years back I witnessed this event. I was travelling in an Ambassador (taxi) at around 40 km/h - suddenly the entire windscreen cracked - fortunately the glasses didn't sprung to passenger cabin.

Honestly speaking, I didn't know why it happened. It was a non AC car - so there had been no sudden temperature change.

[islero]

Is it some kind of stress damage or something: ie windscreen not fitted properly and under constant stress, that kinda thing?

Please forgive if this question sounds very stupid, but it is a genuine query.

[varunroy]

Once while travelling on the highway I happen to follow a Truck laden with small jelly stones used in concrete. There were many such stone flying on all direction but nothing of a size that could cause damage to my car. Suddenly I just heard a loud bang and saw a nice bullet hole on the front windscreen. Later I found a small marble size stone that had wizzed past the wing screen with such force that it drilled a nice hole in it. I could only thank god that it didn't pass through the occupants of the car. So watch out while tailing such lorries.

What could have happened to prince_alex is that some stone lying on the road could have sprung up when the Tyre edge of an oncoming vehicle went over it. This would have come at a considerable speed and hit the window. Just a possibility..........

So long....

[condor]

Originally Posted by varunroy

So watch out while tailing such lorries.

OT: Actually, need to watchout when following Any laden lorry - could be bags of onions, stones, anything .. the stuff can fall from the lorry, and he wouldnt even know. And there's no way one can ask / get them to own up for bad loading or the like.

Originally Posted by varunroy

.. some stone lying on the road could have sprung up when the Tyre edge of an oncoming vehicle went over it. This would have come at a considerable speed and hit the window. Just a possibility..........

Very much possible. but had never thought that stones flying like this can cause so much damage. Thanks guys ..

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by varunroy

........some stone lying on the road could have sprung up when the Tyre edge of an oncoming vehicle went over it. This would have come at a considerable speed and hit the window. Just a possibility..........

More than a possibility. Its the most plausible explanation. My friend's rear door glass broke while travelling on a gravel road some time ago. He concluded it was flying gravel stones as they were already making a racket on the chassis before the glass burst.
Another friend traveling with his family in his 118NE saw to his horror, an urchin fling a medium-sized stone at his front wind screen. The projectile sailed through the cabin, missed the occupants, and exited through the rear screen. He was so badly shaken, didnt drive for a whole week..

[Captain Pings]

Agree with above posts - built in stresses (owing to mis-alignment etc) ; thermal stresses and projectile damage are probably the leading causes in automobile windows cracking. (not in order)

I remember the winter of 2000 in delhi, after a particularly cold night, our Maruti 800 front windscreen had cracked up completely (at about 0800 when temperatures were starting to climb again) - and the very same night, the Air force Motor transport section had 5 different cat.s of vehicles (from vans to 6 Tonners) with similar damage.

The freakiest I've seen is the forward porthole (window) of a Gas Carrier (a ship carrying liquified glass) exploding during operations - the failure was attributed to a combination of fatigue, thermal stresses and structural stresses - fyg, the window was 14mm thick safety glass in a reinforced aluminum alloy frame. And I've never seen any ships glass crack like that before!

[tsk1979]

What about the rear defroster, was it on by any chance? In hot weather with AC on rear defroster can be a culprit. Some Indigo's also had this problem, luckily the member did not face much problem from Tata in getting the warranty.

[varunroy]

Condor, just reading about what you have written here sends a shiver down my spine and have goose pimples all over just now. While travelling to Mysore in my Sumo a few years back, somewhere near Maddur I was following a Tourist Bus at reasonably safe distance when suddenly I saw a Tender Coconut break from its bunch,(kept on the luggage carrier) fall a couple of feet before my car whizzed past my wind screen at great velocity and bouncing just over the roof of my car. I was so shaken that I lost control of my car and almost crashed out of the road. But thank GOD that it did not hit my car and more than that there was no other vehicle behind mine.

so long....

[prince_alex]

thanks for all your comments

Got the glass replaced, cost of the glass Rs.900, while the sun film cost me Rs. 1000 !!

The service guy told me that this could have happened due to stone hit from the tyre, but I am not convinced.