We have a 2005 Ford Escape Limited. We found the rear glass had exploded in our garage overnight. My husband had used the rear defrost on his way home and everything was fine when he parked the car in the garage last night. We had some freezing rain last night but it was not exceptionally cold. When we went to leave this morning the entire window was gone. The reason I describe it as an explosion is because the glass clearly blew outward and hit our garage door and flew sideways from the impact.

I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience? If this had happend in a parking lot or in our driveway outside, we would have thought we had been broken into, and we would have gone through our insurance. Since it was in our closed/locked garage we knew that was not the case.

As it was it was difficult to get Ford to pay under our Warranty because they say that this has never happend before. Ford claims that there have been only 2 similar incidents but the vehicles were running at the time the windows blew out.

So for any of you who have had a rear window shattered and you thought it was a break-in but nothing was stolen or disrupted, maybe you should think again. For the rest of you, don't automatically assume that your rear window break is a crime/vandal, it may be a Ford window defect.

 

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Did your husband eat Mexican food before he parked the car.....just kidding

That is really a unique problem. I suspect that the window and tailgate were bound up and if there is expansion/or poor fitment, the glass would have no where to go except out. It sounds like it was under much duress to "explode" like it did. Did it exhibit any latchment problems before this happened?

 

I haven't heard about any exploding recently but I've seen it on another board. It's not just Escapes either, seems to be related to SUVs. I believe you'll also see some complaints on the NHTSA site.

Most people didn't get any sympathy from the dealership. They acted like anyone could have just knocked it out including yourself.

 

A guy I work with wife's brother had a rear window blow out. They (Ford) determined it was from pressure build up when all the windows are closed. He told me his brother in law got into his car on a day when the outside temp was really hot, don't know exact temperature, but he closed the door without opening any other windows first. When he slamed the door shut the back window blew out, scared the poop out of him. He said he thought someone had thrown a rock thru his back window. When he investigated all the glass was on the outside of the car. Ford told him it was from the heat building up pressure inside the car and that when he got in he did not leave the door open long enough to release the pressure....This is the first time I ever heard of such a thing happening like that and don't really buy Ford's theory even though it sounds good...I think a defective back window or fit...

 

No Mexican food that night! And no problems with the back window or door at all prior to the blow out.

I could totally understand the idea of too much pressure blowing out a window, but our window blew out sometime in the middle of the night. The car had had some ice on it that had been defrosted by the rear defrost by the time it was parked in the garage. It was not a very cold night and our garage stays fairly warm, so no temperature extremes.

This is such a crazy mystery.

 

Wonder if it was that wizardly, wascally, wabbit...wacking windows while waiting for you to open the gawage?

Actually, after looking at my daughter's '05 Escape it seems that there is nothing to bind it up thru temperature expansion etc.

Could be a flaw in the glass itself that...an expansive crack or bubble so to speak...is culprit. Especially if involved in a rapid cooling / heating situation.

Don't laugh but, many ions ago I had a brand spanking new 1971 AMC Gremlin...I said don't laugh...The dealer replaced 5 rear windows under warranty due the voids in the glass. Three shattered all by their own selves, just sitting in the drive way.

 

Those were your neighbors throwing rocks!

At least you didn't have a Window Wagon...I mean AMC Pacer.

 

I almost did. Bought a Hornet instead...

 

First point - Ford is full of "it". Heat build up maybe. The owner's book says to leave the vent open (i.e not on "OFF" or "MAX AC") when parking the vehicle in extreme heat. No car is tight enough to start blasting out windows from pressure building up.

Second point is they are REALLY full of "it". Even if there was pressure built up inside the car, if you open the door even a tiny amount for a split second, the pressure will equalize inside/outside.

Has anyone EVER heard a hissing sound when opening a car door? No? That is because cars aren't pressure vessels. If they were that tight that pressure could build up in them, you could suffocate in one once you breathed all the oxygen in the air. Even with the vent closed there is still some air exchanged.

Sorry for venting. Sorry for the lousy pun too.

 

I know Isuzu Rodeos have had rear glass explode. I don't remember if it was lousy glass or what, but this isn't new news, really.

Oh yeah, vehicles don't hold pressure and are not airtight. I have yet to suffocate with the windows up on my Ranger or my sitting Camaro. Pressures are not a concern when getting this resolved. (Okay, that last point was mentioned, but it was a funny enough concern that I will leave the response in place...) Now, old VWs were supposedly able to float on water, but even in my old Beetle, I smelled plenty of gas hose leaks from the outside of the car....

 

safety glass does not explod. safety glass when knicked or broken will fall into tiny little chunks and make a giant mess.

 

Unless you have a hard impact.

Link deleted. It was a bit much. -Beast12

 

Wow, bananaboat, where did you find that? I have seen people run over by a train and it be less gory than that was. I wonder what that was on the floor of the back seat by the coke bottles?

 

bannaboat turn on your pm system so i can pm you,