First problem - defroster shattered the rear window.

[640bhpV10]

Hello,

Turned on the rear defroster tonight and saw some wisps of smoke coming from the rear defroster. I turned off the defroster and turned off the car. Opened the hatch to let things cool and thought it was OK. One minute later the rear window popped and shattered. Anyone else seen this? I thought I read about this problem in a magazine article specifically mentioning the Viper.

I noticed a burning smell for a brief moment while driving up on Tuesday when I first tried the defroster, but it stopped when I turned off the defroster.

Real bummer - car will be down for repairs for a bit.

Any other cases of this with member cars?

-Nick

[Fatboy 18]

Something defiantly not right there!

Out of interest how cold was it outside? Are we talking ice conditions?

I've known of people pouring hot water from a kettle on there screens only to have them crack but have never heard of a rear de-frost wire cracking the window! Something a miss there, Please let us know what the dealer finds.

Is the rear screen Laminated or toughened glass? (did it shatter into small pieces)

[KRATEDISEASE]

Interesting story. I had a college friend who lived and worked in Detroit in the late 1970's. He was an assembly line worker for Ford. He had told me that his job on the line was to test the rear defoggers on Ford sedans. He stated that one in about 100 would shatter the rear glass when turned on. This is what I was told by him. Obviously we are talking 40 years ago, and a different brand, but a interesting tidbit that I always remember. Possibly totally unrelated to your situation but an interesting tidbit regardless.

[ViperSmith]

There was another car that had this issue waaaaaaay back last year

[Nine Ball]

Yes, one of the early pre-production cars used in a magazine test did the same thing.

[KRATEDISEASE]

Saw this on another forum.

"got off the phone with a local auto glass shop. The tech I talked to said that there is two main reasons why glass explodes/shatter. One: The glass was installed wrong and is under pressure and after a while it can't take the pressure any more and just shatters. Two: There is a deffect in the make-up/composition of the glass. Glass is normally non-conductive to electrical current, but if the composition of the glass is not exact, then it can be conductive and allow an electrical current to pass through it, which makes the glass heat up and "pop", it explodes."

Seems to be a vendor supplier issue , I guess

Not a Viper specific issue since I see that GTO forums and BMW forums also mention this exploding rear defogger glass issue.

[Dman]

Yes, one of the early pre-production cars used in a magazine test did the same thing.

LoL, of course on a mag test car .. if there's a 1 in a million chance of a flukey weird thing happening, I swear it'll be on a viper test/review car.

Good luck OP, I just read your post on picking her up, congrats, just a weird fluke, could happen on any car. At least you're not a car review editor ... I hope.

[ViperSmith]

I don't remember it as a mag review - I thought it was a car doing its PDI

[ViperSmith]

http://www.worldcarfans.com/413041356474/rear-defroster-malfunction#2

[Bitten]

There was a used 13 viper on a lot here. The car was traded in on a new Viper, story was that the rear glass shattered and the dealer couldn't get it fixed fast enough to satisfy the customer. Not a buy back but a trade in. Not sure of any other details.

[VENOM V]

Interesting, first I've heard of this. You may want to call SRT to see if there was some sort of service bulliten or revised parts. You just want to make sure the problem is put to rest when they fix it.

Todd

[Newport Viper]

Wow. Bummer. Don't worry it will be fixed and your good to go!

[Coloviper]

No big deal as it happens on all sorts of cars and manufacturers. Ford FOX-Bodied Mustangs in the 80s, early 90s also had this problem. It is more so the glass composition and make up when they get overheated too much by a faulty electric temp switch, though wrongly installed will not help with pressures. Always felt defrosters never belonged in a sports car let alone Vipers but they are there, along with Mercury switches in the rear video monitors on the Vipers. Those cause all sorts of problems. Ha! Ha!

[V10LEE]

I wouldn't worry about it unless if the glass fell and chipped ,and scratched the paint..

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

Please, Please put year and model in any-all-every question. We cannot ASSume that you posted in the correct forum, that your sig has the info, or that every reader will decipher your car, and therefore the relevance of their answer.

details are helpful too: Frost? Fog? -20f? +60f? Is this a Chicago car? (lots of bullets flying there!)

Add more, this thread will be reviewed.

PLEASE follow-up with what SRT hotline says, and what your dealer says. This is a VOR situation and should move a part quickly. I can assure you that at least 1 engineering person has seen this thread.

[Steve-Indy]

JonB, his first post stated that he just purchased a new 2013 red SRT Track Pack Viper. I hope that helps.

[Policy Limits]

Hope it gets sorted. One more thing to worry about. Sigh.

[ViperSmith]

Hope it gets sorted. One more thing to worry about. Sigh.
Not really. Should have been tested during PDI

[V1PERMAN]

Nick,

This is a known problem with a few of the early 2013 Vipers. Apparently it has something to do with how the heater element was installed and arcing with the carbon fiber rear hatch. One of our South Florida club members had the exact same problem with his 2013 red SRT.
As I said, SRT knows exactly what to do do fix this. Only problem for you is the "down Time" unless u like driving a "Targa" and it doesn't rain. :))))))




Hello,

Turned on the rear defroster tonight and saw some wisps of smoke coming from the rear defroster. I turned off the defroster and turned off the car. Opened the hatch to let things cool and thought it was OK. One minute later the rear window popped and shattered. Anyone else seen this? I thought I read about this problem in a magazine article specifically mentioning the Viper.

I noticed a burning smell for a brief moment while driving up on Tuesday when I first tried the defroster, but it stopped when I turned off the defroster.

Real bummer - car will be down for repairs for a bit.

Any other cases of this with member cars?

-Nick

[Dan Cragin]

I had one car do this, a 2013 Vin# 14. The dealer fixed it under warranty but never was given a reason why.

[640bhpV10]

Please, Please put year and model in any-all-every question. We cannot ASSume that you posted in the correct forum, that your sig has the info, or that every reader will decipher your car, and therefore the relevance of their answer.

details are helpful too: Frost? Fog? -20f? +60f? Is this a Chicago car? (lots of bullets flying there!)

Add more, this thread will be reviewed.

PLEASE follow-up with what SRT hotline says, and what your dealer says. This is a VOR situation and should move a part quickly. I can assure you that at least 1 engineering person has seen this thread.

I apologize, my post just before gave the details of the car. It is a red SRT with the TrackPack (SRT serial production/launch car). They told me it will take 2 weeks to get the rear glass. Who should I call to expedite? SRT hotline?

I really appreciate the info.

-Nick

[640bhpV10]

Nick,

This is a known problem with a few of the early 2013 Vipers. Apparently it has something to do with how the heater element was installed and arcing with the carbon fiber rear hatch. One of our South Florida club members had the exact same problem with his 2013 red SRT.
As I said, SRT knows exactly what to do do fix this. Only problem for you is the "down Time" unless u like driving a "Targa" and it doesn't rain. :))))))

Good to know! The two weeks needed to get the glass will feel VERY long. That said, I am on-call for the next two weekends in a row. Probably would not have done that much driving.

However, anything I can do to expedite would really be appreciated.

-Nick

[City]

I apologize, my post just before gave the details of the car. It is a red SRT with the TrackPack (SRT serial production/launch car). They told me it will take 2 weeks to get the rear glass. Who should I call to expedite? SRT hotline?

I really appreciate the info.

-Nick

Yes. Call the hotline. They've been extremely helpful for owners and yet folks don't seem to utilize them until a problem becomes infuriating.

[ViperSmith]

Hotline
Twitter @ralphgilles

they all will help. I'd be furious if it were a two week wait myself.

[Space Truckin]

You can Put your Viper info in your signature, it is helpful to all posters to have this info in signatures. JM2C

[640bhpV10]

Yes. Call the hotline. They've been extremely helpful for owners and yet folks don't seem to utilize them until a problem becomes infuriating.

Very good idea.

I called the hotline late Friday, they will get back to me on Monday with a case manager. I hope they can speed things along. I thought that two weeks would be no big deal after waiting for 14 years, but it is now quite painful after one full day!

There has to be a spare rear glass around here somewhere...

-Nick

[640bhpV10]

You can Put your Viper info in your signature, it is helpful to all posters to have this info in signatures. JM2C

Also a good idea.

-Nick

[640bhpV10]

Well, I finally have a case manager through the SRT Hotline and the ETA for my new rear window is 3/20. They say that they are working hard to find a replacement sooner and will update me over the next few days. I went to visit the car yesterday, it's painful to see it like this.

3742

Also, they contacted the dealer and supposedly the permanent fix is simply proper installation of the window. Not supposed to need much else in terms of parts replacement, etc.

We'll see how it goes. Hopefully back on the road soon!

-Nick

[sharmut]

Glad to see they're taking care of it. A bit surprised the dealer did not tape the damaged window to prevent additional pieces from falling into the vehicle or worst accidentally fall outside and damage the paint?

[Fatboy 18]

Worst part is going to be getting all the broken glass out of the car! I had a front windscreen break like that once, over a year later I was still finding small pieces of glass in crevices! :( I hope there is no damage to the interior or paintwork?

very sorry to see that :(

I wonder why that size window is not laminated?

[AZTVR]

I wonder why that size window is not laminated?
Isn't laminated heavier than tempered? Just my guess as to why tempered was chosen; although, for all I know there might be a Dept of Transportation rule.

[640bhpV10]

Worst part is going to be getting all the broken glass out of the car! I had a front windscreen break like that once, over a year later I was still finding small pieces of glass in crevices! :( I hope there is no damage to the interior or paintwork?

very sorry to see that :(

I wonder why that size window is not laminated?

Yeah, I worry about that too. Luckily all the the glass is confined to the rear hatch area. I have not found any glass in the cockpit. Driving the car to the dealer was surprisingly like any other drive if I didn't look in the rear view mirror.

That said, I need to talk to the service manager and make sure they start cleaning it up and protecting the paint. They said that they outsource their glass work to another company who comes to dealer and installs. But it's a big problem with the car sitting, covered in glass for 2 weeks.

So far, the paint and the interior are undamaged, from what I can tell.

-Nick

[Policy Limits]

Any idea what early cars were affected? I have #48 of the 50 dealer Red cars.

I've never used the rear defroster nor do I intend to; just curious

[640bhpV10]

Any idea what early cars were affected? I have #48 of the 50 dealer Red cars.

I've never used the rear defroster nor do I intend to; just curious

Don't know, it seems that the problem maybe a slight misalignment of the rear glass. I have only heard of it with early 2013s. Luckily, it seems to be quite rare.

I don't plan to use my rear defroster much in the future.

-Nick

[Slaughterj]

Any idea what early cars were affected? I have #48 of the 50 dealer Red cars.

I've never used the rear defroster nor do I intend to; just curious

You should use it to find out, if a problem, at least you'll be covered under warranty.

[hawkeye]

As you can see, Nick got his rear window fixed just in time for a distant Italian cousin to come visit. Good thing too, because as you can see, it can get a bit frosty in the east bay =)

3983

[AaronFL]

....drools

[Policy Limits]

Oh man! Diablo & viper look great together!