Rear window defogger Rear Glass Exploded

[swexlin]

My VIN is 00028! April 2013 build. Since I've owned the car (bought with 7200 miles in Oct 2014) the defroster button was only every pushed once, by a passenger. It was only one for a couple seconds before I pushed it off, and told the passenger why! Nothing happened...maybe it wasn't on long enough. But I'm not pushing that button again....

[TRH62]

Last 5 of my vin#: 00359

TRH62, can you please confirm [or negate] that your VIN # is Low-Low? There is no reason NOT to share the last 4 digits of your vin, please, but at least what block of numbers? ie 0060s ? 0090s? 0120s ? Thanks

The original TSB was indicative of a low-series of Vins. And the 'anti-squeek-tape' solution of the later TSB will certainly work. But I truly believe that "G5 Masses Dont Have To be Concerned" unless very early 2013. The newer glass truly has a smaller footprint of defroster 'wires' and cannot hit the hatch......

[StrokerAce]

I drove with mine on this AM for probably 20 minutes. Yikes!!!

[Bruce H.]

TRH62, are you the original owner and do you have the car regularly serviced at a Dodge dealer with a Viper tech? I would have thought that TSB's would be investigated on applicable cars when they were in for service.

I'd recommend everyone learn how to check your hatch glass clearance and do the fix rather than pull the fuse or risk having an accident....which now that you know about it would no longer be an accident if you simply ignored the issue. Avoid warranty concerns...deal with it.

[ViperGeorge]

TRH62, are you the original owner and do you have the car regularly serviced at a Dodge dealer with a Viper tech? I would have thought that TSB's would be investigated on applicable cars when they were in for service.

I'd recommend everyone learn how to check your hatch glass clearance and do the fix rather than pull the fuse or risk having an accident....which now that you know about it would no longer be an accident if you simply ignored the issue. Avoid warranty concerns...deal with it.

I may be wrong but I believe dealers only check for TSBs if the customer complains about a particular issue. They don't perform TSBs like they would a recall unless the customer has a complaint solved by the TSB. Now maybe some dealers might go above and beyond but I don't think most do. In fact when I had the window water infiltration issue on my 15 TA 2.0 the dealer performed the TSB but had to send the defective parts back to FCA. They had to specifically state that the window failed due to water corrosion of the harness and door node. If I just went in with working window and said please perform the TSB they most likely would not have done so.

[TRH62]

I am the original owner and I thought the same thing thinking that they would have taken care of me on the rear defroster issue. The dealership did all my oil changes and all the recalls on the car and I find it very concerning they did not know about it. Just gonna wait to see what FCA tells me in a few days on whether they will cover me or not. I'll keep everyone posted!

TRH62, are you the original owner and do you have the car regularly serviced at a Dodge dealer with a Viper tech? I would have thought that TSB's would be investigated on applicable cars when they were in for service.

I'd recommend everyone learn how to check your hatch glass clearance and do the fix rather than pull the fuse or risk having an accident....which now that you know about it would no longer be an accident if you simply ignored the issue. Avoid warranty concerns...deal with it.

[USAFPILOT]

Ive used mine as intended and nothing happened. It's a 2015 GT

[Bruce H.]

I think you may be right about that, George. It was so routinely discussed back when they first started shattering that hopefully most on the forum at the time checked their window/hatch gap and prevented a future issue for themselves and the next owners.

TRH62...maybe you weren't on the forum when they were being regularly discussed but it was definitely a thing at the time and I may have asked my tech to check. It became a pretty rare problem after the first year or maybe more.

[Viperblasius]

My VIN is 00028! April 2013 build. Since I've owned the car (bought with 7200 miles in Oct 2014) the defroster button was only every pushed once, by a passenger. It was only one for a couple seconds before I pushed it off, and told the passenger why! Nothing happened...maybe it wasn't on long enough. But I'm not pushing that button again....

You're my Brother! Mines 00029

[uvbnbit]

and that fuse number is?.............

[swexlin]

You're my Brother! Mines 00029

What car do you have? I think VINs don't necessarily mean build order. I know 2013s started to come down the line in Dec 2012. What is your build date )MonthDayHour on your door sticker? And, have you ever used the defroster?

[Gen5snake]

My research shows fuse #20 (30 amp pink) and the relay is #53.

[Steve-Indy]

and that fuse number is?.............

Fuse #20

[blingnoring]

TRH62- Sorry to hear about that, I hope it works out for you. I see your in Fredericksburg, I've seen a Black gen v running around, is that you? I have the Forum Family Restaurant on Lafayette Blvd, if you get a chance stop by it would be nice to meet you. fyi, your money is no good here

Elias

[TRH62]

Hi Elias
Not me, mine is Red. I'll definitely stop by and meet up with you when I get a chance. See you soon.

TRH62- Sorry to hear about that, I hope it works out for you. I see your in Fredericksburg, I've seen a Black gen v running around, is that you? I have the Forum Family Restaurant on Lafayette Blvd, if you get a chance stop by it would be nice to meet you. fyi, your money is no good here

Elias

[Bryan Savage]

This topic is one of the most-posted about on these forums, I believe. I've seen some photos and diagrams, but does anyone have a video showing the inspection of the area where the defroster grid and the hatch might come into contact? I'm still not quite understanding it. I've got a good 5mm between my grid and hatch all the way around.

If we could get a video and VIN decoder, it could be made a Sticky in the Gen V area.

[TheWessss]

PEOPLE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS VIPER!!!! PULL THE FUSE!! Tell your friends who own G5 Vipers, not doing this can cost $1000's and the person will be without their car for months likely.

[Sniper]

Does fuse #20 control anything else other than rear defroster?

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

My VIN is 00028! April 2013 build. Since I've owned the car (bought with 7200 miles in Oct 2014) the defroster button was only every pushed once, by a passenger. It was only one for a couple seconds before I pushed it off, and told the passenger why! Nothing happened...maybe it wasn't on long enough. But I'm not pushing that button again....

SEE IF YOU CAN RUN A CREDIT CARD or 2-3 BUSINESS CARDS BETWEEN THE Wired GLASS AND OVERHANGING HATCH, AT THE FRONT-LEADING EDGE. If the wire cannot touch the hatch you are safe

Later cars had a smaller wire footprint, that began maybe .25" below the CF hatch, [no overhang of CF above Wire]

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

This topic is one of the most-posted about on these forums, I believe. I've seen some photos and diagrams, but does anyone have a video showing the inspection of the area where the defroster grid and the hatch might come into contact? I'm still not quite understanding it. I've got a good 5mm between my grid and hatch all the way around.

YES! THREE HIGHLIGHTED PIX HERE:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...68432-9999.pdf


The simplest explanation has to do with EARLY CARS whose CF hatch actually OVER-HANGS" the metal defroster wire at the forward-front of the hatch glass.

The overhang of CF over Metal is a very tight clearance: a credit card might not slide in, but a business card or 2 might slide in. The TSB suggests a non-conductive tape be used in these tight-zones shown in the photos.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

PROBABLY Affected, but NOT A RECALL.

If your hatch CF "Overhangs" the defroster wire at the top of the hatch/glass, your CF can maybe contact the wire.

Last 4 of my VIN is 0050.
2013 SRT Viper.
Here’s recalls that have been done.
Am I affected by this?
Attachment 44116

[TheWessss]

Does fuse #20 control anything else other than rear defroster?

nope

[Bryan Savage]

YES! THREE HIGHLIGHTED PIX HERE:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...68432-9999.pdf


The simplest explanation has to do with EARLY CARS whose CF hatch actually OVER-HANGS" the metal defroster wire at the forward-front of the hatch glass.

The overhang of CF over Metal is a very tight clearance: a credit card might not slide in, but a business card or 2 might slide in. The TSB suggests a non-conductive tape be used in these tight-zones shown in the photos.

Thanks Jon!

I do remember looking at this before and not being overly impressed by the visuals.

Here's the photos from the TSB. It would be great to have photos of affected cars too. Maybe there's not much to see, but again... this should be a Sticky.

Glass 1.jpg
Glass 2.PNG
Glass 3.PNG

[TRH62]

I reached out to a few glass companies in my area and they say they can replace mine but will be using original equipment equivalent glass "OEE" as a replacement. Would anyone recommend going with that off-brand type of glass or replace it with original glass from Mopar #68110780AC? I heard Mopar has updated the rear glass for the Viper. Just hope that's the one I end up getting. Please let me know if anyone has used other than Mopar glass and what would the pros and cons be with using it instead.

[darbgnik]

When I first heard about the glass exploding issue, the first thing I did was go out and inspect the rear hatch, then run the defroster for a full cycle. Figured I may as well while I still have warranty......

That was before it was narrowed down to early 2013s, and then newer winged cars. Owners outside this range of cars shouldn't live in fear.

I have a 50 year old Charger where my goal is for EVERYTHING to function. I'll be damned if I'm gonna pull the fuse on an amenity of a modern car. But that's just me.

OP, I hope they treat you right, even out of warranty. I know my local dealer covered a repair on my fiancee's SRT Jeep that for some reason wasn't covered by the extended warranty on their dime "to keep a repeat customer happy".