Cold weather damage - window exploded and mirror damage from autofold

[m_bt54]

I think they have some teens running around with a hammer breaking windows, mirrors. I'm in MN and it gets cold here on occasion and I've never heard of any windows breaking because of the cold. We do have errant teens here from time to time and I know they can wreak havoc when they want to. Amazing what dark nights and teenage boys with a car and a baseball bat can do to farmer's mailboxes.

Would have had to be a fast teen. I was driving about 60 when the window shattered and had been driving for about a half hour. I also have 24/7 CVR on my driveway and watched all the movement between coming home from work for the day and going back out a six hours later and the only action was my dogs

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[RossRR]

Would have had to be a fast teen. I was driving about 60 when the window shattered and had been driving for about a half hour. I also have 24/7 CVR on my driveway and watched all the movement between coming home from work for the day and going back out a six hours later and the only action was my dogs

HAHA...I've encountered some fast teens (I used to be pretty quick, myself) but not that fast!

 

[Aron]

Yea something is off right here!! I have -10/-20 for weeks at a time and nothing like this has ever happened!! that mirror NO way thats from cold, not a chance! The window is odd too, I have lived in Alaska for 20+ years cold as Heck and never a glass issue--

The reason that you’ve probably never heard of this is because your climate gets cold and stays cold for months at a time.

It’s not the cold per se that’s the issue, it’s relatively rapid changes in temperature that can shatter glass from the changes in internal stress due to differing rates of material expansion at different areas of the glass.

New England in the last couple of days has shifted from relatively warm to crazy cold. Couple that with point sources of warming if any of the vents happened to be pointing to a window, and I could see it happening, especially if you have the heater on full blast trying to warm up the truck.

I’ve had my mirrors freeze closed before. If the ice inside of the mirror arm was built up in the damaged area, it seems possible that the broken portion stayed in the closed position when the motor tried to rotate it out, given that the plastic is also extra brittle in extreme cold.

I don’t know that the cold is what caused the damage, but it seems plausible.

 

[tbinmd]

Side windows are tempered glass. It's under pressure, all it takes is to have a scratch or be nicked, then having some stress down the road, and boom window shatters. I wonder if the truck was vandalized, that would explain the mirror damage, and then hitting with window with a punch, might not break it but it could cause the window to explode at a later date.

 

[HammaMan]

Yeah, tempered glass just needs 1 odd bit of stress and boom, pieces.
That mirror is impact, that's a hard hit.

 

[Billy]

Sudden change in temperature shouldn't be the cause. I back out of my 63° garage into -50's and that has never happened to me, unless I'm lucky that's not the cause. My wife will tell you that I am far from lucky lol.

 

[780]

Sudden change in temperature shouldn't be the cause. I back out of my 63° garage into -50's and that has never happened to me, unless I'm lucky that's not the cause. My wife will tell you that I am far from lucky lol.

I was thinking the same.
And when it's -40 here, I remote start the truck and it's warm within 15 minutes. That's a quick warm up. Or the folks that park in heated underground parking then pull out into -40... Something is weird. Is warranty covering it?

 

[turbospartan]

If I have a 502A, do I have power folding mirrors? I've never noticed

 

[dolsen]

Yea, I think it’s impact damage more than temperature damage. These things are torture tested in extreme environments. I’m not saying the cold can’t do this, but I don’t think it’s likely especially since the mirror cap was also broken.

There isn’t a sufficient amount of heat transfer from ambient air to cause this type of dramatic shift in the temp of the glass that would cause it to shatter. Otherwise glass coffee pots would break a lot more often.

 

[780]

I do know this was an issue on the rear windows of 13th gen F150's with the power slider. My father in law had his shatter when he was defrosting it one morning. But I believe it was something to do with the defroster, not the glass.

 

[dolsen]

I do know this was an issue on the rear windows of 13th gen F150's with the power slider. My father in law had his shatter when he was defrosting it one morning. But I believe it was something to do with the defroster, not the glass.

That's different from what I am seeing suggested. It is being suggested that 90 degree air is shattering below zero windows, the heating elements on the rear window is different because the heat transfer and energy going from the heating elements to the rear window is much greater than the dry air blowing on the window. Conductive heat transfer is much greater than convective heat transfer

 

[780]

That's different from what I am seeing suggested. It is being suggested that 90 degree air is shattering below zero windows, the heating elements on the rear window is different because the heat transfer and energy going from the heating elements to the rear window is much greater than the dry air blowing on the window. Conductive heat transfer is much greater than convective heat transfer

Agreed. Just saying that is the only window shattering issues I've heard about on F150's...so far...

 

[m_bt54]

My insurance company is sending someone out tomorrow to look at it but they did say that they have had a few dozen window issues like mine in the area and that it is usually due to a small imperfection/ding/scratch in the window that was preexisting prior to the extreme temp changes.

The mirror is still a bit of a mystery. It is still 100% intact and if I fold the pieces out, I am not missing any of it and there is no debris from a branch or anything like that inside.

 

[HammaMan]

My insurance company is sending someone out tomorrow to look at it but they did say that they have had a few dozen window issues like mine in the area and that it is usually due to a small imperfection/ding/scratch in the window that was preexisting prior to the extreme temp changes.

The mirror is still a bit of a mystery. It is still 100% intact and if I fold the pieces out, I am not missing any of it and there is no debris from a branch or anything like that inside.

ice?

on youtube search for 'sparkplug window'

 

[dolsen]

Agreed. Just saying that is the only window shattering issues I've heard about on F150's...so far...

Gotcha, my bad, I misinterpreted. Easy to do with typed text. I much prefer face to face communication for this reason

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