Liftgate window shattered

[2017 Limited MN]

Hello everyone! 2017 Explorer Limited owner. Yesterday sitting waiting to merge onto a road coming out of Starbucks, I was literally just sitting there and it sounded like a gunshot. Scared the life out of me. Literally thought I got shot at. I was on my way to an MD appt so I had to go and when I got home called my Viet Nam Vet Ford retiree Dad over and when we started researching found all these cases where the rear window shatters. I do not recall my rear window heater being on however my settings were on automatic so it probably was on. Here in MN that day it may have been around 20 degrees? IDK I contacted Inver Grove Ford and they will be taking a look at it. Asked about a loaner car and was told no loaner until they do an assessment. Oh yeah forgot to add I contacted the dealer on the advice from the glass company because when the glass dude got here he couldn't open the liftgate. Got inside and tried to open it manually with the emergency release and even that was inoperable. Glass all down the inside of the liftgate along with he said grease of some kind? Sounds like the glass or whatever shattered a lot of stuff down in there. I will keep you guys updated. Should be fun. They are unaware of the rage of my father. He will go BSC on them if they make me pay for this. #crazyfatherforthewin lol and here I am 52 letting Dad do his thing.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.
I believe the rear defrost only comes ON when you set the Climate settings to Defrost. Bad news is that you or your insurance will be on the hook for the glass replacement. I have no idea why the liftgate would not open unless the glass fragments jammed something or damaged wiring.

Peter

 

[Wilfred Wonderballs]

Saturday my wife and I were driving to town to go to Hobby Lobby. Halfway to town we heard a very loud noise, and the rear hatch glass exploded in our 2018 Explorer XLT with 45k miles. Scared the living crap out of both of us and I went careening down the street to the bottom of the hill where I stopped. Now, I've heard of this spontanious glass exploding syndrome before, especially on earlier models of Explorers (now known as Exploders) like my '05 and '07, but not on newer models so much. While it's winter up here in Northern NY, it wasn't that cold Saturday. The truck was warmed up, there was no flaw in the glass, I hadn't opened the hatch, and it was about an hour after we had started and warmed the thing up. The road was clean and there were no other vehicles around us to flip up a rock. A Sheriff took a look at it to see if maybe it had been shot out by something like a BB or pellet gun because then it would've been a criminal matter, but we didn't find anything. SafeLite is going to sift through everything when they fix it tomorrow just to make sure. I told the deputy that it was so loud and violent I thought somebody was taking potshots at us, and I actually had my hand on my gun when I exited the vehicle. I checked us for holes, and thankfully found none in us or the interior of the truck. Imagine somebody coming up behind you unseen and tossing a cement block through the rear window. That's what it was like. My extended Platinum warranty from Ford apparently doesn't address this, but I have full glass coverage on my insurance policy. I don't want to imagine this happening when we're doing 70mph down the highway instead of toodling through town. I am going to notify the NHTA of this just to add info to their files. It's obviously a flaw in design and should be addressed as it does represent a safety issue, and is the responsibility of the manufacturer in at least cases like mine.

 

[J_C]

Welcome to the forum!

There have been a "few" reports of this over the last few years, but not really that many when you consider about a quarter million Explorers are sold per year around '18. Even so, some speculate it is more common on Explorers than some other vehicles' liftgates.

A flaw in the glass seems most likely, even if it wasn't visible to the naked eye. I don't know about you but I do not examine my rear glass for chips every time I drive it. A chip can be so tiny that it goes unnoticed, until some stress suddenly makes it grow.

Some have had it happen when they were putting the lift gate up or in conjunction with remote start activating the rear defroster. I suppose that could be a design flaw, too much flex in the rear gate, or defroster needs to ramp up to temperature slower. I also wondered in the past, what would happen if the non-motorized lift strut were to get weak then it's doing less assist, or am I not understanding the design on an '18? Gas charged struts typically get weaker in colder weather.

 

[2017 Limited MN]

Welcome to the Forum.
I believe the rear defrost only comes ON when you set the Climate settings to Defrost. Bad news is that you or your insurance will be on the hook for the glass replacement. I have no idea why the liftgate would not open unless the glass fragments jammed something or damaged wiring.

Peter

Hi Peter!
Yes the glass guy thinks the glass shattered down into the door and did some damage as well as jamming everything up. I am taking it in today and will hopefully find out more tomorrow. I hope I don't get some little fiesta as a loaner. ugh lol

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Wilfred.
Your thread was merged with this existing one.
Did you check to see if the liftgate is still functioning?

Peter

 

[2017 Limited MN]

Well its been horrible dealing with Ford. The creepy service manager automatically hit me with the "well you know a scratch blah blah blah..........." so I am ending up submitting it to my insurance and going from there. Do better Ford.

 

[peterk9]

Well its been horrible dealing with Ford. The creepy service manager automatically hit me with the "well you know a scratch blah blah blah..........." so I am ending up submitting it to my insurance and going from there. Do better Ford.

You'd likely end up going through your insurance company anyway since glass does not fall under the warranty.

Peter

 

[Aprilfox]

Was taking garden supplies out the back of my 2017 explorer this afternoon. Left the hatch open for about 20 mins while unloading. Hatch window shattered for no reason. It’s a nice sunny day

 

[peterk9]

Was taking garden supplies out the back of my 2017 explorer this afternoon. Left the hatch open for about 20 mins while unloading. Hatch window shattered for no reason. It’s a nice sunny day

Welcome to the Forum.
Something caused the glass to shatter although we may never know why. In any case, it will likely be a matter for your insurance. Good luck.

Peter

 

[Mbrooks420]

Was taking garden supplies out the back of my 2017 explorer this afternoon. Left the hatch open for about 20 mins while unloading. Hatch window shattered for no reason. It’s a nice sunny day

Welcome to the Forum.
Something caused the glass to shatter although we may never know why. In any case, it will likely be a matter for your insurance. Good luck.

Peter

It’s just a phrase used colloquially by everyone to mean for no obvious or apparent reason. Literally nothing, ever, has happened for no reason.

 

[Balhar]

This just happened to my 2018 Sport. Car was parked and nobody was near it. Heard a loud noise, what sounded like ice sliding off the car and saw that the rear window had shattered. The edges are all broken and crumbled away, the window itself has several large cracks running through it but it's still in place. Still creaking though.

Will have to get in touch with insurance to see what to do.

 

[peterk9]

^^ Welcome to the Forum.
Too bad that had to be your first post.

Peter

 

[Balhar]

^^ Welcome to the Forum.
Too bad that had to be your first post.

Peter

Yay me!

 

[heneghano]

wife got into the exploder this morning and when she closed the door, the rear liftgate glass exploded. Mostly outward. Most of the glass was in the driveway. Anyone else have a problem or have heard of problems? Ford is closed on weekends. I hope there's not too big of a fight on Monday. This should be warranty. Bought in July has 10000 km on it.

2016 Ford Explorer Limited
Liftgate glass exploded while parked in our garage. Not especially cold, usual January temps - we’ve had hotter & colder in Chicago over the years. Ford Garage said never heard of problem . Forums & chats say otherwise.

Insurance will cover it but had to “choose” a cause in order to get coverage. When for “something hit the glass”.

Will file a report with the NHTSA on Monday while at glass repair site.

Any update on what Fird is saying to this issue?

 

[peterk9]

2016 Ford Explorer Limited
Liftgate glass exploded while parked in our garage. Not especially cold, usual January temps - we’ve had hotter & colder in Chicago over the years. Ford Garage said never heard of problem . Forums & chats say otherwise.

Insurance will cover it but had to “choose” a cause in order to get coverage. When for “something hit the glass”.

Will file a report with the NHTSA on Monday while at glass repair site.

Any update on what Fird is saying to this issue?

Welcome to the Forum.
I did an Internet search on this, and it seems that the issue has been around for about 20 years, with various explanations.
While filing a report is good, I'm skeptical that it would accomplish anything given the length of time it has been happening.

Peter