Toyota Exploding Moonroof

[iamchris]

I was driving back from the NW Costco with my moonroof tilted, when all of a sudden I hear this loud explosion. I look up and what do I see? My moonroof had exploded into a million pieces. I am positive that I didn't hit anything.

Has anyone heard or experienced anything like this before? It scared the daylights out of me. I'm going to the dealership first thing tomorrow. And I've had my brand new car for less than 1 year.

[D. Dub]

Rock throw up from a car in front of you most likely.

[Freestylin]

its an assassination i tell ya..j/k... but that is pretty f*cked up :confused:

[1Avatar]

Had this happen on deerfoot last year, a rock hit the top part of the moonroof and cracked it into about a dozen segments.

[iamchris]

I was going 50 km/h and there was no car in front of me in either direction.

[snowboard]

that would scare me so bad haha...
i dont see what could cause that if there was no one else around...

[iamchris]

The only explanation that I can think of is the compression and change of pressure inside my car forced the air upwards trying to escape through the small opening at the top.

I hope this is covered under my warranty.

[Rocky]

Your initials don't happen to be JFK do they? :D

[treg50]

What model of Toyota do you have?

Air pressure? Unless you were cruising at an altitude of 25 000 ft and then suddenly plummeted to 1000 ft in 3 seconds, then maybe air pressure could be the cause.

I'm thinking maybe it was body twist or more likely a rock or some debris.

[rio_rex]

Something simular happend to me too. My 88 plymouth voyager's back window expoded OUT of the car. The window actually burst into pieces out of the van. There were virtually no pieces of glass inside the interior, all the glass was piled up ouside the van. So that would rule out a rock or someone smashing it in.

I think it was caused by the glass being under abnormal compression and stress, so it just burst when the temp/atmos pressure was right....weird, but it happens.

[D. Dub]

That kind of tempered glass could have taken a hit a week ago and the temperature change or movement of opening could have caused it to shatter now or could have just been faulty.

[djayz]

most likely compression or as said above body twist

or more likely defective glass

ive hit tempered glass with a 2x4 accidently and it didnt break


ohh and something like a rock hitting it at 50km/h could break it...doesnt seem fast but definately is

[iamchris]

There were no cars in front of me for as far as I could see and there was no car coming in the opposite direction. The closest car behind me was at least 200 yards.

Upon closer inspection, there was no evidence of any rock chips of any kind. The glass just split horizontally across. Hopefully this is covered under warranty.

btw I drive a Corolla

[liquidboi69]

Originally posted by djayz

ive hit tempered glass with a 2x4 accidently and it didnt break

"Accidently" hit your 'friends' car? hahah jk

[djayz]

^
unfortunetly it was my own car when doing some renovations at home :(

window is fine tho..atleast it appears to be

and if it split horizontally accross either sounds like a twist or excessive pressure on the glass

check to see if your sunroof frame is straight...there might have been something inside the track that caused the frame to twist a little and crack the glass.

should be covered under warranty if you tell them what you told us.

[yellowsnow]

God is angry at you!

[90s_tuner]

Warranty isn't going to cover that unfortunately.

[dericer]

It can be air pressure....or something like that anyways.

My Dad had his side window blow out on him years ago.

He had the a/c cranked, it caused his side window to leave the groove on the door, and it shattered.

[moe007]

wow that sucks i heard they are pricey to replace

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by 90s_tuner
Warranty isn't going to cover that unfortunately.

Chances are, they probably will, if you can prove that, that is in fact what really happened. This happened on one of our limos. The "torque" blew out this $900 side window. The hardest part was to convince them that it was a manufacturers defect, and not our doing of any sort. For you: that'll be REALLY hard since it shattered into a million pieces. So I dont know.

Good luck with it either way, if its NOT covered under warrenty, ouch... expect over $600 EASILY.

[3G]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M


Chances are, they probably will, if you can prove that, that is in fact what really happened. This happened on one of our limos. The "torque" blew out this $900 side window. The hardest part was to convince them that it was a manufacturers defect, and not our doing of any sort. For you: that'll be REALLY hard since it shattered into a million pieces. So I dont know.

Good luck with it either way, if its NOT covered under warrenty, ouch... expect over $600 EASILY.

Yep on my buddies old 91 prelude, the glass like 4-500 bucks alone

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by rio_rex
Something simular happend to me too. My 88 plymouth voyager's back window expoded OUT of the car. The window actually burst into pieces out of the van. There were virtually no pieces of glass inside the interior, all the glass was piled up ouside the van. So that would rule out a rock or someone smashing it in.

I think it was caused by the glass being under abnormal compression and stress, so it just burst when the temp/atmos pressure was right....weird, but it happens.

Automotive glass is designed to shatter outwards. It's a safety thing.

[CryoCarnage]

hmm is this on a 84-92 corolla? if so then its not unheard of to see it shatter. this happeend to my friends 86GTS and his 84 SR5. PITA to find replacement parts but usually junkers have ones. If not brand new from toyota is about 700 with the brackets. at leats thats what the price was at last year.

[Supa Dexta]

I remember reading of some side windows blowing out up in edmonton, and I think a couple of those cases were bb gun related....

[kane584]

it was the aliens !

[Unknown303]

Has anyone ever heated up a marble then thrown it into cold water. Marble explodes. I think a temperature change would be the best bet. Possible if you were parked before and it heated up enough when you started driving and opened it the change in temperature could cause it to shatter into a million pieces.

This has also happened to me taking glasses out of the dishwasher too fast. and the glass would blow up into tiny pieces in every direction.

[gp36912]

Originally posted by Unknown303
Has anyone ever heated up a marble then thrown it into cold water. Marble explodes. I think a temperature change would be the best bet. Possible if you were parked before and it heated up enough when you started driving and opened it the change in temperature could cause it to shatter into a million pieces.

This has also happened to me taking glasses out of the dishwasher too fast. and the glass would blow up into tiny pieces in every direction.


this could be an good explanation of how it could have happened. it happens to me all alot of times also.

[Altezza]

Originally posted by kane584
it was the aliens !

http://img6.photobucket.com/albums/v19/sedricke15/id4.jpg

[FiveFreshFish]

Pre-existing stress in the glass. Just decided to let go now.