hey everybody. this may go down in stupid question category and not sure if it has been discussed before. But something really weird happened while driving last night.

own a b6 avant. Live in Canada so we are degrees Celsius. it was -18C with wind chill nearly -25 to -30. i was drivinge north of Toronto just for a nice quattro drive. I dropped off one of my friends then was enroute home, when i heard this loud bang in the back of my car like someone threw a snowball or rock at my car. pulled over and there was no one around. got out and my back window on the wagon was shattered. could tell the explosion or breakage however you call it started from where the rear wiper blade is connected to the window. The window then shattered after driving a few KM.

So the reason i addressed weather is because i am not sure what could have caused this. Would anyone have any insight on this? my reardefroster? I am now smelling a burning smell faintly in the car. i will be contacting the dealer to see if they know anything. but should anyone have any ideas please let me know what you think.

 

I have heard of temperature differentials causing this sort of thing. How strange.....

 

did you have snow on your back window? becuase i have seen them blow out if there is snow on it and you turn the defrost on, or if there is warm air blowing on it.

 

I was driving for about 2-3 hours before the breakage. but yes snow did build up while i was driving. but i used the wiper, and defroster. but there was still a build up of snow around the other parts of the window.

 

Something similar happened to me. It was nowhere near as cold as what you experienced, but I did have my rear defrost on. I called AoA and they had nothing to tell me about it, just logged in my concern. WhenI had it replaced, the installer told be that if it had been installed incorrectly, stress could cause it to shatter. Like yours, it seemed to originate at the wiper arm.

Later, I discovered that I had a broken coil spring. I theorized that the shock of the coil spring letting go caused enough, uh, shock to shatter the rear glass. But maybe I am just trying to justify it so I don't live in fear of my window breaking for no good reason.

Hope you have full glass coverage.

 

on the newer a4's , if u lift up and then drop the front wipers it breaks the windshield. isnt that crazy?

all i can think of is that the shattering occured from the STRESS/TEMPERATURE variations.

 

You gotta remember that even though it was -30, you are driving at say 80kph, making it MUCH colder on the outside of the glass. Plus, your suspension is stiffer because of the cold, causing more flex on your body. And I would also think that the hole that was make for the wiper would also weaken the glass to some extent. I doubt it is a regular occurance, but from time to time the glass will get stressed enough to break. I had my drivers window EXPLODE on my F350 when I met a semi. Just the pressure on the truck from him driving past was enough to shatter the glass. that was a cold 5 hour drive home.

 

Just have to take issue with your science: Windchill has no effect on inanimate objects, other than the rate at which they cool. Wind will sap warmth fromsurfaces more quickly than if it was calm. This is why exposed flesh will get frostbite more quickly than without wind. It does not make things colder, just causes things to get cold more quickly. So even while driving, -30 is -30 is -30. The main thing it would do is cause the defroster to work less effectively.

Not trying to **** you off, just felt the urge to correct. Yeah, I'm a bastard that way.

 

oh ya heard of this happening a few times before with avants... hmmm sounds like an AOA class action suit to me.... Call AOA and report the problem If they get enough reports it can turn into a recall and youll get a new free window, or reimbursed. Dont know if this has been mentioned, didnt read the whole thread.

 

i just called Audi Canada (located in Rochester Hills MI) insert laugh here. they logged my incident and said it is news to them. I have to go to a dealer for them to confirm the shattered window and possible reason. dont know if they want to pick up all the pieces of glass and say oh yeah here is the breaking point? maybe they call in CSI?

Thanks everyone for your input, would AOA be a better resource than Audi Canada?