Aussie Alan 993

Last Sunday, after great a day out at the annual Porsche Club of NSW concours, my rear glass shattered into a million bits in my driveway.

This is unbelievable after having 2 rear screens blow days after buying the car late last year.

Thank God, this is covered by a 2 year warranty from Porsche after parting with just under 2 grand to have tha last one fitted, and I am fairly sure of the cause but I am not happy with the fact that it is happening at all. I, like most expect better from such a highly regarded manufacturer.

My question is, Has this happened to anyone else anywhere else in the world or has someone done a voodoo thing to my car??

I may be able to claim some sort of record...

JohnJL

Is the cause a Red Rider with a compass in the stock? What's going on?

sweanders

Has your car ever been in an accident?

Aussie Alan 993

The car was in a small front accident in 2000, I got the details from the PO and spoke to the repairer who told me the car was not badly damaged.

It is all electrical, believe it or not.

The cause of the first 2 breakages was due to do the top mounted brake light taking power through the conductors in the glass, a known fault to Porsche Australia and I was told a common occurence for the 993 coupe, but this one had them puzzled because the light was wired up independently of the glass when they fitted it last year.

I am waiting for confirmation but I believe this breakage was caused by a crook joint where the rear window demister wires connect to the glass.

Pictures will follow but I just want to get this confirmed first.

Cheers

Ray Calvo

You have one of the "fat-body" cars? C4S or 993TT (guess not from your description)? I have heard of a few of these occurring and personally witnessed one; guy in a TT came up to one of our track driving events, stopped at our tech/registration area, got out of the car and closed the door (swung the door closed but I wouldn't say he slammed it). Rear window shattered into a million pieces.

Can't remember a cause but might have been due to a pressure pulse in the car when the door was rapidly closed on a window installation under a lot of stress.

Would suggest to anyone to look at the window corners (windshield and rear window). If they're cloudy, could be an indication of a high stress situation and potential window crack/shatter incident is upcoming.

Dr. No

I have read that shattering rear glass is not uncommon with the 95s because of the way Porsche mounted the rear window - which they changed in 96. The problem is supposed to be worse if you have 18" wheels. No word on a fix or work-around.

Aussie Alan 993

The new screen is now in stock and will be fitted tomorrow morning.

Retint on Friday and home for the weekend.

Woohoooo...

Wish these things weren't so fragile, I am worried it is going to happen again.

Monique

If it was me, I would get a lightweight 993 RS rear window (thinner and no heating ellements)

You do not need heated windows in OZ

pjc

This was a known problem with the early cars and a tech bullitin was issued in connection with the fitting of a replacement rear screen - if your was fitted through a Porsche Centre then it should have been fitted correctly so it is a difficult one to understand why it has exploded. I believe this bullitin has been mentioned before on the forum - try a "search" for more details.

PJC

Aussie Alan 993

Yes the heated window is good in OZ because of the humidity at times but the aircon clears the glass in no time and this does all the glass not just the rear, and having a rear wiper will clear enough of the rear glass to see if it is dew on the outside.

I am in two minds, should I leave it connected and use it every day if I need it or not so if it is going to fail again it will do so before the warranty expires or do I disconnect it and just leave the mirrors connected, no power to the glass should eliminate the risk of this type of failure.


I believe the TSB on the rear glass was a work around for the high mount brake light. I am not sure if it is the same world wide but OZ cars originally had a really dumb design that powered the top mounted brake light through conductors on the glass. The light draws 2.5 amps which is a fair bit and caused the glass to heat up in one spot where the wires are soldered on. Porsche changed the glass removing the centre terminal and giving it a new part number. The TSB, to the best of my knowledge, describes the rewiring of the brake light that is needed with the new glass.

This failure was similar but in the demister connection.

So Do I hold the record???

Monique

Might not be a record but certainly a s***** average

alex2324

I thought I was the only one! Mine blew out on my 96 C2 sitting at a traffic light on a very cool night.

2ndof2

There must be an alternative like some lightweight plexiglass or something that may be less likely to explode. I always try not to press too hard on the glass when cleaning it for fear of this happening to me!

AX993

I feel your pain. My rear glass arrived today from Germany. Set to have installed Monday.
Glenn
'96 993

geolab

Alan is correct, there is no TSB for the rear glass shattering, only installing third brake light, and one on paint corrosion repair.

for rear glass installation, the workshop manual is the only source I think