Hi Guys, I'm new to Volvo forums & what a great place to loose yourself in

My old Girls a 1995 850 estate with a 191000 miles under her belt but last week I closed the Tailgate and 5 - 10 seconds later the rear window just shattered - with a bang!! The window was previously unmarked, I didn't slam it, nor trap anything as to twist it, nor was there any big temperature difference. Have I just been unlucky or are they prone to going?

Any thoughts or comments appreciated.

 

Was there a bullet in the car, or have you been pissing off your neighbours lately[8D]?

I believe it was just unlucky but is a mystery, as it shattered after 5-10 seconds. I can only imagine that the glass had been under some twisting/bending forces of the body, but it's a tailgate and the glass shouldn't take as much of a stress as does the windshield/screen, if at all.

If it does the same thing after a new glass is installed, I would replace the entire tailgate assembly. Visually inspect to see if there was something that could have caused this mysterious explosion. I'm not privy to 850 wagons, but are the tailgate-holding dampers still in good shape?

This is probably the most strange symptom I've seen on this forum[&:].


JPN

 

lol

 

I have seen a drivers side window do that once. Never figured out what caused it.

 

First time I've heard of it on a Volvo. I know it was an issue on the 400 series Tahoes.
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Just unlucky I think. I've never heard ofthose shattering before - they are made of toughened glass and are also fairly thick.

Even so, I'll close the tailgate on my T5 wagon a little more carefully in future.

 

That happened to me once too, on an '87 Ford Escort; my first & last Ford. Never figured out the cause. I was just driving in southern NJ, heading south.


JPN

 

Hi All.[sm=hiya.gif]
Thanks for the thoughts esp. JPN. I've been extra nice to my neighbours lately & the tailgate glass is still in one piece - you may be on to something there......

The springs are a little weak as the car has to be level, or nose downhill, for them to hold the lid open which is a bit anoying but even so it doesn't feel heavy. Maybe ones gone softer than the other but I feel that I could end up making alot of work for myself just to check this out, not to metion the possabilty of damage to the glass[]. Think I'll leave it alone and see how it goes.
Does anybody know if the srings/torsion bars are adjustable?

Thanks all.

 

No they are not. They are not hard to replace though. When my tailgate fell and hit my wife in the head while she was holding my Grandaughter it was time to replace the struts. Hitting my wife didn't bother me that much, but my Grandaughter that's another story.

 

I have had a shattering window on a car before but it was when I was really pi**ed off with it. On my Porsche 914 I shattered the drivers side window when I slammed it after the fuel pump relay quit and it wouldn't start. I slammed the door and the door stopped but the window didn't. The good news on that one was that the headlight motor relay was exactly the same as the fuel pump relay so I was able to swap it out and drive the car albeit "winking" on the headlights.

...Lee

 

The springs (torsion bars?????) you refer to are actually hinges and they don'tweaken. A pair ofgas strutshold the tailgate up when it is openand the struts haveobviouislypassed their use-by date.

A pair of tailgate struts are neithercostly,hardtoobtain or difficult tofit.

Haynes 850 Volvo Repair & Service manual gives clear instructionshow to remove and refit tailgate gas struts.

Replace the gas struts soonbefore the tailgatefinds the opportunity to come crashing down on your unprotected brainbox when you least expect it.

Believe me, if this happens to you, it could also be described as ashattering experience.

 

.......


JPN