Rear window leak

[fatfree]

Is this happening to 2021’s? And possibly 2022’s?

 

[cevans6318]

Is this happening to 2021’s? And possibly 2022’s?

yes.

 

[mikeru82]

Is this happening to 2021’s? And possibly 2022’s?

yes.

To be more precise, yes it has happened on 2021's. So far I haven't seen anyone with a 2022 report this problem on any Ram forums I've been reading, but not many people have even taken delivery of those yet.

 

[Camelot]

Yes for 2021....

 

[SD Rebel]

Speaking from experience, unless you are a big time spender at the dealer, the manufacture doesn't care about you nor are they going to help you when you get out of warranty. Why should they come to your aid to pay for something when you haven't proven to be loyal to the brand. I have worked at the same dealer for 15 yrs and see things like this all the time. When customers complain to the manufacture and the factory rep gets involved, the first thing they look at is your history with the dealer or the brand in general. If the rep see's that you don't spend money at the dealer for services or tires and brakes, etc.... they usually tell you to **** off. The customers that do all of there scheduled services and buy tires, brakes, alignments, etc usually get a one time goodwill from the dealer or manufacture. As I said before, it sucks but it is what it is. once your out of warranty, they have no obligation to help you whether the issue is common or not.

What also sucks, correct me if I'm wrong here, but after speaking with FCA, there is no Mopar Extended Warranty you can purchase that will cover the rear window, even if you prove it's the frame's fault and not the glass. They said they won't cover anything to do with glass after the 3yr / 36K warranty is over.

Which means that once your original bumper to bumper 3yr/36K warranty is over, you will be paying for the crack & leak yourself regardless of any other extended warranty you could have purchased. My truck is a less than a year away from being out of warranty, makes me want to take it on some rough roads to get it to crack before I'm out of warranty.

 

[cevans6318]

anyone replaced their rear glass with a solid rear glass?

 

[cevans6318]

What also sucks, correct me if I'm wrong here, but after speaking with FCA, there is no Mopar Extended Warranty you can purchase that will cover the rear window, even if you prove it's the frame's fault and not the glass. They said they won't cover anything to do with glass after the 3yr / 36K warranty is over.

Which means that once your original bumper to bumper 3yr/36K warranty is over, you will be paying for the crack & leak yourself regardless of any other extended warranty you could have purchased. My truck is a less than a year away from being out of warranty, makes me want to take it on some rough roads to get it to crack before I'm out of warranty.

I work for Mercedes Benz. When a customer purchases an extended warranty through Mercedes, and we diagnosis an issue, we have a online system that shows you the failed part and gives a list of failures for that part. each failure has a code and when we enter the code for that vehicle, it comes back with a decision from MBUSA whether it is approved or denied. now, the panoramic roofs for instance, when replaced, come complete with glass and the sunshades, but the system lets you choose where the failure is, the glass, the rails, the shades on the roof, etc.... so if the frame is cracked and leaking, it gives that option to run coverage for the frame leaking. They usually are covered. Customer gets an entire new frame with glass. But say the glass is cracked and leaking, that usually isn't covered. And the glass usually can be replaced separate. Not sure how FCA is with their ext warranty but it seems sh*t if they won't cover a cracked frame because it comes with the glass, and since the glass itself isn't a covered item, it makes the frame not covered. I would be raising hell at that point with FCA.

 

[SD Rebel]

I work for Mercedes Benz. When a customer purchases an extended warranty through Mercedes, and we diagnosis an issue, we have a online system that shows you the failed part and gives a list of failures for that part. each failure has a code and when we enter the code for that vehicle, it comes back with a decision from MBUSA whether it is approved or denied. now, the panoramic roofs for instance, when replaced, come complete with glass and the sunshades, but the system lets you choose where the failure is, the glass, the rails, the shades on the roof, etc.... so if the frame is cracked and leaking, it gives that option to run coverage for the frame leaking. They usually are covered. Customer gets an entire new frame with glass. But say the glass is cracked and leaking, that usually isn't covered. And the glass usually can be replaced separate. Not sure how FCA is with their ext warranty but it seems sh*t if they won't cover a cracked frame because it comes with the glass, and since the glass itself isn't a covered item, it makes the frame not covered. I would be raising hell at that point with FCA.

I agree, but I spent some time with Mopar customer support regarding extended warranties, as I'm getting offers daily for it now.

I spoke with a couple of Mopar Extended Warranty sales people, who both stated specifically that no Mopar warranty will cover anything to do with glass after the basic warranty is over, even if it's the frame.

I will double check with my dealership service advisor to confirm, because it will help determine whether or not I get an extended warranty.

 

[cevans6318]

I agree, but I spent some time with Mopar customer support regarding extended warranties, as I'm getting offers daily for it now.

I spoke with a couple of Mopar Extended Warranty sales people, who both stated specifically that no Mopar warranty will cover anything to do with glass after the basic warranty is over, even if it's the frame.

I will double check with my dealership service advisor to confirm, because it will help determine whether or not I get an extended warranty.

I personally would look into aftermarket companies. Lots of good companies out there. Lots to avoid as well. I thought about an ext warr but my auto insurance automatically added it when I added the truck to the policy, so I will just use that when the time comes.

 

[cevans6318]

So it rained a little bit overnight. This morning I didn’t see any evidence of water in the back but once I got to work, I noticed this drip on the right rear corner of the back glass. don’t see anything up top but there’s definitely a leak somewhere I just got to figure out where. It’s supposed to rain all day today so maybe I’ll get a better chance to see was leaking if not I’ll leak test it over the weekend

 

[smokinjo36jt]

2019 Ram 1500 with Rear Window Leak.
New Body Style
original owner.

 

[Otisporkchop]

Knock on wood my 2020 has not cracked, this seems such a wide spread issue maybe there should be a class action lawsuit.

 

[SD Rebel]

Knock on wood my 2020 has not cracked, this seems such a wide spread issue maybe there should be a class action lawsuit.

Not really sure, it's hard to tell on a forum where you have a disproportionate number of people who post vs. the actual owner population. However, the issue seems to stem from the vendor who supplies these windows. The same vendor also supplies GM (Silverado & Sierra) with similar designed sliding windows. If you check the Silverado forums, they also have a large thread of complaints for the same rear window leak.

Is the question if rather than when? Not sure, but you better hope that it's when, that you get the crack before you 3yr/36k warranty is over. None of the factory Mopar extended warranties will cover this repair, at least based on several conversations I've had with Mopar customer service.

There is talk of people fixing this issue by applying sealant on top of the window, which would make for a cheap fix that for some would be better than the dealership ripping everything apart and hoping they do a good job. Not sure yet which direction I feel like going, especially since I only have 7 months left on my warranty and no crack yet.

 

[Otisporkchop]

Not really sure, it's hard to tell on a forum where you have a disproportionate number of people who post vs. the actual owner population. However, the issue seems to stem from the vendor who supplies these windows. The same vendor also supplies GM (Silverado & Sierra) with similar designed sliding windows. If you check the Silverado forums, they also have a large thread of complaints for the same rear window leak.

Is the question if rather than when? Not sure, but you better hope that it's when, that you get the crack before you 3yr/36k warranty is over. None of the factory Mopar extended warranties will cover this repair, at least based on several conversations I've had with Mopar customer service.

There is talk of people fixing this issue by applying sealant on top of the window, which would make for a cheap fix that for some would be better than the dealership ripping everything apart and hoping they do a good job. Not sure yet which direction I feel like going, especially since I only have 7 months left on my warranty and no crack yet.

We all spent a boat load of money on these trucks to hope that your window cracks before the warranty runs out, to me it seems wrong that they know there is a problem with the design and the are hoping it happens after the factory warranty runs our. They should fix them with no questions asked regardless of the mileage. Just my opinion it’s a real expensive problem to have.

 

[Biga]

So is the consensus that it is body twisting that cracks the frame or is it water freezing around the frame in colder climates? I'm past my 3 year year warrenty and mileage and still no cracks but I do cringe when the weather turns colder.

 

[SD Rebel]

We all spent a boat load of money on these trucks to hope that your window cracks before the warranty runs out, to me it seems wrong that they know there is a problem with the design and the are hoping it happens after the factory warranty runs our. They should fix them with no questions asked regardless of the mileage. Just my opinion it’s a real expensive problem to have.

Absolutely agree, and if this was Toyota, yes, they likely would fix this issue. But this is FCA/Stellantis, they have no such qualms is shafting us out of warranty. I mention Toyota because my buddy has an older 2012 RAV 4, but there is an issue with some white paint on that generation. Guess what, Toyota repainted his whole truck 8 years later due to that fault, even though paint is only covered for 3 years / 36K on his car, no extended warranty either, no recall even. Just a technical bulletin. There is a technical bulletin on our windows, but it won't be honored out of warranty.

Though if you got a good relationship with your dealer, they may help you out of warranty, it's worth a try.

 

[SD Rebel]

So is the consensus that it is body twisting that cracks the frame or is it water freezing around the frame in colder climates? I'm past my 3 year year warrenty and mileage and still no cracks but I do cringe when the weather turns colder.

From what I understand, the body naturally moves around a bit which causes the frame to crack. The issue is the plastic they use in that part of the frame is prone to cracking, most likely under stress.

The revised rear window appears to have a different design in that area, either better material or thicker material or both. It could also be a bad batch of windows where the design is fine, but maybe some were made with a weaker mix of plastic. Right now, nobody really knows except the engineers who worked on it. The technical bulletin doesn't seem to say anything either in regards to why it cracked and what's special about the replacement windows.

 

[Otisporkchop]

Absolutely agree, and if this was Toyota, yes, they likely would fix this issue. But this is FCA/Stellantis, they have no such qualms is shafting us out of warranty. I mention Toyota because my buddy has an older 2012 RAV 4, but there is an issue with some white paint on that generation. Guess what, Toyota repainted his whole truck 8 years later due to that fault, even though paint is only covered for 3 years / 36K on his car, no extended warranty either, no recall even. Just a technical bulletin. There is a technical bulletin on our windows, but it won't be honored out of warranty.

Though if you got a good relationship with your dealer, they may help you out of warranty, it's worth a try.

 

[Otisporkchop]

From what I understand, the body naturally moves around a bit which causes the frame to crack. The issue is the plastic they use in that part of the frame is prone to cracking, most likely under stress.

The revised rear window appears to have a different design in that area, either better material or thicker material or both. It could also be a bad batch of windows where the design is fine, but maybe some were made with a weaker mix of plastic. Right now, nobody really knows except the engineers who worked on it. The technical bulletin doesn't seem to say anything either in regards to why it cracked and what's special about the replacement

Absolutely agree, and if this was Toyota, yes, they likely would fix this issue. But this is FCA/Stellantis, they have no such qualms is shafting us out of warranty. I mention Toyota because my buddy has an older 2012 RAV 4, but there is an issue with some white paint on that generation. Guess what, Toyota repainted his whole truck 8 years later due to that fault, even though paint is only covered for 3 years / 36K on his car, no extended warranty either, no recall even. Just a technical bulletin. There is a technical bulletin on our windows, but it won't be honored out of warranty.

Though if you got a good relationship with your dealer, they may help you out of warranty, it's worth a try.

nice to know about Toyota my wife drives a white 2014 tundra that I’ve been maintaining for almost 8 years and the paint on the roof is starting to come off, maybe it’s worth a trip to the dealer lol.

 

[Otisporkchop]

Maybe the hellwig sway bar will help, it definitely stops a lot of the body roll, who knows?