[mswaim]

Well, here's what I think is a first (at least here). We've had the top down for some time now so today was the first time in weeks that we were out where we wanted to put it up before leaving the car for the day.

All was going well until the top reached about the half-way point, at which time the side window, drivers side decided to self-destruct all over the interior of the car and my neck. Not sure what actually happened since I was looking at my wife at the time, so I don't know if the window "caught" on something, whether the mechanism bound up, etc. Just not sure what happened. I do know that as soon as the window shattered, the top stopped moving forward and seem to stick in place with the mechanism straining to hold its position.

Once I released the switch the mechanism stopped and I was able to power it back to the "down" position. Luckily, we were two blocks from our cadillac dealer so we drove it over and dropped it off.

They were nice enough to call the rental fleet manager at home, he agreed to come in and prepare a rental for us. Sad news is the XLR is simply covered with slivers of broken glass, down in the seats, floors, center counsole area, you name it and there is glass in it, on it or inside of it.

There's also spots of blood to clean up since the larger pieces that hit my neck drew blood. All in all, not as good a day as most..............but, what the hey, I've seen worse.

 

[harrysxlr]

Well, here's what I think is a first (at least here). We've had the top down for some time now so today was the first time in weeks that we were out where we wanted to put it up before leaving the car for the day.

All was going well until the top reached about the half-way point, at which time the side window, drivers side decided to self-destruct all over the interior of the car and my neck. Not sure what actually happened since I was looking at my wife at the time, so I don't know if the window "caught" on something, whether the mechanism bound up, etc. Just not sure what happened. I do know that as soon as the window shattered, the top stopped moving forward and seem to stick in place with the mechanism straining to hold its position.

Once I released the switch the mechanism stopped and I was able to power it back to the "down" position. Luckily, we were two blocks from our cadillac dealer so we drove it over and dropped it off.

They were nice enough to call the rental fleet manager at home, he agreed to come in and prepare a rental for us. Sad news is the XLR is simply covered with slivers of broken glass, down in the seats, floors, center counsole area, you name it and there is glass in it, on it or inside of it.

There's also spots of blood to clean up since the larger pieces that hit my neck drew blood. All in all, not as good a day as most..............but, what the hey, I've seen worse.

Hi Mswaim,
that sounds bad, hope it never happens on mine.
What I don`t understand, when you raise or lower the top, the side windows moves into the door, so how could this happen?????

Harry

 

[mswaim]

Not sure how it happened Harry, however for it to have sprayed the interior as it did I would guess it caught on something and was placed under some amount of "flex stress".

The windows frame dropped free of the top and fell just behind my head. One thing that bothered me was the fact the glass did not break up like ordinary safety glass.

I've still got several small slivers of glass imbedded in my neck along my shirt collar, I have an appointment this morning to have my doctor take a look, my wife tried geting them all out but it looks like she missed a few.

Hopefully once the mechanic gets the top raised he can find some evidence of where or how that window got out of sequence or otherwise came into contact with something.

 

[mahme]

Hi mswaim,

that's sound slike a pretty bad experience... I had something similar happen to me in my Mercedes CLK (2000), as I opened the rooftop, a plastic cache that cover the roof top once it is folded down, pop away...

I didn't see it happen but heard a sound a noticed a missing part... I looked for it and found it fice meters away from the car, so again, there was some serious pressure in cause... but Mercedes never found out what the problem was and it never happened again...

Mahme

 

[harrysxlr]

Not sure how it happened Harry, however for it to have sprayed the interior as it did I would guess it caught on something and was placed under some amount of "flex stress".

The windows frame dropped free of the top and fell just behind my head. One thing that bothered me was the fact the glass did not break up like ordinary safety glass.

I've still got several small slivers of glass imbedded in my neck along my shirt collar, I have an appointment this morning to have my doctor take a look, my wife tried geting them all out but it looks like she missed a few.

Hopefully once the mechanic gets the top raised he can find some evidence of where or how that window got out of sequence or otherwise came into contact with something.

Good that you don`t got hurd too bad, let your doctor do the rest. I guess your wife was very lucky that she didn`t get hurd - that`s good!!!

I hope you let me know what`s happened, if they find something out at your Cadillac-dealer.

Harry

 

[Rainey]

mswaim

was it the little triangle shaped glass or the door window? If it was the triangle glass, maybe as it unfolded, it didn't line up properly and all the weight of the top was on it?

Jason

 

[mswaim]

mswaim

was it the little triangle shaped glass or the door window? If it was the triangle glass, maybe as it unfolded, it didn't line up properly and all the weight of the top was on it?

Jason

That appears to be the problem, however the jury is still out. Cadillac has already contacted my dealer and a new window and other components are on the way, but it looks like it will be down another few days. My service writer told me that there may be other instances, but he didn't want to be quoted on that until after he spoke with the factory folks again. At any rate they have handled the cleanup really well and were quick to step up with a rental and other perks.

 

[Caly]

We did experience one instance of the top "stalling" where that window (driver side) didn't unfold quite right. Reversed it and it straightend out. I suspect the unfolding problem may be more common than your dealer will admit but there may be enough variation in some "force" sensor or something that makes the top stop when things aren't going right for it to break the window occasionally.

 

[Eyedoc]

Level ground

Just out of curiosity, did this happen on level ground?

I had some problems with my top when I first got the car, but it tended to be on a slight backward incline.

Just wondering if a slight imbalance due to non-level ground could result in a misalignment.

 

[mswaim]

Just out of curiosity, did this happen on level ground?

I had some problems with my top when I first got the car, but it tended to be on a slight backward incline.

Just wondering if a slight imbalance due to non-level ground could result in a misalignment.

This was on level ground, with no wind or other factors influencing the tops' operation.

Hopefully I will have more information today, however the guys found that part of the mechanism was bent and needed to be replaced. They were guided to check for the damage by a Cadillac factory technician, which tends to make me think there may be a weakness beginning to show up in the mechanism. Should know more once they get it all buttoned up.

 

[mswaim]

Just an update, my car has been in the shop since April 18th, they have replaced the entire left side operator mechanism. They discovered two bent components, however they have no clue as to why this occurred. Now that the new components are installed, the electronics have failed in some manner, further delaying the process. Since GM claims this is the first report of a failure to this magnitude, I would have thought they would be interested in getting it up and running again through direct involvement. Who knows, this could be a sign of things to come for others as the tops begin to show signs of wear and tear. They also found a "bubble" in the tops headliner, they have ordered another one - not sure when that will come in. There is a sheet of foam that is glued to the top/inner surface of the trunk compartment, that is also falling away from the body due to glue failure. I'm beginning to wonder if the adhesive failures in the trunk are due to a heat buildup. Hopefully they will get it out by the end of the week.................

 

[Quixotic]

Geeeeeeeeeeeeezzzz, and I'm all bent over my first tiny chip in my paint... I guess I should be appreciative that's all that's the worst thing I've experienced!

A friend of mine (thunder gray if that matters) says once or twice the top and the window didn't meet up right. I told him what happend to you and he's much more conscious of it now.

 

[mswaim]

Well, it's ready, however due to business appointments I won't be able to pick it until tomorrow evening. I don't have any other info right now, other than they called to say its ready.

 

[mswaim]

Well, I picked up the car and spent some time talking with the mechanics. They could not find a specific reason why the top failed at some point, placing stress on the window to the point it broke. They did find two pieces of the main assembly that were bent, but there is simply no visible reason for the damage. The top is again working flawlessly, they put it through dozens of cycles before releasing it, and I have cycled it many times myself with no issues.

I would like to personally thank Allen Kulbersh (Mr. XLR) for taking the time to forward my initial post to the folks at GM so they would be involved throughout the process. Their efforts combined with my dealer's led to as quick a resolution as possible. My dealer rolled out the red carpet too, I was provided with an almost new (500 miles) CTS for the entire time and when I picked up the car it was nicely detailed and all things had ben checked including tire pressure which I know was a tad low going in.

All in all a great experience. Thanks Allen. :cheers

 

[aviator]

What a tale!

I'm glad she's working for you again, but what of the glass in your neck? Are you still picking it out? :confused

 

[mswaim]

I think I've got most of the glass picked out of me, our staff physician got 99% of it for me and I found a couple the next day when I went from a polo shirt day to a shirt/tie day. The pieces weren't big, just tons of tiny slivers that found their way into just about everywhere. Gives new meaning the old "pain in the neck" expression. All things considered, it wasn't that big an issue, just a bit messy.

 

[Guest]

Quixotic,

I found myself looking at the small window folding on the passengers side until I realized I could be picking glass out of my eye balls. I just duck down a little and hope Dr. Bob's wind baffle can catch glass as well as wind..and I have my first tiny nick on the door, but it just took the clear off. Probably could be buffed out. Valet service scuffed up my right front on a curb and the valet service told me to take it to good paint shop in Newport Beach. Think I'll ask him to fix that spot.

I'm all bent over my first tiny chip in my paint... I guess I should be appreciative that's all that's the worst thing I've experienced!