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Problems with 2013 Ford F-150 VISIBILITY/WIPER

On average, the 2013 Ford F-150 starts to “feel” problems with the VISIBILITY/WIPER and its various aspects after 54 847 miles.

Recently reported VISIBILITY/WIPER problems on 2013 Ford F-150

After remotely starting my truck, i was sitting in the driver's seat putting on my seat belt and preparing to start driving home when i heard a loud "bang". i got out thinking that something hit the truck, but saw no sign of anything like that had occur. after arriving at home, i opened the back door on the driver's side to retrieve my work belongings, that is when i noticed that the driver's side panel of the rear window was shattered and completely spider-webbed. the temperature at the time of this occurrence was approximately 32 degrees fahrenheit. the remote start setting for the rear defroster is set to automatic, so i don't know if it came on during the remote start. the vehicle was stationary and idling at the time of the incident. the vehicle is a 2013 ford f-150 fx4 with 27,000 miles. the vehicle is equipped with rear defroster and a power rear window.

Put on rear defrost while driving in 28 degree temp on city street 25mph and seconds later heard what sounded like a gunshot only to find the back window shattered. dealer said they here of this on occasion because the defrost heats up so quickly and hot that it can shatter a cold window. this could be very dangerous to human life

Pickup truck has sliding rear window with rear defrost. after using defrost for approximately 10 minutes the rear window shattered with a loud pop. the vehicle was stopped at the time.

Back window shattered when remote start was turned on.

Remote started my vehicle. got in vehicle and heard a loud bang. upon inspection i discovered my left rear window panel was completely shattered. vehicle was stationary at the time and still in park. not sure of root cause. did research problem and found several similar issues. most were determined to be related the the defrost system. apparently ford is aware of the issue but to date has not issued a recall nor have they issued a bulletin.

2013 f150 ford parked outside on driveway. sunny with temperature roughly 32 degrees fahrenheit. remote start used to warm up truck. walking out to truck when a loud bang/gunshot type of sound happened without warning. walked around truck and saw that driver's side of the power sliding rear window (3 sections) had started to spider crack. this part of the window then continued to crack until the whole section was spider cracked. (the sharp edges of glass were on the inside of vehicle window.) the vehicle was taken to dealer for evaluation but was told it is out of warranty. the dealer estimated replacement cost is $1,200-1,300 usd. (parts and labor).

Window shattered driving straight ahead on roadway for approximately 10mins when suddenly the rear window shattered. the rear window on my f150 is a 3 piece window with the center piece being a slider. the left rear window shattered. temperature was upper 20's and rear defroster was on. there was no intentional act and, this was obvious a defect of some kind occurred. photos were taken and a police report was filed for documentation purposes. complaint made with ford and a claim # was provided but no assistance provided whatsoever.

Back window shattered, power sliding back window (drivers side, 3 part back window). used rear defrost for a few minutes and it blew up at a stoplight, sounded like a gunshot.

Power rear middle window shattered when truck was sitting still in parking lot. rear window defroster was on while driving truck. windshield wiper come on every twenty seconds with switch in off position

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 ford f-150. the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and remotely started, the rear drivers side glass shattered without warning. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 36,450.

Mar 15, 2015 at approx. 1030am,started vehicle with remote start fob, after warming for approx. 10 mins left traveling at roughly 15 mph, heard loud bang/pop, noticed that rear drivers partial window was shattered. traveled approx 1/8 mile and returned home to investigate and found no visible damage on window or area around window. researched online with other ford owners and found multiple other occurrences as above. *tr

Driver side rear slider glass exploded when putting on the defrost, traveling 55 mph at zero degrees outside, called ford and they said not there problem, had to fix myself. *tr

I was warming up my 2013 f150 lariat supercrew before leaving my home to head to work. i always use the remote start feature. it turns on the heated seats, climate control and the mirror/rear window defroster. after a few minutes, i opened the drivers side door, got in and before shutting the door i heard a loud pop. turns out that it was the drivers side section of my 3 panel sliding rear window shattering. *tr

Using the factory remote, i started the 2013 ford f150 for first time of the day 12/18/14 and entered vehicle 5 minutes later. put key in column ignition. did not touch any controls. with the transmission still in park, a very loud noise occurred. one section of the rear window / backlite had shattered top to bottom, edge to edge. the outdoor temperature was 24f, the heat setting was 67f. vehicle was backed into driveway with garage behind. nothing could have hit the window from the outside and the vehicle hadn't moved, yet the glass practically exploded. there are dozens of very similar experiences shared on several internet forums involving years 2010 forward of the same model truck -- same generation. ford has not created a tsb and there isn't a recall, and ford has made no indication that they will do anything about it. they referred me back to a dealer to document the damage. local ford dealer told me afterward that the rear window defrost turns on automatically with the remote start feature. now driver visibility is obscured and i'm concerned about the safety of the electrical heating element. reportedly fires have occurred with this situation. i won't be using the rear defrost under any circumstances -- even in northern illinois, in the winter. it seems most owners have been denied warranty claims because ford stated the damage was to glass, which isn't covered under the warranty. the glass isn't the problem, its the evidence. ford said it is up to the dealer to determine if the damage is due to a manufacturer's defect to get replacement under warranty. the dealer service manager told me they submit a warranty claim with photos to ford which will either approve or deny the claim. the dealer quoted $800.00 installed to replace the entire backlite assembly. the two different stories are troubling. i'm already preparing myself for the run-around. *tr

Rear defogger overheated and shattered rear glass window. rear window eventually started to fall out. this is a real safety issue in bad weather. ford has no recall as of today and a lot of these rear windows are being shattered. *tr

The rear window shattered! after haven driven for an hour and a half in sub freezing temperatures, with the mirror defroster on, when i arrived at my destination i got out and closed the door and i heard a loud pop and the tinkling sound that shattered glass makes as it falls to the ground. it seems to me that the rear window and in combination with the mirror defrost system is a crude "open loop" heating system that works on a timer instead of a temperature feedback loop to control the temperature of the glass. the rear window defroster is also tied to the driver's side and passenger's side mirror defrosters, so when you turn the mirror defroster on the rear window defroster is also on. i have a cap on the truck so the rear window doesn't see as much cold air as the mirrors do, but all three stay on the same amount of time. there is a timer circuit that turns the defroster off after 10 minutes and the mirrors immediately frost back up once it turns off, so i hit the button and they come back on again. you have to do this every 10 minutes while you are driving in freezing temperatures or the mirrors are unusable. i don't use the rear window defroster, but i need the mirror defroster. so my theory is that because of the "cheap" design of the window defroster system, the rear window over heated to the point that the pressure developed inside the cab when closing the door shattered the overheated glass. the exact problem happened before on 01-29-2014! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 ford f-150. the contact stated that the windshield wipers failed to operate. the vehicle was taken to a dealer, who diagnosed that the multi function switch needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 41,000.

While driving to work on this morning at about 60mph i heard a loud "boom" sound and moments later pulled back the sunroof cover to discover my sunroof had shattered. the glass panel had a hole in the center and all remaining glass was cracked. fortunately, the visor was closed or i would have been showered with glass shards. the remaining glass was protruding upward as if it exploded outwardly. there were no vehicles near me to throw a rock nor was i driving under an overpass or bridge. i took the truck to ford of west memphis and described what happened. the service man said he would submit the repair to ford for approval to repair under warranty since there was no impact that caused the breakage. ford customer service denied my warranty claim so i had to get it repaired under my insurance and pay the difference. $1009.68 and four days later i have my truck back. i inspected the removed glass with the dealer personnel and it is clear that there is a crack at the front center edge of the glass from which all other cracks propagated out from in a fan pattern. there is no sign of impact in this area and its even protected with the rubber seal such that it would be very unlikely that anything could impact the glass there. i am going to write a letter to ford to demand they pay for this repair. *tr

Wipers stuck in delay mode even with wipers off. every 10 seconds wipers would come on. took to dealer and they replaced the entire switch module. was under warranty. *tr

Sunroof shattered, after exiting my work place parking garage, at 12:45pm, i soon entered the on ramp to the local loop freeway and accelerated to enter the freeway at approx. 25 mph my sunroof shattered and glass particles came inside the vehicle compartment. loud explosion sound and small glass shards got in my eyes, on my skin and everywhere in the automobile. the sunroof is still basically intact and budged slightly outward or upward. *tr

I was traveling on the highway in february 10th, 2014 when i heard a loud noise like something had struck the rear part of my roof. i looked in the rear view mirror and saw that my rear left side window panel had completely crack (spider-ed). i though it may have been an object that caused this to happen until the same incident took place 3 years later and this time my vehicle was parked. i have now researched and found that other ford f150 owners have experience the same defect in their vehicles.

When out to truck in the morning to clean snow off. i retrieved a pair of gloves out of the backseat and nothing was out of the ordinary. it was approximately 7 degrees f outside. i then went inside and remote started the truck. after a few minutes i went to get in the truck, looked in the rear view and noticed the middle, sliding rear window was open. i turned around and found that the center glass was broken and had shattered into the truck. the two side panels were both completely shattered and still intact. i took the truck to the dealer and asked the parts and service department if this was something they had heard of. i told them i felt like the rear defroster combined with the cold exploded the window. they said they had never heard of that. the vehicle is currently at the dealership being repaired at a cost of $1,420. i have filed a complaint with ford and am awaiting a call back as they opened a case number for me. as this stands now it looks like it will come out of pocket and will be filed against insurance. *tr

The rear window shattered! after haven driven for an hour and a half in -04 degree f temperatures, with the mirror defroster on, when i arrived at my destination i got out and closed the door and i heard a loud pop and the tinkling sound that shattered glass makes as it falls to the ground. it seems to me that the rear window and in combination with the mirror defrost system is a crude "open loop" heating system that works on a timer instead of a temperature feedback loop to control the temperature of the glass. the rear window defroster is also tied to the driver's side and passenger's side mirror defrosters, so when you turn the mirror defroster on the rear window defroster is also on. i have a cap on the truck so the rear window doesn't see as much cold air as the mirrors do, but all three stay on the same amount of time. there is a timer circuit that turns the defroster off after 10 minutes and the mirrors immediately frost back up once it turns off, so i hit the button and they come back on again. you have to do this every 10 minutes while you are driving in freezing temperatures or the mirrors are unusable. i don't need the rear window defroster, but i need the mirror defroster. so my theory is that because of the "cheap" design of the window defroster system, the rear window over heated to the point that the pressure developed inside the cab when closing the door shattered the overheated glass. the very same problem happened again on 12-10-2014. *tr

Wipers not working right--battery light comes on - engine stalls on road while driving--gauges not working right-had speed set at 55 mph and motor went down but start up on it's own---radio stops working alone with the phone too; they but in a new battery on my request and now new things are happening to gauges an tack jumping up and down with the key out??? alarm goes off some times when my phone rings an i am not in the truck!!! *tr

The directional control lever on this vehicle requires the driver to engage the lever multiple times to indicate a change from a right turn to a left turn and vice versa. for example, making a left turn from one roadway onto another roadway, and then needing to make a quick right turn off of the 2nd roadway requires the driver to first disengage the left directional, and then in a 2nd motion, engage the right directional. it is not possible to merely move the directional lever up (to indicate a right turn) after turning left in one fluid motion. it requires a) holding the lever down to indicate a left turn b) in the middle of that turn, hitting the lever right two times to indicate a right turn. this is contrary to how typical directional levers work. often it is not possible to signal your intentions to other drivers in a timely fashion - or, the driver may hold the lever up, thinking he has engaged the right directional, but has merely disengaged the left. *tr

When first accelerating early in the morning the truck accelerates suddenly when 1st taking off. this really became a problem when someone stepped in front of me, the truck took off and then i had to stop suddenly. i have reported to ford and taken it in twice, but they insist no one has had this problem. the motor's rpm fluctuates about 200-300, then settles down.the visibility has been a problem since day one. ford replaced the wiper blades, but the problem is still there. i have back to the dealer 3 times and all they say is "we can duplicate the problem". *tr

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