Electronics shorted by windshield tinting water?

[AppleIsSkynet]

Hello,

I recently got a 24 Expedition and took it to our tint shop and the owner said there’s an electronic device (I forget the name) that can short out if water from the windshield tinting process gets to it. He said it’s rare that this happens but it can happen, he’s had two of about a 100 vehicles that this happened to.

Has this happened to you and if so, do you know exactly what the electronic device is and did Ford cover it under warranty?

Thanks,

Michael

 

[Mr Big]

I've had several car windshields tinted. 4 were Expeditions, Explorers and Excursions.
You won't have to worry if you take it to a reputable tint shop. There are tint shops and then there are Tint Shops.

 

[AppleIsSkynet]

Thanks for the feedback. This shop, Tint Pro of Warner Robins, Ga is the “go to” shop of the area. Most, if not all of the dealerships use them, I’ve used them for 13 years now and the owner said he first saw it as a bolo in tint forums and had it happen to them twice out of dozens done. He said it was only the models released the past couple years.

 

[mwar99]

Highly unlikely it would be covered under warranty, especially if it is obvious there was water damage.

 

[AppleIsSkynet]

Highly unlikely it would be covered under warranty, especially if it is obvious there was water damage.

IDK, they said the dealership fixed them without issue.

 

[SyndicateZ]

Just make sure you dont say it was damaged because of the water from a tint install

 

[Mr Big]

I'm taking another car in this week for a windshield tint. So, I asked my company that does all the tinting about it. They said they had never heard of it, but it was possible if the installer sprayed too much liquid. , I also called a few other local top rate tint installers, and they said the same thing.
With that said, I'm still going to go with negligence, not with the company, but with the actual installer.

 

[Hellwig]

Just make sure you dont say it was damaged because of the water from a tint install

That's exactly what I don't understand. What the difference between the water brought by a heavy thunderstorm and the water from a windshield tinting process? The only difference I can think of is tinting water may be sprayed inside the cabin, and therefore may damage speakers?

 

[Mr Big]

That's exactly what I don't understand. What the difference between the water brought by a heavy thunderstorm and the water from a windshield tinting process? The only difference I can think of is tinting water may be sprayed inside the cabin, and therefore may damage speakers?

Tint is applied on the INSIDE of the windows and windshield.

 

[5280tunage]

I would agree that a good installer should be able to minimize the chances, but unfortunately, every new vehicle seems to be coming with 3-5 more modules and I know for a fact just having look at a bunch of the modules in this thing, they are not intrusion rated (IP ratings) or designed to resist moisture even, let alone full on intrusion. One would hope they properly cover the dash itself so that moisture doesn't go near say the sync module or the modules direction below the center channel, etc. I was a tint installer as a teenager at a local shop, it's a fine balance between using enough liquid to keep things clean and not using too much liquid.

For me, it reminds me of the part of Tommy Boy when the bag of candy pours into the dash, it's like one big gutter down there on the base of the windshield, there will be a lot of water regardless. No matter what, when you get it home, if you can open all the windows and let it air out overnight, you want the moisture to dry as quickly as possible so things don't corrode or rust.

 

[SyndicateZ]

That's exactly what I don't understand. What the difference between the water brought by a heavy thunderstorm and the water from a windshield tinting process? The only difference I can think of is tinting water may be sprayed inside the cabin, and therefore may damage speakers?

Yes, the module or whatever the part they are talking about is inside the cabin (interior side of windshield), While spraying the soap/water mixture onto the windshied inside the cabin side it could get a part wet that wasnt designed to get wet .

 

[rd618]

IDK, they said the dealership fixed them without issue.

Are you talking about the recall that replaces the little tray behind the large screen? That’s known to have issues if liquid is poured back there bc it is not waterproof. It’s a car dashboard.
Also if the guy is this concerned a few thick wash towels will prevent any significant dripped water from leaking to anywhere.

 

[rd618]

Yes, the module or whatever the part they are talking about is inside the cabin (interior side of windshield), While spraying the soap/water mixture onto the windshied inside the cabin side it could get a part wet that wasnt designed to get wet .

What module? The ones on the windshield are covered with plastic covers? If those are being soaked that’s going to affect basically any car with automatic wipers, or lane keep assist which is pretty much any vehicle over 50k.

 

[AppleIsSkynet]

What module? The ones on the windshield are covered with plastic covers? If those are being soaked that’s going to affect basically any car with automatic wipers, or lane keep assist which is pretty much any vehicle over 50k.

IDK, I decided to get the windshield tinted today and they had no problem. So what ever can get shorted out during the install process (i.e. water seeping between the glass and dash) didn’t cause me any problems.

 

[AppleIsSkynet]

Are you talking about the recall that replaces the little tray behind the large screen? That’s known to have issues if liquid is poured back there bc it is not waterproof. It’s a car dashboard.
Also if the guy is this concerned a few thick wash towels will prevent any significant dripped water from leaking to anywhere.

No

 

[AppleIsSkynet]

I went ahead and had mine tinted and there was no problem. I’ve used this tint business since 2013 and they always do a great job. Like any other business, they have had employees come and go so maybe it was a newbie or something for the previous two vehicles that they had the problem with.

 

[BSarchet]

I had the windshield “tinted” with clear ceramic on my ‘22 and had no issue with any sensors.

 

[SyndicateZ]

is this pyramid looking thing that gets its electronics wet the part? (

 

[AppleIsSkynet]

is this pyramid looking thing that gets its electronics wet the part? (View attachment 80421

I don’t know.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

The shop is full of crap. This is one of those scenarios where they are trying to blame their own negligence on some outside influence. Tinting isn't going to introduce any more water than would be introduced by driving in the rain with your windows open. Moreover, they should be used distilled water anyway to eliminate any risks. On a side note, I hope you're not tinting the windshield with anything darker than Air Blue.