Control panel questions

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

Hi,

As far as I could search on the forum, this doesn’t seem to be covered.

I recently purchased a Grand California and am learning. Whatever I tried, the leisure battery doesn’t seem to be charging, although it has been connected to the grid for almost two days. Its icon on the control panel on the bathroom wall is red. What does it mean when it’s in red?

Please see the photos while the van is connected and not connected to the grid. When it’s connected, the bars animates charging.

Any advice, help is highly appreciated.

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

The battery icon on the control panel is orange color, not red.

In addition, the solar regulator unit indicates that the battery is full.
I’m confused and have no technical knowledge.

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

So far, I have tried to turn off and on the power and removed and attached back the two fuses you see marked on the photo.

 

[Mr T]

So far, I have tried to turn off and on the power and removed and attached back the two fuses you see marked on the photo.

View attachment 91930

Have you checked the battery charger under the front seat? I’ve seen it’s quite common for the lead to come unplugged stopping the charging of the battery.

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

Hi, I checked the connections marked on the photo under the driver seat. I’m not sure which one if the battery charger. I’m not technical at all

 

[Jester]

Hi, I checked the connections marked on the photo under the driver seat. I’m not sure which one if the battery charger. I’m not technical at all

View attachment 91935

Mr T is right, pretty sure it’s the large black one top left but would turn off the main isolator first then reconnect the large black one and then wait a minute then turn on the main isolator again.

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

Thanks for the tips Mr T and Jester!

I turned the main isolator off, then disconnected the large black battery charger, waited a min and reconnected it, waited a min more and then turn the main isolator on. Nothing changed —please see the photos.

The solar regulator indicates that it’s charging and the battery is full, but the control panel still shows 0% charge. The battery icon on the control panel is still orange color.

The fridge is working though and I don’t know where it gets the power of the battery is at 0%.

 

[Mr T]

Thanks for the tips Mr T and Jester!

I turned the main isolator off, then disconnected the large black battery charger, waited a min and reconnected it, waited a min more and then turn the main isolator on. Nothing changed —please see the photos.

The solar regulator indicates that it’s charging and the battery is full, but the control panel still shows 0% charge. The battery icon on the control panel is still orange color.

The fridge is working though and I don’t know where it gets the power of the battery is at 0%.

View attachment 91936

View attachment 91937

May I suggest as a simple check that you turn the main isolator off and leave it off for at least 5-10 mins rather than just 1 or 2 minutes. This will make sure the control panel has powered down completely before restarting again.
Alternatively you may have to consider disconnecting both batteries completely and then reconnecting, first the starter battery (in the footwell) then the leisure battery (under the bonnet). But this is a last resort suggestion, forcing a complete shutdown.

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

I turned the main isolator off, waited for over 30 mins and turned it back on.
The first information on the screen was “Battery is low. Please load.”. After the VW logo appeared then it went to the home screen. The battery is still at 0%. You can see the additional data on the photo.

Out of curiosity, a turned off main isolator should cut off the power for the entire “living” area in the van, right? I’m confused because the lights in the living area still turn on using the light switches.

 

[Mr T]

No the main isolator does not turn everything off, there are a few items that run directly from the leisure battery to a bank of fuses under the drivers (lhd) seat. These are step, water pump, indirect lighting and exterior lighting.

 

[Simon1]

You could get one of these to give you an independent battery voltage reading.
EBay item number 353842548940
Just plug it into one of the sockets and it’ll give the voltage on that circuit’s Battery.

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

Thanks for explaining Mr T and thanks for the suggestion Simon1.

I’m still puzzled about the battery icon color on the control panel, it just mean something when it’s orange.

I compared the icons on my control panel and on Volkswagen-made Grand California promotion videos. All the icons in those promotion videos are white color while the same battery icon on my control panel is orange color. It must mean something. Is there a way to get the error codes from the panel itself?

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

After reading more posts here and familiarizing myself with the common Grand California problems, I started looking around more carefully and discovered a leaking wetroom tap.

I noticed some water coming out underneath the cabinet between the cabinet and the toilet seat. After a short inspection, I discovered a small pond of water underneath the wet room. I figured there is water dripping from one of the hoses going up to the tap. Based on the common issues other members mentioned in the forum, I assume the tap is leaking from where its hoses are connected.

About the charging, I believe our leisure battery is dead. I’m not sure how the dealer is treated it during the winter, but if it was only standing still, it’s pretty normal. I’ll ask for an inspection and a replacement for the battery when we’re back in Helsinki.

It seems like our GC adventure began. I’ll visit the dealer tomorrow and hope they will fix everything fast.

 

[Calfe600]

Good luck in getting things fixed, please share the outcome with us - hopefully a simple fix for you.

 

[dominichayhoe]

I turned the main isolator off, waited for over 30 mins and turned it back on.
The first information on the screen was “Battery is low. Please load.”. After the VW logo appeared then it went to the home screen. The battery is still at 0%. You can see the additional data on the photo.

Out of curiosity, a turned off main isolator should cut off the power for the entire “living” area in the van, right? I’m confused because the lights in the living area still turn on using the light switches.

View attachment 91943

View attachment 91944

This -4a act current, indicates the control panel is sensing that 4 amps is being used by the van, which is being pulled from somewhere!

I'd disconnect your vehicle battery (under the drivers step) and then see if everything still works. If so, it's simply the control panel not seeing the leisure battery which means it needs re-coding (A job for VW), which I suspect is the most likely issue here.

If it doesn't, and the vehicle starts ok, then you've isolated the issue to the leisure battery.

 

[Jester]

Just a thought have you added anything electrical that might draw current?

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

I called the VW service today and told about the issues. They were helpful, we reserved a time for the service. They will check everything on the water system for the leaking points, the control panel and the battery. They’ll also replace the wetroom tap with a new version. Apparently, VW instructed the service points about it. Taking the opportunity, I also asked them to check the electric step and the front skylight window. I read in many messages that the step easily misbehaves. Pretty high wind noise coming from the skylight window, I’m assuming it doesn’t close completely.

My fingers are crossed, hopefully they have all the spare parts and can fix the issues soon. I’m looking forward to using the van.

dominichayhoe, when I took the photos of the control panel, the fridge and the lights insight were on and I think, a phone was charging. That’s why the act current was -4A.
I’ll disconnect the car battery and test it as you suggested out of curiosity this week.

Jester, no, I haven’t added anything electronic that would draw any current.

 

[dominichayhoe]

I called the VW service today and told about the issues. They were helpful, we reserved a time for the service. They will check everything on the water system for the leaking points, the control panel and the battery. They’ll also replace the wetroom tap with a new version. Apparently, VW instructed the service points about it. Taking the opportunity, I also asked them to check the electric step and the front skylight window. I read in many messages that the step easily misbehaves. Pretty high wind noise coming from the skylight window, I’m assuming it doesn’t close completely.

My fingers are crossed, hopefully they have all the spare parts and can fix the issues soon. I’m looking forward to using the van.

dominichayhoe, when I took the photos of the control panel, the fridge and the lights insight were on and I think, a phone was charging. That’s why the act current was -4A.
I’ll disconnect the car battery and test it as you suggested out of curiosity this week.

Jester, no, I haven’t added anything electronic that would draw any current.

Yeah, my point was as it was showing -4a, it was correctly reading that it was drawing current, so the question is from where?

I would assume the leisure battery, unless of course our vans have the capability also to run from the vehicle battery if the leisure battery is flat. Therefore meaning it is simply your control panel not seeing the leisure battery.

 

[satuja]

I called the VW service today and told about the issues. They were helpful, we reserved a time for the service. They will check everything on the water system for the leaking points, the control panel and the battery. They’ll also replace the wetroom tap with a new version. Apparently, VW instructed the service points about it. Taking the opportunity, I also asked them to check the electric step and the front skylight window. I read in many messages that the step easily misbehaves. Pretty high wind noise coming from the skylight window, I’m assuming it doesn’t close completely.

My fingers are crossed, hopefully they have all the spare parts and can fix the issues soon. I’m looking forward to using the van.

dominichayhoe, when I took the photos of the control panel, the fridge and the lights insight were on and I think, a phone was charging. That’s why the act current was -4A.
I’ll disconnect the car battery and test it as you suggested out of curiosity this week.

Jester, no, I haven’t added anything electronic that would draw any current.

Moro,

Katsotaan saako tämä olla täällä jos kirjoittelen suomeksi. Kurjaa että teilläkin on ongelmia auton kanssa. Nuo mistä olet kirjoittanut kuulostaa kovin tutuilta ongelmilta. Elä ainakaan viivyttele noiden ongelmien kanssa vaan vaadi niihin korjauksia.

Meillähän GC680:n kanssa tilanne eskaloitui siihen pisteeseen että palautimme auton ja peruimme kaupat 8 kuukauden omistamisen jälkeen. Volkkari nosti kylmästi kädet pystyyn korjausten kanssa eivätkä osanneet antaa niihin mitään aikatauluja jolloin korjaukset olisi tehty. Saksan kielisiltä palstoilta google translaten kanssa selvisi että näitä ihan samoja ongelmia on ollut jo aivan alusta asti ja niitä ei ole aina saatu kuntoon.

Voisit koittaa laittaa yksityisviestiä foorumin kautta jos haluat kuulla enemmän meidän kokemuksia niin voisi kirjoitella helpomppi suomeksi. Tältä palstaltakin löytyy jotain meidän kokemia murheita kirjoiteltuna.

Terkuin satuja.

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

Moro,

Katsotaan saako tämä olla täällä jos kirjoittelen suomeksi. Kurjaa että teilläkin on ongelmia auton kanssa. Nuo mistä olet kirjoittanut kuulostaa kovin tutuilta ongelmilta. Elä ainakaan viivyttele noiden ongelmien kanssa vaan vaadi niihin korjauksia.

Meillähän GC680:n kanssa tilanne eskaloitui siihen pisteeseen että palautimme auton ja peruimme kaupat 8 kuukauden omistamisen jälkeen. Volkkari nosti kylmästi kädet pystyyn korjausten kanssa eivätkä osanneet antaa niihin mitään aikatauluja jolloin korjaukset olisi tehty. Saksan kielisiltä palstoilta google translaten kanssa selvisi että näitä ihan samoja ongelmia on ollut jo aivan alusta asti ja niitä ei ole aina saatu kuntoon.

Voisit koittaa laittaa yksityisviestiä foorumin kautta jos haluat kuulla enemmän meidän kokemuksia niin voisi kirjoitella helpomppi suomeksi. Tältä palstaltakin löytyy jotain meidän kokemia murheita kirjoiteltuna.

Terkuin satuja.

Hej Satuja!

Kiitos — Thanks for the offer!
It would be interesting to hear your experience, however I don’t know/find how to send a direct message through the forum. If you can send me an email to pink_emoji.0i@icloud.com (this will redirect your email to me), I could get back to you.

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

Yeah, my point was as it was showing -4a, it was correctly reading that it was drawing current, so the question is from where?

I would assume the leisure battery, unless of course our vans have the capability also to run from the vehicle battery if the leisure battery is flat. Therefore meaning it is simply your control panel not seeing the leisure battery.

Thanks dominichayhoe, makes sense! I’ll definitely try your suggestion.

 

[MinnaJoukoPak]

Hyvää iltaa, good evening!
Hope all GC´s from Finland have not so bad luck.
We got ours 3 weeks ago, and one week ago were driving via Enontekiö to Umbria, Italy., 3 000km.
So far everything has worked like planned, means very well. Not any troubles what we have been reading here in this forum and German one. Hope it goes like that for ever!

 

[Holidaymaker]

Hyvää huomenta kaikki!. Minulla on myös Gc680, on kaksi viikoa vanha nyt. Minun jääkaappini ovesta tuli lukittu kiini!.
Vw on tietoinen tämä ongelma ja omistaa Technical Product Information ratkaista tämä!.

Se tapahtuu minulle ilman varoitusta - jääkaapin lukita kokonaan. Varmista VW päivittää Lukko mekanismi ennen esiintyä sinulle!.

 

[Laercio]

Hi, maybe by now you had the problem solved already but if not maybe this will help others,

I had the same problem last year and it is very simple to fix, your battery is charging perfectly according to the voltage shown, you just need to sync the KFG system, turn off again the main battery red switch and leave off (*do that with the battery completely charged since the VW shunt always starts taking in a account a full battery to calibrate.)

Go to the front (*I assume on driver's side on UK here in Portugal is on the passenger's side) just above your right foot you will see many plugs, disconnect the blue one (*1st plug from the left to the right it is the only blue one) leave disconnected for 3 minutes then reconnect it, go to the back and turn on the main battery red switch, I hope it works now!

Cheers

Lae

 

[GrandCaliforniaFI]

Hi, maybe by now you had the problem solved already but if not maybe this will help others,

I had the same problem last year and it is very simple to fix, your battery is charging perfectly according to the voltage shown, you just need to sync the KFG system, turn off again the main battery red switch and leave off (*do that with the battery completely charged since the VW shunt always starts taking in a account a full battery to calibrate.)

Go to the front (*I assume on driver's side on UK here in Portugal is on the passenger's side) just above your right foot you will see many plugs, disconnect the blue one (*1st plug from the left to the right it is the only blue one) leave disconnected for 3 minutes then reconnect it, go to the back and turn on the main battery red switch, I hope it works now!

Cheers

Lae

Laercio, thanks, that solved the problem!

I read a similar method as you suggested in another thread but realized I have been disconnecting the wrong blue plug.
This time, I looked there more carefully underneath the dashboard, thanks to your detailed description , and pulled the right plug. I don’t know if the battery was fully charged, but it doesn’t matter. I now know how to fix it, and I’ll do it one more time to sync the KFG system when I’m sure the battery is fully charged.

The only problem left now is the water leak which the VW service will fix next week. Once all fixed, we’re ready to hit the road.