Roof Problems - Update

[Anthony1]

Following on from my previous post re. Roof Problems and lots of useful advice.

After a bit of messing about by a local garage (who claim to specialise in German Vehicles), the error codes are now 2001 and 1000. They then said they could do nothing to help.

I have just been quoted £2166.00 to fix the roof. By a full on VW garage.

Do I go for the fix myself route and save £2000 with the possibility of messing it up, or fork out a small fortune? I am leaning towards the DIY route.

To make matters worse, I am retired with a total income of half the national average wage.

 

[colintfcolintf]

@Anthony1
there's a place in Cornwall who are well recommended with our pop tops, they even have a campsite opposite them. Kernow Conversions i thin is their name. ive seen them mentioned on here quite often - good luck

edit - i think it's these www.kernowtransporters.co.uk or Kernow Conversions near Penzance. they might even be the same company (?)

 

[Azteccamper]

Following on from my previous post re. Roof Problems and lots of useful advice.

After a bit of messing about by a local garage (who claim to specialise in German Vehicles), the error codes are now 2001 and 1000. They then said they could do nothing to help.

I have just been quoted £2166.00 to fix the roof. By a full on VW garage.

Do I go for the fix myself route and save £2000 with the possibility of messing it up, or fork out a small fortune? I am leaning towards the DIY route.

To make matters worse, I am retired with a total income of half the national average wage.

Where are you based?

 

[Anthony1]

Where are you based?

Worthing

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Hi Anthony, I can assure you I am not particularly gifted engineer/DIY expert. I definitely never do any mechanical work on my van that I've owned since 2009. I have a good garage for that. I previously fitted a new plug socket in a kitchen and blew the master fuse for the block of flats I lived in. If something seems straightforward I'm prepared to give it a go. I don't own a multimeter and I just twisted the wires together after watching a Youtube video and was very careful to wrap a lot of electrical tape over everything when finished. I didn't even solder. The sensors I got from BMW are identical to the ones fitted - with same red a brown wires as the originals. This made it all seem doable. I think you mentioned your son may help. Read the instructions and with good weather, you will be fine.

I'm afraid I don't know how you get the roof up - I didn't have that problem - but there seems to be a few threads advising methods. Personally I might do the screw driver slot option rather than putting a voltage across the motor. That is the VW manual approved way to raise the roof I think.

Good luck.

 

[Azteccamper]

Worthing

Ah. OK.
I’m too far away otherwise would’ve come to give you a hand.
By the way, I didn’t disconnect any batteries I just pulled two fuses - roof hydraulics & control panel (both under passenger seat).

 

[larrylamb]

@Anthony1
there's a place in Cornwall who are well recommended with our pop tops, they even have a campsite opposite them. Kernow Conversions i thin is their name. ive seen them mentioned on here quite often - good luck

edit - i think it's these www.kernowtransporters.co.uk or Kernow Conversions near Penzance. they might even be the same company (?)

Great company, will sort your roof cheaper than VW, very knowledgeable with California roofs.

 

[Anthony1]

Hi Anthony, I can assure you I am not particularly gifted engineer/DIY expert. I definitely never do any mechanical work on my van that I've owned since 2009. I have a good garage for that. I previously fitted a new plug socket in a kitchen and blew the master fuse for the block of flats I lived in. I something seems straightforward I'm prepared to give it a go. I don't own a multimeter and I just twisted the wires together after watching a Youtube video and was very careful to wrap a lot of electrical tape over everything when finished. I didn't even solder. The sensors I got from BMW are identical to the ones fitted - with same red a brown wires as the originals. This made it all seem doable. I think you mentioned your son may help. Read the instructions and with good weather, you will be fine.

I'm afraid I don't know how you get the roof up - I didn't have that problem - but there seems to be a few threads advising methods. Personally I might do the screw driver slot option rather than putting a voltage across the motor. That is the VW manual approved way to raise the roof I think.

Good luck.

Thank you

I previously fitted a new plug socket in a kitchen and blew the master fuse for the block of flats I lived in. I did something very similar many years ago.

Van in for an MOT tomorrow, then I am going to set too. I am not too fazed. I think I've got the gist of it. I printed out your info. The VW places wanted to put in a whole new loom and quoted 10 hours for the work and at £160 per hour labour!

 

[Anthony1]

Great company, will sort your roof cheaper than VW, very knowledgeable with California roofs.

Thank you

I live about 280 miles away but my brother lives in Cornwall, but he is going away for a couple of months soon so cannot use his house or cars.

Van in for an MOT tomorrow, then I am going to set too. I am not too fazed. I think I've got the gist of it.

 

[stephen watson]

Good luck Anthony. Let us know how you get on. Like you I'm not a mechanic, but with advice and encouragement from this forum, I have replaced an ABS wheel sensor and this weekend got the rear wiper working again by replacing the fuse (trickier than I thought!). For me it's about saving money but almost as important the knowledge gained and satisfaction in completing a good job. To be successful the most important thing for me is to do as much research as possible, only start the job when you have a decent amount of spare time, be patient and if necessary stop mid job and ask for help on the forum. There are lots of incredibly helpful and generous people out there.

 

[crookrise]

Trikiest bit if the roof is fully closed and locked will be releasing the locking mechanism, the ram engages a metal "Hook" underneath a bar.
Fortunatley roof fault I had meant I dropped it with the Hydraulic fluid release screw then drove home [600 miles] with roof strapped down.
Repair involved rejoining wires on sensors, its an easy enough job with sleeving and soldering.
Hardest part was pushing roof up and getting it wedged to stay up. Judicious use of wooden blocks.

 

[Anthony1]

Good luck Anthony. Let us know how you get on. Like you I'm not a mechanic, but with advice and encouragement from this forum, I have replaced an ABS wheel sensor and this weekend got the rear wiper working again by replacing the fuse (trickier than I thought!). For me it's about saving money but almost as important the knowledge gained and satisfaction in completing a good job. To be successful the most important thing for me is to do as much research as possible, only start the job when you have a decent amount of spare time, be patient and if necessary stop mid job and ask for help on the forum. There are lots of incredibly helpful and generous people out there.

Following on from my previous (2) post re. my roof problems. After my local garage insisted on using a plug in OBD , which is completely unnecessary, then saying they couldn’t fix it, then returning the van with an extra fault.

I went to my local VW Garage for confirmation of what I suspected it to be (new sensors required) and being quoted £2166 for a new wiring loom, labour etc. I decided to do it myself. Then I contacted, Richard in Cornwall (recommended by someone on this forum). He gave me an acceptable price and could do it anytime. Luckily for me my brother lives in Cornwall so we drove down Friday evening/night and stayed there. There is also a campsite adjacent to Richard’s workshop.

Went to Richard’s Saturday morning, had a nice stroll in his local town and had a lovely breakfast in a local hotel and then got a text saying all was ready. It took him 90 minutes, compared to the quoted 10 hours from the VW garage. Came home Saturday evening/night.

In the not too distant past, Richard’s business was been installing California roofs and what he doesn’t know about them, isn’t worth knowing. He did outline a few DIY pitfalls people should be wary of. He also cleared my second error code and my diesel heater now works.

Any roof problems, I would highly recommend, Richard Milton, Kernow Transporters, 07738538073

 

[Lambeth Cali]

At the end of the day it’s important just to get things fixed and back on the drive.

 

[Anthony1]

At the end of the day it’s important just to get things fixed and back on the drive.

True. Everything running fine now and it passed it's MoT (no advisories) the day before I went to Cornwall. Now planning a wintere trip to Yorkshire.

 

[crookrise]

True. Everything running fine now and it passed it's MoT (no advisories) the day before I went to Cornwall. Now planning a wintere trip to Yorkshire.

Summer here at the moment

 

[Anthony1]

Summer here at the moment

You can tell it's summer in Yorkshire, because the rain is warmer.

 

[Andy Cook]

Following on from my previous post re. Roof Problems and lots of useful advice.

After a bit of messing about by a local garage (who claim to specialise in German Vehicles), the error codes are now 2001 and 1000. They then said they could do nothing to help.

I have just been quoted £2166.00 to fix the roof. By a full on VW garage.

Do I go for the fix myself route and save £2000 with the possibility of messing it up, or fork out a small fortune? I am leaning towards the DIY route.

To make matters worse, I am retired with a total income of half the national average wage.

Hi Anthony,
I noticed that a few people have mentioned Kernow Trading and I can confirm that Richard Milton in Marazion, Cornwall is GREAT. My quote from VW was in excess of £4,500 for new roof sensors on a new wiring loom plus a new control knob on the top console. Richard sorted this out in about 2 hours within a day from the initial enquiry for £450.
A pleasant trip to Cornwall is well worthwhile and you can visit St Michael's Mount.
Good luck!

 

[Anthony1]

Hi Anthony,
I noticed that a few people have mentioned Kernow Trading and I can confirm that Richard Milton in Marazion, Cornwall is GREAT. My quote from VW was in excess of £4,500 for new roof sensors on a new wiring loom plus a new control knob on the top console. Richard sorted this out in about 2 hours within a day from the initial enquiry for £450.
A pleasant trip to Cornwall is well worthwhile and you can visit St Michael's Mount.
Good luck!

Kernow Transporters.