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Roof issues.

Frankyworthy

Frankyworthy

VIP Member
Messages
138
Location
Manchester
Vehicle
T5 SE 174
Hi All,


Roof problems. T5 2011 California.


I have had a bonging going on for some time and thought it was a seatbelt alert malfunction caused by rotating the seats and squeezing the fuses or some such.


Turns out it may be something to do with a roof malfunction. The roof symbol has been flashing for some time but it has been working. Now it is working sporadically, stop start and then sticking. It’s not a fuse as everything else is working.


Do I need to WD40 the extension arms? I am concerned that the roof will work then stick in the open position while away from home. We are in France now and it went up and down stop starting and the bonging is still going on sporadically, 9 times for no reason.


Does this chime (sorry) with anyone?


Is the manual operation an easy task?


Any experience or advice gratefully received. Thanks


Paul

NB.

I’m looking for a north west or Manchester vw specialist to take these types of issue to. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Paul,

I think that what you are referring to is similar to some issues that I and a couple of others have been having. The threads below provide more background and commentary on the cause and potential fix. As I understand it the issue is electrical not mechanical.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/roof-fault-error-message.16301/
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/roof-fault-alarm-and-now-not-opening.23513/

In my case I initially experienced some random chiming/beeping while driving and the roof open indicator came on. Initially I was still able to operate the roof and then if become continuously unreliable until such time that it didn't work at all. Using the hidden diagnostic menu in the roof controller (holding the dial and bottom right buttons down simultaneously will take you there) there is a reported S1000 error which in general cant be cleared.

I had the Bristol Van Centre do a warranty repair in which they replaced the four roof sensors. Worked fine once and then same error. I have just got the van back after they attempted a second repair and I believe conducted a more detailed diagnostic (which I am yet to get a detailed back brief on). Looks more promising this time but time will tell.

Ken
 
Thanks Ken,

Interesting.

Holding down the buttons will give me a fault code?

Is this only something a VW dealer can sort?
 
If you hold down the bottom right button and the dial for about 2 sec you will come to the settings menu. Scroll through to ‘diagnose’ and select, which will take you to a second menu call Diagnosis. Scroll again to ‘VW Diagnose’ and select. If you had the same issue as I and others in here (per the links above) an error code of S1000 should appear. If you get a message of ‘no error’ then it would appear to be another issue.

When I first started experiencing the faults I was able to clear them by selecting them and then pressing esc when prompted or by turning the roof consul unit off and on. As time progressed I was unable to clear the errors and eventually the roof was not functionable at all, although the other features such as fridge and heater worked fine.

I took my van to a dealer to sort out, primarily as it was initially in warranty. If it had not been I may have been inclined to have a crack at it myself. The issue seems to be related to sensors in the roof.
 
Thanks again Ken.
Some family stuff has come my way but I’ll get onto acting on your advice in a day or two.
 
I had similar and had to have the wiring loom replaced which isn’t cheap. Hope you get it sorted.
 
I’ve always used local VW van centre as I’ve been told Vw do not supply parts to anyone but their own dealers and I don’t want to use cheap parts on such an expensive piece of kit.
 
Spottydog said:
I’ve always used local VW van centre as I’ve been told Vw do not supply parts to anyone but their own dealers and I don’t want to use cheap parts on such an expensive piece of kit.
Click to expand...
I'm afraid you have been thoroughly misled.
TPS is a Motor Factors that supply ALL VW Genuine parts to their own Dealerships and ANY other Garages. It is normally for Trade Customers but the public can normally purchase.
In fact TPS is owned by VW.

https://tps.trade/why-tps
 
WelshGas said:
I'm afraid you have been thoroughly misled.
TPS is a Motor Factors that supply ALL VW Genuine parts to their own Dealerships and ANY other Garages. It is normally for Trade Customers but the public can normally purchase.
In fact TPS is owned by VW.

https://tps.trade/why-tps
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. However would anyone but VW know what to do with a Cali especially buts like the roof. I had enough problems with VW as they hadn’t had to do one before!
 
Spottydog said:
Thanks for that. However would anyone but VW know what to do with a Cali especially buts like the roof. I had enough problems with VW as they hadn’t had to do one before!
Click to expand...
When it comes to the camping bits possibly not, but then it would seem that many VW Dealers are next to useless as well. Anything else however then there are plenty of excellent independents.
 
WelshGas said:
When it comes to the camping bits possibly not, but then it would seem that many VW Dealers are next to useless as well. Anything else however then there are plenty of excellent independents.
Click to expand...

It seems to be the camping bits that go wrong
 
Spottydog said:
It seems to be the camping bits that go wrong
Click to expand...
To some extent that part of the vehicle is the least complicated of the vehicle.
Camping units are either going to be a DIY repair or a replacement and not difficult for someone who can put an Ikea unit together without too many screws left over.
The Water/Gas and Electric systems are also straightforward and found in most Caravans/Motorhomes and Conversions in one form or another.
The Fridge, well all VW will say is replace, but there are expert companies that can repair it. Likewise the Diesel Parking Heater. VW will replace while an Eberspacher Dealer will Service/repair.
The Control Panel could be sorted by a good and interested Autoelectrician whereas VW will just replace. There are a few companies mentioned on the Forum that can repair at less than 25% of the replacement cost.
Finally the Hydraulic Roof. Once again not that complicated a system for the right professional to fix. It’s just finding that person.
 
WelshGas said:
To some extent that part of the vehicle is the least complicated of the vehicle.
Camping units are either going to be a DIY repair or a replacement and not difficult for someone who can put an Ikea unit together without too many screws left over.
The Water/Gas and Electric systems are also straightforward and found in most Caravans/Motorhomes and Conversions in one form or another.
The Fridge, well all VW will say is replace, but there are expert companies that can repair it. Likewise the Diesel Parking Heater. VW will replace while an Eberspacher Dealer will Service/repair.
The Control Panel could be sorted by a good and interested Autoelectrician whereas VW will just replace. There are a few companies mentioned on the Forum that can repair at less than 25% of the replacement cost.
Finally the Hydraulic Roof. Once again not that complicated a system for the right professional to fix. It’s just finding that person.
Click to expand...

Exactly, finding that person
! Mine always goes wrong when I’m away or the night before so it’s always an emergency fix which is why I’ve stuck with the dealer. I don’t even know anyone local I would trust with my car so I’m not going to trust them with my van
 
Spottydog said:
Exactly, finding that person
! Mine always goes wrong when I’m away or the night before so it’s always an emergency fix which is why I’ve stuck with the dealer. I don’t even know anyone local I would trust with my car so I’m not going to trust them with my van
Click to expand...
I’ve got someone I would trust.
Find out who the local farmers use.
 
Hi,

Sorry, I have been absent due to a family bereavement not because this is isn’t important to me.

Thanks all for contributions. I have tried the diagnostic process and get a 1000 reading. Not clear which button is the escape one to go to the next step.

But it’s looking like it’s the wiring loom or sensors in the roof, or both. Roof currently goes up and down but stops and starts all the way which is a bit disconcerting when away. Next step is to find a car electrician who has experience of this in the Manchester area or oop north somewhere.
 
Frankyworthy said:
Hi,

Who do you trust? Is it a car spark? If he can fix my roof issue I would travel.
Click to expand...
Just a local Autoelectrician at a local garage who like dealing with oddities.
 
Ken M said:
Paul,

I think that what you are referring to is similar to some issues that I and a couple of others have been having. The threads below provide more background and commentary on the cause and potential fix. As I understand it the issue is electrical not mechanical.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/roof-fault-error-message.16301/
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/roof-fault-alarm-and-now-not-opening.23513/

In my case I initially experienced some random chiming/beeping while driving and the roof open indicator came on. Initially I was still able to operate the roof and then if become continuously unreliable until such time that it didn't work at all. Using the hidden diagnostic menu in the roof controller (holding the dial and bottom right buttons down simultaneously will take you there) there is a reported S1000 error which in general cant be cleared.

I had the Bristol Van Centre do a warranty repair in which they replaced the four roof sensors. Worked fine once and then same error. I have just got the van back after they attempted a second repair and I believe conducted a more detailed diagnostic (which I am yet to get a detailed back brief on). Looks more promising this time but time will tell.

Ken
Click to expand...
Hi Ken,
Any update on your roof issue repair?
Thanks
Paul
 
Had the van back for about three weeks now, used a couple of times with no issues. Due to the van being delivered to my home and my work commitments I never did get a detailed brief from the tech who did the work. What I can say is that the second time round they did more diagnostics - took 3 days until it was released from the workshop where as for the first repair took half a day.
 
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