“Roof is Open” fault 1000, but roof is definitely closed

[WelshGas]

So I came back from school run today and low and behold the van roof sensor was not showing fault. Enter my stupid optimistic brain that thought trying to open/close roof would be wise. The obvious happened and it opened and then roof fault appears and I have a roof stuck open. I spent this am manually lowering the roof using the screw, only to realise that by essentially bleeding the hydraulics the roof can be pushed up and I don’t have Cali roof safety straps. Ad such o have implemented this initial tactical fix until my drive to Cornwall to get all sorted.

Question - this strap is v tight and I can’t manually lift roof anymore. What would be the risk of wind getting under roof and causing massive damage with this tactical fix in place?View attachment 105709View attachment 105712

Don’t you have the Emergency Tie Down straps supplied with the vehicle and used in accordance with the Handbook Instructions?

 

[Canyon]

Don’t you have the Emergency Tie Down straps supplied with the vehicle and used in accordance with the Handbook Instructions?

Nope. Didn’t come with it

 

[Canyon]

Job done!

Richard and the team at Kernow Transporters are magicians. Roof sensors replaced, control panel bypassed, remote control roof raising implemented with additional switch to raise (with isolation switch) in passenger side panel. At some point I can post a vid but very happy with my upgrade. I can’t really say enough good things about the professionalism of the team throughout the process. Even got a pasty recommendation to boot which was delicious.

Highly recommended those of you that fancy the upgrade

 

[mikebravo]

I have now had this resolved by swapping out the roof sensors. I was unable to open the roof at all so I let the professionals handle it. This involves stripping back the interior upholstery above the windscreen to access the roof motor behind the left sun visor. They then wire the motor to external power to get the roof open and then each sensor can be replaced.

The work was done by PLA Automotive in Bathgate, and they did an excellent job.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ymPjVVsZrKg2Rtkd8?g_st=ic

Home - PLA AUTOMOTIVE LIMITED

Auto Electrician in West Lothian , Bathgate based auto electrician , garage services , mot and servicing , all types of repair work undertaken .

www.p-l-a.co.uk

Be warned however, the work is expensive; it cost £1k. But I am glad everything is now working again and using only OEM parts and sticking to the original design. I realise there are other ideas about bypassing the sensors completely and fitting other after-market solutions to other remote control but I didn’t want to go down that route.

Once again, thanks all for your help and advice to get me to this point.

 

[BlueMoonCali59]

Hi,

Well I’m not having much luck this week; this is my second issue with the van this week :-(

I know there are a few posts about this already. I actually had this problem last year and managed to resolve by clearing the error code. However, this time it’s not so straight forward.

To clear the fault, I believe you are supposed to hold the ‘back’ button (bottom right) for 5 seconds but when I do this it just takes me back to the main panel. I then try and power off the panel but it refuses to comply and flashes up “roof is open!”.

Any ideas on this?

It may be the result of heavy rain last week(?).
I wondered if I should somehow manually open the roof to try and clean the sensors… ?? But not sure if that is even possible.

Any help gratefully received.

Thanks!

I had this problem 12 months ago and tried all resets and ideas to replace control panel fuse etc - it’s usually as I found - always the roof sensors - they need to be replaced - as a loom by a VW dealer which will cost you a packet or a good electrician or roof expert - there’s one in Cornwall who did mine for a couple hundred- the sensors can be purchased from eBay for couple pounds

 

[Jason wallace]

I had this problem 12 months ago and tried all resets and ideas to replace control panel fuse etc - it’s usually as I found - always the roof sensors - they need to be replaced - as a loom by a VW dealer which will cost you a packet or a good electrician or roof expert - there’s one in Cornwall who did mine for a couple hundred- the sensors can be purchased from eBay for couple pounds

Do you have their details?

I’ve got the dreaded roof sensor problem and considering a road trip to get the issue fixed.

Unless knows anyone in the Somerset area who has done this fix.

Thanks.

 

[colintfcolintf]

Kernow Conversions

 

[Jason wallace]

Kernow Conversions

Thanks.

It did read that BlueMoonCali59 went for a different solution rather than the bypass option. I wondered if this was done at the same garage.

 

[DarenDaren1967]

As suspected, Breeze quoting £1200 + vat for roof repair. So nice little jaunt to Penzance for me in a couple weeks.

Just had this fixed at Swindon Van Centre £731 + VAT (£456 sensors & loom and £275 labour).

 

[TripleBee]

I have now had this resolved by swapping out the roof sensors. I was unable to open the roof at all so I let the professionals handle it. This involves stripping back the interior upholstery above the windscreen to access the roof motor behind the left sun visor. They then wire the motor to external power to get the roof open and then each sensor can be replaced.

The work was done by PLA Automotive in Bathgate, and they did an excellent job.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ymPjVVsZrKg2Rtkd8?g_st=ic

Home - PLA AUTOMOTIVE LIMITED

Auto Electrician in West Lothian , Bathgate based auto electrician , garage services , mot and servicing , all types of repair work undertaken .

www.p-l-a.co.uk

Be warned however, the work is expensive; it cost £1k. But I am glad everything is now working again and using only OEM parts and sticking to the original design. I realise there are other ideas about bypassing the sensors completely and fitting other after-market solutions to other remote control but I didn’t want to go down that route.

Once again, thanks all for your help and advice to get me to this point.

Why didn't they buy 4 BMW sensors? They are the same in wire colour, shape and functioning.
Then they would have only had to open the loom near the rams, cut the old ones out, and connect the new ones.
Parts only about €50. And a whole lot less of work.
This way the functioning of the roof stays original.
Just like replacing brake pads. You don't need to replace all the brake components.
I have mine waiting to be installed (by myself).

 

[KGCali]

Mark at Volksvans around Derby is good at fixing the faulty roof sensors etc, lots of repairs on his facebook page ...

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[mikebravo]

Why didn't they buy 4 BMW sensors? They are the same in wire colour, shape and functioning.
Then they would have only had to open the loom near the rams, cut the old ones out, and connect the new ones.
Parts only about €50. And a whole lot less of work.
This way the functioning of the roof stays original.
Just like replacing brake pads. You don't need to replace all the brake components.
I have mine waiting to be installed (by myself).

Eh… Not sure what you are getting at here… ?? Maybe you haven’t read and understood my previous posts on this. They did actually use 4 BMW sensors; they cut out the old ones and spliced in the new ones, just as you are describing.

 

[TripleBee]

Eh… Not sure what you are getting at here… ?? Maybe you haven’t read and understood my previous posts on this. They did actually use 4 BMW sensors; they cut out the old ones and spliced in the new ones, just as you are describing.

I must have missed something then.
I thought you paid 1K for the repair.
Good to see it works now again.

 

[mikebravo]

Eh… Not sure what you are getting at here… ?? Maybe you haven’t read and understood my previous posts on this. They did actually use 4 BMW sensors; they cut out the old ones and spliced in the new ones, just as you are describing.

The job was not as simple as I hoped because:

“I was unable to open the roof at all so I let the professionals handle it. This involves stripping back the interior upholstery above the windscreen to access the roof motor behind the left sun visor. They then wire the motor to external power to get the roof open and then each sensor can be replaced.”

Hope you have better luck with your diy repair. I had the same intention as you - to fix myself - but the fact I couldn’t get the roof open was a showstopper for me.

 

[King Harold 1066]

I’ve had the same problem with the roof on our 68 plate Ocean. Started to get the 1000 fault and annoying chime after the van was parked up over Isle of Wight festival weekend in hot sunshine for 4 days. I managed to clear the fault and open & close the roof, very happy. Two days later the fault comes back. I went into the service menu on the control panel under variant, where I could select “no roof” to stop the chime. A few days later I reconfigured to say the van had a roof and the fault did not reappear, but the display still showed roof up when it was down. I bit the bullet and ordered 4 new hall sensors. Then spent yesterday fitting them. I had to drop the headlining without fully removing to get access to the pump. I disconnected the motor and installed a jumper cable that I could connect to a spare battery to run the roof up and down. This worked perfectly. I then replaced the 4 sensors & reconnected the control panel to find nothing had changed (except a new 4001 fault related to the waste tank level sensor). I’ve had to replace the interior trim with the jumper cable ran down the passenger side A pillar into the foot well. I can operate the roof from a 12v battery & am thinking about fitting a remote switch (£20 off eBay). So, I have. 4001 fault that needs addressing, any help appreciated - like where’s the fuse, and the control panel won’t operate the roof. When looking through the service menus there is a “hardware unit” menu which, when selected, shows a load of pixilated rubbish. Don’t know if that’s an indication that the control panel has a fault (and perhaps replacing the sensors wasn’t required). Any thoughts?

 

[King Harold 1066]

BTW, I’ve found the resource available on this forum invaluable, if sometimes time consuming to navigate. Thanks to all those that post the how-tos and answer questions.

 

[vbk1975]

I’ve had the same problem with the roof on our 68 plate Ocean. Started to get the 1000 fault and annoying chime after the van was parked up over Isle of Wight festival weekend in hot sunshine for 4 days. I managed to clear the fault and open & close the roof, very happy. Two days later the fault comes back. I went into the service menu on the control panel under variant, where I could select “no roof” to stop the chime. A few days later I reconfigured to say the van had a roof and the fault did not reappear, but the display still showed roof up when it was down. I bit the bullet and ordered 4 new hall sensors. Then spent yesterday fitting them. I had to drop the headlining without fully removing to get access to the pump. I disconnected the motor and installed a jumper cable that I could connect to a spare battery to run the roof up and down. This worked perfectly. I then replaced the 4 sensors & reconnected the control panel to find nothing had changed (except a new 4001 fault related to the waste tank level sensor). I’ve had to replace the interior trim with the jumper cable ran down the passenger side A pillar into the foot well. I can operate the roof from a 12v battery & am thinking about fitting a remote switch (£20 off eBay). So, I have. 4001 fault that needs addressing, any help appreciated - like where’s the fuse, and the control panel won’t operate the roof. When looking through the service menus there is a “hardware unit” menu which, when selected, shows a load of pixilated rubbish. Don’t know if that’s an indication that the control panel has a fault (and perhaps replacing the sensors wasn’t required). Any thoughts?

The hardware menu should look like this (not the values but the layout)

 

[King Harold 1066]

Thanks vbk, that’s what mine looks like. I was worried the control panel was shot. I still have the roof showing up when down, but no fault code, and the 4001 code with waste tank icon flashing. Any clues which fuse might feed the high level sensor?

 

[vbk1975]

Thanks vbk, that’s what mine looks like. I was worried the control panel was shot. I still have the roof showing up when down, but no fault code, and the 4001 code with waste tank icon flashing. Any clues which fuse might feed the high level sensor?

The Waste water sensor is a resistive float device. The control panel has a feed to it and a return.

The Waste Water sensor reading on the hardware menu in "AN3"

0-50 is Error
51-153 Full
154+ Empty
250 is Error

I haven't seen this error before and certainly not after a roof sensor change. Did you have the control panel out? The connector and pins aren't super robust, worth just checking the control panel and connector are seated correctly and no bent pins (but only if you removed the panel)

In terms of your roof, we have had lots of successful repairs. However we have had a few people get wires crossed over, or accidently had little strands of copper wire touch the other joint. Also last month someone ended up with a batch of bad sensors and had to change them for another set.

Can you double check you have switched the roof fitted setting in the panel back on (there is also a vw bulletin for slightly older panels that asks the dealers to cycle the roof fitted setting on-off-on after a battery reset or panel removal)

Also when you say roof is up. The roof icon actually has 3 stages. Roof Closed, Roof Partially Open (basically unknown, but neither down nor up) and Roof Fully Open. The angle of the roof icon is 45 fully up and say 30 when partially open.

Please read this thread it contains really good fault finding steps including the faulty sensor https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/electric-roof-problem.57206/