6.1 Heater Not Working

[66tim99]

My my2020 lets you turn the radio on without the keys in, just press the / on off button, exactly the same as every other Vw radio I’ve come across. The only thing that won’t work is the steering wheel controls without ignition on.

So you can just keep pressing for it to come on every 20 mins?
You don’t know if a way to override the 20 min shutoff?

 

[andyinluton]

So you can just keep pressing for it to come on every 20 mins?
You don’t know if a way to override the 20 min shutoff?

Yes and No

 

[pluc99]

MY22 and perhaps earlier versions don't seem to require the key to fire up the radio.

Interesting, but does it reset the camping mode when you fire up the radio?
Or when you turn the ignition on without starting the engine?

 

[andyinluton]

Interesting, but does it reset the camping mode when you fire up the radio?
Or when you turn the ignition on without starting the engine?

No and No

Just to add one of the features of the camping mode is to stop the running lights coming on if the ignition is switched on to stop you illuminating the whole campsite.

 

[WelshGas]

So you can just keep pressing for it to come on every 20 mins?
You don’t know if a way to override the 20 min shutoff?

Also, the T5.1/6/6.1 , trickle charge the engine battery if on EHU so you can keep pressing the On button as much as you like without draining the battery but only on EHU.

 

[yossarian]

You don’t know if a way to override the 20 min shutoff?

Certainly spoofing the can bus would work. There might be unwanted side effects.

 

[66tim99]

Certainly spoofing the can bus would work. There might be unwanted side effects.

Draining the starter battery of course, but if you wired it to leisure...
I wonder what else.
How easy to spoof the canbus?

 

[yossarian]

Draining the starter battery of course, but if you wired it to leisure...
I wonder what else.
How easy to spoof the canbus?

"VW quadlock to ISO radio adapter harness, with CANbus ignition and speed pulse (FOR NAVI UNITS) - InCarTec" https://incartec.co.uk/product/VW-g...-harness-with-CANbus-ignition-and-speed-pulse is basically the electronics required but unfortunately works the wrong way round. Snoops canbus for engine running and outputs 12v signal.

You'd have to build some sort of canbus repeater and discover what message IDs your head unit was interested in. Also the head unit is doing lots of vehicle configuration via canbus.

It's doable but not a couple of day project.

The folks that made the adapter I linked could probably do it a lot easier than us.

 

[66tim99]

"VW quadlock to ISO radio adapter harness, with CANbus ignition and speed pulse (FOR NAVI UNITS) - InCarTec" https://incartec.co.uk/product/VW-g...-harness-with-CANbus-ignition-and-speed-pulse is basically the electronics required but unfortunately works the wrong way round. Snoops canbus for engine running and outputs 12v signal.

You'd have to build some sort of canbus repeater and discover what message IDs your head unit was interested in. Also the head unit is doing lots of vehicle configuration via canbus.

It's doable but not a couple of day project.

The folks that made the adapter I linked could probably do it a lot easier than us.

I’ve emailed them, thanks

 

[CVW]

Please see from the photo

View attachment 76749

Brilliant thread, thanks all, it saved me too.

My control panel froze last night whilst away for New Year in Snowdonia. The initial cause was the aux heater freezing and then saying error but it locked everything. Removing the fuse this morning and replacing after 5 mins did the trick and enabled me to close the roof and travel home.

kudos to #defender90 for posting this detailed explanation

 

[Winston Rumfoord]

Helpful thread for troubleshooting, thank you to all those who have contributed. Just adding my experience to date - sadly no resolution yet and booked into dealer for further investigation. Any other ideas welcome…

T6.1 Beach - with Auxiliary Heater(!) and after almost two years of ownership I have finally understood how the thing works.

First noticed an issue in December - I used the fob to start the heater when returning from a walk. The heater had not started when I arrived at the van but did kick in when driving (orange light on control panel and warm air blowing from vent).

The heater has not worked since then, with the Auxiliary heater menu behaving as follows:
- Operating mode: asks to switch on ignition. When ignition is on it just says ‘Error: auxiliary heater’
- Setting: asks to switch on ignition. When ignition is on it just says ‘Error: auxiliary heater’
- Heat immediately: sends the control panel into a cycle of flicking between ‘please wait’ and the Auxiliary heater menu every few seconds. When it temporarily flicks to the menu then I can escape the loop!
- Heat continuously: allows my to pick a temperature level and activate but then returns to the Auxiliary heater menu with no heater on. (I’ve set this to the max on <0 temp days and still doesn’t work.)
- The fob flashes green (when trying to run on) and red (when trying to turn off).

So far I have:
- read this and many other threads
- been on multiple short and long drives in the van
- tried removing fuses 5-8 in the dash
- tried removing fuse 5 under the passenger seat
- done also sorts of permutations
- taken an electric heater with me to Bolton Abbey last weekend

As per the intro, posting here 1) for a record of the issue, 2) in case there is anything else anyone would suggest trying, and 3) to report back after dealer visit.

 

[WelshGas]

Helpful thread for troubleshooting, thank you to all those who have contributed. Just adding my experience to date - sadly no resolution yet and booked into dealer for further investigation. Any other ideas welcome…

T6.1 Beach - with Auxiliary Heater(!) and after almost two years of ownership I have finally understood how the thing works.

First noticed an issue in December - I used the fob to start the heater when returning from a walk. The heater had not started when I arrived at the van but did kick in when driving (orange light on control panel and warm air blowing from vent).

The heater has not worked since then, with the Auxiliary heater menu behaving as follows:
- Operating mode: asks to switch on ignition. When ignition is on it just says ‘Error: auxiliary heater’
- Setting: asks to switch on ignition. When ignition is on it just says ‘Error: auxiliary heater’
- Heat immediately: sends the control panel into a cycle of flicking between ‘please wait’ and the Auxiliary heater menu every few seconds. When it temporarily flicks to the menu then I can escape the loop!
- Heat continuously: allows my to pick a temperature level and activate but then returns to the Auxiliary heater menu with no heater on. (I’ve set this to the max on <0 temp days and still doesn’t work.)
- The fob flashes green (when trying to run on) and red (when trying to turn off).

So far I have:
- read this and many other threads
- been on multiple short and long drives in the van
- tried removing fuses 5-8 in the dash
- tried removing fuse 5 under the passenger seat
- done also sorts of permutations
- taken an electric heater with me to Bolton Abbey last weekend

As per the intro, posting here 1) for a record of the issue, 2) in case there is anything else anyone would suggest trying, and 3) to report back after dealer visit.

I know Eberspacher heaters lock out after a number of failed starts.
The Eberspacher heater fitted to the California has special customised VW software, so something similar may happen.

 

[Winston Rumfoord]

I know Eberspacher heaters lock out after a number of failed starts.
The Eberspacher heater fitted to the California has special customised VW software, so something similar may happen.

You were right. Dealer told me that the heater had overheated and locked out. Told it could only be fixed/unlocked by Dealer computer thing.

 

[MyrtleMoo]

I know this is an old thread, but it’s been extremely useful in understanding the mysteries of the heater. Just adding my experience to the mix, and one extra bit of info I’ve not seen mentioned yet.

We parked up on the evening, roof up on pitching around 4pm, full fuel tank, full batteries and connected to EHU. We used heat continuously for one session through the evening, didn’t use heat immediately at any point. Woke up in the morning, tried to enable heat continuously. Noticed that after a few minutes it hadn’t done anything, and the heating light had gone out. Tried a couple more times of heat continuously and noticed it did the same - it waited a little while then it switched off the light again. Key was not in the ignition, which sounds from earlier posts that makes a difference to how any errors are displayed - but nothing was showing on screen.
At this point I tried pressing heat immediately, and this is what got it stuck in the “Please wait” loop that it sounds like a lot of people have.
After some panicking about how to get the roof down with a stuck control panel, reading this thread and starting to contemplate pulling fuses, I decided to try one more thing….
Pressing the “OFF” button on the heater keyfob got it out of the “Please wait” loop and stopped it trying to start the heater.

I didn’t dare try the heater again just thankful to get the roof down, after having drove away and pitched up at our next site it worked fine for the next evening where we followed the same pattern - heat continuously on the evening and then again on the morning, No issues this time.

Hope the keyfob tip adds something to the mystery and wasn’t just a fluke coincidence.

 

[MyrtleMoo]

Helpful thread for troubleshooting, thank you to all those who have contributed. Just adding my experience to date - sadly no resolution yet and booked into dealer for further investigation. Any other ideas welcome…

T6.1 Beach - with Auxiliary Heater(!) and after almost two years of ownership I have finally understood how the thing works.

First noticed an issue in December - I used the fob to start the heater when returning from a walk. The heater had not started when I arrived at the van but did kick in when driving (orange light on control panel and warm air blowing from vent).

The heater has not worked since then, with the Auxiliary heater menu behaving as follows:
- Operating mode: asks to switch on ignition. When ignition is on it just says ‘Error: auxiliary heater’
- Setting: asks to switch on ignition. When ignition is on it just says ‘Error: auxiliary heater’
- Heat immediately: sends the control panel into a cycle of flicking between ‘please wait’ and the Auxiliary heater menu every few seconds. When it temporarily flicks to the menu then I can escape the loop!
- Heat continuously: allows my to pick a temperature level and activate but then returns to the Auxiliary heater menu with no heater on. (I’ve set this to the max on <0 temp days and still doesn’t work.)
- The fob flashes green (when trying to run on) and red (when trying to turn off).

So far I have:
- read this and many other threads
- been on multiple short and long drives in the van
- tried removing fuses 5-8 in the dash
- tried removing fuse 5 under the passenger seat
- done also sorts of permutations
- taken an electric heater with me to Bolton Abbey last weekend

As per the intro, posting here 1) for a record of the issue, 2) in case there is anything else anyone would suggest trying, and 3) to report back after dealer visit.

@Winston Rumfoord - I'm curious, did you ever get to the bottom of this? Just trying to figure out at the moment whether it's something I should follow up with my VW garage while still under warranty.

 

[Winston Rumfoord]

@Winston Rumfoord - I'm curious, did you ever get to the bottom of this? Just trying to figure out at the moment whether it's something I should follow up with my VW garage while still under warranty.

Hi yes ended up taking it to the dealer (under warranty). They told us that something might have been placed in front of the floor vent (very likely) and this caused the heater to overheat. Once this happens it locks itself out and so all the dealer had to do was reset it… Worked fine ever since and we try to not leave anything in front of the vent.

 

[pboven]

I know this is an old thread, but it’s been extremely useful in understanding the mysteries of the heater. Just adding my experience to the mix, and one extra bit of info I’ve not seen mentioned yet.

We parked up on the evening, roof up on pitching around 4pm, full fuel tank, full batteries and connected to EHU. We used heat continuously for one session through the evening, didn’t use heat immediately at any point. Woke up in the morning, tried to enable heat continuously. Noticed that after a few minutes it hadn’t done anything, and the heating light had gone out. Tried a couple more times of heat continuously and noticed it did the same - it waited a little while then it switched off the light again. Key was not in the ignition, which sounds from earlier posts that makes a difference to how any errors are displayed - but nothing was showing on screen.
At this point I tried pressing heat immediately, and this is what got it stuck in the “Please wait” loop that it sounds like a lot of people have.
After some panicking about how to get the roof down with a stuck control panel, reading this thread and starting to contemplate pulling fuses, I decided to try one more thing….
Pressing the “OFF” button on the heater keyfob got it out of the “Please wait” loop and stopped it trying to start the heater.

I didn’t dare try the heater again just thankful to get the roof down, after having drove away and pitched up at our next site it worked fine for the next evening where we followed the same pattern - heat continuously on the evening and then again on the morning, No issues this time.

Hope the keyfob tip adds something to the mystery and wasn’t just a fluke coincidence.

It is definitely not a coincidence. I can confirm that the keyfob tricked worked several times for my T6.1, after discovered it accidentally a couple of months ago.

When in the endless 'Please wait' screen that you cannot quit, I start the heating with the keyfob, turn it off with the keyfob and afterwards I'm able to start the heat continuously normally. Has worked for me each time.

I had the heating software updated recently (at least I asked VW and they said they did). But afterwards I've had the 'Please wait' issue again. If anyone has a real/permanent fix...

 

[MyrtleMoo]

It is definitely not a coincidence. I can confirm that the keyfob tricked worked several times for my T6.1, after discovered it accidentally a couple of months ago.

When in the endless 'Please wait' screen that you cannot quit, I start the heating with the keyfob, turn it off with the keyfob and afterwards I'm able to start the heat continuously normally. Has worked for me each time.

I had the heating software updated recently (at least I asked VW and they said they did). But afterwards I've had the 'Please wait' issue again. If anyone has a real/permanent fix...

Nice - thanks for confirming. I had this happen again to me recently and the keyfob trick got me out of the loop. I also found I didn't need to try starting the heater with the fob, I just had to hold the heater "off" button on the fob for a second or two and that escaped the please-wait loop of doom.

Good to know we've got a confirmed get-out-of-jail workaround to this that doesn't involve popping fuses!