6.1 Ocean pop up roof problems

[Robbox2]

Hello all,
Anyone else had any problems with their roof? Ours seems to droop on one side after about 6 hours in the hot sun. One time it caused 2 of the sensors to disagree with the other 2, making auto operation impossible. The motor was dead. We followed the instructions to lower the roof manually, but hydraulic pressure was never released (I am assuming) thus unable to drop the roof.
Called out VW assist who plugged her into the computer and reset the sensors. He too was unable to manually lower the roof.
Temporary "fix" is to lower the roof when leaving her on the campsite during the day. At night, we lower then raise before going to bed. However, at night it never seems to droop. I have never heard the roof motor doing its auto check as it is supposed to. I am wondering if this is the problem and its losing hydraulic pressure in the heat but not getting its top up?

 

[Robbox2]

Update....
VW have a software update for the roof. Garage couldn't tell me what it did, but it worked. Roof still drops in the heat, but haven't had the sensors disagree, so green tick disappears and then able to raise roof. Even heard and watched in amazement when it did it itself exactly 15 hours after first being raised. HOWEVER it did it a couple of times automatically, but not since. But I can still do it myself through the centre console.
Used to have to lower and then raise, but now it thinks its in the intermediate position so gives me the choice to open or close. Happy days.

 

[jimwilson333]

I have just come back from my first trip in a hired Cali 6.1 Ocean. I noticed that overnight the roof would droop down, albeit symmetrically. A look on the control panel would show that it was in an intermediate position, despite being raised to fully open the day before. Is this droop normal? Daytime temperatures were 30 C, down to a low of 15-20 overnight.

All the best

Jim

 

[KateCharlie]

I have just noticed the same issue, droops on one side but a lot quicker, 30 minutes. Only way to resolve is to close slightly and then raise so it tightens again. would this be the software issues also? will be calling my dealer on Monday and would be good to go in armed with info

 

[Stu@rt]

I have just noticed the same issue, droops on one side but a lot quicker, 30 minutes. Only way to resolve is to close slightly and then raise so it tightens again. would this be the software issues also? will be calling my dealer on Monday and would be good to go in armed with info

Have a quick search using the magnifying glass above. Loads and loads of previous chat on this. Batch of faulty pumps if I recall correctly, although I think some had rams replaced before the dealer realised the pumps were the issue. Or vice versa maybe.

 

[KateCharlie]

it did do the self regulate thing for the first time yesterday morning and tightened up, have looked at the other posts and seems to be either the pump or software issue.

 

[Stu@rt]

it did do the self regulate thing for the first time yesterday morning and tightened up, have looked at the other posts and seems to be either the pump or software issue.

Hope you manage to get the roof issue resolved quickly. Could I also suggest that you remove your postcode from your location details. Not everyone needs to know where you keep your pride and joy. Hope you don't mind me saying?

 

[Mehdime]

Same issue here. Brand new Ocean. Roof worked perfectly for a month. And then one evening in France 3 week ago, it started sagging on the right-hand side. This was after have spent 4 weeks in France in scorching heat.



It would fix itself if we raised it again but immediately started slowly sagging again. We were not able to close it either:

There was some horrible creaking metal noise when we tried to go any further. Called VW Assist. The guy who came was lovely but useless. He'd never seen a California in his life and refused to touch it for fear of breaking something.

Since he wasn't able to transport the van anywhere with the roof open (he was afraid the roof would get ripped off in transport), he helped us get it closed. After a few tries of putting it up and back down again, we were able to close it fully. At which point he said there was nothing else he could do and our best bet would be to drive to the closest VW dealer and see if there was anything they could do.

So we did - drove to a dealer half an hour away. That's where we learned that, in France, only a few select VW dealers are allowed to work on Californias. And the one we drove to wasn't allowed to touch them. They did give us the numbers of the closest one who could (the VW dealer in Le Mans).

Gave the Le Mans dealer a call. Lovely guy there. Said they'd seen that issue quite a few times before and they'd be happy to fix it for us but that they would need to order parts from Germany. And that would take 3 weeks.

So we finished our holidays with no working pop-up roof. Back home now and van is booked to get looked at later this week.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

These pictures are very familiar to me. Had the exact same problem when on holiday in Cornwall with our six month old T6.1 Ocean. We managed to get the roof down with my wife pushing the button and me acting as the ram on the driver’s side. Finished the holiday without putting the roof up and van is now in for repair with our local dealer. I will update when problem is put to bed, excuse the pun

 

[KateCharlie]

Hope you manage to get the roof issue resolved quickly. Could I also suggest that you remove your postcode from your location details. Not everyone needs to know where you keep your pride and joy. Hope you don't mind me saying?

Thanks didn’t realise I was sharing post code, I am emailing the dealer today as tested it again at home to do if or check, it did drop over a few hours

 

[KateCharlie]

also noticed in the manual that is does recalibrate itself after 2.5 and 5 hours, going to do an overnight test and see what happens

 

[SusiBus]

Hello all,
Anyone else had any problems with their roof? Ours seems to droop on one side after about 6 hours in the hot sun. One time it caused 2 of the sensors to disagree with the other 2, making auto operation impossible. The motor was dead. We followed the instructions to lower the roof manually, but hydraulic pressure was never released (I am assuming) thus unable to drop the roof.
Called out VW assist who plugged her into the computer and reset the sensors. He too was unable to manually lower the roof.
Temporary "fix" is to lower the roof when leaving her on the campsite during the day. At night, we lower then raise before going to bed. However, at night it never seems to droop. I have never heard the roof motor doing its auto check as it is supposed to. I am wondering if this is the problem and its losing hydraulic pressure in the heat but not getting its top up?

 

[ArunAlec]

also noticed in the manual that is does recalibrate itself after 2.5 and 5 hours, going to do an overnight test and see what happens

They’ve changed the times of the roof check? The T5 was 10 then every 5. A first check after 2.5 hours would suggest VW are a bit pessimistic!

 

[Mehdime]

Back from the dealer. They said there’s a technical service bulletin for the roof. They’ll need to drain the hydraulics IIRC and clean it. They need to order specialist equipment for this first. Then the van will have to be with them for 2 days to carry out the procedure.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

They’ve changed the times of the roof check? The T5 was 10 then every 5. A first check after 2.5 hours would suggest VW are a bit pessimistic!

Had our new 6.1 since November 2020. Not wishing to tempt fate but we’ve never had any roof sag to date and we’ve never heard any auto correction taking place.

 

[ArunAlec]

Had our new 6.1 since November 2020. Not wishing to tempt fate but we’ve never had any roof sag to date and we’ve never heard any auto correction taking place.

And long May it last!
VW make me smile….. a “recharge” to compensate for dodgy hydraulics, window drains to compensate for leaking window seals!

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Hi Mehdime, I hate to be the pessimist but your roof looks exactly like mine ( I have posted photos on another thread ) and mine has been at dealers for more than five weeks. What is the hydraulics IIRC ? The reservoir ? If so it sounds like they are going to flush the system. I’ll be very surprised if it’s as simple as that. Are you using the van without using the roof at present ?
Please keep posting on your progress with this, as I will you.
It’s just that my relationship with VW is at a delicate stage at present and I don’t want to go into it too deeply for now.

 

[Mehdime]

Hi Mehdime, I hate to be the pessimist but your roof looks exactly like mine ( I have posted photos on another thread ) and mine has been at dealers for more than five weeks. What is the hydraulics IIRC ? The reservoir ? If so it sounds like they are going to flush the system. I’ll be very surprised if it’s as simple as that. Are you using the van without using the roof at present ?
Please keep posting on your progress with this, as I will you.
It’s just that my relationship with VW is at a delicate stage at present and I don’t want to go into it too deeply for now.

Yes, my understanding is that they’re going to flush the system. I should have written down what they said exactly but I didn’t so not using the correct terms probably.

We’re using the van without opening the roof now. Which means we can’t use it for camping since we have kids. So that’s a bummer. Waiting to hear back from the dealer.

Since I brought the van to the dealer to have them check the roof, something new started: when driving over uneven roads (which is prettty much all roads in Ireland), there’s a very loud creaking or plastic squeaking sound coming from the front part of the roof.

 

[willwander]

I had similar roof creak with my T6 when it was new.
Took me forever to figure it out and fix it.
Ended up squirting lots silicone lube in the roof join above drivers side sun visor. There’s a thread on it somewhere. It might be that or the awning. Usually the awning lol.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Hi Mehdime, I hate to be the pessimist but your roof looks exactly like mine ( I have posted photos on another thread ) and mine has been at dealers for more than five weeks. What is the hydraulics IIRC ? The reservoir ? If so it sounds like they are going to flush the system. I’ll be very surprised if it’s as simple as that. Are you using the van without using the roof at present ?
Please keep posting on your progress with this, as I will you.
It’s just that my relationship with VW is at a delicate stage at present and I don’t want to go into it too deeply for now.

I appreciate that you are at a ‘delicate stage’ with your dealership @Mansfieldman750 but if the situation means that you cannot use the vehicle for what it is designed to do for a prolonged period then I think you should seriously consider escalating to VW Customer Services. If you don’t want to do that right now, you should, in my opinion, raise it with them once the issue has been resolved. If you spell out the situation to them in a matter of fact way, including the length of time that you couldn’t use the van for camping, then in my experience they may be sympathetic. They don’t use the term compensation (probably a legal position) but they can offer a gesture of goodwill. I’ve dealt with them a couple of times and on both occasions they have been extremely good.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

I appreciate that you are at a ‘delicate stage’ with your dealership @Mansfieldman750 but if the situation means that you cannot use the vehicle for what it is designed to do for a prolonged period then I think you should seriously consider escalating to VW Customer Services. If you don’t want to do that right now, you should, in my opinion, raise it with them once the issue has been resolved. If you spell out the situation to them in a matter of fact way, including the length of time that you couldn’t use the van for camping, then in my experience they may be sympathetic. They don’t use the term compensation (probably a legal position) but they can offer a gesture of goodwill. I’ve dealt with them a couple of times and on both occasions they have been extremely good.

Would also ask then them to extend the length of your warranty to cover the loss of use period.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Hi Gg, I involved VW CustomerCare after the Van had been at dealers for 2 weeks. I niaively thought things were taking too long !
As I have posted elsewhere, after 4 weeks I was told a ram had been changed, roof tested up and down umpteen times, working perfect, come and collect. Did so next morning and you see the results.
I am well aware of Consumer Rights Act 2015, and that the Motoring Ombudsman will intervene when deadlock is reached.
As I say, discussions are ongoing and when I can say more I will.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Just to get everything in the same place, here’s where we were after the repair. Which is where we were before the repair.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Hi Gg, I involved VW CustomerCare after the Van had been at dealers for 2 weeks. I niaively thought things were taking too long !
As I have posted elsewhere, after 4 weeks I was told a ram had been changed, roof tested up and down umpteen times, working perfect, come and collect. Did so next morning and you see the results.
I am well aware of Consumer Rights Act 2015, and that the Motoring Ombudsman will intervene when deadlock is reached.
As I say, discussions are ongoing and when I can say more I will.

Good luck @Mansfieldman750 . I think all forum members will sympathise with your situation. Hope it’s resolved very soon and you can resume Cali life.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

There is now a replacement pump unit at the dealers with my name on it. I am confident that we’ll be back on the road in the near future. The sequence of events has been exactly as outlined by @andyinluton previously ( software update, change ram, change other ram, change pump )
To @Mehdime, so far you’ve done everything right and avoided some mistakes I made.
You involved VW assist right at the start.
You got some great photos
You have made the dealer you bought the van from ( I assume ) in Ireland aware of the problem and are taking it there for repair. That’s all good.
The van is less than 6 months old. Excellent.
You bought the van to go camping with your family and now you can’t because the roof doesn’t work. At this moment in time the van is not fit for the purpose you bought if for. Of course you must give the dealer the opportunity to put things right. They will follow the VW script. The van could be in there for a lot longer than 2 days, if it all goes to form you’ll end up with a new pump. Make sure you get a courtesy van or car. Finally don‘t give up, it’ll get fixed.