Bed Stuck

[WelshGas]

Almost 12 months to the day.
My downstairs seat/bed is now stuck in the bed position. No movement at all. The Pull Strap is solid - no movement. I'm in Italy at present. Contacted VW Assistance. Not very hopeful of being able to do anything in a timely manner, so I've also booked into South Hereford Dealership for my return.
Oh well, time for another beer.

 

[Meoncoast]

good luck -- sounds like the same as our issue.

 

[motacyclist]

Almost 12 months to the day.
My downstairs seat/bed is now stuck in the bed position. No movement at all. The Pull Strap is solid - no movement. I'm in Italy at present. Contacted VW Assistance. Not very hopeful of being able to do anything in a timely manner, so I've also booked into South Hereford Dealership for my return.
Oh well, time for another beer.

What a downer! When you're stopped, could you remove the parcel shelf to enable you to push the bed back out of the way so you can use the cooker etc? You might need to remove the stop from the channel.

Bit late for you now, but I wonder if it would be possible to drill a hole in a strategic place to be able to access the Bowden cable, and insert a grommet. Does anyone know the routing?

 

[Meoncoast]

We we able to use the cooker with the bed down there was no need to remove the stop.(3 days away like this) One of the main issues is you can't remove the bed/seat while down. With ours they had too cut the plastic back off to release the seat to get it up so they could take the bed/seat out They could not get the back off the seat with it laid flat. Once out left the seat with the van centre while they fixed it so we could use the van so we were only without the van 2 days.

 

[WelshGas]

All sorted thanks to " Tactical's " post. Knelt on the top of the seat back, pulled the web strap and seat back now in position. Will see how it goes but think I will keep the booking I've made until back in UK. That's 2 beers in celebration.

 

[andyinluton]

I don't know if the two mechanisms are linked in any way, but our bed appeared to be stuck down with no movement at all possible on the pull strap, at the same time I couldn't get the seat to move, the release lever had lost its spring as it does when the seat is not locked into position.

After about an hour of frantic wriggling around & pushing the base of the seat at different angles along the rails there was a click, the release handle regained its spring & at that point the bed release strap worked again.

So what I'm suggesting is move the bed along the rails an inch or two, make sure its locked on the rails properly & try the release again.

 

[Meoncoast]

good news.

 

[Hotel California]

Check if the seatbelt-recievers are not pushed in the seat to deep....pull them back out ...

 

[WelshGas]

I don't know if the two mechanisms are linked in any way, but our bed appeared to be stuck down with no movement at all possible on the pull strap, at the same time I couldn't get the seat to move, the release lever had lost its spring as it does when the seat is not locked into position.

After about an hour of frantic wriggling around & pushing the base of the seat at different angles along the rails there was a click, the release handle regained its spring & at that point the bed release strap worked again.

So what I'm suggesting is move the bed along the rails an inch or two, make sure its locked on the rails properly & try the release again.

Could move the bed/seat forwards and backwards no problem.

 

[WelshGas]

Check if the seatbelt-recievers are not pushed in the seat to deep....pull them back out ...

No problems with the seat belts.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for all the advice. Waiting for my Italian takeaway now. Cooled to 30c and a nice breeze from the beach 50m away.

 

[larrylamb]

Our seat was stuck flat recently but I found that a box in the boot had moved forward slightly and it was this that stopped the seat back from releasing. We had no movement on the strap or seatback until the box was pulled back into the boot area..

 

[TomC]

I have now joined the alumni of the jammed horizontal lower bed and unfortunately we are supposed to be leaving for a week in the van tomorrow. Will call the dealer first thing but if its a 2 day job like others have found it will be a major problem. Hoping they have a demonstrator they can change for.

 

[Meoncoast]

2 day job like others have found it will be a major problem.

once the parts came from Germany which were a special order!

 

[TomC]

May have to resort to renting a van for the week which would be a bitter pill to swallow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[suzanne1]

I have this problem now and I'm supposed to be leaving in 5 days (cries).

 

[WelshGas]

I have this problem now and I'm supposed to be leaving in 5 days (cries).

Make sure nothing has moved forward in the boot, under the shelf board.
Try and move the seat forward a little.
Kneel on the seat back rest and pull on the strap that allows the seat back to be lowered.

Any luck?

 

[suzanne1]

Thanks, I tried this but nothing seems to work. I'm going to try again later- it's exhausting- but think I'll have to take it into van centre tomorrow. The strap pulls and sounds as if it is releasing something but the bench is firmly stuck. This is probably what I get for feeling smug about fixing the cooker myself and avoiding the £400+ bill VW van centre had quoted! I'm supposed to be on my way to Sicily but maybe a stop in Germany to fix the bench is an idea!

 

[Hotel California]

I have this problem now and I'm supposed to be leaving in 5 days (cries).

Is it flat and not going back upwarts in driving position or the other way arround?

If flat , you need to sit on the bed , the front section , while pulling the sling and push the rear section down and pull up ....

 

[suzanne1]

It's flat. I'll definitely give that a go a bit later, thanks. At the moment the upholstery is still damp from the Rugdoctor and I am covered in probably carcinogenic Rugdoctor chemicals from trying to release it earlier!

 

[Meoncoast]

If you are unlucky it will be the same issue as we had when I started this thread.
We had used the bed many times so were fully aware of how it worked and how to get it up.
Draw under emptied so nothing causing it to stick.
It just would not come up.
The problem is the bed needs to be up to be remove from the van. In the end my van centre had get into the back of the seat by cutting back of of seat plastic to face it to release. One of the internal "Bowen Cables" in the seat had stuck/distorted, preventing it coming up to the seat position.So all advise re sitting on kneeling on it and pulling will not free it if the cable is damaged.
Once the bench was out I left it at the van centre they got the parts and fixed it and took the van back for the bench to be put back in,

 

[suzanne1]

If you are unlucky it will be the same issue as we had when I started this thread.
We had used the bed many times so were fully aware of how it worked and how to get it up.
Draw under emptied so nothing causing it to stick.
It just would not come up.
The problem is the bed needs to be up to be remove from the van. In the end my van centre had get into the back of the seat by cutting back of of seat plastic to face it to release. One of the internal "Bowen Cables" in the seat had stuck/distorted, preventing it coming up to the seat position.So all advise re sitting on kneeling on it and pulling will not free it if the cable is damaged.
Once the bench was out I left it at the van centre they got the parts and fixed it and took the van back for the bench to be put back in,

I am praying it isn't! What are VW service centres like in Palermo? beginning to remind me of the "Where's my Van?" thread on the first California forum when I posted a photo of VW vans Firenze when the roof stopped working!

 

[suzanne1]

If you are unlucky it will be the same issue as we had when I started this thread.
We had used the bed many times so were fully aware of how it worked and how to get it up.
Draw under emptied so nothing causing it to stick.
It just would not come up.
The problem is the bed needs to be up to be remove from the van. In the end my van centre had get into the back of the seat by cutting back of of seat plastic to face it to release. One of the internal "Bowen Cables" in the seat had stuck/distorted, preventing it coming up to the seat position.So all advise re sitting on kneeling on it and pulling will not free it if the cable is damaged.
Once the bench was out I left it at the van centre they got the parts and fixed it and took the van back for the bench to be put back in,

Was it expensive?

 

[Meoncoast]

Was it expensive?

I recall it was about £500 but VW paid 80% of cost

 

[suzanne1]

Nope neither my husband or I can fix it. If it is the same thing that went on Andy's I can't wait 2 weeks for the part. Does anyone know where in Germany I would be most likely to get the part and get it fitted? I could go on my way to Italy. Or is it possible to rent bench seats or buy another one quickly?