Control unit on 2021 T6.1

[BSquared]

Here is my 'story' about the control unit in our T6.1 in April 2024. Of course, it had to happen when in a fairly remote location on Skye. Such is life.
Multiple attempts to put on the van heater one cold morning failed, ultimately with 'Heater Error' coming up on the screen. Not to worry.....can survive without the heater.
Ready to head off, to discover we cannot clear the error message, so not able to instruct roof to go down. Time to panic when you read how to manually lower the roof. Reads like brain surgery. Phoned VW customer service (van still under warranty....see later), who, to their credit, had a local garage with us within the hour (Ewen MacRae, Portree). I also phoned the VW dealer we use (Lookers, based in Glasgow). In the meantime we followed the instructions in the manual and made some progress. Scary stuff! The mechanic from the Portree garage was excellent and, to cut a long story short, we got to the control screw that allows for manual closure. Excellent. Arranged with Lookers to inspect upon return to Glasgow.
Off we when. 'What's that noise in the back of the van?' - the rear heater, pouring out heat. Control panel still locked at 'Heater Error'. Help. Stopping and switching off the engine should kill the heater. No, it continued to run, even with the key out of the ignition. What now? Remove the appropriate fuse? Only if you can get to it on the board low down on the driver's side of the front facia. No chance. Pulled out master fuse in the panel below the passenger's seat. Heater stopped. Returned fuse. Thank goodness it didn't fire up again. What else could go wrong?
Later same day, parked up and off for a walk. Returning to the van - from a distance - is the roof up? Yes, indeed it was.....
Starting to feel fatalistic about the van. Anyway, into the van. Attempted to bring the control panel to life, which it did. Cross fingers.... 'close pop-up roof'....down it came. Phew. Didn't touch any of the heater and roof controls for the rest of the week.
Prompt diagnostic check at Lookers (Glasgow) (excellent service) indicated multiple failures with control panel. £1150 for new unit. All good now.
Two points worth making: 'what would have happened if the van had been parked in a garage or under any obstruction before getting checked out and sorted?' and 'can you afford to have a California T6.1 out of warranty'......?
FYI The large control panel in the centre of the console comes in at a hefty £4,500..... Ouch. Fingers crossed.
End of story.

 

[goapplecalifornia]

Here is my 'story' about the control unit in our T6.1 in April 2024. Of course, it had to happen when in a fairly remote location on Skye. Such is life.
Multiple attempts to put on the van heater one cold morning failed, ultimately with 'Heater Error' coming up on the screen. Not to worry.....can survive without the heater.
Ready to head off, to discover we cannot clear the error message, so not able to instruct roof to go down. Time to panic when you read how to manually lower the roof. Reads like brain surgery. Phoned VW customer service (van still under warranty....see later), who, to their credit, had a local garage with us within the hour (Ewen MacRae, Portree). I also phoned the VW dealer we use (Lookers, based in Glasgow). In the meantime we followed the instructions in the manual and made some progress. Scary stuff! The mechanic from the Portree garage was excellent and, to cut a long story short, we got to the control screw that allows for manual closure. Excellent. Arranged with Lookers to inspect upon return to Glasgow.
Off we when. 'What's that noise in the back of the van?' - the rear heater, pouring out heat. Control panel still locked at 'Heater Error'. Help. Stopping and switching off the engine should kill the heater. No, it continued to run, even with the key out of the ignition. What now? Remove the appropriate fuse? Only if you can get to it on the board low down on the driver's side of the front facia. No chance. Pulled out master fuse in the panel below the passenger's seat. Heater stopped. Returned fuse. Thank goodness it didn't fire up again. What else could go wrong?
Later same day, parked up and off for a walk. Returning to the van - from a distance - is the roof up? Yes, indeed it was.....
Starting to feel fatalistic about the van. Anyway, into the van. Attempted to bring the control panel to life, which it did. Cross fingers.... 'close pop-up roof'....down it came. Phew. Didn't touch any of the heater and roof controls for the rest of the week.
Prompt diagnostic check at Lookers (Glasgow) (excellent service) indicated multiple failures with control panel. £1150 for new unit. All good now.
Two points worth making: 'what would have happened if the van had been parked in a garage or under any obstruction before getting checked out and sorted?' and 'can you afford to have a California T6.1 out of warranty'......?
FYI The large control panel in the centre of the console comes in at a hefty £4,500..... Ouch. Fingers crossed.
End of story.

I had my unit replaced under warranty as I couldn't change the heat levels in Heat I
Continuous mode - it was stuck on level 1 - I had a similar problem after an over the air software update but this time I couldn't adjust the heat levels in Heat Immediate mode - this time the garage did a reset and all seems Ok - Nothing like your issues though. (Van new in Nov 23)