Discussion regarding T6 ONLY roof corrosion

[Trebor]

Saw tape being applied with roller tool by hand in Hannover factory Easter 2017 .

 

[sbmcd]

Saw tape being applied with roller tool by hand in Hannover factory Easter 2017 .

Can you recall exactly how the roller applied the tape?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Can you recall exactly how the roller applied the tape?

Looking around my roof the visibility of my tape is very varied. Sometimes outside and sometimes inside. I have yet to find a point where it is visible in and outside at the same point. This suggests that it is applied by hand and eye. Not best process for high, repeatable and consistent quality.
I noticed something else too. I can not spot any tape anywhere except at the back of the Cali. It might be me not being thorough enough but I have a suspicion.......

 

[sbmcd]

Looking around my roof the visibility of my tape is very varied. Sometimes outside and sometimes inside. I have yet to find a point where it is visible in and outside at the same point. This suggests that it is applied by hand and eye. Not best process for high, repeatable and consistent quality.
I noticed something else too. I can not spot any tape anywhere except at the back of the Cali. It might be me not being thorough enough but I have a suspicion.......

Thanks for that, very interesting. I would like to know if the 15 mm wide tape now listed as a roof part is the same as is applied at the factory. The only way to find out is for someone to pull off a small section of roof seal and measure it. My van is being done now, I a leaning toward 25 mm wide 3M tape rather than the VW option of 15 mm.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Thanks for that, very interesting. I would like to know if the 15 mm wide tape now listed as a roof part is the same as is applied at the factory. The only way to find out is for someone to pull off a small section of roof seal and measure it. My van is being done now, I a leaning toward 25 mm wide 3M tape rather than the VW option of 15 mm.

In my mind and irrespective of what VW do its got to be better to have a wider tape so that it protects against corrosion inside and outside of the pop-up roof. So, yes, 25mm has to be better. It provides better security and so for the relatively small extra cost (?) over the 15mm version I would chose this every time.

 

[sbmcd]

In my mind and irrespective of what VW do its got to be better to have a wider tape so that it protects against corrosion inside and outside of the pop-up roof. So, yes, 25mm has to be better. It provides better security and so for the relatively small extra cost (?) over the 15mm version I would chose this every time.

VW tape works out at £2.37 / m, the 3M tape is £2.90 / m, I went for the 3M but in 25 mm wide x 3 m rolls as I though this would be easier to handle than the alternative 33 m rolls, bought 4 but only needed 3. I do not see overlaps as an issue, tape will stick to itself very well.

Front section of the roof above the cab will be the most difficult to get to but I will find a way. I had absolutely no corrosion at all on the front edge of my roof.

AFC have still to get back to me on the grease / paint question. I presume this is some sort of silicon grease which should be pretty inert, will let you know what they come back with.

 

[sbmcd]

Looking around my roof the visibility of my tape is very varied. Sometimes outside and sometimes inside. I have yet to find a point where it is visible in and outside at the same point. This suggests that it is applied by hand and eye. Not best process for high, repeatable and consistent quality.
I noticed something else too. I can not spot any tape anywhere except at the back of the Cali. It might be me not being thorough enough but I have a suspicion.......

Pull a small section of rear roof seal down and have a look, it is not difficult.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Pull a small section of rear roof seal down and have a look, it is not difficult.

My suspicion is not eating at me and as I am one of the "don't look" until nearly 3 years has passed I will not confirm or otherwise that suspicion.

 

[sbmcd]

Response from AFC on the grease product:

"Corrosion Block Grease does have petroleum oils in the formula and so might cause swelling on "natural rubber" components

It will not affect synthetic materials like Nitrile and Viton."

In that case I think silicon grease is probably the best solution for excluding water from the seal, silicon is pretty inert and is used in some car polish.

 

[sbmcd]

My suspicion is not eating at me and as I am one of the "don't look" until nearly 3 years has passed I will not confirm or otherwise that suspicion.

I am passed that 3 year window, I could go on for many years of repair and repair failure if I take no action myself. Hopefully the tape will work on the post Dec 2016 roofs, only time will tell.

 

[sbmcd]

Just been told my roof repair has required removal of the elevating roof, is this common?

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Seems to be and it's likely they will replace the canvas.

 

[sbmcd]

Seems to be and it's likely they will replace the canvas.

Oh well seems will have to re do my special midge mesh additions.

I had hoped they would leave the roof on to minimise the chances of things going wrong.

 

[sbmcd]

Phoned again today, it seems they are re fitting my own canvas, do you think VW really have a procedure to cover this paint repair process? On the up side no re doing midge protection measures.

 

[SusiBus]

Phoned again today, it seems they are re fitting my own canvas, do you think VW really have a procedure to cover this paint repair process? On the up side no re doing midge protection measures.

Roof repair procedure


When the original repair procedure was set up to be done by the original five selected repair shops, they was supplied with all the necessary parts, I believe this was down to every single washer so is that a complete new roof, including including “NEW BELLOWS” This is in fact what happened to SusiBusT5, which was one of the first ones to be repaired. I inquired why it was necessary to change the bellows and was told that because it was a very difficult job to remove the bellows without damaging them, and it has been decided to supply a complete kit for every vehicle to avoid hold ups.


Whether in the subsequent years the procedure has been modified to save money I don't know.


What I do know is if I had a choice, I try and make sure I had T6 type bellows were fitted, which I think are much superior to the T5 ones. I do believe some people have had these fitted.


I do seem to require recall that in the past someone posted that if only the elevated section of the roof required repair, they would trying to do this without removing it and separating the bellows from the aluminium section. Quite how they would have achieved a satisfactory job without removing the bellows is beyond me!

 

[leightonjthomas]

Roof repair procedure


When the original repair procedure was set up to be done by the original five selected repair shops, they was supplied with all the necessary parts, I believe this was down to every single washer so is that a complete new roof, including including “NEW BELLOWS” This is in fact what happened to SusiBusT5, which was one of the first ones to be repaired. I inquired why it was necessary to change the bellows and was told that because it was a very difficult job to remove the bellows without damaging them, and it has been decided to supply a complete kit for every vehicle to avoid hold ups.


Whether in the subsequent years the procedure has been modified to save money I don't know.


What I do know is if I had a choice, I try and make sure I had T6 type bellows were fitted, which I think are much superior to the T5 ones. I do believe some people have had these fitted.


I do seem to require recall that in the past someone posted that if only the elevated section of the roof required repair, they would trying to do this without removing it and separating the bellows from the aluminium section. Quite how they would have achieved a satisfactory job without removing the bellows is beyond me!

I had the elevating roof of my 2015 T5 repaired in August by Marshalls of Newbury. The bellows were in excellent condition and they said that they would not be changing them. Nevertheless, when I collected it from Breeze seventeen days later, the bellows had been changed for the new T6 type. When I queried it with VWCV they said that the bellows had been damaged during the repair and they had to be replaced under warranty.
More importantly there was still evidence under the seal of bubbling paint. Even worse was the fact that there was also corrosion to the front roof section, a problem that was apparently fixed by VW in 2014, that they had totally missed. It has been booked back in for 13 November. I wonder if it will have the bellows replaced yet again? What a waste of time and money!

 

[sbmcd]

I had the elevating roof of my 2015 T5 repaired in August by Marshalls of Newbury. The bellows were in excellent condition and they said that they would not be changing them. Nevertheless, when I collected it from Breeze seventeen days later, the bellows had been changed for the new T6 type. When I queried it with VWCV they said that the bellows had been damaged during the repair and they had to be replaced under warranty.
More importantly there was still evidence under the seal of bubbling paint. Even worse was the fact that there was also corrosion to the front roof section, a problem that was apparently fixed by VW in 2014, that they had totally missed. It has been booked back in for 13 November. I wonder if it will have the bellows replaced yet again? What a waste of time and money!

What a shambles, gives me no confidence in VW repair at all. It is worrying that you have found corrosion on the front roof section on a 2015 van, ours is 2014 no sign of any issues so far. Can you please post a photo of the front corrosion. If they have not sorted this problem the T6 vans could also be affected.

I will be giving my van a thorough inspection when I get it back, I intend to fit the tape VW now apply after the repair and fill the seal with silicon grease. I really do think if I can avoid the need for a further repair it will be worthwhile.

 

[leightonjthomas]

What a shambles, gives me no confidence in VW repair at all. It is worrying that you have found corrosion on the front roof section on a 2015 van, ours is 2014 no sign of any issues so far. Can you please post a photo of the front corrosion. If they have not sorted this problem the T6 vans could also be affected.

I will be giving my van a thorough inspection when I get it back, I intend to fit the tape VW now apply after the repair and fill the seal with silicon grease. I really do think if I can avoid the need for a further repair it will be worthwhile.

I was amazed, but so were VWCV. They said this was the first reported problem since the “fix”. From my point of view it’s really disappointing because it’s a much more invasive repair than the bubbling under the rubber seal. There is more detail in my posts under T5 Only.
I’ll try to post a picture as soon as it stops raining!

 

[leightonjthomas]

I was amazed, but so were VWCV. They said this was the first reported problem since the “fix”. From my point of view it’s really disappointing because it’s a much more invasive repair than the bubbling under the rubber seal. There is more detail in my posts under T5 Only.
I’ll try to post a picture as soon as it stops raining!

Pictures taken this morning of the front roof panel corrosion on my May 2015 T5. I know that this thread is for T6 only but this may be of interest because the problem clearly was not "fixed" in 2014.

 

[sbmcd]

View attachment 26771 View attachment 26772
Pictures taken this morning of the front roof panel corrosion on my May 2015 T5. I know that this thread is for T6 only but this may be of interest because the problem clearly was not "fixed" in 2014.

Thanks for the photo, worrying indeed.

 

[Mark Wade]

Just bought a new Cali, born in July '17, so hoping that VW have solved the issue prior to mine being built but I won't be holding my breath. Mine will sit used for periods so have bought a cover for it but I guess moisture between the roof panels of differing metals will still be present thus still having the potential for galvanic corrosion so intend on inspecting regularly. Talking to someone at work this problem has been solved in the manufacture of Yacht masts by using a silicon based material I believe between the metals but I am no expert and I would have thought that the great minds at VW will have investigated all options???

 

[stephen watson]

Apologies if this is already somewhere in this 39 page thread, but does anyone know if VW is giving T6 owners the additional 3 years roof paintwork/corrosion guarantee (ie up to 6 years in total), which was obtained by T5 owners? If so is there an official letter , similar to the letter for T5s from VW?

There's time yet, but it is something we T6 owners will need to be considering in the next year or so. This post has been prompted by WelshGas's report that he had his roof examined at 3 years and there was no corrosion whatsoever and he will next have it inspected just before the 6 years is up. If corrosion is discovered then and you get a repair at 6 years this seems to be quite a good way of managing the problem to me. (I decided when I got my van to follow WG's example and only take the seal off just before the 3 years are up).

 

[jts46]

@stephen watson
I may be wrong but i don't think you get the extra 3 years

 

[GrannyJen]

I do believe it is only 3 years on the T6 as VW think/thought they had cured the problem.

 

[Digger]

The issue, if it occurred, would be dealt with in accordance with the precedent i.e. VW would accept the additional years warranty or face ridicule in the courts. That is the information I was given.