Extending roof sagging on one side

[Mike Frost]

Hello one and all.
We're down in Andalucia, and woke up yesterday to a bad dip on the roofline on the driver's side; quite noticeable. We dealt with it by partially lowering and then fully extending the bellows again before lowering and closing the roof. Moved sites yesterday, and have woken up to a dip on the driver's side again.

My guess is that the hydraulic piston/cylinder has started to weep hydraulic fluid past the piston seal, but I can't think what I could do here and now to remedy especially if it gets worse !

Has anyone had to deal with this issue ?

 

[Jason wallace]

It's a dealer fix to remedy.

But when it happened to us (passenger side) whilst camping we didn't want to risk squished kids so we used umbrella with lots of tea towels as padding and using it to support the roof over night.

I also used the same to support the roof when lowering it via the emergency roof close process as it allows the roof to lover evenly, i would then do a small roof raise and lower to activate the lock so we didn't need to use tie down straps.

 

[Mike Frost]

Thanks Jason, I suspected such was the case.
It happened to us after a thick fog, so wondered whether damp had penetrated where it shouldn't Have read up the manual, so prepared for the worst! It's only incremental today, so were going to do a lower and raise prior to bed time...
The 10 hour tightening hasn't worked since then either, so it could be gremlin related. Shall carry on as we are and hope that further deterioration doesn't happen, but prepared to kip downstairs if it comes to it!!

We were intending to be away for a couple of weeks yet, so shall have to see how we go!

Cheers

Mike

 

[BillyCasper]

Far too many reports on the forum of this happening. Twice for me, hydraulic valve, then hydraulic pump

Shoddy design and manufacturing from VW.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[YvesGr]

Same problem here. Cali Ocean is 2 months old, and yesterday the roof came down by itself slowly and uneven.

Opened the roof again completely and trying to close it, but then it came down very uneven. Didn't take the risk to close it this way, so I opened it again and let it come down by itself. At least this was less uneven.
After 1 hour it was more or less completely down and I could close it.

Will go to dealer tomorrow.

Any clue what could be the reason? I did go to a carwash last week, but that should not cause these issues, right?

 

[Louis II]

Also have a problem with mine although not as serious... Yet!
Inoticed it creaking on the way back home this weekend. No obvious problems when the roof is up or when lowering but the front drivers side does not seem to come down as tight as the passenger side.
Hand pressure moves it down a further 10mm ish.

Anyone know if any DIY adjustment is possible?
Or is this normal & the creaking just a coincidence?

 

[Ting Tong]

Ours is 6 months old and the roof sagged on the left side In Hannover the night before the factory visit. I was worried because we were heading into Eastern Europe after.

I raised it as recommended but it had sagged again in an hour and so I raised and lowered it about 4 times and the problem never reoccurred. I can only assume it was a badly seated hydraulic valve.

 

[jts46]

The 10 hour tightening hasn't worked since then either, so it could be gremlin related. Shall carry on as we are and hope that further deterioration doesn't happen, but prepared to kip downstairs if it comes to it!!

We were intending to be away for a couple of weeks yet, so shall have to see how we go!

I don't think the 2009 Cali has this feature.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Also have a problem with mine although not as serious... Yet!
Inoticed it creaking on the way back home this weekend. No obvious problems when the roof is up or when lowering but the front drivers side does not seem to come down as tight as the passenger side.
Hand pressure moves it down a further 10mm ish.

Anyone know if any DIY adjustment is possible?
Or is this normal & the creaking just a coincidence?

Creaking suggests a tight joint, bearing, seal. Has the roof ever been lowered with something left on the bed? Might have caused some slight distortion in the roof panel.

 

[Louis II]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not aware of the roof being closed with anything on it but it's possible.
I have managed to get the roof to shut more tightly by adjusting the hook/catch on the rail on the underside of the roof forwards a few mm at a time and about 10mm in total.
I then used silicone spray on all the moving parts in the roof mechanism but won't know if the creak is gone until tomorrow when I drive to work. Thanks again.

 

[TripleBee]

I have the same problem, also on the left side (driver's side for LHD). I found no oil leaking on the left, only a yellowish crystalled hydraulic piston on the right side.
I already changed the left piston, without solution.
I am suspecting the hydraulic pump to leak internally, causing the roof to lower gently when there are higher temperatures.

Anyone who has experience with
https://roofmotors.co.uk/vw-t5-cali...13?manufacturer_id=14&sort=pd.name&order=DESC ?

I am thinking of buying a second hand pump, sending my own pump to roofmotors to get it repaired and then see what happens.

A new pump cost about €3000 in 2017, € 1500 now, so it might be worth the try. Or not?

 

[NOD]

We had a similar problem at the weekend.

Raised the roof on saturday after noon, when we returned in the evening the driver side had sagged. Started the engine and raised the roof up until tight again.

It then sagged overnight and i took a video of the mechanism on both sided for later.

Funny thing is that when u returned about an hour later it was fully up again.

the van is less than 12 months old.

 

[TripleBee]

When the oil heats up, the tent rises (when it is up, the oil gets higher pressure and leaks internally in the pump, making it the roof to sag). When the oil cools down, the pressure drops, and the roof sags. On colder days, the roof stays good for 2 or 3 days. Then sags mostly left side first.

 

[westfalia]

When the oil heats up, the tent rises (when it is up, the oil gets higher pressure and leaks internally in the pump, making it the roof to sag)

If the oil is leaking internally then that would be the seals inside of the rams not the pump
wouldn't it ?
I have replaced both rams and still it drops down on the drivers side.

 

[TripleBee]

The pump has a reservoir, a valve block and and electric motor. I have also already replaced 1 ram (piston) on the left side, but it didn't work out. So my guess is that the valve block leaks internally from the high pressure tube into the oil reservoir, hence no leaking visible outside.

 

[westfalia]

But once the roof is up, the piston is then full of oil and the pressure is held
in the piston. I take it that the hydraulic pipes are also under pressure at the
same time. If it does lead back to the pump then would it need a complete pump
or just some kind of return valve/seal. ??

 

[TripleBee]

Look at my post above. I found a company in the UK that revises hydraulic pumps (convertibles and also California's because the system is the same). I would let them do it, but then I am unable to drive with my only car because the roof won't be held down because of no pressure in the tubes, causing the roof to open while driving.
I am going to buy a second hand (I have my resources), send mine for revising and see what happens next.
I will let you all know, but it won't be for the next 2 weeks.

 

[TripleBee]

But once the roof is up, the piston is then full of oil and the pressure is held
in the piston. I take it that the hydraulic pipes are also under pressure at the
same time. If it does lead back to the pump then would it need a complete pump
or just some kind of return valve/seal. ??

At VW they don't repair those pumps. And you can buy the reservoir and electric motor separately, but not the valve block. The valve block includes the reservoir and electric motor and costs € 1500 here in Belgium.

 

[westfalia]

I've got a piece of wood that props it at the moment, i might put some
vw stickers and a part number on it or even a strip of led´s
then its dual function.

 

[TripleBee]

Good idea.
Sell it here in the shop. You can make some money out of it!

 

[westfalia]

My roof has been up for 4 days with a piece of wood propping the drivers
side ( LHD )
This morning i noticed that the other side has dropped a little, roof down and raised
again and its right up, nice and tight.
This does lead me to thinking that it is something to do with the pump area and not the rams.
Like you said @TripleBee

 

[Hotel California]

It has to do with pressure loss in the system , influenced by the themparature of the oil
Every Cali someday at some point suffers this , thats why VW builld in the automatic re-pressureing after 10 h (don't know ....could be 12h ) when the contact has not been turned on .
However most use theire radio , open windows ,....and probally never have the contact off longer then that periode while roofs up , so the auto-pressure hardly accures.
I had it once in the middle of the night ....

 

[TripleBee]

It has to do with pressure loss in the system , influenced by the themparature of the oil
Every Cali someday at some point suffers this , thats why VW builld in the automatic re-pressureing after 10 h (don't know ....could be 12h ) when the contact has not been turned on .
However most use theire radio , open windows ,....and probally never have the contact off longer then that periode while roofs up , so the auto-pressure hardly accures.
I had it once in the middle of the night ....

I have had more than once contact off for over 10 hours, but never experienced the auto levelling.

 

[Bert1969]

I have also the same problem with my roof pump on the passengers side,, not staying up - My T6 Ocean is 3 years old, I was surprised by the cost of these pumps, my dealer Van Hoe in Belgium sent me a quote if replacement would be needed - 1580 EUR ex TVA - placement included. The van is in the garage where the first will try to get the air out and see if the pump needs to be replaced or not. The warranty is over, not so happy with the cost of this pump. Any tips or suggestions? Cheers, Bert
Oh,this summer i had a VW rack and rootfupbox for the first time on my roof, I did not exceed the max weight of 50 kg for the whole config. and luggage in side.

 

[WelshGas]

I have had more than once contact off for over 10 hours, but never experienced the auto levelling.

I’ve had it happen once in Italy with temperatures of 30+ by day. Happened at night as things cooled down.