Fridge mechanism failure.

[CampervansScotland]

Hi, just wanted to give everyone a heads up on a fridge issue which has caused us a complete nightmare

fridge mechanism failed on closing the fridge. This is a design fault as the mechanism relies on a lever pushing down on a bolt (threaded) the obvious failure is the more this works on the bolt the more the bolt loosens. Sounds minor right? Wrong!

if this happens on closing the fridge will be locked with absolutely no way of opening other than smashing off the front panel. After a series of mechanics and technical experts from VW looked at this they resorted to smashing the door into pieces as the only option. There is genuinely no other way to open. It is worth regularly taking the front panel off and checking the bolt security in the open position to avoid a complete nightmare.

I’ll post some pictures shortly

 

[AlisonF]

Sounds a nightmare. Thanks for posting and please post more details for others to try and avoid this happening.

 

[mpill990]

Can you give us a quick summary on how to take the cover off please and I'll check mine.
I dread to think what would happen if my wife's tonic water was imprisoned in there - I think me and the dog would just start hitchhiking home immediately

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[Sven Ole]

Kan du gi oss en rask oppsummering om hvordan du tar av omslaget, så sjekker jeg min.
Jeg gruer meg til å tenke på hva som ville skje hvis min kones tonic vann ble fengslet der inne - jeg tror jeg og hunden bare ville begynne å haike hjem umiddelbart

Sendt fra min SM-G986B ved hjelp av Tapatalk

Denne døren kan åpnes med en sprekk i sprekken under dørbladet.

 

[Bart7974]

Can you give us a quick summary on how to take the cover off please and I'll check mine.
I dread to think what would happen if my wife's tonic water was imprisoned in there - I think me and the dog would just start hitchhiking home immediately

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Hi ,
I am still waiting for our GC600 and try to read and understand everything about possible problems

This is what I found in the German forum : "gently lever out the two white covers with a screwdriver and then loosen the two outer screws (4 in total) on each side. "


Bart

 

[Bart7974]

one member wrote about a solution about the closed fridge door and an improvement.
Here a translation of his words. Because I don't have a GC on the moment I could not verify this and don't understand it either . Maybe it is helpful .


Today I also lent a hand and secured the grub screw with threadlocker.
At the same time, I optimised the shape of the upper locking wedge.
Originally it was wedge-shaped (you can see it very well in mensika's picture) and when closing it, the upper locking plate does not hit the slope of the wedge but the vertical surface. Thus the whole thing hooks a little.
The reason for this is that when closing, the drawer first hits the lower locking plate, which lifts the drawer slightly. This is exactly when the upper locking wedge hits the upper locking plate... but due to the slight lifting of the drawer, unfortunately not on the slope but on the vertical surface of the locking wedge.
This varies depending on how the drawer is loaded.
Now I'm not surprised that some people have experienced false closures of the refrigerator drawer, because without applying pressure to the top latch, it sometimes doesn't latch properly.
I made a slightly rounded surface out of the slope and now the fridge closes properly and smoothly.

 

[Bobcat01]

Thanks a lot for the info and photos.
I noticed the same on another forum and they drilled a hole on the front cover to get at it. Same recommendation as yourself and loctite. That’s tomorrows job sorted. Many thnx.

 

[Bobcat01]

Hi Campervans Scotland,
Thanks for the tip here’s a close up of the top mechanism with the Allen headed black grubscrew with the spring below it that sits below the lever.. It’s takes 5 mins to check.
ps it’s not the one on the cable.
Measurements in case anyone needs to drill the front cover in the future.

 

[mpill990]

Hi Campervans Scotland,
Thanks for the tip here’s a close up of the top mechanism with the Allen headed black grubscrew with the spring below it that sits below the lever.. It’s takes 5 mins to check.
ps it’s not the one on the cable.
Measurements in case anyone needs to drill the front cover in the future.

View attachment 83352

Great thanks for the photo I'll check ours tomorrow when we pack for our trip to sunny Wales.
I think I'll use some red locktite on it

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[CampervansScotland]

Hi ,
I am still waiting for our GC600 and try to read and understand everything about possible problems

This is what I found in the German forum : "gently lever out the two white covers with a screwdriver and then loosen the two outer screws (4 in total) on each side. "


Bart

Hi, yes it’s easy to do this! Except if it breaks in the closed position as mine did it is physically impossible to open, you won’t be able to access these covers or any of the mechanism. Only way is to snap off the front. This is what VW techs done

 

[CampervansScotland]

Great thanks for the photo I'll check ours tomorrow when we pack for our trip to sunny Wales.
I think I'll use some red locktite on it

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Good call!

 

[Bjornsamuelsson]

Å

Hi, just wanted to give everyone a heads up on a fridge issue which has caused us a complete nightmare

fridge mechanism failed on closing the fridge. This is a design fault as the mechanism relies on a lever pushing down on a bolt (threaded) the obvious failure is the more this works on the bolt the more the bolt loosens. Sounds minor right? Wrong!

if this happens on closing the fridge will be locked with absolutely no way of opening other than smashing off the front panel. After a series of mechanics and technical experts from VW looked at this they resorted to smashing the door into pieces as the only option. There is genuinely no other way to open. It is worth regularly taking the front panel off and checking the bolt security in the open position to avoid a complete nightmare.

I’ll post some pictures shortly View attachment 83300

Hi, we are in Lofoten in norway now 2000km from home and our refrigator got locked. We found a small screw on the floor and it came from the refrigiator. To open it we had to drill some holes in the front just above the handlegrip! And put the screw back!Se the photo

 

[MoulinexCHZijie]

I just had the same problem during my trip to Portugal. Fridge door stuck in closed position. Well I was lucky enough to find a VW car dealer near Lisbon airport that managed to fix it and remove the plastic lid without breaking it ! The whole thing took them 2 hours. And yes it's a damn screw that went off.

 

[Corradobrit]

Looks like they use zero threadloc on that critical component.

 

[reimajarvinen]

Problem zone refrigerator

The topic is delicate, we should form a circle of chairs. That’s about how the refrigerator in the Grand California can be described. Besides a...

www.grandcali.com

 

[jimh3063]

I just had the same problem during my trip to Portugal. Fridge door stuck in closed position. Well I was lucky enough to find a VW car dealer near Lisbon airport that managed to fix it and remove the plastic lid without breaking it ! The whole thing took them 2 hours. And yes it's a damn screw that went off.

I'm having the same problem in Portugal. Can you please tell me the name and number of the dealer you used to fix the door.

Thanks,
Jimmy

 

[GordonH]

This is a known issue with earlier vehicles and can be fixed with some simple tools https://www.grandcali.com/en/problem-zone-refrigerator/

 

[MoulinexCHZijie]

I'm having the same problem in Portugal. Can you please tell me the name and number of the dealer you used to fix the door.

Thanks,
Jimmy

Hi Jimmy,

As Gordon pointed there is a solution by removing the drawer behind the fridge and unscrewing the four screws tightening the upper section just above the fridge. Then you can access the top section of the fridge door and remove the two plastic rectangle lids that hold the plastic door.

It's just a stupid little screw that causes the problem.

Anyhow the car dealer is the one close to Lisbon Airport and the aquarium in the northern part of the city.

 

[jimh3063]

Do this before you drill or break anything. I had the issue and this fix worked with no issues or damage. Use a mag screwdriver for door screws.

Problem zone refrigerator

The topic is delicate, we should form a circle of chairs. That’s about how the refrigerator in the Grand California can be described. Besides a...

www.grandcali.com