Fridge stopped working while on holiday

[zoki]

We are three days into our tour of France and Spain and the fridge has stopped working in 36 degrees heat! The fridge symbol on the control panel is flashing and the fridge is now hot with all our food spoiled. We have called VW assist but it is not something they can come out to fix. Our Cali is only three months old

 

[GrannyJen]

Check your battery levels ...?

 

[zoki]

Thanks grannyjen but we are on hook up and batteries are 100%, all the fuses are OK, possibly these fridges don't like this sort of heat. Looks like our only option is to go and buy a cool box and sort this out when back in UK as the nearest VW dealer is in Montpellier which is 120kms away

 

[GrannyJen]

My fridge was in the Montpelier region three weeks ago, it struggled in the heat, but still managed to keep the contents respectably cool. How disappointing for you. The fridge is one of the most important components for summer camping, My two weeks would have been spoilt without one.

 

[Ajspicer]

It could be a failed/ing controller. If you switch the fridge on at the control panel do you hear the sound of the fridge starting then a second or two later stopping? (You may need to get someone to put their head in the adjacent under hob cupboard to listen).

We had the same problem when away and used a powered cool box. Easy for me to say, but don't let it ruin your holiday, if it is within warranty it will all be sorted at home.

Andrew.

 

[Hotel California]

To hot.... !
Overheating can cause the fridge turning off.
There are treads on here on how to keep your fridgemotor cooler....searchfunction does help.
Try resetting the control panel afther some cool down , switch the fridge off and start up afther reset
Check fuses and inverter first offcorse!

 

[zoki]

We will resolve this when back in UK, we have now purchased a cool box for the rest of our holiday.

We are very dissapointed in the vehicle and VW now, especially seeing as we were promised a phone call back several times yesterday and we have not even received a courtesy call.

I just hope this is not the start of more and more problems

 

[snowy55]

Please let us know what the outcome is of this problem.

 

[rippers]

The fridge thing does concern me as I'm off on road trip down to Almeria on wednesday and its seriously hot there at the moment. Obviously I'm going to make sure the van is well vented and the fridge side of the van is shaded, tempted to leave the cover off where the inverter is. I'm tempted to make a small awning for the opposite side to shade the fridge side.
The heat issue is want of the main reasons I wanted a white Cali.

 

[blakeley]

We were in the South of France last month and the temp was 38 degree's plus, during the day the fridge did really struggle to keep things cool, even on max.

I hate warm beer !

 

[snowy55]

As well as the inverter cover take out the big round grey plastic cover in the bottom of the cupboard underneath the hob, this may help create a bit of air circulation.

 

[snowy55]

I've made this to help with hot climates http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cooling-fan-for-the-fridge.10636/

 

[Hotel California]

We will resolve this when back in UK, we have now purchased a cool box for the rest of our holiday.

We are very dissapointed in the vehicle and VW now, especially seeing as we were promised a phone call back several times yesterday and we have not even received a courtesy call.

I just hope this is not the start of more and more problems

Did non of the tips we gave had any result.....?