HELP roof not going up fully

[mattpartridge]

Had some problems with our 2014 Cali SE not raising fully when away in Spain last week. Thought it was due to the heatwave, but just tried again at home today and still won’t go up fully. Have lubricated all the hinges, and checked the control unit which shows no errors. See photo below, the stays don’t appear to be moving to the end of the guide track. Any ideas?

 

[vbk1975]

Had some problems with our 2014 Cali SE not raising fully when away in Spain last week. Thought it was due to the heatwave, but just tried again at home today and still won’t go up fully. Have lubricated all the hinges, and checked the control unit which shows no errors. See photo below, the stays don’t appear to be moving to the end of the guide track. Any ideas?

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It would be worth checking the roof pump hydraulic oil level.

See, not the same problem, but shows how to check oil.

Elevating Roof Issue - oil low

Hi I have an issue with my roof in that when I raise it the driver side is much slower and the roof twists as It lifts. Once the passenger side is fully up then it continues and raises the drivers side fully. Roof appears to stay up and lowers correctly. Got access to the pump and the pump oil...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[andyinluton]

That does look suspiciously like leaking oil in the second 2 photos.

 

[WelshGas]

Had some problems with our 2014 Cali SE not raising fully when away in Spain last week. Thought it was due to the heatwave, but just tried again at home today and still won’t go up fully. Have lubricated all the hinges, and checked the control unit which shows no errors. See photo below, the stays don’t appear to be moving to the end of the guide track. Any ideas?

View attachment 96522View attachment 96526

View attachment 96524

As above. Only 2 reasons why the hydraulic rams cannot fully extend.
Failed pump, but I would expect some funny, unusual noises and error codes on the Control Panel and possible asymmetric movement
Low Hydraulic fluid level and failure to meet required pressure and should be symmetric.
Check for any leaks around both rams, remove plastic covers, then check fluid level in reservoir, as detailed above.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Not sure about the roof issue as ours is manual, but your roof bungee looks very tight (unless its just the camera angle).

 

[mattpartridge]

As above. Only 2 reasons why the hydraulic rams cannot fully extend.
Failed pump, but I would expect some funny, unusual noises and error codes on the Control Panel and possible asymmetric movement
Low Hydraulic fluid level and failure to meet required pressure and should be symmetric.
Check for any leaks around both rams, remove plastic covers, then check fluid level in reservoir, as detailed above.

Have rung four VW van centres to get a quote for topping up the roof hydraulic fluid. One said they couldn’t do that, and the other three weren’t interested and wouldn’t even give me a ballpark figure. Consequently, I have ordered a litre of the oil and will have a go myself. I mean, how hard can it be! Will be using the instructions given above, will let you know how I get on.

 

[mattpartridge]

Not sure about the roof issue as ours is manual, but your roof bungee looks very tight (unless its just the camera angle).

The roof bungee is actually quite loose, just the roof currently only goes up about 75% of the way.

 

[ArunAlec]

Have rung four VW van centres to get a quote for topping up the roof hydraulic fluid. One said they couldn’t do that, and the other three weren’t interested and wouldn’t even give me a ballpark figure. Consequently, I have ordered a litre of the oil and will have a go myself. I mean, how hard can it be! Will be using the instructions given above, will let you know how I get on.

VW dealers really take the biscuit!!

 

[WelshGas]

Have rung four VW van centres to get a quote for topping up the roof hydraulic fluid. One said they couldn’t do that, and the other three weren’t interested and wouldn’t even give me a ballpark figure. Consequently, I have ordered a litre of the oil and will have a go myself. I mean, how hard can it be! Will be using the instructions given above, will let you know how I get on.

Would be interesting to phone VW U.K. Customer Services and ask them for a Local Dealership who can do this. After all they sell the vehicle.

 

[ArunAlec]

Would be interesting to phone VW U.K. Customer Services and ask them for a Local Dealership who can do this. After all they sell the vehicle.

Worth doing for entertainment value!

 

[Abracadabra]

Just had my roof motor rebuilt to solve one side 'dipping' a little when roof raised.


I found an engineer in Bradford (not too far from me) who specialises in elevating soft top hoods for convertibles. He had previous experience of Cali's which inspired confidence. He also replaced a crushed feed pipe; possibly the cause of extra pressure resulting in seal failure. Hence one side dipping after an hour or so. The bill was £1,100. Actually a reasonable result as the VW motor allegedly comes in at £1,350 before fitting. I would have no confidence in our local VW dealership tackling this.

Have been using the roof daily for past 9 nights without issue.....yet!
My suggestion is that you find an engineer who has experience of hydraulic roof/hood systems, preferably with California experience.

Good luck in finding a solution.

 

[mattpartridge]

That does look suspiciously like leaking oil in the second 2 photos.

Hi,
Have spent a couple of hours today dismantling the roof trim and pulling out the roof pump. My 2014 T5 has a huge plastic bracket holding the pump which required the roof lining to be dropped to remove-I will post a step by step guide later. Hydraulic reservoir was virtually empty, refilled and put the roof up and down a few times to clear the air.
Really pleased with myself as the roof went fully up, until I stepped outside, see photos below:
It appears that I have a leak from the driver’s side ram. Presumably the seal has gone, guess I have to replace the whole ram. Can I replace just the ram without sensors, and any ideas of sources other than VW? Do you think Kernow may have an odd ram?

 

[WelshGas]

Hi,
Have spent a couple of hours today dismantling the roof trim and pulling out the roof pump. My 2014 T5 has a huge plastic bracket holding the pump which required the roof lining to be dropped to remove-I will post a step by step guide later. Hydraulic reservoir was virtually empty, refilled and put the roof up and down a few times to clear the air.
Really pleased with myself as the roof went fully up, until I stepped outside, see photos below:
It appears that I have a leak from the driver’s side ram. Presumably the seal has gone, guess I have to replace the whole ram. Can I replace just the ram without sensors, and any ideas of sources other than VW? Do you think Kernow may have an odd ram?

View attachment 96965View attachment 96964

I would have thought whether you got a 2nd hand ram from Kernow, or new from VW you’ll have to swap the sensors over and may damage them in the process.
The alternative would be to replace with new sensors, as described here by @Lambeth Cali

How to Replace Roof Sensors

My roof has over the years occasionally said it was up when it was down. I‘ve owned it from 2009 and know the sound it makes when closing so have ignored this. I think last summer this finally became worse. Coincidentally after last summer I decided I wanted to replace the control unit as the...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[mattpartridge]

Just had my roof motor rebuilt to solve one side 'dipping' a little when roof raised.


I found an engineer in Bradford (not too far from me) who specialises in elevating soft top hoods for convertibles. He had previous experience of Cali's which inspired confidence. He also replaced a crushed feed pipe; possibly the cause of extra pressure resulting in seal failure. Hence one side dipping after an hour or so. The bill was £1,100. Actually a reasonable result as the VW motor allegedly comes in at £1,350 before fitting. I would have no confidence in our local VW dealership tackling this.

Have been using the roof daily for past 9 nights without issue.....yet!
My suggestion is that you find an engineer who has experience of hydraulic roof/hood systems, preferably with California experience.

Good luck in finding a solution.

Hi, What’s the name of the person you used in Bradford?

 

[Abracadabra]

Hi, What’s the name of the person you used in Bradford?

Darren at M & G motors. Expand article above to reveal narrative and telephone number.

 

[Abracadabra]

Darren at M & G motors. Expand article above to reveal narrative and telephone number.

Sorry - have only just picked up this thread and the above note does not expand to fully explain.

Please refer to Glenn Blundell's 'Pop Top Roof Issue' thread on July 5th 2022.

On page two of the thread I replied on July 13th with the full narrative and contact details.

I hope that you have solved or can solve the issue. It seems that a certain class of T5 pop tops are just coming up for problems. One piece of advice seemed simple to follow; open up the pop top regularly.

 

[mattpartridge]

Darren at M & G motors. Expand article above to reveal narrative and telephone number.

Thanks