Help! Wonky roof when lowering

[CaliBear]

Hi all, would be grateful for some advice.
We have a 2019 Ocean which has started to have a problem with the roof dropping on the drivers side alot quicker than the passenger side when lowering and raising.
The roof had also dropped down on the drivers side when the pop topped been up for a few hours. Is this normal or a possible fault?

I will add some pictures of the difference in height below.

Thanks in advance

 

[Loz]

Lubricate the guides/sliders at the top front on each side.

 

[CaliBear]

Thanks for the speedy reply Loz, much appreciated! Will give this a try. Any particular lubricant or will GT85 be ok?

 

[TripleBee]

I have the same problem, but on the passenger side (for UK drivers, for me it's the drivers side).
That is why I am going to change my pump, as changing the left ram didn't fix it, and there is no external hydraulic leak.
My van is 10 years old now, still not acceptable, but more acceptable than a brand new one, like yours.

If your roof lowers by itself, lubricating the sliders isn't going to help. Then you'd better take it back to where you bought it, because if it's the pump, you are looking at a cost of over € 1400 without work. And yours should still be under warranty.

 

[CaliBear]

I have the same problem, but on the passenger side (for UK drivers, for me it's the drivers side).
That is why I am going to change my pump, as changing the left ram didn't fix it, and there is no external hydraulic leak.
My van is 10 years old now, still not acceptable, but more acceptable than a brand new one, like yours.

If your roof lowers by itself, lubricating the sliders isn't going to help. Then you'd better take it back to where you bought it, because if it's the pump, you are looking at a cost of over € 1400 without work. And yours should still be under warranty.

Thanks TripleBee!
That's my worry with it being something to do with the hydraulics, especially as the roof has started to drop on the same drivers side when the pop top is up for a few hours.
To be honest not had a good start in the less than 3 months we have had it, with issues with the van and dealers but hopefully can get all resolved under warranty.

Still love the time we spend in it and looking forward to more adventures!

 

[Jason wallace]

Have you read up on the emergency procedure to drop the roof?

When ours went whilst away in the Lakes it was a bit daunting but in practice, it's fairly straight forward. I was able to drop the roof whilst supporting the drooping side to keep it fairly level. Once down I did a quick up and down on the electric to allow the rook to lock in place.

Which dealer are you heading to? Northampton made a hash of mine and I ended up having to have a whole new roof lining. If you are the right side of the county Coventry may be the best option.

 

[CaliBear]

Hi Jason, thanks for the reply.
Luckily the roof still lowers and locks in place using the hydraulics. Raises and lowers like this all the time but never did it when we first picked it up about 3 months ago.
Am I correct in thinking this is not normal operation?
Have read some bad reviews of Vindis, so want to take it somewhere it will get sorted and not end up with more issues than it started with.
Have you used Coventry VW much? Are they good for warranty work and servicing?

 

[Jason wallace]

Hi Jason, thanks for the reply.
Luckily the roof still lowers and locks in place using the hydraulics. Raises and lowers like this all the time but never did it when we first picked it up about 3 months ago.
Am I correct in thinking this is not Normal operation?
Have read some bad reviews of Vindis, so want to take it somewhere it will get sorted and not end up with more issues than it started with.
Have you used Coventry VW much? Are they good for warranty work and servicing?

If its down now then that's good, I'd leave it down until it goes to the garage. Having read horror stories I was too worried about twisting the roof to allow mine to go all the way.
Its definitely not normal, in my case a seal had gone in one of the hydraulic arms.....Vindis did the change, unfortunately overnight they then had a hydraulic fluid leak which stained the headliner. Once I picked up (Had some grubby marks also) and drove around for a few days I wondered why I was having issues with my calls and realised they had not re-fitted the Bluetooth mic in the headliner. They were adamant it didn't have one but I luckily had photos from inside the van so could prove it.

I've not used Coventry but they do get good reports......oh and don't even think of trying Parkway Kettering. They happily took my van in for the above works and a few minor niggles and only told me they did not actually have a Cali specialist when I picked it up.

 

[Hotel California]

You always need to be aware if not the roof is uneven/lowerd a bit on one side or both sides before taking it down fully.
This is a very common issue with all Cali's , happens if parked up longtime with the roof up , if the pressure in the circiut has a small leak , oil going back to the reservoir..
Hot tempurature has influence to this also.
Also the Cali needs to be standing on a flat ground when lowering the roof , the chassis does bent when parked up on uneven ground .
There have been reports on faulty oilpumps , leakage,....

Before lowering a wonky roof you must open the roof fully until the signal sounds , then close the roof . Mostly it then close propperly.
If it happens a lot you need to have it checked/repaired.

Normally if it lowers a fair bit the hydrolic system re-pressures after about 10-12h after the egnitioncontact has been put off.
This means that when you park up , open roof , keys out the contact and don't put egnition on (playing radio) for 10-12h . Each time you turn on the engition it resets the timer.

So lowering the roof needs to be done with some awarenes , you can easy see if the roof has come down looking at the tention of the canvas.

 

[BillyCasper]

Seems to be a too common problem. It’s happened twice to me, both times out of the country. On one occasion a valve needed replacing, the second a pump. If the opportunity arises in the future, I’ll take a manual roof over an electro-hydraulic.


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[Hotel California]

If i would be buying this day , i'd go for the Coast just to get rid of the automatic roof . The simple manual roof would be far more better imo.

 

[CaliBear]

If its down now then that's good, I'd leave it down until it goes to the garage. Having read horror stories I was too worried about twisting the roof to allow mine to go all the way.
Its definitely not normal, in my case a seal had gone in one of the hydraulic arms.....Vindis did the change, unfortunately overnight they then had a hydraulic fluid leak which stained the headliner. Once I picked up (Had some grubby marks also) and drove around for a few days I wondered why I was having issues with my calls and realised they had not re-fitted the Bluetooth mic in the headliner. They were adamant it didn't have one but I luckily had photos from inside the van so could prove it.

I've not used Coventry but they do get good reports......oh and don't even think of trying Parkway Kettering. They happily took my van in for the above works and a few minor niggles and only told me they did not actually have a Cali specialist when I picked it up.

Sorry to hear you had a bad time with Vindis, hope all was sorted ok in the end. I will have a look at the dealer reviews as something like what happened to you would be just my luck.

 

[CaliBear]

You always need to be aware if not the roof is uneven/lowerd a bit on one side or both sides before taking it down fully.
This is a very common issue with all Cali's , happens if parked up longtime with the roof up , if the pressure in the circiut has a small leak , oil going back to the reservoir..
Hot tempurature has influence to this also.
Also the Cali needs to be standing on a flat ground when lowering the roof , the chassis does bent when parked up on uneven ground .
There have been reports on faulty oilpumps , leakage,....

Before lowering a wonky roof you must open the roof fully until the signal sounds , then close the roof . Mostly it then close propperly.
If it happens a lot you need to have it checked/repaired.

Normally if it lowers a fair bit the hydrolic system re-pressures after about 10-12h after the egnitioncontact has been put off.
This means that when you park up , open roof , keys out the contact and don't put egnition on (playing radio) for 10-12h . Each time you turn on the engition it resets the timer.

So lowering the roof needs to be done with some awarenes , you can easy see if the roof has come down looking at the tention of the canvas.

Thanks for the info H C! The roof has being doing this since our first trip (Three long weekend trips away plus numerous days out). The ground was either hard standing pitch or tarmac so pretty level as you could get I suppose.
Tried raising and lowering but still does it so trip to dealers I think.

 

[CaliBear]

Seems to be a too common problem. It’s happened twice to me, both times out of the country. On one occasion a valve needed replacing, the second a pump. If the opportunity arises in the future, I’ll take a manual roof over an electro-hydraulic.


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That's not good! Did you manage to get it sorted while under warranty? Not having a great start to our new van, but will see what happens with the warranty.

 

[CaliBear]

If i would be buying this day , i'd go for the Coast just to get rid of the automatic roof . The simple manual roof would be far more better imo.

Yes I think it sounds like a good option if you want a van without the in some ways unnecessary extras and possibly less to go wrong! At least we can now get it in the UK.

 

[Sheffield10]

We had the same problem with our 2017 Ocean, to the point where the uneven lowering managed to pull the roof out of alignment so that it wouldn't fully close on one side. VW ended up having it for 6 weeks in several attempts to fix the problem. Rams, pump, valves were replaced, the pump 3 times! Its been fine for the last 18 months. Definitely one to get properly fixed before the warranty expires.

Good luck with it!

 

[CaliBear]

We had the same problem with our 2017 Ocean, to the point where the uneven lowering managed to pull the roof out of alignment so that it wouldn't fully close on one side. VW ended up having it for 6 weeks in several attempts to fix the problem. Rams, pump, valves were replaced, the pump 3 times! Its been fine for the last 18 months. Definitely one to get properly fixed before the warranty expires.

Good luck with it!

That's not great! Did your dealer agree to undertake this under the warranty straight away or did you get any excuses? Glad to hear that it's been ok since the repair. From other posts this can be very expensive once outside of warranty.

 

[calimera]

We sent a video of our 2016 wonky closing roof to the dealer.
Fixed straight away under warranty. No problem since.

 

[CaliBear]

We sent a video of our 2016 wonky closing roof to the dealer.
Fixed straight away under warranty. No problem since.

That's good to know! Will take some videos of the roof ready to show them. Glad you got yours sorted ok!

 

[KGCali]

Take a video inside and outside of the van so you can prove the condition prior to the warranty fix just in case there are any issues

 

[BillyCasper]

That's not good! Did you manage to get it sorted while under warranty? Not having a great start to our new van, but will see what happens with the warranty.

The first instance, it was dealt with under the manufacturer’s warranty. The second instance, the manufacturer’s warranty had expired so the repair was covered by an aftermarket warranty. The vehicle is just about 5 years old and I think the next aftermarket will be limited because of the vehicle’s age.


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[CaliBear]

Take a video inside and outside of the van so you can prove the condition prior to the warranty fix just in case there are any issues

Top tip! Totally with you on that one! I know mistakes/accidents can happen but being left with damage that's been caused by a rush job or just plain negligence in taking steps to protect areas being worked on is not great. Especially when you look after your pride and joy. I know you can't wrap the van up in cotton wool and it could get dinged in a car park or when driving, but being in a position where you are left with damage and unable to prove it wasn't like that before is frustrating to say the least. Been burnt before when I thought I could trust a garage and had to pay the price. Sad that people can't admit to mistakes but I know people may have probably tried it on before to get previously damage items sorted for nothing.

 

[CaliBear]

The first instance, it was dealt with under the manufacturer’s warranty. The second instance, the manufacturer’s warranty had expired so the repair was covered by an aftermarket warranty. The vehicle is just about 5 years old and I think the next aftermarket will be limited because of the vehicle’s age.


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That's good it was covered by the warranty. We have extended the manufacturer's warranty to 5 years, but I guess after that it would be cost prohibitive to get an aftermarket warranty with possibly many exclusions to what is covered. Have a similar issue with pet insurance, so just end up budgeting for possible future issues.

 

[Sheffield10]

That's not great! Did your dealer agree to undertake this under the warranty straight away or did you get any excuses? Glad to hear that it's been ok since the repair. From other posts this can be very expensive once outside of warranty.

Repaired without argument, although first dealer (where I bought the van) didn't do a great job as the problem quickly returned (they just tried to adjust the alignment and fix the chipped paint). Took the van to my local dealer the 2nd time around and they went to town on the problem. Following their discussions with the factory, they replaced lots of parts trying to get to the root cause. They did advise that the roof not coming down perfectly level is not necessarily a fault, so its a question of degree I guess. My roof was coming down >100mm more on one side. The pictures you posted look similar to the state my roof was in, although my roof has never started dropping of its own accord as you describe. Sounds like hydraulic fluid leaking back through a valve to me. If you have tried cycling the roof a few times as others suggested and it is still coming down on the wonk, it definitely sounds like a fault to me.

 

[westfalia]

The roof dropping on one side after about 3 days
seems to be a normal thing.
Ive seen a couple in dealers showrooms that have sagged a bit
on one side.