How to Fix Kitchen Tap and Water Pump Problem and solution.

[James H]

Perhaps both ways work?


View attachment 33068


View attachment 33069

 

[James H]

Thank you both, I'm very much obliged, that is just what I wanted to see and very helpful, I wouldn't personally want to be an owner of a Cali without being a member of this forum !

 

[mrcheesbrough]

Thank you both, I'm very much obliged, that is just what I wanted to see and very helpful, I wouldn't personally want to be an owner of a Cali without being a member of this forum !

Found a website that sells new micro switches of this type. This is what it looks like…

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Emil Silenhag]

Looks like “curve in” is correct. Mine is curve out because I obviously put it back wrong, but it still works

 

[Perry Blain]

Looks like “curve in” is correct. Mine is curve out because I obviously put it back wrong, but it still works

Thanks Emil and James very helpful

 

[cally]

Hi .. A great write up !
I'll use your info to try to fix my tap or pump.
My Cally has been stationary for a couple of months with a drained water tank. I've just filled the tank again but the tap doesn't work now. It was fine when it as last used. Can you tell me where to find the fuse ? As you say the first place to start ... Thank you.

Cally.

 

[Emil Silenhag]

First check/test the quick connector under the sink.

Fuse is under the driver seat, here in Norway, that is left front seat I don’t remember which one but I always check everyone. And it’s realy tight space, so I usually remove the whole seat. One bolt in each corner. Be careful if you have wiring to seat heater or air bag. Disconnect starter battery.

 

[cally]

First check/test the quick connector under the sink.

Fuse is under the driver seat, here in Norway, that is left front seat I don’t remember which one but I always check everyone. And it’s realy tight space, so I usually remove the whole seat. One bolt in each corner. Be careful if you have wiring to seat heater or air bag. Disconnect starter battery.

I eventually found the fuse carrier hiding under the passenger seat (U.K.). I had to remove it to get access to the fuse which was ok. I removed the pump to find it had seized due to drying out. A bit of careful manipulation of the impeller released it and it now works fine

Cally

 

[glyndot]

My tap stopped working but, even with @jeetu2k's amazing step by step guide to fixing it yourself, I didn't fancy it. My 'repairs' often cause other problems!

My not-so-local VW van centre offered an appointment in 2 months where I would have to pay £120 for them to assess the problem, and then take it back later to actually be fixed.

So I visited Mark of Volksvans near Belper in Derbyshire who did it for me with a couple of days notice (and also rescued my botched upgrade of the 'upstairs' reading light, and sorted my out with a new 'car' battery while he was at it). https://www.facebook.com/volksvans

Turns out our tap problem was a double-whammy - the pump had burnt out, and that had also blackened the contacts on the micro switch.

 

[Verity]

My tap stopped working but, even with @jeetu2k's amazing step by step guide to fixing it yourself, I didn't fancy it. My 'repairs' often cause other problems!

My not-so-local VW van centre offered an appointment in 2 months where I would have to pay £120 for them to assess the problem, and then take it back later to actually be fixed.

So I visited Mark of Volksvans near Belper in Derbyshire who did it for me with a couple of days notice (and also rescued my botched upgrade of the 'upstairs' reading light, and sorted my out with a new 'car' battery while he was at it). https://www.facebook.com/volksvans

Turns out our tap problem was a double-whammy - the pump had burnt out, and that had also blackened the contacts on the micro switch.

Head in hands! VW - if you're reading this - we need proper service levels for California owners. We are spending our life savings on these vans, and deserve a level of service appropriate to that outlay!!!!!! We have a broken rear wardrobe door, which I am trying to get replaced on warranty at the same time as my first service. I tried to book it into Hereford ( a couple of hours drive away) and they said they would not order the part in before we took the van in as they would need to assess it. I told them it is broken - it is now in two parts - but no budging. So I gave up and called Llandudno (about an hour and 40 mins drive). They were more encouraging, and said the service manager would call me to discuss the fix. No one has phoned, and the service is on Monday. I am assuming they will not have ordered the part and that I will have to go back at another time for the fix. This is what it has come to. We just always have to assume we're going to have to make all the running and do all the chasing. I love my Cali and it has changed my life for the better in so many ways, but the post sales service from VW seems woeful (see Wobble's mum's appalling experience on a different thread). The Cali is not a works van. It is a family vehicle, and a completely different beast from a works van, so why VW insist on it being fixed by staff who seem to have no knowledge and little training is a mystery to me. Rant over.

 

[Loz]

We have a broken rear wardrobe door, which I am trying to get replaced on warranty at the same time as my first service. I tried to book it into Hereford ( a couple of hours drive away) and they said they would not order the part in before we took the van in as they would need to assess it. I told them it is broken - it is now in two parts - but no budging. So I gave up and called Llandudno (about an hour and 40 mins drive). They were more encouraging, and said the service manager would call me to discuss the fix. No one has phoned, and the service is on Monday. I am assuming they will not have ordered the part and that I will have to go back at another time for the fix.

I have had similar issues in the past with the Touareg and VW messed about in a similar way, I just phoned the Parts manager, told him it was in for a replacement "x" and asked him if he had ordered it and asked him to do so and if it wasn't used in the warranty repair I would simply pay for it and that was enough for him to get it in.
But I agree this lever of service is getting tenuous now..

 

[Verity]

I have had similar issues in the past with the Touareg and VW messed about in a similar way, I just phoned the Parts manager, told him it was in for a replacement "x" and asked him if he had ordered it and asked him to do so and if it wasn't used in the warranty repair I would simply pay for it and that was enough for him to get it in.
But I agree this lever of service is getting tenuous now..

Had a message from the garage this morning, confirming that they will be doing our service on Monday and 'taking a look at' the cupboard door.

I called back and got put through to three people before finally getting through to a lovely lady who appears to control the service department (I think) called Nicky. I explained that we were coming a long way and that the door was defo broken - in two pieces in fact. I explained it to her and she sounded unsure. Do you sell California's in your show room? I asked. Yes, she said. Well go and have a look at one of them and you'll understand what I'm talking about then …

At that point, she said she would order the part in anticipation of our arrival on Monday. Let's hope this ends well! It's not the end of the world if we have to go back, as we both work from home and can work flexible hours to go back (aged parents permitting), but if we had proper jobs we'd be more than inconvenienced by this odd attitude at VW garages. Do they not have some kind of 'return if it's not needed' deal with VW? Or an inter-VW garage I've got one if you want it arrangement? I used to be an Avon lady, and we used to send odd bits and pieces all over the country to keep our customers happy, and we had to use good old Royal Mail!

 

[Meoncoast]

My understanding that "special order" parts ordered by the dealer are not returnable to VW and the dealer is charged if the wrong part is ordered.

I e-mail my dealer this link.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/p...-cupboardwardrobe-door-vw-california-se-ocean
when our door broke dealer contacted when the part in, booking an appointment I popped over job done while I waited,

 

[Verity]

My understanding that "special order" parts ordered by the dealer are not returnable to VW and the dealer is charged if the wrong part is ordered.

I e-mail my dealer this link.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/p...-cupboardwardrobe-door-vw-california-se-ocean
when our door broke dealer contacted when the part in, booking an appointment I popped over job done while I waited,

I've calmed down now. It's been one of those days. Stress over camper, stress over parents, arguments with big sister, stress over moving house. I've had a bottle of cider now and everything seems calmer. My dad is an alcoholic - should I be stressing about that now?!!!! Signed: Nutty of Tanat Valley Gawd help me when I get to the end of the 2nd bottle. I'll turn the computer off ...

 

[Verity]

Had a message from the garage this morning, confirming that they will be doing our service on Monday and 'taking a look at' the cupboard door.

I called back and got put through to three people before finally getting through to a lovely lady who appears to control the service department (I think) called Nicky. I explained that we were coming a long way and that the door was defo broken - in two pieces in fact. I explained it to her and she sounded unsure. Do you sell California's in your show room? I asked. Yes, she said. Well go and have a look at one of them and you'll understand what I'm talking about then …

At that point, she said she would order the part in anticipation of our arrival on Monday. Let's hope this ends well! It's not the end of the world if we have to go back, as we both work from home and can work flexible hours to go back (aged parents permitting), but if we had proper jobs we'd be more than inconvenienced by this odd attitude at VW garages. Do they not have some kind of 'return if it's not needed' deal with VW? Or an inter-VW garage I've got one if you want it arrangement? I used to be an Avon lady, and we used to send odd bits and pieces all over the country to keep our customers happy, and we had to use good old Royal Mail!

Update on more inadequate VW customer service. When we arrived on Monday morning, we booked in fine, took the courtesy car and chugged off to Anglesey for a nice day out. We got a call at about 3pm to say one of the tyres had a cut on the inside and was not fit to use, so we phoned and asked them to put the spare wheel on and put the original wheel in the van so we could take it to the tyre place this week and get a new one. Then they told us that the cupboard door (warranty job) hadn't arrived! We were furious as we had phoned up well in advance to make sure this would not happen, and been assured last week that it would be ordered in. We have to drive 2 hours to get to Llandudno Junction, and had to take the day off work etc. Nicky smiled and agreed, yes it's terrible isn't it ... yes, the call centre are really rubbish aren't they, they should have sent us an email ..... We said we'd made the booking some 2 weeks earlier and this was unacceptable, and she insisted that it wasn't their fault, it was the fault of the call centre who made the booking! She wasn't at all moved by our disbelief that they thought it was ok for us to have to drive all the way up there again on a Saturday morning (of which actually we have none free for several weeks to come plus we are moving house any day now). They also hadn't swapped the wheels over when we arrived to pick it up, so we had to wait another 40 mins while they did that. In the end, my husband got quite angry with the crud service, and was ushered into a side office to speak to the service manager. I went and sat outside, as I hate conflict and get very stressed! In the end, they agreed to post the door to us when it arrives. They originally refused to do this as it is a warranty issue and should be done by them officially, but we just haven't got the time to keep schlepping up and down the wiggly roads in North Wales to go up just for a cupboard door, which can be fitted by us with about 2 screws removed and replaced. They did offer us £40 worth of diesel in compensation if we drove up. Not over impressed. Let's see if the door ever turns up in the post.

I repeat my previous whinge … why, when we are spending more than most of us paid for our first homes on a premium vehicle, are we having to put up with such appalling service levels? Mind boggling. If I didn't love my van so much, I wouldn't bother with VW.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

Update on more inadequate VW customer service. When we arrived on Monday morning, we booked in fine, took the courtesy car and chugged off to Anglesey for a nice day out. We got a call at about 3pm to say one of the tyres had a cut on the inside and was not fit to use, so we phoned and asked them to put the spare wheel on and put the original wheel in the van so we could take it to the tyre place this week and get a new one. Then they told us that the cupboard door (warranty job) hadn't arrived! We were furious as we had phoned up well in advance to make sure this would not happen, and been assured last week that it would be ordered in. We have to drive 2 hours to get to Llandudno Junction, and had to take the day off work etc. Nicky smiled and agreed, yes it's terrible isn't it ... yes, the call centre are really rubbish aren't they, they should have sent us an email ..... We said we'd made the booking some 2 weeks earlier and this was unacceptable, and she insisted that it wasn't their fault, it was the fault of the call centre who made the booking! She wasn't at all moved by our disbelief that they thought it was ok for us to have to drive all the way up there again on a Saturday morning (of which actually we have none free for several weeks to come plus we are moving house any day now). They also hadn't swapped the wheels over when we arrived to pick it up, so we had to wait another 40 mins while they did that. In the end, my husband got quite angry with the crud service, and was ushered into a side office to speak to the service manager. I went and sat outside, as I hate conflict and get very stressed! In the end, they agreed to post the door to us when it arrives. They originally refused to do this as it is a warranty issue and should be done by them officially, but we just haven't got the time to keep schlepping up and down the wiggly roads in North Wales to go up just for a cupboard door, which can be fitted by us with about 2 screws removed and replaced. They did offer us £40 worth of diesel in compensation if we drove up. Not over impressed. Let's see if the door ever turns up in the post.

I repeat my previous whinge … why, when we are spending more than most of us paid for our first homes on a premium vehicle, are we having to put up with such appalling service levels? Mind boggling. If I didn't love my van so much, I wouldn't bother with VW.

All very interesting, but isn’t this thread about how to fix your kitchen tap?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Verity]

All very interesting, but isn’t this thread about how to fix your kitchen tap?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, you're quite right! Just went off on a tangent I think! We could do with a new thread listing how crap VW service depts can be so we can just send the thread to VW head office after a few months!

 

[mrcheesbrough]

Yes, you're quite right! Just went off on a tangent I think! We could do with a new thread listing how crap VW service depts can be so we can just send the thread to VW head office after a few months!

Ha. Easy done and it sounds like your ‘local’ dealership have done a fine job of fuelling the fire. Sad to hear of your predicament, I hope it’s resolved for you soon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cazmatt]

Errrgh, we just got away for a weekend, water working last night, then stopped this morning (no pump sound but tap switch still clicks).

Checked the fuse, and it's blown. (For anyone in the future looking at this with the same problem: fuses are under passenger seat if you slide it all the way back, there is a group of 3 containing two 5A fuses, the only 5A under the seat in our model so can't get it mixed up, the middle of the three is the water pump and the edge 5A fuse is for the control panel).

Swapped control panel fuse with water pump fuse to test it; it blows the control panel fuse (note - now I can't put the rood down! Feel very stupid)

Got a lift to nearest garage for more fuses, swapped it.

Took pump out of cupboard, twiddled the impeller, it goes freely; put it back feeling chuffed with myself, turned on, blew a third fuse...

So I think there might be something wrong with the pump...!

My question is - because the van is less than a year old.. I assume this is warranty item? Given how straightforward replacing it seems from this post (a very useful post at that) I am tempted to do it myself but that probably invalidates the warranty. But do I want VW taking my water pump / cupboard apart...? Are they reliable? And I bet we need to wait weeks to get it booked in!


Trying not to be hugely disappointed.... Less than a year old.. We have gone away 8 times and we drain the tank every time we get back, reading this thread, I wonder whether that's part of the problem (or just bad luck)

 

[Zenaj]

I also had problems with pump. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. I checked everything mentioned in this thread and in the end it was the micro switch. Symptoms for bad micro switch I think are that if you try tap say 20 times, 10 times pump starts and 10 times it doesn't. I cleaned micro switch with sandpaper like
suggested in somewhere this thread. Now it works 20 times of 20 tries.
VIDEO1
VIDEO2

 

[BirgerI]

The water tap problem seems to be a never ending story for many people. As other members describe, it is often related to the microswitch in the kitchen tap. I think, that the only right solution is a relay to relieve the switch, but it is not properly described. It is not that difficult to make, the only new wire, is a short one to the ground. I’m not an electrician, but made it in an hour, and the setup works. I didn’t even clean the microswitch. The 12 V relay, a couple of spade terminals and a short wire is required - costs less than 5 Euro. The relay is screw mounted straight over the waste water tank - see photo and diagram. The mentioned wire colors are related to California T6, 2016.

 

[Emil Silenhag]

The 12 V relay, a couple of spade terminals and a short wire is required - costs less than 5 Euro. The relay is screw mounted straight over the waste water tank -

I’ve done this to. Works brilliant.

 

[CaliGem]

Great help. I'm going to have to try this this weekend so thank you

 

[Beachbeat]

Just spent the morning replacing water pump, checking earth and finally realised my problem was the tap microswitch. The switch is broken - the tiny U shape spring contact in the switch is now lost. This solution looks interesting until I can fit a replacement tap but i'm no electrician and I can't see a physical switch on the box. Sorry if its a daft question but how does it turn the power to the pump on/off?

 

[mrcheesbrough]

Just spent the morning replacing water pump, checking earth and finally realised my problem was the tap microswitch. The switch is broken - the tiny U shape spring contact in the switch is now lost. This solution looks interesting until I can fit a replacement tap but i'm no electrician and I can't see a physical switch on the box. Sorry if its a daft question but how does it turn the power to the pump on/off?

Unfortunately you need a working microswitch in the tap for the relay to work. The relay is there to relieve the microswitch of having so much current running through it which should reduce the burning on the microswitch contacts that, most often is the cause of it failing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk