Just announced - T6 recall for roof corrosion beneath the seal

[SusiBus]

Am I being stupid, isn't the answer obvious, tape under the rubber seal?

 

[VW Guru]

If I ever find corrosion on my roof it would never be going to any VW Dealer even if under warranty! Clueless every single one.

Hi @Billywizz just wondering why you say ever single dealer is clueless have you had bad experiences? I don’t want to divert away from this thread as it’s on everybody’s mind at the moment. But we are not all clueless.

 

[David Eccles]

what I am still trying to work out is this
is this a new preventative procedure that includes T5s that have had the full roof/front panel corrosion done previously ... and does every T5 get it it ...
or is this something they are doing because they have checked and actually found an issue on my bus, despite the previous "fix", that now needs additional procedures..
the bod on service desk at Listers not really able to answer that for me....

 

[WelshGas]

what I am still trying to work out is this
is this a new preventative procedure that includes T5s that have had the full roof/front panel corrosion done previously ... and does every T5 get it it ...
or is this something they are doing because they have checked and actually found an issue on my bus, despite the previous "fix", that now needs additional procedures..
the bod on service desk at Listers not really able to answer that for me....

All T5s from 2010. Only relates to Galvanic Corrosion on the Elevating Roof beneath the steel reinforced rubber seal around the edge.

Absolutely Nothing to do with the fixed Roof Section above the windscreen.

 

[Loz]

what I am still trying to work out is this
is this a new preventative procedure that includes T5s that have had the full roof/front panel corrosion done previously ... and does every T5 get it it ...
or is this something they are doing because they have checked and actually found an issue on my bus, despite the previous "fix", that now needs additional procedures..
the bod on service desk at Listers not really able to answer that for me....

What I think VW have come to realise, is that even if you have had a repair, there is a good chance the problem might reoccur unless they isolate the roof from the seal. So they are adding the tape or foil as they are calling it.

 

[David Eccles]

ah I see...thanks! I think the roof edges had tape applied by Shorade, (who had to repaint the whole roof when it was done), which was a brand new additional procedure they suggested to VW back then ... which I guess has not been as effective as hoped....
so will wait to see what they think needs doing apparently it has to be authorised by VW - that won't be a fast response!!!

 

[Billywizz]

Hi @Billywizz just wondering why you say ever single dealer is clueless have you had bad experiences? I don’t want to divert away from this thread as it’s on everybody’s mind at the moment. But we are not all clueless.

I do apologise for saying ALL VW, but my experience of the ones I have used (5 in total) has been very poor, and for main dealers is not acceptable, like you say this is for another thread but it should not go un noticed.
I guess once you can accept that people make errors but 4-5 times??

 

[Jonathan Duke]

I ordered my T6 late August 2016, is was delivered late January 2017. In for my second service today, 43,700 on the odometer. Roof "checked" but tape needed to be "ordered in...." Didn't get any more detail than that, but I've asked for a follow-up call to further explain situ (I'll not hold my breath.)

 

[ETOCWEN]

I had to take mine in for warranty inspection for corrosion on all 4 cascavel alloys, to my surprise they are going to replace all 4 wheels. Then they said there is a recall regarding corrosion on my roof (My cali is 31st march 2016). I only gave my van a polish about six weeks ago and didn't see anything strange around the roof area. VW did a quick visual whilst checking my wheels and found very slight sign on both front corners that need the seal removed for further inspection, plus two areas at the top of the wind screen rubber. so when I go back to have the new wheels fitted they will be doing their VW video inspection of the roof. My cali is kept under cover in a carport in the summer and garaged during the winter, I was surprised the wheels corroded that easy and shocked the roof is going as well. I do live on the coast but wouldn't have thought that this is the issue on a newish cali.

 

[Daisymaisy]

Just reading through the thread regarding the seal being bonded on to the roof. SMG Cowfold sent ours to claridges on 22 November and we collected a few days ago. Looks like the seal has been bonded!

Am I right in thinking that the process changed before ours went to the workshop and should never of been bonded and tape applied instead?

Thanks in advance

 

[Scaliwag]

I brought my 2016 (April) T6 in for warranty work and it's 1st service today.
Got the service done but on collection was told that they know nothing of the "roof corrosion issue" and therefore don't know anything about the tape either. The other warranty work was the Drive Belt Tensioners replacement which was identified and agreed to be carried out at my next appointment (today). Also, I was told that because there was no noise from the belt today, there was no evidence that it required the replacement. On my last visit (October) I had even brought along a recording of the belt's screeching noise so there's no doubt regarding this.
I'm gutted that the 2 items I specifically booked the van in for, were not completed. However, despite itemising these prior to the appointment, I had a weird feeling that I was going to be let down. FFS!

Is there any of the Irish crew here that have had either of these issues dealt with that can advise me to pursue this please?

 

[Daisymaisy]

Hi yes I know marshals were because they were following the workshop manuals as it should be. When claiming we as a dealer we ended up footing the bill as vw would not pay us for the tape they said it was not part of the repair at the time. FYI the process to bond the seal back on has now been removed from the process.

Hi Vw Guru, do you have and information on bonding the seal not being part of the process? We got our Cali back a few days ago from Claridges and they have bonded the seal. VW are saying this is still the correct procedure. I would rather it had been tape as now hard to inspect further corrosion. Thanks

 

[Bramco]

If you haven't had the workshop action done yet, they'll rip off the seal at the dealers, leaving lumps of sealant on the edge, slap on some tape and then mangle the seal up getting it back on. If you want to see what it looks like when they are done look back a few pages in this post to see what a mess the dealership made of ours.

It's going back in next week to have the workshop action done properly, with a new seal and a new bellows as the bozo who made the mess last time also wrecked the bellows.

I'm just hoping they don't find any new corrosion or it will be back to Claridges to have the seal bonded on again and then it will have to be ripped off again to have the tape fitted or the workshop action won't have been completed correctly. It could end up in a perpetual loop!

 

[VW Guru]

Hi Vw Guru, do you have and information on bonding the seal not being part of the process? We got our Cali back a few days ago from Claridges and they have bonded the seal. VW are saying this is still the correct procedure. I would rather it had been tape as now hard to inspect further corrosion. Thanks

Hi unfortunately I cannot up load the information as it is copy right protected however what I can tell you is that the information on the workshop systems no longer instruct for the seal to be bonded to the lifting part of the roof. It was there until a few months ago then the information to bond the seal was removed. Who ever at be told you that it is still the correct procedure is wrong.

 

[Daisymaisy]

Hi Brandi,VW Guru, thanks for the replies.

I spoke to SMG Cowfold and VWCS (via technical department) today and I'll try and explain what they told me .

As I understood it there as are two separate processes.
If there is corrosion below the seal the VW garage has a process to follow which involves removing the seal,, treating the corrosion area, before adding the tape and then manually refitting the seal (not bonded).
This is specifically for VW Garages.

If corrosion is found above the seal then the VW garage do not carry out work and the vehicle is sent to an authorised body shop (eg claridges) for them to do the work.
This is governed by a different manual and process.
That process involves removing the seal, treating the affected area and then replacing the seal by bonding it back on.
Both claridges and VWCS confirm this is the correct, up to date process.

As it was explained to me, if the roof seal is bonded there should be no need to carry out the workshop recall with replacing the tape as the recall is only for vehicles where no corrosion is found.

Please bare in mind this is what was explained to me by SMG (who have no personal involvement and I believe are one of the more knowledgeable dealerships) and I am by far am expert on roof corrosion issue.

To be fair I am now as I don't know what to think.
Sorry if this confused matters further.

 

[VW Guru]

Hi Brandi,VW Guru, thanks for the replies.

I spoke to SMG Cowfold and VWCS (via technical department) today and I'll try and explain what they told me .

As I understood it there as are two separate processes.
If there is corrosion below the seal the VW garage has a process to follow which involves removing the seal,, treating the corrosion area, before adding the tape and then manually refitting the seal (not bonded).
This is specifically for VW Garages.

If corrosion is found above the seal then the VW garage do not carry out work and the vehicle is sent to an authorised body shop (eg claridges) for them to do the work.
This is governed by a different manual and process.
That process involves removing the seal, treating the affected area and then replacing the seal by bonding it back on.
Both claridges and VWCS confirm this is the correct, up to date process.

As it was explained to me, if the roof seal is bonded there should be no need to carry out the workshop recall with replacing the tape as the recall is only for vehicles where no corrosion is found.

Please bare in mind this is what was explained to me by SMG (who have no personal involvement and I believe are one of the more knowledgeable dealerships) and I am by far am expert on roof corrosion issue.

To be fair I am now as I don't know what to think.
Sorry if this confused matters further.

Hi @Daisymaisy this is an interesting statement
, as dealers we are told to repair corrosion below the line of the seal then fit the tape and a new seal if required. We have to follow the workshop/ body shop instructions that are on the same vw system we all have access to. I will be speaking to marshals body shop on Monday to see what they are instructed for corrosion over the seal because all of us have access to the same system/ repair procedures and nothing states that the bonding should not be carried out by dealers but should be carried out by body shops. I will let you all know

 

[Daisymaisy]

Thanks VW guru, look forward to seeing what you find out.

 

[Bramco]

Hi @Daisymaisy this is an interesting statement
, as dealers we are told to repair corrosion below the line of the seal then fit the tape and a new seal if required. We have to follow the workshop/ body shop instructions that are on the same vw system we all have access to. I will be speaking to marshals body shop on Monday to see what they are instructed for corrosion over the seal because all of us have access to the same system/ repair procedures and nothing states that the bonding should not be carried out by dealers but should be carried out by body shops. I will let you all know

Hi @Vw guru you say that there is a distinction between below the seal and above the seal, but our roof only had corrosion under the seal and was sent away to Claridges in July. They bonded the seal back on. I'm sure there are a lot of other owners who have only had corrosion under the seal and have had this repaired by body shops.

Of course as we've said here, the workshop action was carried out on ours in October/November which wrecked the seal and didn't clear the sealant before the tape was applied.

There have been a couple of members who have reported recently that their vans just back from bodyshops have had their seals bonded back on, instead of having tape applied as per the workshop action instructions.

So is it just that VW haven't clearly instructed the bodyshops about the new method, have they simply not realised that the two sets of instructions are mutually incompatible and not informed the bodyshops or have some bodyshops not revised their procedures.

One way of seeing what has happened would be to look at the parts list for the bodyshops for the corrosion repair. When ours went away the list included the sealant for bonding the seal on. If the parts list still includes this, then the bodyshops will still be bonding the seals on when the repairs are done.

I'm guessing that the parts list still includes sealant and that VW haven't changed the instructions for the bodyshops.

 

[VW Guru]

Hi @Vw guru you say that there is a distinction between below the seal and above the seal, but our roof only had corrosion under the seal and was sent away to Claridges in July. They bonded the seal back on. I'm sure there are a lot of other owners who have only had corrosion under the seal and have had this repaired by body shops.

Of course as we've said here, the workshop action was carried out on ours in October/November which wrecked the seal and didn't clear the sealant before the tape was applied.

There have been a couple of members who have reported recently that their vans just back from bodyshops have had their seals bonded back on, instead of having tape applied as per the workshop action instructions.

So is it just that VW haven't clearly instructed the bodyshops about the new method, have they simply not realised that the two sets of instructions are mutually incompatible and not informed the bodyshops or have some bodyshops not revised their procedures.

One way of seeing what has happened would be to look at the parts list for the bodyshops for the corrosion repair. When ours went away the list included the sealant for bonding the seal on. If the parts list still includes this, then the bodyshops will still be bonding the seals on when the repairs are done.

I'm guessing that the parts list still includes sealant and that VW haven't changed the instructions for the bodyshops.

Hi @Bramco as of the workshop action (recall) the instructions are the same for body shops and workshops the only difference is if the corrosion has traveled above the level of the seal then we have have to send the vehicle to an approved body shop to have a smart repair carrier out on that section of roof. If it’s below the seal level then the repair work is carried out by your dealer in there workshop. Neither the body shop or dealers are being instructed to bond the seal as that has been removed from the work instructions. Once the paint repair is carried out either by the dealer or the body shop then the foil (tape) must be installed, the roof seal must then be inspected if the seal is ok and not rusting or rubber broken it must be refitted if the seal has problems then it must be replaced. To be honest nearly every seal I’ve seen is split and having to be replaced I think I’ve only refitted one in the whole time I’ve been carrying out this repair.

 

[Bramco]

Hi @Bramco as of the workshop action (recall) the instructions are the same for body shops and workshops the only difference is if the corrosion has traveled above the level of the seal then we have have to send the vehicle to an approved body shop to have a smart repair carrier out on that section of roof. If it’s below the seal level then the repair work is carried out by your dealer in there workshop. Neither the body shop or dealers are being instructed to bond the seal as that has been removed from the work instructions. Once the paint repair is carried out either by the dealer or the body shop then the foil (tape) must be installed, the roof seal must then be inspected if the seal is ok and not rusting or rubber broken it must be refitted if the seal has problems then it must be replaced. To be honest nearly every seal I’ve seen is split and having to be replaced I think I’ve only refitted one in the whole time I’ve been carrying out this repair.

Check out post 310 in this thread Just announced - T6 recall for roof corrosion beneath the seal

Bodyshops are still bonding the seal on.

 

[VW Guru]

Check out post 310 in this thread Just announced - T6 recall for roof corrosion beneath the seal

Bodyshops are still bonding the seal on.

Yes I’ve seen it I’m going to check with the body shop we have to use on Monday and see what we have to say. I do wonder if the body shops read the instructions when they are updated.

 

[Bramco]

My point was, if the body shops are supplied with sealant in the kit of parts they get with the Cali that's to be fixed, they will bond the seal on with the sealant.

So it would be interesting to see if the kit of parts still has the sealant included.

 

[Richard Hurst]

does this affect Cali's built in 2018 onwards?

 

[Volkywagen]

It

does this affect Cali's built in 2018 onwards?

It effected mine built November 17. I don’t think there has been any changes.

 

[Richard Hurst]

It

It effected mine built November 17. I don’t think there has been any changes.

I need to look at my roof. Should I be checking that the tape had been applied. I only asked because when I tap the roof it sounds plastic rather than metal.