Pop top bleeding

[Longer]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone found they need to/got involved in bleeding there pop top hydraulic rams because the roof isn't coming down square?
Mines coming working slightly 'on the wonk', nothing drastic but it can't be good for the back hinges.

Cheers in advance.

 

[Emil Silenhag]

Well, yes. If I’m parked a little bit tilted to the side, then my roof could come down uneven. Must stop before it’s all way down and raise it again, holding the button until it’s in the top position, both sides, then lowering and closing fully.

 

[Longer]

Well, yes. If I’m parked a little bit tilted to the side, then my roof could come down uneven. Must stop before it’s all way down and raise it again, holding the button until it’s in the top position, both sides, then lowering and closing fully.

Thanks for the reply, but that's a sure fire sign that there is an issue with the hydraulics. If the system was working correctly the roof should lift more or less evenly as the hydraulic pressure should be more or less equal both sides.

 

[Emil Silenhag]

I guess you are right. But I haven’t done anything about it since it’s much easier to park level (and better sleeping as well)...Still works after 3 years since I noticed this...
Dose your roof come down “on the wonk” every time?

 

[Longer]

I guess you are right. But I haven’t done anything about it since it’s much easier to park level (and better sleeping as well)...Still works after 3 years since I noticed this...
Dose your roof come down “on the wonk” every time?

Well I actually only saw it last time the roof was brought down, as I was looking at the front of the van as my wife used the control. Need to do a bit more testing!

 

[Hotel California]

Complete normal , every roof has this once a while , there's even a built in timer witch pumps up the roof after a while wonce it starts lowering .
Do some reading on the forum , lots of threads about this .
As said always pump up fully before lowering to prevent damage.

 

[Longer]

Complete normal , every roof has this once a while , there's even a built in timer witch pumps up the roof after a while wonce it starts lowering .
Do some reading on the forum , lots of threads about this .
As said always pump up fully before lowering to prevent damage.

Perfect, thanks. That is exactly the kind of info I needed.

 

[EddieEagle]

Hi, have just checked an invoice which was for a replacement hydraulic pump, under warranty.
I had exactly the same issue, lowering (very) unevenly, so took it into VW who I believe tried swapping the rams from side to side. This made no difference so they kindly fitted a new pump. They are prone to restrictions in the internals, apparently, and this cured the issue for me. It was with them for a week.

This is my experience of lopsided roof issues. I hope it is informative but not definitive.

 

[Longer]

Hi, have just checked an invoice which was for a replacement hydraulic pump, under warranty.
I had exactly the same issue, lowering (very) unevenly, so took it into VW who I believe tried swapping the rams from side to side. This made no difference so they kindly fitted a new pump. They are prone to restrictions in the internals, apparently, and this cured the issue for me. It was with them for a week.

This is my experience of lopsided roof issues. I hope it is informative but not definitive.

Hi Ed, thanks for the reply, that's interesting the VW didn't find an ulterior idea as to the problem and looked for and found a mechanical cause.
With my experience of hydraulics once a ram is in position and the pump has stopped unless there is an oil leak or the oil can move to another part of the hydraulic circuit it should stay in it's position.
Hotel Cali above talks about the pump kicking in on a timer to keep the pressure up but I'm surprised that is needed.
Thanks again.

 

[EddieEagle]

I checked the mechanics of the mechanism thoroughly before approaching VW. All pivot points and sliders were fine. It was the first thing I looked for, something catching or seized.
Before having pump changed my roof had been up for 5 days without the self levelling kicking in. It must be quite unnerving if asleep when it happens. This at least proved the integrity of the hydraulics in as much as no leakage.
My take is that there may have been an O ring breaking up and restricting the flow in the pump maybe? Not sure if there are filters in the system but any hydraulics need absolutely clean oils so maybe some debris caused the uneven lowering?
I hope you get it sorted and that it doesn't stop any get aways in the meantime.

 

[Lott]

This happened to me a few weeks ago and I was rather alarmed (only had Cali a few months). I sprayed PTFE on the runners and it lowered OK.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[WelshGas]

Hi Ed, thanks for the reply, that's interesting the VW didn't find an ulterior idea as to the problem and looked for and found a mechanical cause.
With my experience of hydraulics once a ram is in position and the pump has stopped unless there is an oil leak or the oil can move to another part of the hydraulic circuit it should stay in it's position.
Hotel Cali above talks about the pump kicking in on a timer to keep the pressure up but I'm surprised that is needed.
Thanks again.

California Suppliment Page 18.

 

[Tactical]

...the roof isn't coming down square?
Mines coming working slightly 'on the wonk', nothing drastic but it can't be good for the back hinges.

A couple of years ago, I had this wonkiness when 'fully' raised:



I tried lowering the roof but found that one side lowered faster than the other resulting in a large tilt in the roof:



I was able to resolve the problem by repeatedly raising and lowering the roof in small steps. Eventually it raised fully.

It remained OK after that.

So it's worth trying small steps up and down if you get this problem.

 

[Les]

California Suppliment Page 18.
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On my radio after you have switched it on a number times you have to switch the ignition on to allow it to work again. Won't this reset the ten hours time so the roof will not be automatically checked?

 

[WelshGas]

On my radio after you have switched it on a number times you have to switch the ignition on to allow it to work again. Won't this reset the ten hours time so the roof will not be automatically checked?

Sorry, but I don’t understand your question. The Roof hydraulic pressure will be checked 10hrs after the last “ Ignition On “ episode and thereafter every 5 hours.

 

[ArunAlec]

On my radio after you have switched it on a number times you have to switch the ignition on to allow it to work again. Won't this reset the ten hours time so the roof will not be automatically checked?

Not if you just switch the radio on, without touching the ignition switch.

 

[Les]

Sorry, but I don’t understand your question. The Roof hydraulic pressure will be checked 10hrs after the last “ Ignition On “ episode and thereafter every 5 hours.

We have the Media Dab radio which turns itself off after 30mins. It has a security feature that after turning it on a number times you have to switch the ignition on to allow to be switched on again. My query is that switching the ignition on is constantly resetting the timer that checks the roof status to 10hrs so if fact it is possible the roof will not be checked and could sag?

 

[WelshGas]

We have the Media Dab radio which turns itself off after 30mins. It has a security feature that after turning it on a number times you have to switch the ignition on to allow to be switched on again. My query is that switching the ignition on is constantly resetting the timer that checks the roof status to 10hrs so if fact it is possible the roof will not be checked and could sag?

I see. So, yes, if you are using the radio that frequently that you are having to reset it by using the Ignition then the roof will never be checked.

Are you sure this having to switch on the Ignition if the radio is used frequently is a “ Security Feature “.
Not something anyone has mentioned before.
I do know that frequent use of the radio when parked up and not on Hookup can flatten the Engine Battery.