Buy all your VW California Accessories at the Club Shop Visit Shop

Red lights on control panel - can you help?

Kyffinjones

Kyffinjones

Messages
49
Vehicle
T5 SE 180
Hi

On second trip out with new Cali. Just went to turn the heater off, and all the lights on the control panel went red (heater, fridge, etc). Every time I touch a button, it says ''roof open' - which it is. Any help/suggestions appreciated. Neither heater nor fridge seem to work now. Feel rather silly, but can't sort it out. Thanks, Judith.
 
Try resetting the control panel. Hold the bottom right button down for 5 seconds this should restart the software. Worth a try
 
Hi

On second trip out with new Cali. Just went to turn the heater off, and all the lights on the control panel went red (heater, fridge, etc). Every time I touch a button, it says ''roof open' - which it is. Any help/suggestions appreciated. Neither heater nor fridge seem to work now. Feel rather silly, but can't sort it out. Thanks, Judith.
Hi Judith,
I have just been sitting in our new Cali whist waiting for my wife and have been reading the manual/hand book. You could try pressing and holding the return button down. That's the button with the bent arrow on the control panel. It just might work.
Good luck.
Paul
 
Thanks, both. So nice to get such quick responses. Hopefully the reset has sorted it. At least the fridge light is now yellow. I'm not normally an airhead (bar the occasional lapse), but between this and the alarm going off every time I try to lock the van with the key fob from the inside, I'm certainly feeling the technology is getting the better of me at the moment.
 
Thanks, both. So nice to get such quick responses. Hopefully the reset has sorted it. At least the fridge light is now yellow. I'm not normally an airhead (bar the occasional lapse), but between this and the alarm going off every time I try to lock the van with the key fob from the inside, I'm certainly feeling the technology is getting the better of me at the moment.
Use the button on the Drivers door to lock the van. It locks the door without putting the internal movement alarm on. Be warned though, if you go out of the sliding door and close it it will self lock, so either unlock using the drivers door button or don't shut the sliding door.
 
Thanks, WelshGas. Will using the driver's door button lock the tailgate as well? After the alarm going off three times last night on a dark campsite, I'm a bit scared to try any fiddling around on Sunday morning and make my presence felt again!
 
Use the button on the Drivers door to lock the van. It locks the door without putting the internal movement alarm on. Be warned though, if you go out of the sliding door and close it it will self lock, so either unlock using the drivers door button or don't shut the sliding door.
Not sure you are correct on the self locking. When camped up for the night lock the doors using the lock button on the drivers door, the doors will all deadlock except for the sliding door, alarm will be disabled. If you lockup using the key fob the alarm will be enabled and the first sign of movement will set it off. Not what you want. If you need to get up in the night - unlock the sliding door by pulling the sliding door black unlock bar twice. This will open only the sliding door all other doors remain deadlocked. The sliding door will not self lock. When you return open the sliding door using the external handle in the normal manner. Once your inside lock the sliding door by pushing the black lock button just above the handle that you opened it with. Alarm will not be set and all doors are locked. Hope this helps. Rob
 
Judith

This can all sound complicated.

Use the lock button on the drivers door. That leaves all doors locked up and you as snug and safe as you would be at home with no chance of setting the alarm off.

If you need to leave the vehicle during the night, a double tug on the sliding door will open it and you can happily toddle off into the darkness.

If you do then take the keys with you. This negates two possibilities: 1). the door closing and locking you out - or - 2) : the door not locking and some scumbag hopping in and nicking your keys.
 
Use the button on the Drivers door to lock the van. It locks the door without putting the internal movement alarm on. Be warned though, if you go out of the sliding door and close it it will self lock, so either unlock using the drivers door button or don't shut the sliding door.

That happened to us in France this year. I inadvertently pushed down the driver's door lock button and then we both got out to wash our teeth. Bloody van took the humph and locked us out...kerchunk-chunk dead locked as well!

Had to push in the sliding window with the step, to get back in. Felt like a total prat!
Luckily the window went back in and was wedged for the remainder of our trip.

The company Breeze Poole use for body work wanted over ÂŁ500.00 to replace the whole bonded window unit. Said that was the only option.

Darren at VW Heritage at the Westbury body shop is fitting a replacement sliding unit this week for ÂŁ185.00. Should take 18 mins apparently. :bananadance

Alan
 
Last edited:
Many thanks for your help, Jen. Putting the advice into practice as I type, and no alarming alarm going off. I think the message is also don't leave the van without the key. I certainly don't fancy your experience, Alan.

This is a great forum - so nice to get all this friendly advice. Plus I'm really enjoying the California - lovely vehicle to drive, and excellent vehicle for camping.
 
Hi Judith
Some of us here keep a spare key hidden outside the van, the type that won't start the engine but opens the door should you get locked out with the proper keys locked inside
If interested you could search on here for information or someone might come up with better information

Alan
 
Many thanks for your help, Jen. Putting the advice into practice as I type, and no alarming alarm going off. I think the message is also don't leave the van without the key. I certainly don't fancy your experience, Alan.

This is a great forum - so nice to get all this friendly advice. Plus I'm really enjoying the California - lovely vehicle to drive, and excellent vehicle for camping.

That's the main thing, enjoying the vehicle.

It's all a bit bewildering at first, then some things become second nature. My first few trips out I was more apprehensive about pressing the roof raise/lower button than I would be playing with some buttons on a missile launch pad, but now it's pull up and raise the roof before even switching engine off.

Boiling a kettle was even an issue of great apprehension, especially after 30 minutes of trying before realising I had not turned the gas on at the bottle :oops:
 
Surf key. On lanyard around neck when travelling or on my own.
 
Not sure you are correct on the self locking. When camped up for the night lock the doors using the lock button on the drivers door, the doors will all deadlock except for the sliding door, alarm will be disabled. If you lockup using the key fob the alarm will be enabled and the first sign of movement will set it off. Not what you want. If you need to get up in the night - unlock the sliding door by pulling the sliding door black unlock bar twice. This will open only the sliding door all other doors remain deadlocked. The sliding door will not self lock. When you return open the sliding door using the external handle in the normal manner. Once your inside lock the sliding door by pushing the black lock button just above the handle that you opened it with. Alarm will not be set and all doors are locked. Hope this helps. Rob

Are you sure that the other doors deadlock and cannot be opened from inside? I am interested as that is what I would like them to do on my self-build that is based on a 180ps Trendline Combi. If anyone has locking with the above facilities on a T5.1 I would love to see a copy of the BCM coding that relates to the locking. Maybe I can recode mine to work the same way as I have Vagcom (VCDS) available.

Any info on this would be appreciated.

Rod
 
Are you sure that the other doors deadlock and cannot be opened from inside? I am interested as that is what I would like them to do on my self-build that is based on a 180ps Trendline Combi. If anyone has locking with the above facilities on a T5.1 I would love to see a copy of the BCM coding that relates to the locking. Maybe I can recode mine to work the same way as I have Vagcom (VCDS) available.

Any info on this would be appreciated.

Rod
Sorry for misleading Rod. The doors can be opened from the inside with two pulls on the handles. So not deadlocked.
Rob
 
Thanks Rob, I thought that was the case but you did sound convincing:).

I've tried ours this evening and can confirm that if the doors are locked from the inside via the driver's door switch then all doors are locked but not deadlocked. If the sliding door is opened manually by operating the inner handle twice that it does NOT re-lock if the door is closed. One must either re-operate the driver's door switch or press the manual lock button down on the sliding door to re-lock it. Or of course lock from outside with the key fob.
There is a quirk with non Cali interior lighting in that if the doors are locked by means of the drivers door switch then the interior lights (original VW ones) will work for their preset time period. However if the doors are deadlocked with the key fob then the interior lights will not work at all! Maybe there is a coding way around that but I don't know of it. Perhaps there is an expert out there who can enlighten me?
 
Back
Top