ThomasHJ
Top Poster
Lifetime VIP Member
I'm sharing this in the hope it might help others in the future.
I recently noticed that the roof of my VW T5.1 California did not close properly on the right hand side (right when sitting in the van) (This is a LHD-vehicle but I doubt that matters). There was a distinct gap visible between the roof's rubber seal and the rest of the van. There was no such gap on the left side and I had recently washed the van and had not noticed the gap. So I am quite sure this was recent. I was a bit stressed that the aluminium roof may had been deformed. I checked if there was something left on the upper bed but there was not. I searched these forums and found some information but none with a clear and confirmed diagnosis of the problem and a solution. In the end it turned out to be a minor problem with an easy solution. No technician needed. You can do this by yourself, without any knowledge of cars.
It turned out that there is a small block attached to a rail on the inside of the roof. And this block had moved. The block is pressed and held to the roof by an alan key. It is part of the roof's lock mechanism I guess. I assume it moved as a result of 15 years of vibrations while driving. Al that was needed was to place the block back into its original position. Which luckily I could easily find because in the past someone had tightened the bolt so much that there was slight damage visible on the rails. But you could find it also by trial and error (be careful when closing the roof, have someone look at it) or perhaps by looking at the other side of the roof, where there is another one of these blocks.
Hope this helps someone.
I recently noticed that the roof of my VW T5.1 California did not close properly on the right hand side (right when sitting in the van) (This is a LHD-vehicle but I doubt that matters). There was a distinct gap visible between the roof's rubber seal and the rest of the van. There was no such gap on the left side and I had recently washed the van and had not noticed the gap. So I am quite sure this was recent. I was a bit stressed that the aluminium roof may had been deformed. I checked if there was something left on the upper bed but there was not. I searched these forums and found some information but none with a clear and confirmed diagnosis of the problem and a solution. In the end it turned out to be a minor problem with an easy solution. No technician needed. You can do this by yourself, without any knowledge of cars.
It turned out that there is a small block attached to a rail on the inside of the roof. And this block had moved. The block is pressed and held to the roof by an alan key. It is part of the roof's lock mechanism I guess. I assume it moved as a result of 15 years of vibrations while driving. Al that was needed was to place the block back into its original position. Which luckily I could easily find because in the past someone had tightened the bolt so much that there was slight damage visible on the rails. But you could find it also by trial and error (be careful when closing the roof, have someone look at it) or perhaps by looking at the other side of the roof, where there is another one of these blocks.
Hope this helps someone.
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