T6.1 Front Blind Failure

[Chris Ratay]

Picked up my new 2023 T6.1 Ocean from a dealer in December in Germany. A few weeks later when I tried to test the front roller blinds, I discovered the little flaps that are supposed to hold the clips in place would instantly pop up (rather than keep downward pressure on the pins), and the blinds would whip across and slam into the side pillars.

I took the van to a local dealer in Hungary and they said they'd have to connect with VW to sort it out - it wasn't something that could easily be repaired, but rather new parts were required.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to wait a week or two as the next day I was heading out on a 3-month trip with the van. I'm currently in Sicily, heading to Spain, Morocco, and Portugal before returning home to Hungary in April.

In the meantime, I jammed some rubber strips in the gap earlier today and I'm hoping that will carry us through the next few months. Anyone else have similar problem, and what's the solution?

 

[Sad]

I believe this is a standard feature!

 

[Corradobrit]

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[Hawthorn37]

Picked up my new 2023 T6.1 Ocean from a dealer in December in Germany. A few weeks later when I tried to test the front roller blinds, I discovered the little flaps that are supposed to hold the clips in place would instantly pop up (rather than keep downward pressure on the pins), and the blinds would whip across and slam into the side pillars.

I took the van to a local dealer in Hungary and they said they'd have to connect with VW to sort it out - it wasn't something that could easily be repaired, but rather new parts were required.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to wait a week or two as the next day I was heading out on a 3-month trip with the van. I'm currently in Sicily, heading to Spain, Morocco, and Portugal before returning home to Hungary in April.

In the meantime, I jammed some rubber strips in the gap earlier today and I'm hoping that will carry us through the next few months. Anyone else have similar problem, and what's the solution?

View attachment 104569View attachment 104570

Don’t panic - your van is probably fine. We found this problem on the first trip in our van too. But, after a few head scratches the solution was simple. Move (tilt) the rear view mirror towards the roof (moving it out of the way), and then the flaps for the blind will work as they should.

 

[Chris Ratay]

Don’t panic - your van is probably fine. We found this problem on the first trip in our van too. But, after a few head scratches the solution was simple. Move (tilt) the rear view mirror towards the roof (moving it out of the way), and then the flaps for the blind will work as they should.

Thanks for your reply - I was hoping for a simple solution as it doesn't look defective.

The mirror is tilted up - 2 service guys from the dealer said it's not working properly, and that it doesn't make sense. Lots of head scratching

I'm thinking it's somehow an issue with the springs as everything else is molded plastic parts.

When I picked up the van in Germany I was told the setup is fragile and not to let the blinds whip back. This is what has me concerned - the thought of the blinds slipping out is both bothersome and a safety issue when I leave it parked for several days. I think I can manage with the rubber strips, so long as that trick doesn't fail.

Since we're on the road for a couple of more months, it would be nice to have a reliable solution and to not break anything before we get home.

 

[Hawthorn37]

This may be no help at all, but I’ve just taken a few photos in our van. The first two shows the extent which the mirror is tilted - so the mirror housing doesn’t touch the blind brackets. The next shows the normal relaxed position on the bracket (from the side) and the last shows the bracket moved up against the spring. This last is important, as if your bracket is completely slack and doesnt return to its normal position by itself, then I’d agree that somethings gone wrong with the spring.

Anyway, here they are:

 

[CC44853]

Pull the blinds down in their channels of the bars you join in the middle.

They will snap back if the centre of the force of the springs is too high towards the flaps.

(green arrows)

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Anybody got creases in the front blinds? If so is there a way to remove them (the creases not the blinds).

 

[Hawthorn37]

We had some creases, in the early days from dodgy blind opening. We were then extra careful for a while and the creases have gone (months later).

 

[Chris Ratay]

Pull the blinds down in their channels of the bars you join in the middle.

They will snap back if the centre of the force of the springs is too high towards the flaps.

(green arrows)
View attachment 104583

Ok, that's easy to try

 

[California_Ocean]

Just another vote for tilting the mirror away from the blinds. When we first got our van we didn't move the mirror when drawing the windscreen blinds, and when the blinds were drawn they touched the mirror. We had to "gently persuade" the blinds into the top holders which put the whole system under pressure due to the mirror pushing the blind - this caused the blind to pop out of the top holder occasionally.

Tilting the mirror away from the blinds so there was no contact solved the problem for us.

It's a pain as I have to re-adjust the mirror afterwards, but the blinds stay closed and don't pop out any more.

 

[Stu@rt]

Anybody got creases in the front blinds? If so is there a way to remove them (the creases not the blinds).

Also found that the creases heal up, once put away carefully. Keep the tension on and make sure retract square and our creases healed up

 

[Nigel2020cali]

Hi Chris, I had the same problem. Went to use them for the first time after 8 months of ownership and the LHS popped out and rewound itself uncontrollably into the pillar! I was travelling light and wasn't carrying the external screen wrap I normally use. I held them together with a bulldog clip attached to both handles. Anyway, after visiting the local dealership a few times with their attempts to fix the issue, which included replacing the spring clips, they agreed to change the blind - it worked! What I noticed on closer inspection was that the "spigot" (the bit at the top of the blind that goes into hinged clip) was slightly longer than that on the orginal - it was really obvious when compared to the RHS which went unchanged. Not having experienced the same problem with the RHS blind as I always held them together with the bulldog clip, the RHS blind was now prone to popping out - thankfully my local dealership had this changed under warranty as well. I really notice the difference with the replacement blinds as when you attach them to the hinged brackets, there is more resistance when locating the spigot into the hole. I hope this is of some help to you. Regarding the question about creased blinds which I also experienced - I left them open and allowed the baking sun to help the creases naturally fall out. It's not perfect but it was an improvement. Happy travels.

 

[Corradobrit]

New owner here and the front blinds are my least fav part of the Cali (so far). It always takes several attempts to avoid creasing the material and ensuring the top and bottom sit in the pillar evenly. My dealer showed how they recommend deploying the blinds. Fold the rearview mirror forwards, then pull the blinds slowly placing the lower end in the hole first. Then pull the appropriate upper flap out and secure upper end into the hole. The edge of mirror provides a little more tension in the rods so they are less likely to disconnect. They are like hair triggers.
From now on I'll be using the Project Camper Cab blinds. Far less hassle.