Discussion regarding T6 ONLY roof corrosion

[Digger]

Mine was checked and all clear. If it wasn't I was going to have 19mm band of load liner paint applied along the outside rim and then seal replaced. A mates pick up has the load area painted with this tough as hell paint and it is impervious to even bricks thrown in. I am surprised VW have not thought this through as there are better alternatives to their taping.

 

[Volkywagen]

If they changed the steel belting in the rubber seal to stainless, or put some drain holes in the rubber seal the problem would be solved

 

[Keith Smith]

I'm not convinced it is the steel in the seal that is the main cause of corrosion. On my roof the steel had corroded so much as to completely discolour the paint in two places along the edges with little paint bubbling. Whereas the front edge, where water is less likely to be trapped, had the most bubbling with no sign the steel had rusted.

 

[Pips Dad]

I'm not convinced it is the steel in the seal that is the main cause of corrosion. On my roof the steel had corroded so much as to completely discolour the paint in two places along the edges with little paint bubbling. Whereas the front edge, where water is less likely to be trapped, had the most bubbling with no sign the steel had rusted.
View attachment 48021View attachment 48022

If you were to design the rubber seal yourself, the first thing would be to avoid something that was ‘U’ shaped and filled up with water every time it rained and with no means of drying out or draining. Or is that too simple for VW?

 

[WelshGas]

If you were to design the rubber seal yourself, the first thing would be to avoid something that was ‘U’ shaped and filled up with water every time it rained and with no means of drying out or draining. Or is that too simple for VW?

I don't think it is as simple as that. My vehicle is 5 yrs old, kept outside all year round in Wales, not known for its dry, arid conditions and had NO evidence of any corrosion when the roof seal was removed and the recommended tape/foil fitted.

 

[Pips Dad]

I don't think it is as simple as that. My vehicle is 5 yrs old, kept outside all year round in Wales, not known for its dry, arid conditions and had NO evidence of any corrosion when the roof seal was removed and the recommended tape/foil fitted.

Yes, it does seem strange that you have escaped the corrosion problem. Although I’m glad you are one of the apparent lucky ones.
Just had a daft thought........
Maybe Your vehicle should be examined by the VW engineers to see what they did right when it was constructed and get this long standing issue resolved for countless others?

 

[Keith Smith]

If you were to design the rubber seal yourself, the first thing would be to avoid something that was ‘U’ shaped and filled up with water every time it rained and with no means of drying out or draining. Or is that too simple for VW?

The seal on the front edge is horizontal and doesn't hold water yet this is where I had the most paint bubbling. I live in one of the drier areas of the UK and my roof was a mess after less than 2 years whilst Welshgas lives in one of the wettest parts of the UK and has no problems. My feeling is that it's the paint or the painting system that's to blame as my paint could peel off all too easily well away (50mm at least) from the seal. Im sure that we can agree that whatever the cause it's appalling that VW haven't found and cured the problem in all this time.

 

[Pips Dad]

Keith,
My Cali was taken out of my garage the other day I order for me to do soon maintenance on the roof drains, when I noticed a few blobs of water draining from the rubber seal at the rear of the raised roof. This indicates to me that the seal does in fact hold water and could exacerbate the corrosion problem that many seem to get. The van had Ben in my garage dry, for two weeks and the seal must have held this moisture all this time.
I can’t see how this could be avoided as the seal is a simple ‘knock on’ fitting and it would be nigh on impossible for water not to get trapped between the Ali roof and seal.

 

[Keith Smith]

I'm not saying it doesn't hold water, mine was green inside but when I cleaned the algae off there was no correlation between how wet/green it was and paint bubbling. That's just mine though others may find different. I agree it's not a good idea to have a water filled seal but if the paint system was designed for these conditions it shouldn't make any difference if it sits in water or not.

 

[Pips Dad]

I'm not saying it doesn't hold water, mine was green inside but when I cleaned the algae off there was no correlation between how wet/green it was and paint bubbling. That's just mine though others may find different. I agree it's not a good idea to have a water filled seal but if the paint system was designed for these conditions it shouldn't make any difference if it sits in water or not.

Point taken.
I still find it difficult to know why the people at VW can’t sort out a simple problem like this. I mean it’s not as if the roof construction at the point of corrosion was an intricate engineering masterpiece.
I just feel sorry for people who stay loyal VW in buying a very expensive vehicle and having to sort out and put up with problems like this.
Even Landrover eventually sorted out many of the bi metallic corrosion problems on the Defender by making the doors out of steel. Not sure if this is the same issue though?

 

[Volkywagen]

It’s possible that the paint hasn’t cured properly before they add the seal, or simply just that the paint they use doesn’t bond very well with the aluminium.
If there is ANY rust (not Ali oxidisation) on your roof, the only place it can come from is the steel banding in the rubber seal.

 

[Loz]

If there is ANY rust (not Ali oxidisation) on your roof, the only place it can come from is the steel banding in the rubber seal.

Or its contaminated with filings.

 

[El Greco]

Why not just fill the seal with some form of gel before fitting to the roof to ensure no water gets in? Just another avenue VW could try.

 

[GSX1300R]

If anyone wanted to return a T6 with roof corrosion, I'd just park it on the dealer's forecourt, push the keys through the letter box and instruct a solicitor. I think you'd get a pretty quick payout.
VW struggling to fix a defect that emerged on a previous model is one thing, but to have claimed to have fixed it on the late T5's, and then to have launched a new model with the same fault is totally indefensible.

Ive found that threatening big companies like VW and Mercedes gets you absolutely nowhere. Its more like slowly slowly catchie monkey. Nobody likes these things happen to them, and yes I have had my roof repaired. It appears that they now take the paint off down to the Alloy and coat it with some magic paint then GLUE the new rubber in place so you cannot move it like previously to check how things are going underneath.. I suppose the saying what you cant see cant hurt you springs to mind.....

 

[burnercan]

fill the seal with some form of gel before fitting to the roof to ensure no water gets in

Ardrox AV15 works great for that. It dries a bit sticky but nearly solid and will last a very long time. Pull the seal down bit by bit, spraying it ~ half full and refitting as you go along. Clean up the excess with isopropyl alcohol or similar and forget about it for a very long time.

I thought about using LPS2 or ACF-50 but both of these are very liquid and won't stay put nearly as long. These are a better option for guys who would want to pull the seal to clean and inspect regularly.

 

[Loz]

Wisca Electricians external box gel is good for this and you can clean it up easily and it's not permanent so it will allow for removal in the future.

Wiska One Gel Cartridge (300ml) | Wiska (ONEGEL)

 

[El Greco]

Wisca Electricians external box gel is good for this and you can clean it up easily and it's not permanent so it will allow for removal in the future.

Wiska One Gel Cartridge (300ml) | Wiska (ONEGEL)

Looks the business Loz!!

 

[Erbster]

I just checked the roof seal for the first time on my MY17 Ocean (delivered March 2017), which I have owned from new. I can't see any corrosion and after wiping with a damp cloth, the roof looks clean. I noticed two things though.

Firstly there is a sort of whiteness under the tape in places, which looks suspiciously like water trapped between the tape and the roof. Is this normal?

Secondly, the tape does not extend all the way round the roof. It runs all along the (UK) passenger side from the front corner around the rear corner, across the back and then forwards about a third of the way along the (UK) drivers door side. This means there is none at the front edge at all, and a large section of one side has none. The end of the tape is not "clean" and I guess either it has been partially peeled off by someone (not me), or was never fitted (eg the tape ran out whilst being fitted to the roof). Either way, I presume this is a fault.

My questions are:

1. I recently had the van serviced at a dealer and I know there is a recall to check for roof corrosion . Would they have checked the roof without asking telling me (because it is a recall)? I don't even know whether my vehicle was included in the recall (I assumed not, as I knew it had tape on the roof edge)

2. I would think it ought to have tape on it. If I go to a dealer, would they apply tape but then be obliged to glue it on (as I understand that this is required as part of the fix)? If that was the case, I think I would choose to obtain some of the tape and apply it myself, as I would like to be able to remove the seal periodically to check for corrosion.

Photo of UK passenger side roof, midway along. There are a number of places like this.


Passenger side front of roof:


UK Drivers side, towards rear of roof

 

[Loz]

Looks like they ran out of tape and integrity at that point.

 

[Digger]

Mine was in for a service recently at Liverpool and they checked and taped the roof. This was done without me requesting and I was informed after it had been checked and work completed. They actually advised me of the recall. No issues whatsoever and roof good.

 

[Keith Smith]

It's not inconceivable that the dealer took the rubber seal off to check for corrosion, found the front section had become unstuck due to water getting under it and just cut the lose tape off before refitting the seal.

 

[Shadrack]

I just checked the roof seal for the first time on my MY17 Ocean (delivered March 2017), which I have owned from new. I can't see any corrosion and after wiping with a damp cloth, the roof looks clean. I noticed two things though.

Firstly there is a sort of whiteness under the tape in places, which looks suspiciously like water trapped between the tape and the roof. Is this normal?

Secondly, the tape does not extend all the way round the roof. It runs all along the (UK) passenger side from the front corner around the rear corner, across the back and then forwards about a third of the way along the (UK) drivers door side. This means there is none at the front edge at all, and a large section of one side has none. The end of the tape is not "clean" and I guess either it has been partially peeled off by someone (not me), or was never fitted (eg the tape ran out whilst being fitted to the roof). Either way, I presume this is a fault.

My questions are:

1. I recently had the van serviced at a dealer and I know there is a recall to check for roof corrosion . Would they have checked the roof without asking telling me (because it is a recall)? I don't even know whether my vehicle was included in the recall (I assumed not, as I knew it had tape on the roof edge)

2. I would think it ought to have tape on it. If I go to a dealer, would they apply tape but then be obliged to glue it on (as I understand that this is required as part of the fix)? If that was the case, I think I would choose to obtain some of the tape and apply it myself, as I would like to be able to remove the seal periodically to check for corrosion.

Photo of UK passenger side roof, midway along. There are a number of places like this.
View attachment 48625

Passenger side front of roof:
View attachment 48626

UK Drivers side, towards rear of roof
View attachment 48627

That certainly is not right. The tape supposedly is there to prevent future problems occurring anywhere beneath the rubber line.
When I was shown the mod, it came in a kit with one roll of tape, a couple of preshaped corners and several pages of instruction. Enough to do the complete job.

I can only agree with Liz on my thoughts on that particular dealership.

 

[Erbster]

I contacted the dealer today and they said the workshop action does not apply to my vehicle (understandably because it has the tape applied) and they did not check the roof seal. I have to take them at their word and therefore have asked for them to remove the existing tape (with condensation beneath it) and then fit tape for the whole roof.

However, I do not want the seal bonded on permanently, I want to be able to check for corrosion myself in future. I intend to keep the van for a number of years and have decided, bearing in mind the stories on here, to get any corrosion which appears in the future attended to privately.

I’m not sure what I will do if they say that the seal has to be bonded on.


caliventures364847572.wordpress.com

 

[Shadrack]

‘I can only agree with Liz on my thoughts on that particular dealership.’
Sorry Loz, bit of finger trouble in earlier post.

It sort of makes a mockery of the roof seal being checked at a service intervals as previous posts have implied.
Saying that the tape or half tape job does not apply to them is a joke, it is a VW issue and that workshop (I assume VW) is the agent of VW.
However none of this helps you.
I would ask them to put it right rather then tell them how to do it. Although it seems the latter is needed with some dealerships.
I am not sure if they would seal it up or not after as there seems dealers that do and some like mine that don’t.
Have a discussion with the workshop manager and see if he can help and understand your position.

 

[Loz]

(If!) you do ask them to remove the tape! Insist they use a hot air gun to release the tape so they don’t peel off the paint and make it worse.