Pop up roof Motor Started working while sleeping

[kernow Cali]

I have had my Cali for 4 years now and think its great, both my young children love it and we have been away camping many times, but on our last camping trip we were asleep with both children in the roof. We were woken by the roof motor start working. My Wife scream the Kids and I jumped up to get them but within them 2 to 3 seconds it stopped. I have been to my VW dealer who have had it for more than a week and have told me there is nothing wrong with it, and you can't work the roof with out the key in the ignition. The key was in my pocket.
I have also had problems with my Leisure Battery flashing in the over head panel and not working, then down the line working fine, only to be told the same from VW, there's nothing wrong with it.
Has anybody else had any similar problems???????????

 

[WelshGas]

Cannot help with the leisure battery, but the hydraulic system on the elevating roof checks the pressure in the system every so often and if it detects a drop switches on automatically, without the key in the ignition, to re-pressurise . How long had the roof been up?
This is normal. Check the special handbook relating to the California equipment.

 

[Vantastic2]

We have had our cali for over 13 Mnths now and it happened to us for the first time 2 mnths ago as we had a 2 night break with the Cali parked up for those days..
Bit annoying too when it decided to adjust roof in early hrs of morning, but it did what the book said :crazy

 

[keemjay]

yes!!!! we find ours always does this roughty around the 3rd night the roof has been up without moving the van..and it always seems to do this in the middle of the freakin night!!!! the first time i thought the world had come to an end and it frightened the bejesus out of us..now we are more used to it..the kids dont seem to notice it at all. we now usually check and notice when the roof has 'subsided' just a wee bit ( the canvas looks a bit slack)and press the roof up button ourselves in the more sociable and less frightening hours during daylight and that stops it surprising us!!

Kim

 

[kernow Cali]

Thanks very much for your advice, much better than VW

 

[Stu]

I have had my Cali for 4 years now and think its great, both my young children love it and we have been away camping many times, but on our last camping trip we were asleep with both children in the roof. We were woken by the roof motor start working. My Wife scream the Kids and I jumped up to get them but within them 2 to 3 seconds it stopped. I have been to my VW dealer who have had it for more than a week and have told me there is nothing wrong with it, and you can't work the roof with out the key in the ignition. The key was in my pocket.

This is the second story in as many weeks of a dealer having had a van in for a period of time to trace a something which isn't actually a fault - If they knew their product they would not have wasted yours and their time.

 

[sbmcd]

We have had our cali for about 17 months now, roof has very sagged slightly on the offside a couple of times when parked up for a number of days but the pump has never kicked in, until recently, it came on once during our recent trip to Europe, during the day to unsag the offending side.

 

[Hotel California]

If you don't turn on the egnition/ contact for 10 to 12 h while the roof is up it correct itself IF it's saggy...one or both sides....
So when on site few days it could happen.
If you don't want this to happen at night , just turn the contact on and off before going to sleep.
If you see the roof is saggy when you intend to close it ....
FIRST raise it back up fully by puching the button manual before lowering it ....outherwise it can resolve in one side closed and other side few inch. open.

 

[Hotel California]

While spending three nights in a row at the same spot in France last week we noticed the roof correct itself for the first time ....at 4 am...you are awake in a flash....
Usually i turn the contact on/of before go to sleep but as we were at relatives house on the driveway we just used the Cali to sleep in , nothing else and i did not use anything else on it for a few days...exept the fridge on 2 cooling some drinks.
Roof did seem to drop a bit in three (hot + 30°) days.

 

[scraynes]

Good to know - I'll make sure I turn on the ignition before bed from now on - Thanks VWCC

 

[Peter Lennox]

Hi All,

Thanks for this info. I wish I'd read this before asking VW to investigate as I'm going to be faced with a £120 diagnostics bill. They (VW Lookers at Byker, Newcastle Upon Tyne) couldn't offer an opinion when I described this issue so they have charged me a diagnostic fee. I will offer my opinion to them in that they should know this to be normal and should have therefore advised accordingly however I don't fancy my chances. I have started to put the roof down a touch then back before my wife and I go to sleep knowing it happens only after a 8 hours or so. First time it happened I've never leapt out of bed so quick in my life with the kids up in the Penthouse Suite.

Thanks,
Peter

 

[Hotel California]

If they charge you for this at your "dealer" never go there again!
Useless VW dealers ....imo

 

[Peter Lennox]

100% agree

 

[GrannyJen]

Hi All,

Thanks for this info. I wish I'd read this before asking VW to investigate as I'm going to be faced with a £120 diagnostics bill. They (VW Lookers at Byker, Newcastle Upon Tyne) couldn't offer an opinion when I described this issue so they have charged me a diagnostic fee. I will offer my opinion to them in that they should know this to be normal and should have therefore advised accordingly however I don't fancy my chances. I have started to put the roof down a touch then back before my wife and I go to sleep knowing it happens only after a 8 hours or so. First time it happened I've never leapt out of bed so quick in my life with the kids up in the Penthouse Suite.

Thanks,
Peter

If they charge you then please come back and tell us. If they had someone half-proficient in knowledge of a vehicle that they would gladly sell for £60-£70k then they would know it is all perfectly normal and advise accordingly.

You should not have to pay for their ignorance regarding a premium product that they get paid to sell.

 

[Hotel California]

Some of us could make lots of money so it seems beeing a VW-California consultant...

 

[Peter Lennox]

After a battle with the service manager he wouldn't back down and so I ended up paying £120 for nothing. Gutted. He even photocopied the relevant page out of the book I showed him to show his 'master technician'! What a total joke.

It was also in because my carbon monoxide alarm went off twice during our last trip. They said they are not qualified to check this and I have to take it the caravan place for a habitation check. That's £200 + VAT before the issue is resolved.

There's more but that's as much as I want to twist about for now.

 

[Hotel California]

Think that's one for the list "bad dealers" for sure.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/good-bad-vw-dealers-we-need-your-feedback.20995/unread

 

[zerofour]

After a battle with the service manager he wouldn't back down and so I ended up paying £120 for nothing. Gutted. He even photocopied the relevant page out of the book I showed him to show his 'master technician'! What a total joke.

It was also in because my carbon monoxide alarm went off twice during our last trip. They said they are not qualified to check this and I have to take it the caravan place for a habitation check. That's £200 + VAT before the issue is resolved.

There's more but that's as much as I want to twist about for now.

I would have just refused to pay the diagnostic fee, that's outrageous. They should have been able to advise as to the cause. Did you purchase it there?

 

[The Mighty Pauls]

Hi there - not sure if this has ever happened to anyone else, but while we were camping in France, the motor for the elevating roof started in the middle of the night for no reason.

It only lasted a few seconds and thankfully, didn't seem to actually close - but it was rather unnerving as the kids were fast asleep in the roof at the time. It has happened twice since - both on hook up and without.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? Should I be concerned at all? Not sure if I should contact VW... Any advice as always would be greatly appreciated.

All the very best

TTP
Bristol

 

[T6 CFO]

It’s normal. Ignore it.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/roof-motor-buzzed.10885/

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/pop-up-roof-motor-started-working-while-sleeping.7857/

Mike

 

[The Mighty Pauls]

Great stuff - thanks Mike!!

 

[WelshGas]

Great stuff - thanks Mike!!

Did you not read this Thread before Posting?

Didn't the Title hint at what the thread was about and the subsequent 18 posts?

 

[The Mighty Pauls]

Hi WelshGas - apologies, I hadn't seen this thread before my own was merged into it. It was, as always, most helpful.

Best wishes

TTP

 

[T6 CFO]

Did you not read this Thread before Posting?

Didn't the Title hint at what the thread was about and the subsequent 18 posts?

I believe HC helpfully merged it after the post WG


Mike

 

[WelshGas]

Hi WelshGas - apologies, I hadn't seen this thread before my own was merged into it. It was, as always, most helpful.

Best wishes

TTP

Ah, didn't realise it had been merged.