Sagging drivers side roof

[GrumpyGranddad]

Followed the advice on forum. Raised and lowered 5 times and it seems to have worked. Roof been up for almost 3 days with no sag.

Probably something worth doing periodically.

 

[Defender90]

Followed the advice on forum. Raised and lowered 5 times and it seems to have worked. Roof been up for almost 3 days with no sag.

This could be down to the outside temperature now it’s colder the oil is thicker which means it can’t pass over the pump non return,but fingers crossed it’s sorted

 

[Begize]

Followed the advice on forum. Raised and lowered 5 times and it seems to have worked. Roof been up for almost 3 days with no sag.

That worked once for me, problem re-occured the next time I had the roof up. I tried the 5 times trick again and it didn't work.

Mine happened within minutes of putting the roof up and meant the lights didn't work in the pop top when it sagged. The camper display showed the roof was in "intermediate position" - put the roof up and they worked again. Ten minutes later intermediate position again and no lights. I'd say that's not within acceptable limits if that's what you are seeing, it's hardly practical to keep putting the roof up every ten minutes so you can have the lights on.

 

[yossarian]

The VW procedure is similar to 5x up and down but not exactly the same (requires modulation of the bypass valve).

VW says to repeat the whole procedure up to 3 times.

 

[dayslikethis]

This could be down to the outside temperature now it’s colder the oil is thicker which means it can’t pass over the pump non return,but fingers crossed it’s sorted

I will monitor and update forum if necessary. Northern Spain certainly wasn’t too hot when it happened but we’ll see

 

[dayslikethis]

The VW procedure is similar to 5x up and down but not exactly the same (requires modulation of the bypass valve).

VW says to repeat the whole procedure up to 3 times.

Thanks

 

[dayslikethis]

That worked once for me, problem re-occured the next time I had the roof up. I tried the 5 times trick again and it didn't work.

Mine happened within minutes of putting the roof up and meant the lights didn't work in the pop top when it sagged. The camper display showed the roof was in "intermediate position" - put the roof up and they worked again. Ten minutes later intermediate position again and no lights. I'd say that's not within acceptable limits if that's what you are seeing, it's hardly practical to keep putting the roof up every ten minutes so you can have the lights on.

OMG. I’ll monitor and will put roof out again once this downpour stops. Thanks for info

 

[dayslikethis]

Followed the advice on forum. Raised and lowered 5 times and it seems to have worked. Roof been up for almost 3 days with no sag.

Now the rain has stopped (2 weeks later) I’ve had the roof up again for 36 hours and pleased to say it hasn’t sagged again. Fingers crossed the forum advice (raise and lower 5 times) has done the trick.

 

[GeeManCamper22]

After 2 nights the drivers side roof on our t6.1 brand new in May this year had sagged enough to stop roof lights from working the ram had moved about 2 inches I booked it In at our local VW dealership where it was purchased from they have had it for 3 days but claim the roof hasn’t sagged this is the second time it has been in for the same problem though last time they only had it over night I showed video and photo evidence of the sagging when I took the van in. I have now left it with them for a further 2 nights so see if they can see any sagging not sureView attachment 113673 where to go from here if they say there is no View attachment 113674problem with it as it’s my word against theirs. Anyone had similar issues ?

I have just experienced the exact same problem on my 22 T6.1 for the first time this year, having only had roof up twice this year.
Advised the dealer and awaiting call, but will try the up and down several times routine and having engine turning over. The auto lift during the night was a real pain and it it looks bad. Appears VW have never really resolved this.

 

[Defender90]

I have just experienced the exact same problem on my 22 T6.1 for the first time this year, having only had roof up twice this year.
Advised the dealer and awaiting call, but will try the up and down several times routine and having engine turning over. The auto lift during the night was a real pain and it it looks bad. Appears VW have never really resolved this.

Yes lack of use could cause issues like this the roof hydraulic system could have air trapped in it ,defo put the roof up 7 to 8 times in a row that should push any air from the the system

 

[Mehdime]

I have just experienced the exact same problem on my 22 T6.1 for the first time this year, having only had roof up twice this year.
Advised the dealer and awaiting call, but will try the up and down several times routine and having engine turning over. The auto lift during the night was a real pain and it it looks bad. Appears VW have never really resolved this.

The California on display in the Bright VW showroom in Swords (Ireland) has the sagging roof issue (and has had for a while, I pointed it out to them months ago and it was still there when I went for a service a few days ago).

Ours did this during a holiday in France. No amount of going up and down helped. Brought it in for repairs. They replaced / fixed something but I don’t know what exactly. Roof has been fine since but we haven’t yet tried to camp in 40 degree temperatures since then. So not sure the problem is truly fixed.

 

[bob_summers]

Will try the 5x thing today, we're starting our third summer in the van and it's been infected with a mild case of roof sag since the beginning. Retensioning it two or three times a day is livable with (despite a Dutch van here on site with zero sag at all) but I'd at least like to think I've tried what I can to fix it. It comes down enough to cut the lights eventually. I'll mention it at the next service but can't be bothered taking it in especially.

I'm intrigued by the 10 hour reset. Surely all vans would have this? There's no reason why mine wouldn't (delivered may '22)? It's just that I've never witnessed it, and we're in the van 12-14 weeks a year. Maybe I'm not leaving it alone for long enough.

 

[Steve_gray2]

I had my roof pump replaced under warranty in 2020 for sagging on one side. They went through the process & replaced the roof rams first & that didn't work.
My understanding at the time was that there is a non-return valve on the pump which wasn't sealing properly, it was reputed to be a particular batch of pumps that had some manufacturing swarf caught in the valve.
Putting the roof up and down a few times in quick succesion may well be a good way of moving anything that is caught in the valve. Whether it fixes it or not, it's a simple no cost exercise thats got to be worth a try.

Hi - do you know how much your roof sagged to trigger a warranty claim? Ours sagged 12cm at the dealers overnight and VW have refused a claim…

 

[Corradobrit]

Hi - do you know how much your roof sagged to trigger a warranty claim? Ours sagged 12cm at the dealers overnight and VW have refused a claim…

Anything less than 20cm is considered 'normal'

 

[Steve_gray2]

As well we don’t sleep upstairs!

 

[andyinluton]

Hi - do you know how much your roof sagged to trigger a warranty claim? Ours sagged 12cm at the dealers overnight and VW have refused a claim…

It sagged enough for the roof lights to turn off.
When it happened originally the Software would lock the roof if it had sagged on one side & it wouldn't let you put it up or down. This made the van undrivable without doing a control panel reset ( just disconnect the starter battery for a minute or two) a call every morning to VW assist whilst on holiday in the highlands to do the reset made them take notice.

The first van software fix was to remove the software lock so the roof could at least be raised or lowered.

We also had the classic line from the workshop that they had never seen another one sag - looked pretty embarrassed when I pointed out the one about 12ft away behind him in the showroom had exactly the same problem.

 

[GeeManCamper22]

After 2 nights the drivers side roof on our t6.1 brand new in May this year had sagged enough to stop roof lights from working the ram had moved about 2 inches I booked it In at our local VW dealership where it was purchased from they have had it for 3 days but claim the roof hasn’t sagged this is the second time it has been in for the same problem though last time they only had it over night I showed video and photo evidence of the sagging when I took the van in. I have now left it with them for a further 2 nights so see if they can see any sagging not sureView attachment 113673 where to go from here if they say there is no View attachment 113674problem with it as it’s my word against theirs. Anyone had similar issues ?

I have the same problem. A 2022 T6.1. I was away on a camp site last month and upon returning to the site noticed that the driver’s side had dropped. When I repeated the pop up after a few minutes it kept dropping and I had difficulty in closing correctly. It’s now on its 3rd visit to the VW dealer. First visit they struggled to close it, as had I. Then they rebooked in for an assessment check if the problem for 1 day, the result of which was they needed to order a new strut, and I rebooked the van in. Took it in yesterday, and went to collect today as arranged, only to be told that they still had a ‘problem’ but did not offer further info. Now waiting for a call. It’s a real pain, with various sites booked and paid for over the coming weeks.
All was good until in April/May this year I noticed that there was a gap in the passenger side rear corner where the bellows had come away. I booked it in to resolve the issue, and was advised that they had glued the bellows back into place. The current problem has arisen since then! Not feeling confident about the Service that I am receiving or not as the case may be !

 

[andyinluton]

I have the same problem. A 2022 T6.1. I was away on a camp site last month and upon returning to the site noticed that the driver’s side had dropped. When I repeated the pop up after a few minutes it kept dropping and I had difficulty in closing correctly. It’s now on its 3rd visit to the VW dealer. First visit they struggled to close it, as had I. Then they rebooked in for an assessment check if the problem for 1 day, the result of which was they needed to order a new strut, and I rebooked the van in. Took it in yesterday, and went to collect today as arranged, only to be told that they still had a ‘problem’ but did not offer further info. Now waiting for a call. It’s a real pain, with various sites booked and paid for over the coming weeks.
All was good until in April/May this year I noticed that there was a gap in the passenger side rear corner where the bellows had come away. I booked it in to resolve the issue, and was advised that they had glued the bellows back into place. The current problem has arisen since then! Not feeling confident about the Service that I am receiving or not as the case may be !

I am 99% certain that changing the Strut/Ram won't make a difference, they either leak or they don't. If it was leaking you would see signs of it.
My money is on the none-return valve in the pump sticking open. It's pretty easy to check, swap the left & right rams over if the same side still drops its not the rams.

 

[Rololux]

It sagged enough for the roof lights to turn off.
When it happened originally the Software would lock the roof if it had sagged on one side & it wouldn't let you put it up or down. This made the van undrivable without doing a control panel reset ( just disconnect the starter battery for a minute or two) a call every morning to VW assist whilst on holiday in the highlands to do the reset made them take notice.

The first van software fix was to remove the software lock so the roof could at least be raised or lowered.

We also had the classic line from the workshop that they had never seen another one sag - looked pretty embarrassed when I pointed out the one about 12ft away behind him in the showroom had exactly the same problem.

My roof also sags on the RHS after about 3 days. I was not able to select raise directly, so had to lower the roof completely and raise it agin. I think I read somewhere that there is a software update available that allows you to just raise the roof when it has sagged. Can anyone confirm this? Or is it possible to just lower the roof a bit, and the raise it again? I guess I could test this myself sometime, but if someone knows it will save me the trouble!

 

[GeeManCamper22]

Asymmetric sag is likely to require a new ram on the affected side. The good news is that this seems to be the first thing that VW advises dealers to change.

In the real world one would swap rams and see if the fault moved with it. I don't think VW will work like this.

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Edit 2024: having read further on the subject my opinion is now that the most common cause is a faulty non return valve in the pump. See https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/sagging-drivers-side-roof.51112/post-711611

I am now being advised after 4 days at the dealers that more parts ordered including a new pump. Fortunately it’s covered under the warranty, but not. Incident that the dealer knows how to deal with the problem/ or as it’s a Warranty claim they are restricted by VW in how they address the problem.. either way it is going to be over a week now, and still waiting!

 

[WelshGas]

I am now being advised after 4 days at the dealers that more parts ordered including a new pump. Fortunately it’s covered under the warranty, but not. Incident that the dealer knows how to deal with the problem/ or as it’s a Warranty claim they are restricted by VW in how they address the problem.. either way it is going to be over a week now, and still waiting!

VW will have a Diagnostic and testing regimen that the Dealership must follow in order for a Warranty repair to be granted. If they don't follow that regime then they will pay themselves.

 

[GeeManCamper22]

VW will have a Diagnostic and testing regimen that the Dealership must follow in order for a Warranty repair to be granted. If they don't follow that regime then they will pay themselves.

Thank you. I presumed as much. I will be collecting soon and ‘no doubt’ all will be explained and revealed ! I have requested a full report.