New California Ocean – camper electrics have stopped working

E

EA Tony

Messages
6
Location
Rochester Kent
Vehicle
T7 ocean
Hello everyone,

After more than 20 years with Toyota and Lexus, including several RX, NX and CT models, I decided to move over to Volkswagen. I now have a brand-new ID.4, a brand-new ID.7 and a brand-new California Ocean 2.0 TDI DSG.

I knew before buying that Volkswagen might not be quite at the same level as Toyota or Lexus for reliability, but I honestly did not expect a California only a few months old to have this many problems.

The infotainment system was faulty from the day I collected the vehicle and had to be replaced under warranty. Now I have a much more serious electrical problem.

The van keeps showing Charging cable connected while I am driving, even though there is no cable connected. The leisure batteries are not charging at all, either from the hook-up or while driving, and the camper display has shown around 5 volts. The whole camper electrical system is behaving strangely and, at the moment, I cannot really use the vehicle properly as a camper.

The dealer connected it to diagnostics and told me there is a CAN bus communication problem involving the charging system and the camper electronics. Basically, the different control units are not communicating with each other properly.

They also told me they have not seen this exact fault before and that it looks different from the more common charging issues they have dealt with in the past. At first, they told me they had bad news because something important appears to have failed.

They do not want to guess or simply say it needs a software update. They expect the diagnostic work alone to take between four and six hours, and they may need to speak directly with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK before they can confirm exactly what has gone wrong.

The right-hand mirror motor has also started hesitating and stuttering when it unfolds. It seems to be getting worse, and I suspect it may fail completely soon.

Because the camper electrics are basically unusable and the leisure batteries will not charge, I have already had to cancel two trips, one to Cornwall and another to the French Alps. The van can still be driven, but I cannot use it properly for the reason I bought it.

I am still trying to stay positive and I have no intention of rejecting the California. I genuinely like it and want to keep it for many years. But for a brand-new, highly specified and very expensive camper, it is very disappointing to have a faulty infotainment system from new, followed only a few months later by what appears to be a much more complicated electrical fault.

The dealership has been excellent and is taking the problem seriously. I trust them to investigate it properly. I would be very interested to hear whether anyone else has experienced anything similar with the CAN bus, charging system, leisure batteries or camper electrics.
 
Hello everyone,

After more than 20 years with Toyota and Lexus, including several RX, NX and CT models, I decided to move over to Volkswagen. I now have a brand-new ID.4, a brand-new ID.7 and a brand-new California Ocean 2.0 TDI DSG.

I knew before buying that Volkswagen might not be quite at the same level as Toyota or Lexus for reliability, but I honestly did not expect a California only a few months old to have this many problems.

The infotainment system was faulty from the day I collected the vehicle and had to be replaced under warranty. Now I have a much more serious electrical problem.

The van keeps showing Charging cable connected while I am driving, even though there is no cable connected. The leisure batteries are not charging at all, either from the hook-up or while driving, and the camper display has shown around 5 volts. The whole camper electrical system is behaving strangely and, at the moment, I cannot really use the vehicle properly as a camper.

The dealer connected it to diagnostics and told me there is a CAN bus communication problem involving the charging system and the camper electronics. Basically, the different control units are not communicating with each other properly.

They also told me they have not seen this exact fault before and that it looks different from the more common charging issues they have dealt with in the past. At first, they told me they had bad news because something important appears to have failed.

They do not want to guess or simply say it needs a software update. They expect the diagnostic work alone to take between four and six hours, and they may need to speak directly with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK before they can confirm exactly what has gone wrong.

The right-hand mirror motor has also started hesitating and stuttering when it unfolds. It seems to be getting worse, and I suspect it may fail completely soon.

Because the camper electrics are basically unusable and the leisure batteries will not charge, I have already had to cancel two trips, one to Cornwall and another to the French Alps. The van can still be driven, but I cannot use it properly for the reason I bought it.

I am still trying to stay positive and I have no intention of rejecting the California. I genuinely like it and want to keep it for many years. But for a brand-new, highly specified and very expensive camper, it is very disappointing to have a faulty infotainment system from new, followed only a few months later by what appears to be a much more complicated electrical fault.

The dealership has been excellent and is taking the problem seriously. I trust them to investigate it properly. I would be very interested to hear whether anyone else has experienced anything similar with the CAN bus, charging system, leisure batteries or camper electrics.
Just to add a little more background, I’m not new to camping. I’ve been caravanning for many years, so I’m familiar with the usual issues that can arise with leisure batteries, charging systems and campsite hook-ups.

Before posting here, I spent quite a bit of time reading other owners’ experiences and everything I could find online. Most of the reported problems seem to be related to software updates or more common charging faults. However, my symptoms appear to be quite different, which is why both I and the dealership believe this may be a more unusual issue. The initial diagnostics also seem to point in that direction.

I’m sorry for the long message, but I hope anyone who is genuinely interested in this type of problem will take the time to read it properly.
 
Hi EA Tony, we are in a similar position. Like a lot of people, lots of research before buying and I had read tales of woe regarding the electrics, charging issues etc. I raised this with our dealer when looking at a 2025 T7 Ocean and asked if the issues had been resolved. I was assured they were.
We have had other issues with door locks etc, all resolved by the dealer and all seemed fine. However, this weekend, 3 months into ownership, we have the same as you, vehicle tells us the charging cable is attached when it isn't and would you believe, leisure batteries no longer charging from the hook up or the alternator.
I have requested a service slot for investigation and hoping this can be resolved before a festival trip in a few weeks time

Keep us updated with progress, hope they resolve quickly for you.

I did wonder if a full power down , as in disconnect the vehicle 12v battery may 'reboot' all the various modules and act as a workaround...need to find the main battery first!
 
I can only empathise: not same fault, possibly one of the more common general issues, but my 75 Ocean was in the workshop all last week having the electrics checked. After about 6 trouble free weeks of ownership, the main battery rapidly lost charge, a dashboard full of errors and the attendant fun and games of the alarm going off and the central locking failing. We called out the AA (via VW Driverline - very efficient BTW), who jump-started and monitored the battery via the camping console and declared the battery healthy.
After a week in the workshop, the working theory is that the main battery must have fully discharged at some point, and never quite recovered. I took delivery in June as a 75 pre-reg, so it’s plausible.
Don’t want to tempt fate, but since getting it back on Friday it’s behaving. They did ask us to take photos / videos if any faults recur. (Last time I was too preoccupied with shutting off the alarm before to think of getting the phone out!)
BTW @Stu65 the batteries are under the floor, the passenger seat needs to come out to access them!
 
I had the "Charging cable connected" issue along with with both batteries losing charge. This has been quite common it seems. ( many threads on here)
The answer has been a software update and a new control module.
Also dealers were (are?) woefully ignorant of the problem.
I contacted VW costomer care and they provided the necessary "incentive" for the dealer to get the issue sorted - in fact they said to me "if not fixed then get back to us and we will take it to management level".
 
I can only empathise: not same fault, possibly one of the more common general issues, but my 75 Ocean was in the workshop all last week having the electrics checked. After about 6 trouble free weeks of ownership, the main battery rapidly lost charge, a dashboard full of errors and the attendant fun and games of the alarm going off and the central locking failing. We called out the AA (via VW Driverline - very efficient BTW), who jump-started and monitored the battery via the camping console and declared the battery healthy.
After a week in the workshop, the working theory is that the main battery must have fully discharged at some point, and never quite recovered. I took delivery in June as a 75 pre-reg, so it’s plausible.
Don’t want to tempt fate, but since getting it back on Friday it’s behaving. They did ask us to take photos / videos if any faults recur. (Last time I was too preoccupied with shutting off the alarm before to think of getting the phone out!)
BTW @Stu65 the batteries are under the floor, the passenger seat needs to come out to access them!
Thanks, what a ridiculous arrangement!
 
I had the "Charging cable connected" issue along with with both batteries losing charge. This has been quite common it seems. ( many threads on here)
The answer has been a software update and a new control module.
Also dealers were (are?) woefully ignorant of the problem.
I contacted VW costomer care and they provided the necessary "incentive" for the dealer to get the issue sorted - in fact they said to me "if not fixed then get back to us and we will take it to management level".
Mine supposedly had the update and new control module, and indeed it worked fine for 2 months, only after a week at home on a hookup, unplugged, error message saying cable still connected and now, no charge from hookup or when driving, awaiting feedback from dealer
 
Thank you very much for all your replies. At the moment, I have found this YouTube video showing the same symptoms that many of us are experiencing:


However, in my opinion, I am not convinced that this will permanently cure the problem. I genuinely hope that I am wrong. As others have said here, the issue returned after two months, so it does appear to be a hardware problem.

I will keep everyone updated. The dealer took the van today and dealt with everything very quickly, as fast as possible. They gave me a new Volkswagen Transporter as a courtesy vehicle, which now has a Ford engine and many other Ford components, so it is not truly a Volkswagen, as most of you are already aware.

We will see what happens. I am not very optimistic, but I am not completely pessimistic either.

Thank you again to everyone who replied.
 
Mine supposedly had the update and new control module, and indeed it worked fine for 2 months, only after a week at home on a hookup, unplugged, error message saying cable still connected and now, no charge from hookup or when driving, awaiting feedback from dealer
@Stu65 are you using VW Hereford for your T7 (California related) issues?
 
@Stu65 are you using VW Hereford for your T7 (California related) issues?
Hi Ajax6213 - we've had the camper for 3 months, when we had the side door locking issue we took the van back to the dealer in Droitwich that we bought it from, does the Hereford centre have a good reputation? that would be far more convenient for us
 
I fixed the cable not charging issue myself using advice from a T7 Facebook Group. I basically reset the KFG2 module in the passenger footwell under the dash by pulling all four 25 amp fuses out at the same time, leaving them out for a minute, and then pushing them all back in again. 2 are in the fusebox under the bonnet (2nd pic) and 2 are in the fusebox in the kitchen unit. This happened in November last year and havent had the problem since.

The vehicle has subsequently had a software upgrade in January to solve another issue where the dash would light up with multiple warnings - so that may have coincidentally helped in the long term. Who knows....

IMG_1184.jpgIMG_1185.jpg
 
I fixed the cable not charging issue myself using advice from a T7 Facebook Group. I basically reset the KFG2 module in the passenger footwell under the dash by pulling all four 25 amp fuses out at the same time, leaving them out for a minute, and then pushing them all back in again. 2 are in the fusebox under the bonnet (2nd pic) and 2 are in the fusebox in the kitchen unit. This happened in November last year and havent had the problem since.

The vehicle has subsequently had a software upgrade in January to solve another issue where the dash would light up with multiple warnings - so that may have coincidentally helped in the long term. Who knows....

View attachment 150305View attachment 150306
Hi Swabes, I can't find the fuse box in the kitchen area, is this the California T7 (multivan) or the T6.1 that you have taken pictures of?
 
Ignore me,! false floor above the batteries.

Swabes - i'd like to thankyou, this worked, my van is now charging off the hook up and the alternator and that annoying message has gone, I suspect this is more a workaround than a fix but, it means we can now go away thios weekend and enjoy the break - thanks again
 
Hi Ajax6213 - we've had the camper for 3 months, when we had the side door locking issue we took the van back to the dealer in Droitwich that we bought it from, does the Hereford centre have a good reputation? that would be far more convenient for us
I’ve dealt with them since 2019, no issues whatsoever - good service. @WelshGas has also used them. They are no longer a specific california centre, but they sell used ones and I’m getting my T7 Ocean serviced there later this month.
 
Hello everyone,

After more than 20 years with Toyota and Lexus, including several RX, NX and CT models, I decided to move over to Volkswagen. I now have a brand-new ID.4, a brand-new ID.7 and a brand-new California Ocean 2.0 TDI DSG.

I knew before buying that Volkswagen might not be quite at the same level as Toyota or Lexus for reliability, but I honestly did not expect a California only a few months old to have this many problems.

The infotainment system was faulty from the day I collected the vehicle and had to be replaced under warranty. Now I have a much more serious electrical problem.

The van keeps showing Charging cable connected while I am driving, even though there is no cable connected. The leisure batteries are not charging at all, either from the hook-up or while driving, and the camper display has shown around 5 volts. The whole camper electrical system is behaving strangely and, at the moment, I cannot really use the vehicle properly as a camper.

The dealer connected it to diagnostics and told me there is a CAN bus communication problem involving the charging system and the camper electronics. Basically, the different control units are not communicating with each other properly.

They also told me they have not seen this exact fault before and that it looks different from the more common charging issues they have dealt with in the past. At first, they told me they had bad news because something important appears to have failed.

They do not want to guess or simply say it needs a software update. They expect the diagnostic work alone to take between four and six hours, and they may need to speak directly with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK before they can confirm exactly what has gone wrong.

The right-hand mirror motor has also started hesitating and stuttering when it unfolds. It seems to be getting worse, and I suspect it may fail completely soon.

Because the camper electrics are basically unusable and the leisure batteries will not charge, I have already had to cancel two trips, one to Cornwall and another to the French Alps. The van can still be driven, but I cannot use it properly for the reason I bought it.

I am still trying to stay positive and I have no intention of rejecting the California. I genuinely like it and want to keep it for many years. But for a brand-new, highly specified and very expensive camper, it is very disappointing to have a faulty infotainment system from new, followed only a few months later by what appears to be a much more complicated electrical fault.

The dealership has been excellent and is taking the problem seriously. I trust them to investigate it properly. I would be very interested to hear whether anyone else has experienced anything similar with the CAN bus, charging system, leisure batteries or camper electrics.
I've had this issue a few times, originally requiring the software fix, and subsequently resets by VW technicians. The last time I was advised that you should always switch off the remote end of the hookup cable before disconnecting from the van, otherwise this confuses the charge controller and causes the charging issues and cable warnings. I've not had a repeat of the issues since following this advice. Hopefully VW will provide a permanent fix to this crazy issue at some point.
 
Hello everyone,

After more than 20 years with Toyota and Lexus, including several RX, NX and CT models, I decided to move over to Volkswagen. I now have a brand-new ID.4, a brand-new ID.7 and a brand-new California Ocean 2.0 TDI DSG.

I knew before buying that Volkswagen might not be quite at the same level as Toyota or Lexus for reliability, but I honestly did not expect a California only a few months old to have this many problems.

The infotainment system was faulty from the day I collected the vehicle and had to be replaced under warranty. Now I have a much more serious electrical problem.

The van keeps showing Charging cable connected while I am driving, even though there is no cable connected. The leisure batteries are not charging at all, either from the hook-up or while driving, and the camper display has shown around 5 volts. The whole camper electrical system is behaving strangely and, at the moment, I cannot really use the vehicle properly as a camper.

The dealer connected it to diagnostics and told me there is a CAN bus communication problem involving the charging system and the camper electronics. Basically, the different control units are not communicating with each other properly.

They also told me they have not seen this exact fault before and that it looks different from the more common charging issues they have dealt with in the past. At first, they told me they had bad news because something important appears to have failed.

They do not want to guess or simply say it needs a software update. They expect the diagnostic work alone to take between four and six hours, and they may need to speak directly with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK before they can confirm exactly what has gone wrong.

The right-hand mirror motor has also started hesitating and stuttering when it unfolds. It seems to be getting worse, and I suspect it may fail completely soon.

Because the camper electrics are basically unusable and the leisure batteries will not charge, I have already had to cancel two trips, one to Cornwall and another to the French Alps. The van can still be driven, but I cannot use it properly for the reason I bought it.

I am still trying to stay positive and I have no intention of rejecting the California. I genuinely like it and want to keep it for many years. But for a brand-new, highly specified and very expensive camper, it is very disappointing to have a faulty infotainment system from new, followed only a few months later by what appears to be a much more complicated electrical fault.

The dealership has been excellent and is taking the problem seriously. I trust them to investigate it properly. I would be very interested to hear whether anyone else has experienced anything similar with the CAN bus, charging system, leisure batteries or camper electrics.
Hi Tony. I purchased a new Volkswagen California T7 2025 ocean myself late last year. I’ve been a VW enthusiast all my life and have owned several converted T4. T5. And T6 vans without any real problems.Fortunately, last year at 72 years old I managed to purchase the new California.Unfortunately the vehicle started having serious issues with the habitation battery and then the vehicle battery draining rapidly,eventually after four months and many visits to my local VW California dealership they eventually replaced post the habitation batteries and put it down to a parasitic drain and it needed a software update. If that wasn’t bad enough, I’ve since been back several times and had the vehicle battery changed.

I had to postpone a trip out to France by several weeks because of the above problem.

I have now arrived in France I’ve had exactly the same issues as you the van keeps showing charging cable connected while I’m driving either from hook up or while driving.That message appears on the dash screen and then another message appears “ warning external power sources currently unavailable” on the information screen in the habitation area.This message appears when I attach the electric hook cable.So now the habitation batteries are not being charged.

Recently the right hand door mirror motor has started hesitating when closing and making a whining noise. It takes the Window right to close and then it automatically reopens to 1/3 of the Window,fortunately I read that if you open the window fully and keep the button press down for five seconds and then do the same when you close it and keep the button down for another five seconds it should reboot it. Fortunately,this seems to have done the trick for the time being, but there’s still a whiny noise coming from behind the door panel where I believe the motor is when the window is closing.

Like you, I’m still trying to take positive, but it’s starting to take it toll especially with me being in France. Please excuse any mistakes I’m doing this on my iPhone.

Kind regards

Paul.
 
Have you guys seen the small button in the EHU socket.
It’s between the lever to unlock and the actual plug.
Small blue button, that tells the camper it has EHU cable connected.
Just a thought if this button is being stuck in could cause problems ?
Only reason I see the new button on t7 is from a manual that @Chriskend has uploaded with regard heating controls for t7.

IMG_2806.jpeg
 
Worth a check, might save a visit to the money grabbing center
 
ene
I fixed the cable not charging issue myself using advice from a T7 Facebook Group. I basically reset the KFG2 module in the passenger footwell under the dash by pulling all four 25 amp fuses out at the same time, leaving them out for a minute, and then pushing them all back in again. 2 are in the fusebox under the bonnet (2nd pic) and 2 are in the fusebox in the kitchen unit. This happened in November last year and havent had the problem since.

The vehicle has subsequently had a software upgrade in January to solve another issue where the dash would light up with multiple warnings - so that may have coincidentally helped in the long term. Who knows....

View attachment 150305View attachment 150306
Great post thank you. I am also told the 40amp in the first photo is the voltage converter 230/110volts to 12v- Hope this maybe of use.
 
Hello everyone,

After more than 20 years with Toyota and Lexus, including several RX, NX and CT models, I decided to move over to Volkswagen. I now have a brand-new ID.4, a brand-new ID.7 and a brand-new California Ocean 2.0 TDI DSG.

I knew before buying that Volkswagen might not be quite at the same level as Toyota or Lexus for reliability, but I honestly did not expect a California only a few months old to have this many problems.

The infotainment system was faulty from the day I collected the vehicle and had to be replaced under warranty. Now I have a much more serious electrical problem.

The van keeps showing Charging cable connected while I am driving, even though there is no cable connected. The leisure batteries are not charging at all, either from the hook-up or while driving, and the camper display has shown around 5 volts. The whole camper electrical system is behaving strangely and, at the moment, I cannot really use the vehicle properly as a camper.

The dealer connected it to diagnostics and told me there is a CAN bus communication problem involving the charging system and the camper electronics. Basically, the different control units are not communicating with each other properly.

They also told me they have not seen this exact fault before and that it looks different from the more common charging issues they have dealt with in the past. At first, they told me they had bad news because something important appears to have failed.

They do not want to guess or simply say it needs a software update. They expect the diagnostic work alone to take between four and six hours, and they may need to speak directly with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK before they can confirm exactly what has gone wrong.

The right-hand mirror motor has also started hesitating and stuttering when it unfolds. It seems to be getting worse, and I suspect it may fail completely soon.

Because the camper electrics are basically unusable and the leisure batteries will not charge, I have already had to cancel two trips, one to Cornwall and another to the French Alps. The van can still be driven, but I cannot use it properly for the reason I bought it.

I am still trying to stay positive and I have no intention of rejecting the California. I genuinely like it and want to keep it for many years. But for a brand-new, highly specified and very expensive camper, it is very disappointing to have a faulty infotainment system from new, followed only a few months later by what appears to be a much more complicated electrical fault.

The dealership has been excellent and is taking the problem seriously. I trust them to investigate it properly. I would be very interested to hear whether anyone else has experienced anything similar with the CAN bus, charging system, leisure batteries or camper electrics.
We had electrical issues.. secondary batteries went flat. Long story short, they wouldn't recharge, either by cable or via van. Took to two main dealers- first one couldn't resolve. Second one highlighted that the T7's had a recall (since Feb26- not sure why we didn't get the letter though!) and required software update. They charged batteries and did software update and now working well. (Just not sure what caused the batteries to drain.. and will probably never know!)
 
Hello everyone, I just wanted to keep you updated about what has happened with the California. It seems that they have finally managed to trace the issue to one cable within a large bundle of wiring. So it appears that the van may have come from the factory with these issues. The multimedia module has already been replaced, and now it seems that one cable is causing this problem. Hopefully they will finally get to the root of it. I’m sure diagnosing something like this is not easy at all, but I’m still amazed that all these problems appear to have originated from the factory.
 
Hi Tony. I purchased a new Volkswagen California T7 2025 ocean myself late last year. I’ve been a VW enthusiast all my life and have owned several converted T4. T5. And T6 vans without any real problems.Fortunately, last year at 72 years old I managed to purchase the new California.Unfortunately the vehicle started having serious issues with the habitation battery and then the vehicle battery draining rapidly,eventually after four months and many visits to my local VW California dealership they eventually replaced post the habitation batteries and put it down to a parasitic drain and it needed a software update. If that wasn’t bad enough, I’ve since been back several times and had the vehicle battery changed.

I had to postpone a trip out to France by several weeks because of the above problem.

I have now arrived in France I’ve had exactly the same issues as you the van keeps showing charging cable connected while I’m driving either from hook up or while driving.That message appears on the dash screen and then another message appears “ warning external power sources currently unavailable” on the information screen in the habitation area.This message appears when I attach the electric hook cable.So now the habitation batteries are not being charged.

Recently the right hand door mirror motor has started hesitating when closing and making a whining noise. It takes the Window right to close and then it automatically reopens to 1/3 of the Window,fortunately I read that if you open the window fully and keep the button press down for five seconds and then do the same when you close it and keep the button down for another five seconds it should reboot it. Fortunately,this seems to have done the trick for the time being, but there’s still a whiny noise coming from behind the door panel where I believe the motor is when the window is closing.

Like you, I’m still trying to take positive, but it’s starting to take it toll especially with me being in France. Please excuse any mistakes I’m doing this on my iPhone.

Kind regards

Paul.
Hi Paul, apologies for the late reply, and thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I’m really sorry to hear that you are having so many similar problems, especially while you have been away in France. I completely understand how frustrating and disappointing it must be after buying a brand-new California and looking forward to enjoying it.

My dealer has now managed to narrow my charging problem down to what appears to be a wiring fault within a group of cables under the dashboard. They are currently trying to identify the exact offending wire and repair it, so hopefully they are finally getting to the root cause. Like you, I have tried to stay positive, but these repeated problems on such an expensive new vehicle do take their toll.

I really hope you manage to get yours sorted quickly and that you can still enjoy the rest of your trip in France. Please keep me updated, as it is very interesting that we seem to be experiencing almost identical charging issues.

Kind regards,

Eugen
 
We had electrical issues.. secondary batteries went flat. Long story short, they wouldn't recharge, either by cable or via van. Took to two main dealers- first one couldn't resolve. Second one highlighted that the T7's had a recall (since Feb26- not sure why we didn't get the letter though!) and required software update. They charged batteries and did software update and now working well. (Just not sure what caused the batteries to drain.. and will probably never know!)
Adrian:
I have a thread up currently (Dead on drive) and am interested in the SW patch that you had, as I have a leisure battery charging issue (again).
The van had been on my drive for some weeks (with the EHU connected). I went out to it 2 days ago to discover it dead. AA came and restarted it and the habitation screen showed the warning “ Deep discharge protection enabled” and it ignores the EHU and the engine doesn’t charge the leisure batts.
It’s being looked at on the 22nd so on reading your post I’m wondering if the SW patch you mentioned may fix the issue.
(Was going on a break on 20th …. Now hopefully the 26th)
Also I recommend anyone having probs to get in touch with VW customer care - they are great. I have done so again with this issue and they got the info of what the garage did to sort the “EHU connected” warning and batt drain” (taking it to a different van centre).
 
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