Replacement central control unit

[Wesley Thomas]

Hi everyone,

The central control unit in my MP has failed after I spilt a coffee over it.

Sadly I only found out when trying to lower the roof on a campsite and the down switch no longer worked.

Fortunately there was another MP on site and after some begging the owners very kindly let me remove the unit out of their van and temporarily fit it into mine, which worked perfectly and allowed me to lower the roof.

As a result I now know that the unit is very easy to replace , but I am struggling to source a new one.

The parts department at my local Mercedes (Northampton) didn’t have it on their system (presumably because it is a Westfalia part?) and directed me toward Mercedes Vans in Milton Keynes. They had not heard of Westfalia and said that they couldn’t help.

I called Harbour Creek Motorhomes as I had seen them mentioned on here as a Westfalia dealer. They were very helpful, but advised that they work with Westfalia France and directed me toward their local Mercedes Vans dealership. I have yet to try them, but feel like I am going round in circles.

Has anyone had any luck sourcing a replacement unit or recommendations of the best way to do so?

Thank you!
Wesley

 

[Steve B]

This is the first post i can remember regarding replacing the control unit. Hopefully someone can help but good luck in finding the replacement. Could you update the thread when you do source the new part? Thanks

 

[PhilandSal]

Hi everyone,

The central control unit in my MP has failed after I spilt a coffee over it.

Sadly I only found out when trying to lower the roof on a campsite and the down switch no longer worked.

Fortunately there was another MP on site and after some begging the owners very kindly let me remove the unit out of their van and temporarily fit it into mine, which worked perfectly and allowed me to lower the roof.

As a result I now know that the unit is very easy to replace , but I am struggling to source a new one.

The parts department at my local Mercedes (Northampton) didn’t have it on their system (presumably because it is a Westfalia part?) and directed me toward Mercedes Vans in Milton Keynes. They had not heard of Westfalia and said that they couldn’t help.

I called Harbour Creek Motorhomes as I had seen them mentioned on here as a Westfalia dealer. They were very helpful, but advised that they work with Westfalia France and directed me toward their local Mercedes Vans dealership. I have yet to try them, but feel like I am going round in circles.

Has anyone had any luck sourcing a replacement unit or recommendations of the best way to do so?

Thank you!
Wesley

View attachment 4023

Morning Wesley

I have just had my roof repaired after it refused to lower. Although it wasn’t the control box that had failed, Mercedes of Taunton managed to source parts. (Not sure from where).

Mercedes class the MP as a car so the commercial side won’t help. It may be worth giving Lee at Taunton a call. He was very helpful.

Good luck. It took me ages to get anywhere trying to sort my roof. (Turns out it was an actuator)

Regards

Phil

 

[WESTIES]

Hi everyone,

The central control unit in my MP has failed after I spilt a coffee over it.

Sadly I only found out when trying to lower the roof on a campsite and the down switch no longer worked.

Fortunately there was another MP on site and after some begging the owners very kindly let me remove the unit out of their van and temporarily fit it into mine, which worked perfectly and allowed me to lower the roof.

As a result I now know that the unit is very easy to replace , but I am struggling to source a new one.

The parts department at my local Mercedes (Northampton) didn’t have it on their system (presumably because it is a Westfalia part?) and directed me toward Mercedes Vans in Milton Keynes. They had not heard of Westfalia and said that they couldn’t help.

I called Harbour Creek Motorhomes as I had seen them mentioned on here as a Westfalia dealer. They were very helpful, but advised that they work with Westfalia France and directed me toward their local Mercedes Vans dealership. I have yet to try them, but feel like I am going round in circles.

Has anyone had any luck sourcing a replacement unit or recommendations of the best way to do so?

Thank you!
Wesley

View attachment 4023

Hi Wesley
I have a spare heathy and fully functioning Central Control Panel which is 6 years old and we are near Portsmouth, so if you are still seeking one contact me......Peter 07752059477

 

[Crispin]

Hi Wesley
I have a spare heathy and fully functioning Central Control Panel which is 6 years old and we are near Portsmouth, so if you are still seeking one contact me......Peter 07752059477

I think mines on the way out 2018… any ideas on where to get a new one anywhere?

 

[j200george]

Wesley, is there any way into the unit and to try and clean the contacts with some switch cleaner?

Is the same unit used in any other van? Not sure if you’ve tried the vw site at all? Any conversion companies near you that could help maybe?

It’s a poor show that westfalia are impossible to communicate with, I tried a while back to get info from them on error codes and it was a complete dead end.

Please keep us updated. You may be the first on this site with this issue but I doubt you’ll be the last.

 

[enano]

Wesley, is there any way into the unit and to try and clean the contacts with some switch cleaner?

Is the same unit used in any other van? Not sure if you’ve tried the vw site at all? Any conversion companies near you that could help maybe?

It’s a poor show that westfalia are impossible to communicate with, I tried a while back to get info from them on error codes and it was a complete dead end.

Please keep us updated. You may be the first on this site with this issue but I doubt you’ll be the last.

We have a manual roof and after reading from lots of people with minor issues that block roof actuation (electronics, actuators, hydraulics) I'm very glad with it. The only issue is you need some strength to open it, so if you are short and not strong you may need a bit of help. We carry one of these jacks - modified with a bit of padding - and it does the job.

The lack of support from Westfalia is a real pity. MB cars doesn't know and tells customers to contact MB vans, MB vans doesn't know and tells customers to contact Westfalia, Westfalia apparently doesn't care and tells customers to contact their car manufacturer.

 

[j200george]

We have a manual roof and after reading from lots of people with minor issues that block roof actuation (electronics, actuators, hydraulics) I'm very glad with it. The only issue is you need some strength to open it, so if you are short and not strong you may need a bit of help. We carry one of these jacks - modified with a bit of padding - and it does the job.

The lack of support from Westfalia is a real pity. MB cars doesn't know and tells customers to contact MB vans, MB vans doesn't know and tells customers to contact Westfalia, Westfalia apparently doesn't care and tells customers to contact their car manufacturer.

There has to be a way of engaging with westfalia. They still trade Dont they? Surely one of the vw conversion companies uses them for support? When I have time in my life I must look into it. Cant be just supply merc then have no support thereafter. That raises all sorts of issues over liability etc. unless westfalia are no longer trading there must be at least some way of an MB dealer getting a new unit or some spare parts.

 

[enano]

There has to be a way of engaging with westfalia. They still trade Dont they? Surely one of the vw conversion companies uses them for support? When I have time in my life I must look into it. Cant be just supply merc then have no support thereafter. That raises all sorts of issues over liability etc. unless westfalia are no longer trading there must be at least some way of an MB dealer getting a new unit or some spare parts.

Dealers can get spares. Some simply don't care - they sell too few Marco Polos and earn their bread selling sedans and SUVs. Few dealers have any experience supporting the mobile home side of the van.
What most dealers won't do is sell Westfalia parts they are not installing themselves. If your van has a factory supplied awning and its supports somehow fail they can replace them; if your van did not come with an awning, most won't sell you the supports so you can install them yourself.

Officially, Westfalia services Marco Polos and provides spares through Mercedes only. I did contact them years ago.

 

[j200george]

Dealers can get spares. Some simply don't care - they sell too few Marco Polos and earn their bread selling sedans and SUVs. Few dealers have any experience supporting the mobile home side of the van.
What most dealers won't do is sell Westfalia parts they are not installing themselves. If your van has a factory supplied awning and its supports somehow fail they can replace them; if your van did not come with an awning, most won't sell you the supports so you can install them yourself.

Officially, Westfalia services Marco Polos and provides spares through Mercedes only. I did contact them years ago.

£100k van and next to zero support for westfalia. It’s a very poor show.

I emailed them to get a list of error codes a few years back. Radio silence.

I am fairly sure however if the OP were to contact an independent conversion company who convert the VW vans they’d surely know what to do. Might actually be worth posting on the sister forum and seeing if anyone has contacts or experience of a failed centre console.

Hopefully we get the full story if/ when Wesley comes back to the forum, annoyingly I have noticed many owners come on here give us horror stories and we all jump through hoops to help and then they bugger off never to return.