Shaun's salvage R36 wagon

[shaunbags]

hey guys,


so ive bought a white 2010 r36 wagon as a repairable write off for a keeper.

there is a hole in the sump and i think it suffered some oil starvation for a short period of time.

someone jb welded it and it leaks pretty bad. the good news is the body is pretty well intact.

the engine still runs and turns over freely but the valve train is noisy, ive got a pretty good idea what i will find when i open it up...

i am toying with a couple options....

• pull it apart and fix what i find wrong, may become expensive and parts don't seem to be that thick on the ground.
• replacement 3.6 motor, straight swap and probably the easiest.
• fit the 2.0 tdi motor.....ill assume it bolts up to everything if i bought another donor car, can anyone advise on what electronic wizardry i would have to change to make that work? i know its an uncommon route but i was super keep on a passat cc125 tdi for ages until this came along and would be a great combo if it worked....

what do you guys think?

cheers
Shaun

[kamold]

The VR6 is a fantastic engine with a great soundtrack, not sure why you'd want to put a TDI in it...if you want a TDI just buy a cheap TDI will be much less hassle.

I have an Octavia with the 125TDI with a tune and it's a great car don't get me wrong....but it's no R36. It's a bit of a special car I would think you'd want to take advantage of that.

If you want to swap the engine yep it would be a straight drop in, just keep your ECU (as long as its the same ECU...MY10.5 went from ED4 to EU5 compliant so the ECU software is different on the MED9 ECU as the newer motor has some additional emissions components that it will complain I would think.)

Pulling it apart and fixing it as long as you have time I don't think is too unreasonable. You might have to wait for some parts from OS but they are certainly available.

[shaunbags]

thanks for the quick reply, in all honesty i want the vr6 in it, just not sure if i trust my right foot..... im bad enough in my 05 renault sport 225! bugger all donor cars over west here though. i have seen a few over your side of the island.

i had a good dig around for a workshop manual last night that covered the 3.6 and found nothing as im keen to start stripping the motor for detective work, it might not be that bad....

got any leads on that one?

[kamold]

PM me an email address and I can send you stuff.
Shipping an engine over your way wouldn't be too bad, just stick it on a crate and strap it down.

[shaunbags]

yeah, i had a gearbox sent from malwood auto a few years back and was about 350 delivery charge from poor memory

[shaunbags]

so if i pick up a replacement main front chrome grille from a standard passat will it fit?

the current unit has been poorly painted black and looks .....

[kamold]

The front grill for the R36 is different to the regular passat grill. I'm not sure on fitment though....

[sn809]

So how is the project going?

[shaunbags]

Didn't do anything for a a while as I was away but had a bit of time to play with it the last few days.

Half pulled the engine apart and didn't see anything wrong, pulled all the camshaft bearing caps and they where fine, did 50% of the bottom end bits and same story so Im pretty sure it was shut down immediately upon oil light coming on.
It a relief!

I've repaired the sump, pretty sure vw specced a firm cheese as the material strength on that aluminium...... If I can get it all working correctly I'll put a new sump on down the track, just didn't see the point if I was potentially going to replace the engine so I'm just seeing where it goes at the moment.

It's running a bit funny but think it's control related which I'm currently trying to diagnose.

Gave it a major service Inc DSG.

Just pulled the grille to paint it now as the chrome work was done in black and was too much on a white one (looked like a lexus haha).

Color coding the grille surround candy white, with the upper grille fins and vw logo.

Not trying to do anything fancy, just make it look like it's not bogan tuner spec. Obviously my opinion
And I'll take the wheels back to silver, they all covered in curb rash + black paint and it looks ****ty.

Thats all going to plan, the grille is fiddly to completly disassemble but patience is your friend, the PO just painted the whole thing as one peice and it didn't fare too well.

[shaunbags]

So, I'm pretty sure the wheel clockspring is shot.
Buttons light up on the wheel but that's about it, no horn or functions working.
Sound about right?

[kamold]

Yep it's certainly a possibility.
All used to work ok?
Wheel been off for any reason?
Any fault codes from steering wheel control module?

[shaunbags]

no idea if it worked before or has been removed previously.
im not getting any codes on the torque app but ive been holding back pulling it apart till my obdeleven turns up so i can do a proper scan, should be there soon.

[kamold]

There is a guy here in Sydney who is wrecking a couple of R36s if you want a replacement. The 2010 has the clockspring integrated with the stalks and steering wheel control module.
Previously the clockspring was a separate part.

[shaunbags]

so i had a headlight out.
pulled the bumper and swapped the bulbs, and the previously dead one lit up.

no worries, went to shop and got a new pair, fitted and tested- all good.

refitted bumper and drove it outside had the lights on and after a few mins the previously dead one was looking quite dull after it had heated up fully. turned it off.

let it cool down overnight and turned the lights back on this morning and the light is still dull.

more than likely a dodgey ballast you think?

[kamold]

Yeah sounds like it