R36 Pneumatic Bolsters

[prn31]

Not sure if this is a common problem or not, but the pneumatic bolsters on the drivers seat of my R36 doesn't work. Works perfectly on the passenger seat but not the drivers side. When I press the switch nothing happens.

I've booked the car into the auto electricians (air con regas/Climatronics issue) next week and they will take a look, but just wondering if anyone else has had this problem in the past.

[tinto]

Mine is similar but it tightens up then eases off so there's no real bolstering.
its irritating as hell - my dealer told me they couldn't replicate it when it was in for warranty work.

Passenger side is perfect.

[tomd3969]

Not sure if this is a common problem or not, but the pneumatic bolsters on the drivers seat of my R36 doesn't work. Works perfectly on the passenger seat but not the drivers side. When I press the switch nothing happens.

I've booked the car into the auto electricians (air con regas/Climatronics issue) next week and they will take a look, but just wondering if anyone else has had this problem in the past.

Check out this thread over on vwgolf forum

Seat lumber support failure - Page 5

[tinto]

Looks like that is a link for the lumbar support mechanism - from memory mine are working fine, but good ot know there's a fix if they play up!
We're referring to the side bolsters in the R36 seats that close in on you with the seat controls.

[prn31]

Mmm, so it turns out that when the driver's bolster was repaired, the upholsterer forgot to reconnect the wire to the switch! Too easy.

Worked out how to get the LHS mirror down in reverse too - did a forum search and the auto electrician came up with the same answer.

Unfortunately the auto electrician also confirmed that the air conditioning compressor is stuffed. Looks like it will cost from $2,000 to $2,500 to rectify depending on whether the condenser needs to be replaced as well. Ouch! Mmm, another warranty claim awaits. Spoken to the dealer and waiting to hear back from them - I believe I'm covered.

Wonder whether I should have taken out extended warranty?

[dannyjak]

What was wrong with the air con? just didnt work?

LHS mirror down? did the mirror selector need to be set to the left mirror?

[prn31]

What was wrong with the air con? just didnt work?

LHS mirror down? did the mirror selector need to be set to the left mirror?

The air con wasn't very effective. On warmish days (24 degrees) when on holiday on the mid north coast it couldn't cope. A diagnostic test revealed it was low on gas, pressure was low and the compressor wasn't able to meet the demands of the Climatronics system. Not sure what caused it, but I suspect my car was inactive for a long period of time and this may have played a part. Certainly the compressor shouldn't fail after 5 years.

Re the mirror down mode - yes the switch needs to be permanently set to "L".

[slipshot]

Ah the lovely compressor failure. My 2010 has never been great so the other day I thought I'd get it checked out by an air con specialist who charged me $100 for the privilege of telling me the compressor is on its way out. My reason for checking was that it seemed to take too long to demist in the mornings as if I was blowing humid (non air con) air onto the windscreen reminding of days a long time ago... anyhow, had a chat with my very trustworthy VW indy specialist who said, yep very common on R36's and he did one just last week but that was covered (only the compressor though) under warranty. Mine is not, so I'm forking out. His cost as he pulled out the paperwork was about $700 for the compressor, with a total cost of $1,400 including refill of the air con gas, and everything else associated with it (labour etc). Mine has always been on Auto but that said, no idea what the first owner had it on. But, while I agree it should not fail, he said he's seen quite a few of them and it's nothing new. Just a bit pants really...

[Passat R36]

heard from overseas that it can be easy as changing a valve on the compressor to bring the air con back, they think it's the faulty valve instead of the whole compressor.

this eBay link is just show how the valve looks, not sure if it's the exact part, check before you buy.
VW Volkswagen Passat R36 PCV Pressure Control Valve AIR Conditioning Flow PXE16 | eBay

[Jakeys]

Ah the lovely compressor failure. My 2010 has never been great so the other day I thought I'd get it checked out by an air con specialist who charged me $100 for the privilege of telling me the compressor is on its way out. My reason for checking was that it seemed to take too long to demist in the mornings as if I was blowing humid (non air con) air onto the windscreen reminding of days a long time ago... anyhow, had a chat with my very trustworthy VW indy specialist who said, yep very common on R36's and he did one just last week but that was covered (only the compressor though) under warranty. Mine is not, so I'm forking out. His cost as he pulled out the paperwork was about $700 for the compressor, with a total cost of $1,400 including refill of the air con gas, and everything else associated with it (labour etc). Mine has always been on Auto but that said, no idea what the first owner had it on. But, while I agree it should not fail, he said he's seen quite a few of them and it's nothing new. Just a bit pants really...

Oh god I thought mine was fine but mine also takes a very long time to demist. Is this not normal??? I just replaced my Haldex, I don't want to spend the same again on air con.

[prn31]

When I think about it, the only time my R36 was covered with due and I tried to demist the interior, I just made things worse - had to drive with the windows down for 5 minutes - should have twigged then...

According to what I've been told (and what is on my invoice) the pressure control valve has stopped working. But I imagine that to access the PCV and replace it would cost just as much in labour as replacing the compressor. Plus I've been told that they would need t check the quality of the oil in the compressor and that if there are metal fragments then it would probably have contaminated the condenser down stream.

It is all conjecture until they inspect the compressor - it may well be a faulty PCV that initially failed, but I suspect it may have damaged the compressor and will need to be replaced.

[slipshot]

Ok, as an update. My friendly garage man in Brunswick had the car in today and I'd also done my research on the compressor. As prn31 has said, sometimes when it fails the actual compressor does get metal fragments in it and this eventually leads to failure. There's no easy way of checking if the compressor has failed (I believe) so for those who want to try the quick fix it would make sense to order it and give it a go.

I had a look at mine when it came off and the model number was 1K0 820 859Q so from what I've seen this was a later model. However it was also used across quite a few different cars and often has failures. The Garage had an R36 in just last week with the same model and the same issue.

I now have a new compressor (Denso I think, I can get the model number if required) fitted and the whole system re-gassed (because it has to be emptied of gas before removing the compressor). This is what takes the time - removing the undertray and compressor is about 15 mins. Ditto replacing it. But I now have lovely and instant cold air which is 'freezing' as opposed to chilled which I was occasionally getting before. Not cheap but should last longer than the 10 years the current unit has lasted....

[Jakeys]

Ok, as an update. My friendly garage man in Brunswick had the car in today and I'd also done my research on the compressor. As prn31 has said, sometimes when it fails the actual compressor does get metal fragments in it and this eventually leads to failure. There's no easy way of checking if the compressor has failed (I believe) so for those who want to try the quick fix it would make sense to order it and give it a go.

I had a look at mine when it came off and the model number was 1K0 820 859Q so from what I've seen this was a later model. However it was also used across quite a few different cars and often has failures. The Garage had an R36 in just last week with the same model and the same issue.

I now have a new compressor (Denso I think, I can get the model number if required) fitted and the whole system re-gassed (because it has to be emptied of gas before removing the compressor). This is what takes the time - removing the undertray and compressor is about 15 mins. Ditto replacing it. But I now have lovely and instant cold air which is 'freezing' as opposed to chilled which I was occasionally getting before. Not cheap but should last longer than the 10 years the current unit has lasted....

Great news mate. Mine is an MY10.5, takes about a couple minutes to properly demist the front windscreen on extremely cold nights, which I assume is not normal because it's annoying as hell and my old Mitsubishi Verada did a much better job, but it otherwise works perfectly so I'm not too worried about mine in the short term I think, it heats and cools just fine. Except in Summer, the Verada unit was a complete powerhouse. Could be 45C outside and you'd be wearing a jumper in the Verada it was so cold, those Aussie made cars have proper air cons!

[vagr36]

Oh god I thought mine was fine but mine also takes a very long time to demist. Is this not normal??? I just replaced my Haldex, I don't want to spend the same again on air con.

nahh dont think thats normal if i turn mine on it instantly demists hrrmmm could it just need to be regassed?