Merlin Garage Door Remote Mod - B6 Passat R36

[snerlo]

Yeah mate. From memory you just tell the actual control unit on the motor of the door to relearn the remote code. Piece of p!ss. I presume that it would be a much simpler mod than your dynaudio retrofit mate! That was a serious mod! I would love to do it as I love my music in the car, but the minister for finance would probably say......bow bow!!

[nermal]

The hardest part of the retrofit was sourcing the parts and determining compatibility.. the install was just a 1-day effort.

Let me know if you end up doing it yourself - can try make some time to help. Just make sure you have the right type of R36/amplifier first

[snerlo]

Yeah, i read your posts and how there is a difference between model years but im the same year as yours with the red MFD. Anyhow, one day. Just gotta get this RVC up and running first

[kleung]

I bought the really tiny crimped connectors that go around the pins in the button.

Ah, so that's how you got the connectors on there.

I don't think you would have got a plug for that money, plus I couldn't find it, so I didn't bother!!

Ebay prices place the connector at around about the 12 Euro mark, so nowhere near as cheap as your solution.

By the way, I'm not sure that the pin assignment is correct in that post!! The pins are labelled on the button that I got and it turned out that pins 4 and 5 worked the button from memory.

That actually seems to marry up with what I wrote - I've updated my previous post with a table to clarify the layout.

Presumably the buttons that also have an LED indicator would have a Pin1 and Pin2 as well.

I get accused of spending too much time with the car and not with the wife and 12 month old so I can only spend so much time doing these little mods.

You should show her this page. Evidently not spending enough time away from your partner can cause you to feel less attracted to her, and erectile dysfunction.

[Guest001]

Really cool mod! Makes me want to install a remote garage door.

Can the Merlin remote be ported to a different garage door if/when you move house (or sell the car)?

yes they can as long as its the same make of door motor EG another Merlin but probably not a different make

[snerlo]

Got around to hooking up the LED light within the switch today. In the process, I also found out that my cigarette lighter light globe was also not working. Well, after pulling the unit out and eventually working out how to get the light out (after very slightly destroying the holder), I found that the bulb had blown. Anyhow, a ring to supercheap auto and blow me down with a feather, they have the exact bulbs that I need in a two pack. Whacked the new bulb in, and way she went. I also decided to splice in the button LED to the light for the cigarette lighter. All works great and looks OEM. The colour match is absolutely perfect!! Really happy. Now I have to start researching LED interior globes although this isn't an urgent thing. Don't wanna spend a lot on them.
My advice to anyone thinking about doing the garage remote mod, just do it. It is unreal and makes it so easy and cool, to open the garage door. I love this mod. Probably the best mod I have done.

[kleung]

My advice to anyone thinking about doing the garage remote mod, just do it. It is unreal and makes it so easy and cool, to open the garage door. I love this mod. Probably the best mod I have done.

Well, you've inspired me. I dug out my old 'dead' keyfob and, with some help from a friend managed to take it apart. Turns out it still works, but the carbon pads on the back of the green rubber part had basically liquefied and munged up the contact pads on the circuitboard. Cleaned it up, and it tests ok when I short the pad with probes.

With those preliminaries out of the way, I ordered the button a few days ago, so I'll have a go at this myself when it turns up.

In terms of the soldering of the wires, I think I might have found an easier way. If you follow the tracks on the circuit board, they go to circular pads with holes in the middle. I suspect that this will be a much easier location for soldering the wires, and it's likely to be a bit more robust as a result. I'll try and get some photos when I get around to doing mine.

By the way, would you by any chance have the part number for the crimped pins from Jaycar? Thanks.

[snerlo]

Yeah, i know the points you are talking about mate. Thought about it but just ended up going down the route i show you here. With regards to the connectors, i dont think they have a part number on them. They are simply little connectors attached to each other via a base strip of the same alloy that they are made out of. You simply bend them off in a similar way you break off a piece if you were making a plastic model using those one piece frames that have all the parts linked together. Bad description i know, but if you take the button in with you and tell them that you need some crimped connectors for it, they will help you out. I think the pack cost only $2.50 or there abouts. They were just in a little plastic bag. I think there was about 20 in a pack. You shouldn't have any problems. Let me know if you need any other advice mate.

[b j p]

Nice work! I'll add this one to my "to do" list if I can ever find the right R36!

[snerlo]

You'll get there mate. They are worth the wait. There are quite a few on carsales at the moment though. I only got mine on chrissy eve last year. There's plenty of people on here that can offer advice.