My first TDI swap

[?Waldo?]

[MarkWard]

3 months would be pushing it, not knowing the time you have available and your mechanical skills. Doing the fabrication from scratch, it is unlikely you could complete it and have it sorted and reliable by a November trip. I have looked at some of FAS's offerings and if you purchase fabricated parts, that will speed up the time it takes to complete.

My MPG over 7500 miles average was right at 30 factoring highway, parks, and city driving.
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☮️

[?Waldo?]

It took me a total of 60 hours of labor to install my mTDI ALH. That time includes replacing timing belt and rollers, building the custom dipstick, replacing the valve cover and vac pump, modifying the engine lid, building a rear bench seat, replacing the fuel tank, repacking CVs, doing the rear brakes and replacing the plastic coolant tubes with stainless. The time to install just the drivetrain was less than 30 hours. The 60 hours does not include making a fully raised area over the engine cover to match the rear bench in the folded down position which is not yet done... Nor does it include the time I took to make my hall-effect tachometer system, install the eurovan front seats or clean the carpets and seats with the upholstery cleaner.

My average MPG with the automatic trans is 25 MPG (US gallons).

[dubbified]

Good bits, thanks!

Yea, I got lazy, didn't want to fab a harness.. called up David Marshall at Fast forward.. that harness is nice.

I'm down to rebuilding finances... with a move and a daily driver konking out.. it kinda put this project back some months.

Also, I'm in a funk.. emotionally.

I want to be out enjoying.. not modding.

A couple weekend trips over the mountains has me screaming.. Oooooooo! there'a F-ing westy. Damn Damn Damn damn!

Then I kick myself into gear.. and go to my garage.. clean, organize.. rewrite my project list.. of next to dos'..

Got a new rental garage/with a place to stay that's 1.6 miles from work.. so.. No more to/from driving to work on the van.. I can do late nights.. middle of the nights.. should be a lot easier.

Next thought, how to relocate a westy with no trans, no engine.. hehe..

I am thinking a car carrier, a come along.. or.. just get it towed by geico..

[dubbified]

[dubbified]

Ok, I moved. Its been a bit of a drag to pack everything up, relocate a dismantled engine and such.. but.. I think I have made sense of it, and retracked my project.

New home:
[img]http://s73.photobucket.com/user/Dubbified/media/IMG_1941_zpsc950b506.jpg.html?sort=3&o=6[/img]

Basic location of the Fastforward.ca harness:

[img]http://s73.photobucket.com/user/Dubbified/media/IMG_1948_zps161819bd.jpg.html?sort=3&o=5[/img]

Clean, empty, ready to go.
[img]http://s73.photobucket.com/user/Dubbified/media/IMG_1952_zps2c0f2053.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4[/img]

Got the welding supplies, stock and all my welding tools comin from where I had them stored at a friends.. I have a miller, going to pickup the spool gun to do the Stainless steel welding. I figured I am going to be doing my own coolant pipes hangers and exhaust.. why not.

I'm 1 mile from work, vs 10-15 so, less time in traffic, no driving around.. and I live where my van is.. no more driving to/from, just to work on the van.

It feels good to retrack.. See my van every day and have time on it each night.

[dubbified]

Hi,

I'm about to kick off a pre-machine shop parts order..

While ordering I'm inclined to order the headgasket.

I'm curious if anyone has any sage advice here..

This engine has 65K on it, no reason to believe any work was done to it previously.

I tossed out the original headgasket, so I have nothing to compare against. Are there any reference guides to which I'd need to choose?

Is there a dependency for choosing the gasket, such as if the block/head has been machinined the 2, and 3 hold gaskets act like a spacer....

What is the difference between 1, 2, 3 hole headgaskets for the 2001 VW ALH 1.9?

The block is flossed up, and will likely require only minor work, tanking, cleaning, assuring line bore.. and then I'm having the head lightly decked and reworked, a valve job and a cleanup, assure line bore and inspecting the head (cause it was f---ing dropped)

This work is merely foundational for a full build tdi, its unlikely I seriously damaged the engine, but.. cleaning and checking these things over isn't a bad idea durinig the build.. it would royally suck to toss as much money as I am.. and then have something buckle.

My latest dilemma looking forward, is the oil pressure gauges, how to utilize the Tdi sensor, and interface that into the vanagon odo.. idiot light on the odometer..

Then, I have multiple vdo gauges, all cockpit series Black.. they're being sunk into the dash.. 80psi gauges for engine and trans oil psi, temp sensor for tranny oil, AMP, Volt, coolant temp.

I'd never run Vdo circuits so, I'm unsure how to rig all of them each guage has a 12v pos/neg which I can easily create a harness for, powering all the gauges in one circuit, they are also going to LED to match the odo leds.

My primary concern about wiring vdo gauges, is how the guage itself needs to be powered, and where/how to run the signal wire.. when it comes to the psi senders, there are two leads, yet, +| - | S spade terminals on the back of the guage..

For the coolant temp sender, its just one female spade terminal, so I'm going to be researching vdo circuit designs..

I'm trying to figure out how many circuits will need to be laid from dash to bay..

VDO says 18 guage wire is sufficient.. so, I see THHN and SO type wires would work wouldn't it? any other ideas for wiring?

fun fun. I Fn hate wiring. atleast getting this straight in my head would help.. I'm diagramming on a pad for now..

[?Waldo?]

The headgasket thickness required has nothing at all to do with the head. It is solely determined by the piston protrusion above the block at TDC. There are various ways to measure. Make sure all the carbon is removed from the piston crowns first. On a whim I measured before and after removing the carbon and it changed the protrusion measurement from that of a 3-notch to a 1-notch.

[Zeitgeist 13]

When I wire up gauge clusters, and I've done quite a few, I always just run 12v, ground and dash lights, and then each individual gauge sensor lead. I branch the first three essentials between each gauge--easy peasy. The VDO pressure senders have a Wk and G post, which from memory is for the idiot light and gauge respectively. I usually just leave the Wk post untapped, since VW engines have lots of other senders for that purpose. The rest of the temp sensors should just be single wires per each, so that's fairly straight forward. If you can find bundled 18 ga wiring, that's really the best way to handle long runs of gauge sensor leads. When I ran the wiring for my pressure gauge, I used a three lead bundle, and just left the two remaining untapped for future sensors when the TDI project starts up in earnest again.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Surfcamper]

dubbified, good to see you back at it! Since I posted on your tread back in August about thinking of doing a swap, I'm now knee deep in my own. This thread has been packed with knowledge and very helpful! Good luck with your continued progress!!

Mike
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59 Splitty 23 window rep
85 Westfalia EJ25 Subaru powered
86 VW cabroilet
87 Westfalia TDI ALH powered
90 911 C2
00 F250 7.3 Diesel
04 Golf TDI
2007 997 Carrera S

[dubbified]

Awww chit.. I'd been such a slackass.. settled into this new place with a garage and only a mile from work is just sweet.

I am glad I dont have to drive so far to work on my project, and have been eagerly awaiting tax refund to get a jumpstart on my engine build.

I've been up in the van removing MOLD.. damn.. I just dont get it.. the wheel got totally taken over by MOLD.. egad. tossin that.. getting a new wheel..

So, I'm about to drop final orders on engine parts, and I'm curious if anyone can fill me in here.

For the Cam, and followers, I can buy a kit with a estas cam (OE) then when it comes to lifters, I see they come in a kit with the cam 159.. or the cam alone at 109.. BUt I'm hearing rumor that these new updated lifters are coated and heat treated..

http://techtonicstuning.com/main/index.php?main_pa...ts_id=1710

Does anyone happen to know if these would work in my 2001 jetta ALH??

I've got a call out to Techtonics.. but I'm really tryin to get the order submitted asap so i can get the parts to the machinist.. going to have him assemble the block, hone the block over +.5mm install the new pistons, all bushes, bearings.. and just bang it out. I can do this here but would feel better about him sealing the block out of a clean garage. This will also save me some time, and I hate torqing head bolts without a stand.

So.. I've made lists, categorized, and cleaned, and plotted.. all winter. Not much happenned in Dec cause I was sick as it gets.. but.. feelin alot better.. so its back at the project.

It will be done. Sorry to neglect the post.

Yea, I was evidently NUTS.. I cant do this in a month.

I think I've been very lazy about the project in its entirety..


Tdi engine is fully dismantled in boxes, head stripped, parts box to be cleaned for reassembly.. The longblock is my next target.

Promptly after that, the rebuild of the pump, cleaning of injectors, and a new Turbo from Kermatdi. that's like 5K in a sentence or two. This mod isnt cheap.

I am thinking about what sort of signal wiring I want to run, as I have guages, and alot of things to connect to the dash.. (planning phase for electrics)

I got the replacement accessory plate that was damaged in the drop, this bolts to the engine, and the head, injection pump and rollers attach to it and the backing to the timing belt shroud/cover.

Also picked up a great shroud set, next to new.. cheap. So, I've recovered most of the broken bits, and from here its going to be reassembling an engine I'd not touched for 6-9 months generally.. but I can work down the accessory systems quick enough.

The intake mani was destroyed in the drop.. as well as the egr..

I am no TDI guru.. but some guy said to me that deleting the EGR also does not allow you to stop runaway syndrome.. with key off.. ??

I am curious if anyone here has heard of this or can validate?

I really liked the Kermatdi mani

BUt I also really dig this one..

Cost of a EGR and mani would almost get me to the point of either mani.. and I'm willing to spend the xtra if that runaway statement is bs.

Anyhow, hope you are all doing great!

[Zeitgeist 13]

That manifold is almost exactly what I've been planning to build for my ALH install. Very nice
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[hans j]

The cam and lifters is pretty much the last thing to go back in after the engine is assembled, can easily be done at home.

The ERG valve delete DOES delete the anti-shudder valve that closes to prevent run on. I've deleted mine and have not had run on (yet). Hopefully my new turbo will last 150k miles so I don't have to worry about it.

I have thought about using an exhaust cut-off valve in the intake system somewhere, wired to the N109 relay. It will open with key on, close with key off. Could even put it pre-turbo (and even pre-MAF if you wanted and had room) so you don't have to worry about any leaks.

I've thought about a fancy manifold, but my power levels and transmission won't benefit from one...

While your engine is out, I probably recommend balancing it. I had mine done and it seemed to help, but I haven't seen many other ALH upright TDI conversions.
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1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181

[dubbified]

Hey!

Thanks for the suggestions, Yes I know I can wait on the lifters and cam and I think you're right to balance.. lmk if you have any specific processes you are talkin about Hans.

Defintely when I machine an engine, balance and polish the crank, balance the rods/pistons....

Getting a longblock back all sealed up appeals to me. also is the no contamination bit.. Its not really that much more to get it assembled and I'd already broken it all apart, and dremel cleaned, and light oiled it all before putting the bits in a box.

As the engine was dropped in transit and went into rotational spin, and dropping straight on the cam gear. I'm having the machine shop inspect the head for line bore true.. Then I'm taking it back home, removing the valves at home, going to do funky head work typically done on a CNC..

I previously worked over a digifant head, port and polished it opening up the intakes and deshrouding the valves a little, and paring down the valve guide stem and supports, improving the flow properties. Then I typically CC the head, and then go into port matching the intake.

Then once that bit is done, going to have the machinist finish the valve job, deck it, blast it, remove the oil galley plugs and then tank it, blow it all out clean, and then reseal the oil galley plugs.

During engine assembly, I'd like them to install the cam, plastigage it and assure line bore is all good to go with the new cam.. just to be sure.

I think I'm going to keep the EGR in the system then.. Runaway is just too much risk, and I'd seen it destroy a tdi a couple times.

I just need to buy a new EGR as it was pretty much destroyed in the drop.. (still makes me sick) I still have the cooler pipes and such.. the standard setup will be more than enough improvement and I can always upgrade/modify the systems after the full install is done, getting it operational is my goal.

Looking forward a bit.. soon to pickup the SS turbo back, muffler and resonator. I'm not going to build the exhaust down under the van because all that is getting armor plating and soudn proofing panels, you wont be able to see the engine.. Once the engine is hung, I'm running the exhaust like a true diesel smokestack..

I was inspired by the Diesel busses where the exhaust goes up to the roof and hits a spreader nozzle.. vs the busses which drop the exhhaust on the ground.. not desirable when in camping mode and I'm running the engine.

My plans are to fabricate an intake plate and an exhaust plate to replace the sections where the OEM air intake fins are.. not that I'm taking it swimming.. but shit happens.

Notice from Amazon says the valve cover just shipped I mistakenly thought I could pull the seal.. (oops)

[dubbified]

Thanks to filing my taxes last wed, I got my refund yesterday!

So, this project is now going to kick into a different orbit..

I already dropped a 1K order for block/related parts last week.. they'll be here Tuesday as it seems.

So, my goals now are amassing and staging parts, preparing my project room this weekend.. dusting off the engine stand/block, and vacuuming up..

I'm going to kick off the machinist deal.. Anyone know a Good Automachinist in Seattle/Eastside? I had been going through a guy in Carnation.. but he'd been trucking lately.. so that's nix'd.

I know of NWCR, C+D, a couple others.. thinking I'm goin to drive down to Pacific Machine as I used their paint booth to shoot the westy a couple years ago..

So, I'm super stoked to revitalize this project, and hope to give more updates on progress..

I think my willpower to do this project is looking up.

[dubbified]

Egad has it been a long time since I updated this thread.

well. I have been tinkering with this project, and finally finished my Tdi build. Its so boss. I am reusing the alternator, AC as it only had 65K on it.. I will eventually snag the 120Amp alt if this project continues.



Sadly, I am suffering complete nervous break.

In breaking out the KEP adapter.. The KEP 4cyl to Bus adapter plate that was sent to me for 15, or 50 degree mounting appears to not allow me to do this modification.. at all.

I must be going insane. Am I missing something.

I thoroughly discussed this project with the shop guy at KEP he says it is meant to fit the automatic and a 4cyl.. we talked about ALH.. and read that others did this with this exact plate.

I'm.. trippin.

wtf.



It clearly showing if I follow directions, MATE the KEP plate to the block, then fix the flywheel plate, then install the STUDS into the KEP, large bolt for the upper Starter bolthole.. then there are three studs which it seems the two studs can find a securing nut on the transmission.. but.. for the final 4th stud, there is simply no way you can affix a fastener.

Problem is you would have no ability to spin in a wrench as the plate at that point rests on the block. The socket which you would otherwise thread a bolt into.. is a socket.. not a through port.. like the other three stud locations.

Does this make sense?

Am I SOL?

What the.... damn.

All this way to find this problem.


I will work on pics of this engine. but it is a now 2.0 liter ALH with a Gt1749vb turbo.

[Zeitgeist 13]

I have a KEP plate in my shop right now, so if you post up pics with references to the problem areas, I can probably lend a virtual hand. It was removed from a 1.8L previously sitting a 15 degrees, but will be reinstalled at 50 degrees.

I will mention that the plate was not properly relieved to clear the rear main seal carrier, and rubbed against the flywheel
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[?Waldo?]

[dubbified]

Hi,

Thanks.

Here are a couple pictures..

I mounted the adapter plate, located the primary longstud. The two bottom bolt holes work.. they allow a through port for a Stud.

So, to say it, if there are a total of four bolts from adapter plate to the transmission, one is the upper alternator bolt, which is where I am placing the long primary stud.

The two bottom bolt holes are through holes, allowing a bolt and nut. No problem there.

The other upper bolt hole looked to be located in a way where the port is Tapped. I would think this needs to be drilled, minimally.

Exact image,

You see it is threaded.

Sure that would work IF you didnt have a Socket on the other side of the plate.. where you would put a bolt through into that KEP plate.. however the bolt has to thread in from this angle INTO the transmission.

I dont drill until I get clearance to do it.

Any suggestions?

I already called KEP,a nd they dont have online pics.. the guy is taking camera pics of the instruction and sending to me.. but so far.. no dice.

Thanks!

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[dubbified]

Ok, I now have the install instructions.. the instructions I had were missing the auto page. Thanks KEP, Brett!

11/2, SICK! egad.. well.. the bell housing mod turned out well. I couldn't find any of the housing mod pictures online, so I eh.. guessed. I can get a wrench on it, and the transmission slides without any binding on the stud.. so good.

First I drilled out the socket, I used some small bits, then a 7/16 inch drillbit.

During my work I figured there was some guesswork in finding the new bore center.. being I wasn't able to do this mod on a bench.. I was doing it with a hand drill.. the bit wanted to wanted to wander a bit.. so to be sure I was drilling correct I used a 5/16 1 1/2" stainless steel bolt with a fender washer pressed into the bore to locate the center bore. This seemed to work well.

To assure the mating face of the bellhousing is exactly parallel to the cut I made, so I dont have a fastener issue.. displacing any incorrect pressures on the new stud/aluminum backing plate.. I picked up a forceps guage from harborfreight.. seems I need minor correction which I was going to pickup a new sanding disc.

Here is the finished product,

I had a bandsaw file.. which really it made easy work out of the project.

The prep/setup I used to do this,

Keeping the metal out of the bellhousing is the most important so I draped wet towels and used a wet and dryvac.. most of the metal fleck got sucked away.