First Syncro Common Rail CJAA 2.0 TDi Conversion

[AidanLK]

Alright guys,

It's been almost exactly a year since Otis, my westy hightop syncro broke down and I moved into the GoWesty parking lot, last fall. After talking to a lot of people and hearing nothing but good things about the common rail engine, I find myself out in Nashville, Tennessee, hanging out with SyncroGreg of boxeer.com (the guy behind the infamous Subaru Diesel build).

Moving on from the Pumpe Duse was a tough call as I had already dumped a good amount of money into it, but the jump in technology, reliability and power between the PD and the CR is significant. Plus.. my old engine was a 2004 from a junkyard with a modest 150k on it, and it had a nasty tenancy to destroy turbos. The engine Greg has supplied, on the other hand, is a 2014 with only 500 miles on its clock. Yep, fresh. Plus, after meeting Greg and his wife Katie for the first time down in Ecuador while we were both on our respective North to South American overlanding adventures, the two of us have always talked about working together on a build.

It should be noted that when we met, I was living in apartment in Ecuador because my engine (which I installed) had blown, while Greg's engine (which he installed) ran flawlessly his whole trip, down to the bottom of South America and back. And while true, that was the Subaru diesel and not the VW Common Rail, it made it clear to me that Greg knows his stuff, and knows what a trip like that would take.

So I shipped Otis (my van) over to Greg’s shop / 100 acre-syncro-playground just outside of Nashville and over the last few days we’ve dressed the engine with a brand new wiring harness (by Greg), new turbo, new clutch, sensors, etc. The way he has it, it’s actually pretty minimal when it comes to electronics, making it seem like a cool halfstep between an etdi and an mtdi, but with a commonrail fuel delivery system.

He also has it setup so that the user can switch between customizable power modes at the dash, ranging anywhere from 100hp on the low end and 240hp on the high end. SO, if I’m stuck in the sand or in the mud and my wheels are just spinning, I’ll be able to pop it into a higher power mode to help get out.

The CR block has the same mounting positions as the PD, so we’ll be reusing my old (15 degree) PD mounts, making the install that much easier.

Loking forward to seeing this bad boy sitting in Otis! And even more so, feeling it. It’s been a year now since the last turbo blew and I decided to stop fighting that ridiculous battle, and I’m more than ready to get back out there.

I’ll be posting updates over the next few weeks as we continue to make progress on this.

First Vanagon with the new 2.0 Common Rail TDi, baby! Wahoooooooooooooooooo.

[pedrokrusher]

[erste]

NICE!

Can't wait to see where this goes.

[deutschewerks]

Few questions-

Adapter plate? Still the same Kennedy style as what you had before?

DPF? As much as they contribute to emissions reduction, they are also the Achilles heel of this engine. They crack internally allowing soot to bypass into the EGR filter and cooler, causing the most common ECU fault, EGR Flow insufficient.

I'm assuming that if you do a DPF delete, the tune you are suing will also get rid of the exhaust flap.

What are you doing about the immobilizer? This engine used a rolling code setup, not exactly the nicest thing to play with. Retaining the reader coil, cluster, key, and push button start if the donor had it?

Retaining the fuel lift pump?

Other common annoyances: Sometimes the exhaust pressure and temp sensors fail. Then there are intake flap issues. Most of the time, the stop in the motor wears out and allows the arm to go further than it is supposed to. Dieselgeek makes a nice little repair piece for it, but I have seen where that didn't solve the issue completely.

Other than that, the CR is a great engine and I lament the whole death of VW diesel due to everything that surrounded them. My fiance has a 2011 Golf TDI and we love it. Hers has been fairly problem free.

The PD is probably my least favorite TDI. I have a VE TDI but work on PDs often. The ones that develop severe issues are pretty difficult to get to 100% again. Why VW didn't just naturally evolve from the VE to CR TDis is beyond me.

You should go all in and flip a 7spd Audi DSG box behind that thing!
_________________
1985 Vanagon Westfalia 1.8t "Buelah"
1994 Golf GL 1.8t 350+hp monster
1999 Golf GL TDI
2000 Golf GL Race car
1993 Eurovan GL

[Gnarlodious]

A beefier gearbox may be indicated...
_________________
Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[AidanLK]

Time to put er in!

[jamin307]

Oh man, that's a beautiful thing. Can't wait to see Otis on the move again.

[AidanLK]

Engine's in using my old 1.9 mounts! Now time for some plumbing...

[the_last1]

GOOD LORD!

This is what my syncro doka needs! $16.5k for the kit is a little steep. Plus the tranny regearing. Can't wait to see how it looks in the engine bay. I noticed some of the photos have the intercooler setup in the rear. did you find a solution for its placement?
_________________
1991 Multivan
1990 Syncro Doka
The shallow end of the pool..is where the turds float

[AidanLK]

[the_last1]

SOOO!

How did the fire up start? very curious about this kit! keep posting vids and photos!
_________________
1991 Multivan
1990 Syncro Doka
The shallow end of the pool..is where the turds float

[AidanLK]

[AidanLK]

Oh, also, Greg updated his site with some more info on the engine/kit for anyone who's interested: www.boxeer.com

[westyventures]

What about the clutch?!

[AidanLK]

[the_last1]

So has anyone Purchased the vanagon kit?! I'm curious to see how easy it is to do on your own. Haven't seen the installation instructions. I'm also curious how it works with so many different transmission ratios out there. I keep seeing it and am so tempted, but the lack of info and customer reviews is maddening. I know there are others out there that have done it!
_________________
1991 Multivan
1990 Syncro Doka
The shallow end of the pool..is where the turds float

[Steve M.]

Seeing what Greg accomplished with his Subaru diesel and roadtrip I can only anticipate 1st class results.
_________________
This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them.

[erste]

Any updates?

[AidanLK]

[WestyWanter]

Can I just say this is a dream build lol?


Oh... syncros... how I dream to never have the chance to buy one because I'd be forever poor