'91 Vanagon Automatic 15° mTDI ALH Conversion

[?Waldo?]

I thought I'd share a bit about my latest turbo-diesel conversion.

Personally I prefer driving vehicles with manual transmissions. The more direct control over the vehicle, better power transfer and better fuel economy have always been deciding factors for me. My wife, on the other hand, feels quite differently. She definitely prefers the ease and simplicity of having just the Stop pedal and the Go pedal. For the past few years I've kept one automatic vehicle for her to drive and the rest of them have been manuals. I've come to closely understand the the downside to that SOP. Whenever there is an issue with her automatic, I become the family chauffeur. This is especially inefficient as it consumes a lot of time that could otherwise be spent fixing whatever issue her car is experiencing. To that end, despite having a fairly nice 5-speed high top AHU mTDI camper, I decided to build an automatic mTDI and eventually sell the 5-speed. Having a vehicle that we will both drive happily is a lot more important to me than the fun of rowing through the gears.

About a year and a half ago I found a '91 automatic with a seized 2.1 WBX in Phoenix and hauled it up the hill. It sat while I addressed other priority projects all the while my mind was buzzing about which turbo-diesel engine to install. I really like the TDIs for their added fuel efficiency and low-end torque, but the rpm range of the earlier IDI engines much more closely matches that of the WBX engines meaning that an AAZ install could be done with the stock R+P whereas a TDI would really want a gearing change. While flip-flopping the added cost of gearing changes or the added benefit of increased fuel economy I came across an advert of a fellow selling the complete 15° ALH Automatic drive train from his van. Unfortunately he had had an electrical fire that started with the A/C wiring in the driver's side rear pillar and totally gutted his previously very nice van. The heat of the fire had melted the engine lid and some of the plastic components on the top of the engine but the metal components survived albeit crusty. As part of his initial swap he had regeared the automatic to the Euro 3.73 R+P. I purchased the swap and had it shipped to me.

Because I build and sell mTDI injection pumps, the damaged electronic components were not an issue. The mechanical pump is a distinct step up in reliability over the electronic engine management and certainly the way I was going to go regardless. The pumps I build are based on the Cummins 4BTA base pump which has a pump snout that fits the 1Z/AHU pump bracket. I figured I'd add a bushing in order to fit the ALH pump bracket (the snout of the ALH pump is larger with a corresponding larger opening in the bracket) but a Land Rover 300TDI mechanical injection pump fell on my lap for a great price. The Land Rover pump has the same larger snout as the ALH pump and so is more closely a bolt-in option. Because it was a used pump I decided to pull it to bits and make sure it was all good internally. I had to replace the camplate due to some pitting and the governor shaft and flyweight assembly due to some odd wear, but otherwise internally it was in very good condition. I made a rod that extended from the stock transmission rod up to the accelerator lever where I fastened it with a heim joint.

The engine is mated to the trans at 15° using the a Kennedy adapter plate and drive plate. It came with two mounting bars (one for each mount) but I do not know who initially produced them. If anyone has further info on that I'd appreciate it. It looks like a typical mk2 mounting bracket on the driver's side which has been modified to fit around the VNT15.

During the conversion I swapped the coolant pipes for stainless ones as the plastic pipe ends had the usual failure. I modified the fuel filler for the larger diesel nozzle and dropped the fuel tank for cleaning. I'm not sure how long the van had sat, but I believe it must have been for quite a while. There was a fairly thick layer of varnish sludge in the bottom of the tank. The fuel tank grommets had all turned to goo and the fuel sender was thoroughly gunked (constant open circuit). I dumped out as much of the varnish goo as I could, dumped in a gallon of acetone, sloshed that around, added a few gallons of diesel, sloshed that around and drained it. I then added a few gallons of diesel and called it good. I'll add the leftovers to the tank in a 10% mix until gone.

The cooling hoses were not hard to do. I re-mounted the expansion tank (with the base) from the rear heat shield to the passenger side of the engine bay where the air cleaner had previously been located. I did a hose routing that basically mimicked the ALH automatic using all hoses or hose sections from the bin of old coolant hoses I keep in the parts storage. Here's a flow path diagram (pardon the chicken scratch quality...):

I made an adapter for the end of the head so that I could use one of the early aluminum coolant flanges there along with the two early temperature senders. I probably could have used the stock ALH head flange, but I wasn't sure how the temp sender would behave with the stock vanagon gauge and the mk2 glow plug relay I was using.

I relocated the power steering reservoir as well and adapted it to the ALH. That adaptation was extremely easy. The high pressure banjo bolts right up. The low pressure hose just needed cut and clamped onto the lower nipple on the ALH pump.

I spent an afternoon making an engine wiring harness for the stop solenoid, coolant level, coolant temp, oil pressure and glow plugs. For the oil pressure warning system, I added a tee to the single oil pressure sender port and ran the high and low pressure senders. As mentioned, for the glow plugs I am using the mk2 fast glow plugs wired into the OXS light. Granted it will run the glow plugs much more often than necessary on the TDI, but I don't mind.

I made a block-off plate for the EGR on the VNT15 manifold. I also made a flange/pipe in order to run from the intake to the compressor scroll of the VNT15, temporarily bypassing any intercooling. I am also temporarily running the turbo vanes stationary in a mid range. For the air cleaner/intake I used a 1.6TD intake boot, sliced it and added one piece of bent tubing. It now clamps nicely onto the turbo compressor inlet and the air filter fits nicely in the Driver's side D-pillar.

I made up a dipstick tube from steel brake line and a dipstick from a low-B bass string and hardware store parts. I can check the level easily from the license plate door. I still need to lift the lid to add oil but will rectify that situation in the future.

The engine lid interference is pretty extreme. The engine pokes up about 3.25 above the top of the engine cover. I cut out that section of the engine lid and another smaller section that interfered slightly with the coolant expansion tank cap. The small opening for expansion tank clearance got a small thin piece of sheet metal over it. The larger section got a bumped up section made of 1/16" thick steel that I rivetted to the fiberglass cover. It is now quite solid and unfortunately about as heavy as the early metal lids.

While many people seem to see the raised lid as a downside, I don't. This weekend I will be installing a rear bench sofabed using the bay bus westy hinges. The bay hinges will raise the bed up about 6 inches and so to match the new bed height I will similarly raise the hatch platform area. That will give a significant amount of additional storage along with a flat fold-down bed.

After a bit of adjustment it is downright fun to drive. Performance is significantly better than a 2.1 WBX. Off-the-line it really scoots. It will squeal the tires on dry pavement if you floor it on a turn. I haven't done enough driving to have any fuel economy info. I do not yet have boost, EGT or tach gauges working yet and so don't have any feedback on those.

Next up is to make the rear sofabed and raised platform over the engine and welding in the passenger swivel base. The longer list will include a standalone programmable electronic vane control, EGT, boost, tach, air water intercooler system, turbo swap to a GT1852V, upgraded injectors, new exhaust, oil filler from license plate door, over-tranny battery tray for starting and aux batteries, get the A/C up and running and add a high top. The VNT vane control, air water intercooler, injectors and turbo swap should result in a truly massive increase in performance.

[Vango Conversions]

Sweet!

I'd like to hear how the economy turns out with the automatic. Seems like the 3.73 gears were hard to find and expensive. Now that the 3.3 "freeway flyer" gears are available I bet more people will do auto TDI swaps. I too like the manuals but mostly for economy reasons. These buses don't exactly shift like a sports car or anything. I'd love an automatic van if it gave good MPG

[Syncroincity]

Looks great, Andrew. look forward to watching this one go forward.

I like the riser in the back... make a positive out of an ugly necessity.
_________________
'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[xoo00oox]

cool job. I'd like to see what you come up with for the oil filler. What are you using now to control boost? Motor mounts?

[insyncro]

Nice job Andrew.

I would love to test drive this combo.

Autos are nice in urban areas with stop and go traffic.

I am still learning about diesels.
Thank you for sharing.

Dylan

[?Waldo?]

Thanks guys.

[hans j]

Looks great! I'm not sad about the 3" of engine cover sticking out of my lid either. To me it's better than 3" less ground clearance. I built an aluminum lid for mine with a hinge, so I can pretty much access most of the engine through that, without taking off the entire lid.

I just cut a hole out of 3" foam, put another 1" on top of that, glued it together and it's back to normal height. I can feel the edge of the box if I lay on it just right. I plan on a 1" memory foam topper for the entire length of the lower bed though. It will also dampen noise when folded in half in the back!
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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

[?Waldo?]

My wife went on her first solo mission in it today and when she got back she told me she loves her new vanagon...

[nemobuscaptain]

Words don't even explain my jealousy and lust.
_________________
Ohio Valley Tribe, Full Moon Bus Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/294422277314227/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FullMoonBusClub

RIP Bob Hoover https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=427791
Hoover Sermons: https://www.vwsage.com/images/vwsage/Bob%20Hoovers%20Sermons.pdf

[devesvws]

[Zeitgeist 13]

I'd like to see more shots of how you configured the throttle linkage.
_________________
Casey--

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

[?Waldo?]

Here are some pics of the accelerator (throttle?? what's that?? ) linkage. As mentioned, I attached it to the injection pump lever with a heim joint. I did weld a small extension onto the injection pump lever in order to achieve the proper throw to match the vanagon accelerator pedal range of motion. The heim joint then fastens to a bolt that I welded onto the extra accelerator linkage rod that I fabricated. That rod snakes down around the oil filter housing and then attaches to the stock linkage rod with another welded-on bolt and jam nut.

Here's a pic showing the easy dipstick access. The dipstick tube snakes over the top of the pump/accessory bracket and then turns to enter the stock dipstick tube location in the block.

Here's the passenger side mounting bracket from above. Again, I do not know who produced the bracket.

Another view from the side.

Here's the driver's side mount. It also shows the simple way I have used to make the vanes stationary and yet adjustable until I have the standalone electronic vane control completed.

The mounts do have a VW part number on them but I haven't had a chance to cross-reference it for an application.

[hans j]

Those are mk3 front engine mounts. Probably a 1H0 part number? Could also start with 357.
_________________
1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181

[?Waldo?]

I'll give a little update. Unfortunately I don't have added pics to post at this time. I did the rear bench install. As mentioned I used the Bay hinges and installed it so that the seat is the same angles and height as the vanagon seat but folds up into the bed so that it is raised the same 3-1/2" that the engine lid is raised. I have not made the raised platform over the whole hatch area yet, tho. I will also wait on the seat pics until I get the seat reupholstered.

The single accelerator linkage rod seemed to have a bit too much flex and was transmitting a bit of extra vibration to the accelerator pedal (almost tickled the foot sometimes) so I bent another rod to the same angles and welded the two together for added strength. It made a big positive effect. I now consider the amount of vibration in the pedal to be 'normal' for a cable operated diesel.

My wife and I both work from home so we don't rack up very many miles. We put 225 miles (according to the odo) onto it since I did the first fill up. At that point it started to have an issue that seemed like intermittent fuel starvation or air infiltration. The clear lines in the engine compartment showed that there was a considerable amount of air getting in. I filled it up again - it took 8.9 gallons - and the problem disappeared. I assume that the little tube inside the fuel tank leaks a little and so when the fuel level got down a bit it started sucking in air instead of fuel. Anyone have a recommendation for a new fuel tank for a '91? I have not checked the accuracy of the ODO, although I am using larger than stock tires so if in error I would expect it to read low. Anyway, 225 miles / 8.9 gallons is 25.3 MPG. That has all been in-city driving, lots of joy riding and definitely not taking it easy. It's also a fairly unscientific data point with lots of potential margin for error. Still, I'm more than happy with that.

My wife says she absolutely LOVES IT. She couldn't be happier with it and that's the most important data point to me.

[Vanagon Nut]

Cool swap Andrew. I am familiar with the "hump" on engine lid.

Interesting to see the carrier bars et al.

I bet that'll prove to be a nice long term reliable swap!

Neil.
_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[?Waldo?]

When we were first driving it, the speedometer worked fine. It gradually developed a fair bit of needle wobble while obviously reading low. That needle wobble progressed to the point that the needle would bump up off the stop every few seconds and then eventually just stayed at the stop regardless of what speed we were going. I finally got around to looking into the situation. The speedometer cable end has worn down to the point that it just spins in the dust cap. Easy fix, but that means that my mpg data is definitely low and I've been getting better than the aforementioned 25 mpg with all in-city driving and spirited driving.

[Zeitgeist 13]

I was wondering about that...for obvious reasons. Your build is an inspiration. I really love the clean look of the mTDI engine compartment.

How's the vibration with those mounts? I'm thinking of using MB hydraulic mounts attached to the moustache crossbar on mine, but I'm not sure whether they might be too stiff.
_________________
Casey--

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

[?Waldo?]

25mpg for an automatic was as good as I was expecting but I'm pleasantly surprised that it is doing better than that.

In the future I will be adding an air-water intercooler system and mount it in the space to the driver's side of the engine compartment which will busy it up a bit more.

There is a fair bit of vibration from the engine mounting system. More than from my '83 AHU that uses the stock diesel vanagon mounting system. I'd like to address that in the future, but it's well within the realm of what I consider bearable so it's a low priority. I also think that it should get a torque mount to the rear of the vehicle to limit the downward push of the engine under load.

[?Waldo?]

Here are some details on my custom dipstick. I made the dipstick tube from steel tubing. I bent it to fit but had to cut it into two pieces and then join it back together with a sleeve of slightly larger steel tubing in order to fit it into place. The end that accepts the dipstick has a flare on it to help the dipstick seal. I tapped the stock dipstick hole to the nearest NPT size and then got a compression to NPT fitting. Because the NPT side is larger than the compression tube, the tube extends down into the pan a little way to guide the dipstick. I made the dipstick from a low-B bass guitar string (flatwound chrome) which had already served its useful life and broke after many hours of practicing. The handle end is all made up of bits from the local Ace Hardware store's hardware isle except for the little clamp part that holds it in place. That piece I made from a section of stainless hose clamp and then cut to suit using a dremel and bent into the proper shape using needlenose pliers. At the other end, I used the stock dipstick, cut off the business section, sliced it in half the long way using a cutoff wheel in a dremel and then welded it to the bass string at the proper length.

It really works a treat. It is easy to access from the license plate door, easy to read and doesn't leak anywhere.

[?Waldo?]

Inspired by some questions by Zeitgeist_13 I decided to install a tachometer. I extended two of the crank pulley bolts using studs/coupler nuts and made a bracket to mount a Ford inductive pickup in front of the crank pulley to read them. I was a little disappointed to find that neither of the two vanagon gasser tachs I have here would work with the pickup. I swapped in a mk2 gasser tach and it works fine although I need to reset the needle slightly higher (and black out the 'unleaded fuel only' text). The speedometer also reads two or three miles per hour low at 70MPH so I figure they probably currently even out well enough. Looks like with the 27"x8.5" BFGs I'm rocking, it's darn close to 4,000 rpm flat cruise at 70MPH. 3,000 rpm flat cruise is 55 MPH. With the automatic, acceleration or incline increases the rpms for a given speed. Here's a little video I just made. The first clip is a little misleading as it is all a moderate uphill on 89 headed toward the slide fire (at the end of the clip you can see a fire warning flash past). In the second clip I head back to Flagstaff on I-17 and take it up to 70 MPH. The third little clip is taking off from a stop very close to floored. The 27" tires aren't as big as you can go, but they are close. Given all of that, if going with the automatic, I think a 3.27 would be a better choice, but regardless I am still pleased with the deal I got on the 3.73.

http://s13.photobucket.com/user/libbybapa/media/ALHAuto_zps0ac1246e.mp4.html