2003 Eurovan MV VR6 24V manual swap notes

[EuroTec]

I completed the manual transmission swap on my Eurovan and I have to say I'm very pleased with it.

I thought I'd document a few notes on the conversion here for others interested in doing this.

It started when my 01P automatic started acting up in hot weather. It wouldn't shift out of first gear due to overheating. I installed a transmission cooler in front of the radiator which helped but then one day as I was leaving work it tried to go into two gears at once, made some crunchy noises and started to bind up.

I parked it and decided to go for the manual swap. I hate automatic transmissions anyway.

I contacted Thomas at Quality German Auto Parts in Victorville CA.
http://www.qualitygermanautoparts.com
He set me up with everything I needed to do the swap for less than $5000 shipped.

This is what I got:
02G AFL 5 speed manual transmission
Pedal assembly
Shifter mechanism
Flywheel clutch disc and pressure plate
Axles and stub axle
Misc hardware

Since I had the engine out I decided to replace the timing chain, rear main seal, water pump, aluminum coolant pipe, thermostat, oil cooler seals and hoses, valve cover gasket, fuel injectors and spark plugs. I replaced the clutch slave cylinder/throw out bearing with a new unit.

I installed the used clutch & flywheel to the engine without the shim that was under the auto trans flex plate. I then installed the transmission to the engine and rigged it up on a dolly at the proper angle for installation into the van.

I tested out the clutch master & slave prior to installation just to be sure everything worked.

The pedal assembly and shifter were pretty straight forward to install in the van. I did have to replace the shifter ball at the end of the shift rod.

With the van on the lift I removed the axles from the van and installed the manual trans axles, then rolled the dolly with the engine/trans assembly under the van and slowly lowered the van down onto it. Once things were bolted in place I installed the wiring harness. Then all the coolant hoses, shift rods fuel lines and radiator.

After adding oil and a new filter to the engine I topped off the coolant and fired it up. It ran! I finished installing the rest of the bumper and grille and took it for a test drive. The throttle was definitely not right and I had an ABS and stability control light on as well as a check engine light. I connected my Autel scan tool and performed a throttle adaptation which cleared up the throttle issue but I still had the the three lights on. I had removed the auto trans control unit and suspected it may have had something to do with the lights because the ECU had codes for "missing signal from transmission control module". I installed the TCU, cleared the codes and the ABS/stability control lights went out! I still had a CEL and a code for "intermittent throttle pedal position sensor signal". Doesn't seem to affect drivability.

I've been driving it this way and everything seems to work just fine. As I write this I'm 250 miles from home in our rental house Asheville NC where we're moving to. I used the van to haul a trailer with machine shop equipment and other shop items here. The loaded trailer weight is about 4300 pounds. The rated towing capacity of a 2003 Eurovan with auto trans is 4400 pounds. The clutch did fine and it pulled the trailer over the mountain pass of 4 miles at a 10% grade in second gear at 40 mph with partial throttle. I was able to accelerate to 45 mph and pass slower semi trailers no problem. I averaged 65 mph in 4th gear getting 12 mpg avg. I'm sure those numbers will go up on my way home with an empty trailer.

Overall I'm very satisfied with the conversion. Leaving the TCU connected is required to keep the ABS and stability control working. It's ok to remove all the wiring that connected to the transmission. The 3 wire speed sensor plug for the speedometer plugged right in to the sensor on the manual trans. The 5 speed manual bolted to the VR6 24V block with six bolts. There was a dust plate included that would not go on but it's not really necessary anyway.

As time and miles go by I'll come back to this post and update. If you're thinking about doing this to your van, go for it but be ready for a challenge on the removal and install of that engine that sits at and angle. It's a bear.
_________________
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[generic_ork]

Very nice job and cataloging the swap & info. You've got a pretty clean work area too! Are you in WA?

[Endopotential]

Thanks for posting this along with all the nice pics. This will be a tremendous resource for a lot of us. Though crossing my fingers that my '02 will last for quite a bit longer.

Did you have to do any other fancy reprogramming in VCDS? I think my local guy could figure out the mechanical bits, but not as sure he could handle any computerized reboots.

At first I thought you were in Aberdeen, Scotland and that this fix would only work for lucky Europeans who can get the parts. Happy to hear about availability of things from SoCal.

Good luck with the move to NC. Though bummed as I'm in SF. It would have been nice to have an excuse to visit you and Mono Lake.

[gesoffen]

Excellent news - especially on the ABS/ESP front! Please keep the forum updated as if ABS/ESP is indeed fully functional and no other issues, this will likely move up to the top of my list of mods!

I have a fleet of 6 cars and the EVW is the only autotragic transmission I have and the only one I've ever owned. Getting my fleet back to 100% manual trans would be ideal!

[EuroTec]

[EuroTec]

[volkybus]

Good job. Thanks for the nice to to pics and info.I like u hate auto trans so when I buy a newer EV I will have to convert it. A auto transmission is a built in oblosence,always a problem down the road if u keep a car or van a long time.200k+ How long did it take u to complete.? We thought we were living large when we upgraded to a Porsche engine I
In a split bus.Good Luck and Driveem till they drop.Bill in PR
Oh

[Stripped66]

[EuroTec]

[Tuzserhu]

Please let me know if you will be offering this 5 speed manual swap. I would like to have you do it for me. Thank you!

[EuroTec]

[Tuzserhu]

I would think just doing the manual swap could keep you in business!
There are so many of us who would want this:)

[YOGIVW]

[shirk]

With the 02G being a rare tranmission and the expense of shipping from overseas it would be good to look at an NA source for something.

The first gen Tiguan was sold for a limited time with a 6spd manual in North America. This is the 0A6 MQ500 transmission and able to handle high torque.

Obviously it won't be a direct bolt up but an adapter plate would solve that.

Here it is milled down to fit the adapter ring for a VR6 in the non van rearward tilt, a different ring would be needed to tilt it forward.

https://racingcustomparts.com/produkt/mq500-to-vr6-r32-r36-adapter/

Anyway some food for thought as I am sure there are a bunch of people that would want an updated transmission as it's the known weak spot on the vans.

[EuroTec]

[shirk]

Got digging around for some info after going down a bit of a rabbit hole.

I was chatting with a German T4 owner on IG and he mentioned that a friend of his did a Syncro manual trans swap on a long nose with the DHR gearbox. He didn't have much for details and while waiting for him to reply I started digging.

The DHR was fitted to the later 2.5 TDI engines. This engine is an Audi derived engine. VAG has mated a VR6 to versions of Audi gearboxes...but how. A factory adapter plate.

Enter 071103551A adapter plate.

From some reading I believe Audi has been consistent with their engine mount pattern so this adapter should allow the VR6 to mount up to the later model T4 gearboxes opening up a much bigger list than the elusive AFL.

More digging needed to confirm, but thought I would share. A 24v VR6 manual syncro would be mighty fine project.

[Joshwa]

Just adding to your spacer plate info.

This part is a spacer plate for Volkswagen cars. It fits for Volkswagen Passat, 4Motion, Passat, 4Motion, Santana, Passat syncro, and Passat, Variant, 4Motion for Brazil, China, Mexico, Argentina, Local Market, Shanghai, USA, and South Africa from 1997 to 2005. It's a genuine VAG part with an OEM part number 071103551A, part of individual engine parts. Please keep in mind that this spacer plate was replaced with 022103551 for Volkswagen on June 1, 2007, and was replaced with 022103551 for Audi on June 1, 2007.
_________________
93 Weekender TDI conversion (AHU)
93 MV TDI conversion (1Z)
Weekender rear cot
Late model cabin air filter on 93
Euro spec bumper install on 93

[EuroTec]

Just an update on "Evelyn". A little over 5K miles on her since the swap, did an oil change the other day. ZERO leaks! Everything still working fine. I use it every day as my handyman work van.
_________________
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[gesoffen]

Thanks for the update ET - glad to hear all appears well. I'm starting to look into parts sources for the conversion but as I have no urgent need (i.e. van isn't broken right now), I don't have a timetable - so basically window shopping at the moment.

Last a remember, you still hadn't sorted the clutch/ignition and clutch/cruise control interlocks. Any updates on those?

[generic_ork]

I've got a '99 with some issues and have been reading your swap out for some time. I mentioned it to the folks at German Transaxle and they were quite curious. They currently have my EVC in pieces. I'm looking to either do full transmission swap or a band-aid repair on the Ring and Pinion. Any suggestions for help would be highly appreciated! I'm waiting to hear back from the shop you got the manual from, apparently he is in Germany sourcing parts.