Diesel eng options
« on: July 10, 2015, 09:48:09 am »
There are a lot of very efficient, powerful and clean diesel engines in the VAG (VW Audi Group) world
wide, but unfortunately none came stock in our N. American T4s. And yes I'm purposefully not including the anemic and filthy 2.4l NA 5-cyl diesel beast that did trickle into Canada models.

Justin


2000 EVW 5-spd TDI
Justin
2000 EVW 1.9l TDI 5spd Syncro

Re: Diesel eng options
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2015, 11:24:16 pm »
Rant cont.

As far as anemic diesel engines go the 4-cyl IDI 1.9l NA 1X engine was another offering in the rest of the world in the T4, along with the slightly more powerful IDI 4-cyl 1.9l TD ABL eng. These two engines were important engines in that they set the proving ground for the viability of a 4-cyl eng in the  later T5 chassis.  These can also be viewed as "gateway" engines in a similar way that marijuana is a gateway drug to crack, heroin and crystal meth according to Reagan era drug policy :-)

These 4-cyl T4 engine options provide the factory eng mounting parts and concept for installing "more power-wise apropos" 1.9TDI engines.  These engines were based on the 1.9TD engines and were a natural progression in diesel engine technology.  The block castings are nearly identical between the early 1.9 TDI engines (1Z, AHU, AFN, etc) and the indirect injection (IDI) 1.9 engines (ABL, AAZ, 1X, 1Y, etc). In fact, the only significant block differences between the two are on the TDIs there is a port machined into the front of the block for the crank position sensor--that's it.  There are other differences: pistons, rods, cyl head, injectors, etc, but the take home message is the early TDI blocks mentioned above have the same block architecture as the earlier 1.9l diesel engines that came stock in T4s in the rest of the world, and this is the starting point for understanding the oft asked: "why use the AHU/1Z eng and not an ALH or BEW, BRM, BHW, etc?"

TBC....

Justin


2000 EVW 5-spd TDI
Justin
2000 EVW 1.9l TDI 5spd Syncro

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Offline M.steward77

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Re: Diesel eng options
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2015, 06:33:50 am »
Ive been thinking about doing a swap, know of any good places to purchase or have shipped? And have you done the swap yourself yet?

Re: Diesel eng options
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2015, 10:20:56 am »
A few times yes :-)

Justin


2000 EVW 5-spd TDI
Justin
2000 EVW 1.9l TDI 5spd Syncro

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Offline diesel_jr

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Re: Diesel eng options
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2015, 06:46:09 pm »
I just found this forum and am excited to follow! I am looking at purchasing a Eurovan that needs an engine. I am a lover of TDIs, especially the ALH, and would love to covert this Eurovan, but with so little information out there and a tight budget I am hesitant. My current Jetta was a gas car and I converted it to a TDI, so I am not scared of that part. So from what I understand I need a transmission, shifter, etc. From a European/Canadian td/tdi. I also need the 4 cylinder diesel engine mount, oil pan/pickup tube, and the normal TDI swap gadgetry. Is this correct? Where does one get one of these transmissions?

Re: Diesel eng options
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2015, 04:43:23 am »
There are also 5spd EV models in the U.S. that will have all the auto to manual Conv parts you may need. Also there are a lot of great gearing options available on other VW trans models for 3-5 but you have to look around and get cozy with ETKA.  Some folks opt to import a tall geared 02B trans (BH drilled for both 4 and 5 cyl engs) from Europe and use that as a bolt on solution. Most of the 4cyl eng. conv components come from the ABL and 1X 1.9 IDI engines that came in the T4 in Europe and a few others are either from other domestic models, aftermarket components or custom small production run parts here in the U.S.  All the specific Conv info is out there on the web, just be patient and persistent in your searching.

The ALH is a great eng agreed, but for this conv I would advise sticking with the AHU/1Z/AFN. Otherwise virtually all the ABL bolt-on components you can through out the window and start over making everything custom (reread first two posts in this thread).

This forum so far isn't a very technical forum and doesn't have the breadth of experience and #s of users as the UK T4 forum so probably better to start there and then come back here once you have gotten under way with more specific queries. There are less than 5 (<3?) TDI T4 members on this forum right now as far as I know.

Best wishes,
Justin


2000 EVW 5-spd TDI
Justin
2000 EVW 1.9l TDI 5spd Syncro

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Offline Itsamoto

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Re: Diesel eng options
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2015, 09:49:56 am »
Justin -- I have the opportunity to pick up one of these 2.4d vans for cheap -- but I know that they are super slow.

Is it any easier to start with this type of van (versus a 5 cylinder gas) for  doing a 1.9 m-TDi conversion?

Re: Diesel eng options
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2015, 01:58:07 pm »
Yes but only for a few small reasons:
1) since its already a diesel you won't have to drop the fuel tank to remove the filler neck reducer as well as remove or del the fuel pump; the diesel fuel filter can also remain in place and unchanged (heed a 15k mile maintenance interval).

The cluster could be reused with ease on a mTDI also. And it's likely a 5spd so that's another big time/$$ saver vs converting it from auto to manual.

Justin


2000 EVW 5-spd TDI
Justin
2000 EVW 1.9l TDI 5spd Syncro