Tacoma V6 - ALH bolt in swap

Hi All,

I will be documenting swaping an ALH into a Tacoma V6.This will be a bolt in swap with no cutting or welding done to the truck.

Phase 1:
An ALH Mtdi with a wastgated turbo will be installed. This combo will be tuned and evaluated on a chassis dyno. A comparison will be made to 'regular' tdi's with injectors and a tune.

Phase 2:
If the comparison with mildly modded tdi's is unfavorable then a VNT and an electronic pump / ECU will be installed. This will be dyno'ed as well. Further upgrades may follow as required.

The engine will be preped in the workshop on a spare R151 tranny with all hardware required to install it into the truck before bringing the truck in to the workshop. The goal is to reduce the time required for the conversion to a minimum.

At the moment the V6 tranny adapter, flywheel /10"clutch combo, and motor mounts are completed.
The head has been ported and matched to a long runner intake.
The Mtdi 10mm pump and 0.216 injectors are installed.
The gt15 turbo is being upgraded to a K14
Ancilliry systems (cooling, wiring, PS, intake and exhaust) are being prepared.

Here is a pic of the truck (dirty)


Here is a pic of the starting point for the engine.




More to follow,

Ryan

glad to see someone else doing a taco swap ....the welded tacoma frame mounts will be very very hard to work around but I did keep my ALH AC compressor so you may have better luck if you delete this ....I'm watching this thread to see your solution....one advantage of using the stock 5vzfe bell housing/trans is it is 1" longer than the 3rzfe bell housing, this however is still not enough to provide clearance for the vacuum pump and water outlet so you will have to move the engine and trans forward, unless you delete the vac pump and modify the coolant flange (I had to move the drivetrain forward 2 1/4" on my taco/ALH swap.... either way you're gonna love the torque and economy of the TDI in your tacoma

EDIT:...so I just read you are going to use the R151....this has the shorter input like the W56/W59 and early R150, so you don't get the advantage of the 1" longer input and bell housing....so you're using the early R150 bell housing on the 151 trans?....I have two R151 trannies in the shop but I'm hesitant to use one in my taco because of the expensive doubler and lefty t case options to adapt it....I guess if you go with SAS it's not as much of an issue.... good luck!!

Awesome! Im excited to see the M-TDI vs TDI showdown. Im a believer that the electronics are the heart of these engines, so im anxious to see the results!

Will be following this one, good luck!

Opps - I quoted the wrong trans code, My truck has the R150F, so yes it's 1" longer. With this trans I have measured about 5" from the trans / engine mounting plane rearward to the firewall at cylinder head level, for the center 18" above the tranny. The firewall moves ahead about 2 - 3" as you move to the sides. This is plenty of room for the vac pump, which extends about 3" from the head. The stock manual coolant flange will not fit, as it is over 5" without the hose.
As my motor was from an automatic, it had the plastic non glowplug coolant outlet which extends les than 3" from the head. This could be used as is in the truck.
But I won't.
I drove a tdi without heater glowplugs for 1/2 a winter. I won't do it again. Needing 50 KM to get heat in the car is not acceptable to me.
Also I don't want heater hoses that run rings around the motor. If I was to use a volvo rad the stock outlet would be on the correct side, but the toyota upper rad hose is on the pass side of the truck, so the pass side is where the hose should exit the motor.
I made an aluminum adapter which holds 4 coolant glowplugs and the toyota temp sender for the dash while mounting the plastic outlet 180 rotated from stock.
This will work, but the glowplug heating will be picked up by the temp senders, as well as the glowplugs heating the oil cooler and rad when the thermostat starts to open. This is being revised today to a fabricated steel outlet which will have all the outlets where they should be, and provide a sensible location for the stock glowplug coolant flange.
I'll take a pic once it's made.

Motor mounts
The mounts were made by refrencing the truck frame and mounts to the crank centerline and indexing them forward along that axis from the trans mating surface (9 1/4" if I recall). I measured the angle from vertical for each mount mating surface, and used these measurements to recreate the mounts refernced to the ALH crank centerline, with the same forward distance from the adapter plate / trans mating surface. Here is a pic of the mount reference jig:



This shows the Pass side of the motor mount jig, as well as the GT15 mounted to an inverted AAZ manifold, and the bottom of the long runner intake. The mount is welded, but has since been clearanced to fit a stock VNT in case I change my mind later.

Accessories
Now I didn't have the AC compressor in place as I don't have AC in the truck and have no desire for it. I had planed to install the Toyota PS pump in roughly the stock (truck) location my making a bracket for it off the unused ALH motor mount flanges. This would allow stock PS hoses, resevoir and pump pressure.
I would however have to adapt the pulley to a wider one for the tdi belt as the thinner toyota belt with the TDI idle vibration was a consern. Also this puts the PS in the same area as the turbo plumbing, upper rad hose and near the exhaust manifold.

Since then I thought I would just run the stock serp setup and include the AC compressor for ease of serp belt routing, stock is simple.
However, upon investigation it would seem that, as you suggested, the length of the AC compressor will cause it to interfer with the stock motor mount, so away with it (the ac compressor). I never realy liked that solution anyway, extra pieces and complication.

Another idea I had considered was to move the ALH PS pump to the ALH AC location, this would allow a shorter serp belt and keep the pump in an uncluttered location with no need for the AC compressor to be present as an idler. It seems a AC to PS bracket is in my near furture.

More to come,
Ryan

If you can figure out a way to keep a/c I'd buy the conversion parts. The more I want a truck or wagon the more I'm sicken buy their crappy economy.

Hey Ryan you could use a euro non AC alh bracket .... I believe Ryanp on the vendor forum can get these ..... It locates the power steering at the bottom where the AC compressor normally resides ..... I still don't see how you're getting 5" clearance from the plane of the Trans up ..... My bell is only 1" shorter than yours and I still had to move the engine Trans forward 2.25" for 1/4" of vac pump clearance @ the firewall, and my engine is mounted a nearly stock 3rz angle (fore aft) .... I guess I can see it if you have a decent lift kit and drop the front diff a few inches, this would let you flatten the angle of the driveline and increase clearance @ the firewall.... Do you have a body lift ? Not running coolant glows in my truck just a block off plate where they used to mount and it warms up in just a couple of miles but I'm not in the great white north either .... Really looking forward to seeing your build and your unique approach to problem solving!

Don't know if the AC compressor can be moved elsewere, I'll have to think about it and check where it might fit.

Yeah I didn't notice the lack of coolant glowplugs till it got to -15C, then you notice! I had to carry a scraper for the inside of the windsheild as it would frost up from my breathing. Fitting the glows seemed easier than stopping breathing for an hour.
I could get a Euro bracket sourced, but I think making a bracket to mount the PS in the AC spot will be pretty easy. We'll see this wekend.

Here's some quick pics.
Here is the motor mount clearance in case i change over to a VNT: (yes I'd have to relocate the actuator can, probably just flip the can to the top with a little lever to act like a see-saw to connect it to the turbo arm)


Here is the intake with the K14 and intake, nice clearance under the exhaust for the starter:



Comparison of the K14 and VNT15:



That's all for now!

Ryan

The mount looks good! .... Do you have any pictures of the starter clearance with the mount installed?

Hey Ryan,

Good to see you are getting started on the swap! Also good to see my buddy's old truck is getting some love. If you're wondering why the front bush bar is all pushed in, it's because it made it though the 8 ft ditch in front of Danby's restaurant. The Chevy fan boys shut up after that one....


Looking forwards to the swap,

Luke

Ha ha, cool,
Yeah I'll have to tell my 2 boys that's what happened, we were wondering. The truck's been a few places since then, went down the carp trail in 2wd, been up to calabogie, went to north augusta (the soup and the obstical course). I've had the fender flairs under water a few times (about 4' deep).
Keeps me thinking about how sturdy I need to have all the mods be.

To that end I was wondering if an electric fan would be the best choice for swimming. My buddies jeep ate it's electric fan after the fan motor got full of water. Maybe a belt driven one would be better, or look for a fan with a water tight motor.
Oh well, Should have the motor ready to go in the truck by next weekend.
Just need to change a PD cambelt for a guy at work, and pirate an 01 jetta (ALH Auto) for usefull parts before bringing in the truck for the swap.

Ryan

More done on engine

So I finished a few more things on the engine over the weekend.

Here is the rear coolant manifold:


Rear coolant manifold with vw ecu Temp sender and Toyota guage temp sender



Stock heater outlet with glowplugs repositioned on end of coolant manifold


And here is the AC delete moving the PS to the AC location:


PS to AC bracket


Assembled with belt and BEW tensioner

I didn't like this at all.
It just looked goofy, and put the PS much to low. I could remake the bracket to move the PS up about an inch, but it would never be something I was happy with. So I took all unrequired parts off the front of the engine and started again.


So...



Here is the bracket I came up with:


Nice and tidy using longer alt bolts and fitting the stock idler pulley


And here is how it looks with the belt on:


Much cleaner, using stock locations and stock parts (just less of them)



Showing the Serp belt setup, how the coolant transfer towards the rad, the turbo / intake location, and motor mount.

All I need to make is the flange for the turbo outlet and Then it will be time to bring in the truck.

Ryan

The 2nd version certainly looks cleaner, but how are you tensioning the belt?

The bracket is made with slots which the alt bolts go through. The belt is tensioned by sliding the aluminum bracket which holds the idler pulley down and then tightening the bolts. In practice the belt goes on easily and tensions quite smoothly.
Seems to work pretty well!

Ryan

Nice water outlet .... Will it clear a stock ALH intake ?

I believe it should clear the stock intake, although to be honest I haven't tried it.
I don't think I would change the intake unless for some reason I went to a pd intake. I can't see a stock one flowing more with a better bottom end torque than this long runner intake.
If some one was keen and wanted to copy it I could take some measurements of it, it's pretty simple.

Ryan

alphawerks said:

The bracket is made with slots which the alt bolts go through. The belt is tensioned by sliding the aluminum bracket which holds the idler pulley down and then tightening the bolts. In practice the belt goes on easily and tensions quite smoothly.
Seems to work pretty well!

Ryan

Click to expand...

That is a good design! Very simple!

So here is the intercooler I'll be using:



26 x 18 x 3. Should fit perfectly behind the grill just between the bumper and the upper rad support.
I think the only parts I don't have to get the truck done are the boost tubes.

So this weekend the truck goes in the shop.
Anyone looking for a 5VZ-FE? Do you a good deal!

Ryan

While I'm excited to see this swap be a success, why the large intercooler? It and the larger/longer boost pipes might lead to turbo lag being noticeable.

trial fit - it fits

So it fits!

In the images the motor is lined up and about 3/4" from the bellhousing face. (due to the turbo opps) The motor is clocked at about the stock 17°, and this seems to workout perfectly with the curvature of the firewall over the bellousing.



Well the engine fits, But where I put the turbo dosen't.
The mounts line up, the placement is perfectly where I wanted it.


The accessories clear the frame quite nicely:




The vac pump clears the firewall by a fair amount,



and there is lots of room for the coolant outlet, even the stock tdi automatic outlet (maybe even the manual outlet):




The turbo Would have fit If I had left well enough alone. The stock TD (upper) location, or TDI (lower) location would fit perfect. But my side mount turbo hits the frame mount for the A-arm.



Any further up, down, forward or back and it would have fit.
Sometimes I think it takes someone special to take a working solution and mess it up, and I sir am quite special.

Since I made an adapter to fit this turbo (K14) to this manifold (early TDI for a GT15) I think the simpleest solution is to make another adapter which rotates the turbo about 45° CCW. This will allow the turbo to clear the frame and A-arm. Here is exhibit A in the case for rotation:



A bit of rotation with some clocking and all will be well.

Anyway over all I am very pleased with my decision to use a V6 truck with the stock V6 tranny and mounts. Over all I think the placement has a very factory look to it.



Well pleased indeed.

Ryan

Nice work man.... Have you considered using a BHW manifold ? .... It may place the turbo up higher and away from the frame.... You have any pics of pan to diff clearance? .... Can't really tell from your description but is the block/adapter not bolted completely to the bell housing ?

Looking at your pictures I see a pretty big gap between the top of the bell and your adapter plate and no gap at the bottom, with a little vacuum pump clearance at the firewall, once you close that gap @ the top of bell housing it will translate into much more movement at the top of the vacuum pump (less clearance).... just did some measuring on a long block....with 3/4" gap at the top of the bell and pivoting at the base of the block till the gap closes this translates to almost 2" of back travel @ the vacuum pump....it's hard to tell from the pictures though.....the fact you your bell housing is 1" deeper will help with clearance....mine being a W series with the same engine and differential (no body lift) I still had to move the engine/trans forward 2.25" for 1/4" of vacuum pump clearance @ firewall....I also had to notch the oil pan (1" diff drop) to keep the motor tranny @ near stock angle..... that being said your engine is at slightly different rotational angle than one with the ACME adapter ...so I may be just talking out of my arse....

does your truck have a lift kit that drops the stock diff a few inches? ...if so this simplifies vacuum pump to firewall clearance as you can angle the engine/trans down more....I looked into the lift kits for this very reason but I decided to work around the stock configuration ....(notched pan required)

hi Jim,

Yeah I was watching your build while planning mine. I definately think the tacoma is an easier base than the pickup due to the opposite batt / airbox / exhaust location.

Clearance to the front diff; When i got my truck it had a 4" diff / steering rack / lower a-arm drop. This means the diff has about 2 - 3" of clearance to the pan.
I will be raising all these things back up later, Probably with a 1" diff drop and extended struts for ground clearance, but that's later.

In the previous pics the adapter was about an inch from the bellhousing face. I have removed the exhaust manifold and turbo and now the motor is bolted to the bellhousing.
I took some updated pics of the motor in it's proper resting place.




What a nice fealing when I lowered the crane and the engine mounts slid into place perfectly. DS mount: (the oil cooler hoses even clear the clutch lines and slave )




Here is a pic of the vac pump clearance:






Now to sort the turbo placement....

Here is a pic of the room I have to work with:



The motor is indexed at an angle of 17.5° CCW towards the passenger side in relation to the gearbox. I believe this is the stock angle used in the jetta and similar to the 20° used in an audi. I could have placed the motor more upright and the turbo would have more room, but I wanted to keep the engine angle closer to stock, and the bolt locations available for the adapter agreed with me.

However, I have held the K14 in place and it won't actualy fit between the block and the a-arm tower. So no mid-mount turbo for me. (Bew won't fit, location will be the same as it is now I'm afraid)


As far as I can tell the options are as follows,

1. Use the K14 on it's original manifold, mounted high, and fit the stock tdi intake manifold

2. Use the VNT15 I have, tucked in it's happy home beside the block, with my long runner manifold, and find a way to control the vanes - either mechanically or with a modified vacuum actuator.

3. (silly) modify an audi 5000 turbo exhaust manifold to place the turbo more to the front.

4. (fraught with extra effort and risk of failure) fabricate an exhaust manifold to fit.


You'll note I didn't mention trying to fit a stock K03 on the AHU / 1Z manifold. It may fit, but I still won't do it.

I expect I'll start with option one to get the truck running, dyno it when it runs well. Then I hope to convert to an electronic setup with the vnt, tune and re-dyno.


Anybody have other sugestions / opinions?


Ryan

I have a gt1749vc turbo that mounts up high like the BRM but it's VNT of course and you'd have to lose the long runner intake also have a BHW/AFN manifold for sale...but you may want to check out pic of that and see if helps the situation....I'd say go with an ALH or pd130/150 inlet and mount the turbo you have using a 1.6TD trapezoid manifold that holds it up high....I'm sure someone on here has one for sale.... I'm glad I was incorrect on the vacuum pump clearance ....good to see it fits nicely with lots of room....

exhaust manifold

Well I tried all the configurations last night.
Mounting the K14 up high with the stock aaz manifold will fit, but puts the turbo in the way of the upper coolant hose between my modded coolant outlet and the rad, so the coolant line would have to go around the motor the other way and back. I also have to use a stock inlet (aaz or alh), and the stock K14 maifold has some restrictions for bolt bosses.
For these reasons I don't realy like this option.

the Stock VNT15 fits and clears the motor mount. The bottom stud just touches the starter, and the down pipe should have a little wiggle up to give more room to the starter. I can mount the vac canister to the side and cut'n'shut the actuator arm 90°. Will only need minor clearancing for the intake. This would work.
Still not my favorite. And I worry about stories of vnt15's breaking with abuse.

Audi manifold would put the turbo too far back.

But...
If I were to mount the turbo at the same angle as an inverted K14 manifold, but have the turbo inlet lined up with exhaust port numbert one, the fit would be perfect.
-Easy clearance to the mount, frame, and starter.
-shorter boost plumbing / TIP
-can still use the long runner intake

This would be like a quantum td manifold mirrored front to back.
The bonus is that it will be ready if / when I upgrade to a bigger turbo.... Hmmm - 2056 anyone?

So I think that's what I'll do. Now I just need to make some flanges.

Some day I'll do something the easyway... Someday.

Ryan

Clutch excitment

Happy new year everyone!


What to do for a clutch.


I am hoping for about 250ftlbs at the crank for my truck, more if I can get it, so the clutch will need to handle that.


I know many people have used the 22r-e clutch which is 8 1/4" diameter. It is rated for 136ftlbs stock and for a tdi can be made to work with a HD pressure plate. 1800 lbs seems to be the consensus for a mild tune. This is about the same diameter as stock size tdi clutch which is 228mm. These seem to work for stock up to a mild tune and would equate to using a VR6 pressureplate. Of note the Audi 1.8t is also 228mm, with the larger audi clutches sized at 240mm. I thought of using the audi flywheel with the toyota clutch disk and an audi starter mounted to the engine / tranny adapter in the stock audi location. I can't remember why now, but for some obvious reason this idea was cast aside. I think same as the 22r-e, it just wasn't big enough to work well.

If you want to handle more than a mild tune you need to go more aggressive with the clutch material. I could go with kevlar or ceramic disk a 8 1/4" (or 228mm) clutch, but for a daily driver the feel of these is marginal compaired to organic material. Also this clutch will need to work in some unpleasant enviroments -mud, underwater, snow / ice buildup and the more exotic materials don't react well to contaminents.


So, what to do...
There is an easy way to get a toyota V6 clutch onto a tdi.
I didn't do it that way. (of course if there is a harder way that will be what I pick)

The easy way is to use a 94 4x4 flywheel from a 4 cyl 22re pickup / 4 runner. This is the same part as from a 22t-re (turbo pickup). This can be redrilled to the vw pattern. The clutch disk and pressure plate for this setup are the same as used with the 3.0 V6. The diameter of the friction surface is 9 5/16". Stock torque rating for the turbo is 173 ftlbs, while the v6 is 180 ftlbs. More than enough for a stock tdi and sufficient for a mild tune or injectors.
If you want to use this with the v6 gearbox all you have to do is machine the OD to fit a V6 ring gear.



But that's not what I did.


The tacoma / tundra / 4runner with the 3.4 V6 have a 9 7/8" clutch, which is good for 230 ftlbs stock. luckily even with the bigger clutch, the flywheel diameter and pressure plate bolt pattern are the same as for the 9 5/16 (turbo / 3.0 V6) clutch. This I verified at the local clutch shop. So I started out with a 94 4x4 4 cyl flywheel and machined it to fit the vw crank. Supposedly, just the friction surface is larger with the bigger clutch, or so I thought. I had all this ready before I pulled the truck apart, and planned to use the clutch I had in the truck.


However, It turns out that the disk has MUCH larger springs and a MUCH larger center hub in the clutch disk. To make this fit in the space available, toyota used a reverse hub disk. This means theat the clutch disk hub containing the springs etc are placed on the engine side of the disk within the flywheel instead of within the pressure plate.

The result is that the disk center hub section won't fit into the turbo flywheel or into the pressure plate. If the hub is placed in the pressure plate the release fingers won't have room to move. To fit the clutch disk in as per stock tacoma (reverse fit to usual) the flywheel need to be machined thinner than would seem safe - there isn't even room for the flywheel bolts.


After a lot of measureing the best option was to was machine a friction plate to act as a spacer. This got me the room needed for the clutch disk to fit as per stock with the hub inside the flywheel. With careful spacing the clutch is mounted just 2mm rearward of the stock location.


So now all is well, all fits, and I will have a stock fitment tacoma clutch. I should be getting the balanced flywheel back from the clutch shop this afternoon and picking up a tacoma 9 7/8" clutch good for at least the 230 ftlbs of the original 3.4 V6. If I ever needed more clamping they said It would be easy to increase the clamping pressure, and still use the organic based disk.

Pics to come upon installation.


Next: to finish the exhaust manifold.

Ryan

I really like that intake. Would you mind taking a quick measurement for me? If you were to stand your engine up vertically, how far above the valve cover would it extend? Thanks!

alphawerks said:

Well I tried all the configurations last night.
Mounting the K14 up high with the stock aaz manifold will fit, but puts the turbo in the way of the upper coolant hose between my modded coolant outlet and the rad, so the coolant line would have to go around the motor the other way and back. I also have to use a stock inlet (aaz or alh), and the stock K14 maifold has some restrictions for bolt bosses.
For these reasons I don't realy like this option.

the Stock VNT15 fits and clears the motor mount. The bottom stud just touches the starter, and the down pipe should have a little wiggle up to give more room to the starter. I can mount the vac canister to the side and cut'n'shut the actuator arm 90°. Will only need minor clearancing for the intake. This would work.
Still not my favorite. And I worry about stories of vnt15's breaking with abuse.

Audi manifold would put the turbo too far back.

But...
If I were to mount the turbo at the same angle as an inverted K14 manifold, but have the turbo inlet lined up with exhaust port numbert one, the fit would be perfect.
-Easy clearance to the mount, frame, and starter.
-shorter boost plumbing / TIP
-can still use the long runner intake

This would be like a quantum td manifold mirrored front to back.
The bonus is that it will be ready if / when I upgrade to a bigger turbo.... Hmmm - 2056 anyone?

So I think that's what I'll do. Now I just need to make some flanges.

Click to expand...

Do you have pictures of these various exhaust manifolds? I'm also trying to configure a mani that will work well with a 2056 For me, moving the turbo forward so the center section sits even with #1 exhaust port would be best.

here's my solution for a stronger clutch...on the taco V6 clutches it depends on what clutch disc/pressure plate combo you use...I did a ton of research and found this combo that faces toward the pressure plate instead of the flywheel....still have to find time for installing it
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3845973&postcount=295

and pics...
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3889095&postcount=345

Greengeeker,

I'll try to get some measurements tonight of the intake. As for the exhaust manifold, I'll see about some pics if I get a chance.
You may like what I'm working on for the exhaust manifold...

Jimbote,

Interesteing to read about your clutch development saga, Good to know I am at least on the right track with what I am doing. I'll take some pics tonight of what I did as I re-install it into the truck. (again)

BTW, what torque do you think your truck is making? If I recall you have a 2056 and an 11mm pump, bigish FMIC and exhaust, with a stock alh intake and head / cam yes?

Also how did it work out using the intank fuel pump as a lift pump? Is it plumbed direct to the IP (as in the pic on page 5? of your thread) or is there some relief to reduse the pressure?

Ryan