ALH/BEW Turbo Swap

engineerchad

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Location
NC, USA
TDI
02 Jetta
I have an ALH, 2002 TDI right now and the VNT is sticking on the turbo. I've pulled the engine/transaxle to go ahead and do the timing belt and fix the limp mode issue to find that it seems nearly impossible to open the turbo housing so far. I have the seal kit for it and everything (it was dumping oil into the intake, about a pint fell out on my knee removing the intercooler), but I've wailed on the housing with a deadblow and a large screwdrive for days without luck (aside from that I haven't yet cracked the housing lol)

My question is: I had a BEW engine that I have the manifold and turbo from, the ports match, of course the actuator for the VNT was different and attaches to the VNT lever differently, but how hard would it be to make that work on the ALH?

I soaked the housing overnight 4 different times so far with PB Blaster, I've heated the whole thing up to about 300 degrees+ several times and beat on it, it just isn't coming apart so far and I'd prefer not to just buy a whole new turbo. If anyone has some experience with this, I'm really interested in hearing about it. Thank you!
 

eddieleephd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Battle Ground, Wa
TDI
2002 jetta Wagon
If it's a Garrett it's plug and play. Borg Warner I am not positive but remember reading something about a tune for it, I think that was the Borg actuator on the Garrett

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engineerchad

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Location
NC, USA
TDI
02 Jetta
If it's a Garrett it's plug and play. Borg Warner I am not positive but remember reading something about a tune for it, I think that was the Borg actuator on the Garrett

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It's definitely not a Garret (from the BEW) the compressor outlet is different, the old (ALH) housing says "Garret" right on it, so I'm assuming the one from the BEW is a Borg Warner.
 

engineerchad

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Location
NC, USA
TDI
02 Jetta
Thank you, I'm searching now to figure out about an actuator that will work with the ALH system on the Borg Warner unit. Looks like I'll have to modify the intake slightly too, it sucks that when I wrecked the 2004.5 I didn't have the foresight to keep the parts and cut the downpipe and intake hoses off instead of removing them with the engine/turbo. Looks like there's at least an actuator made for the fitting on the Borg Warner unit that works similar to the ALH unit (not the smart actuator, just vaccuum with a solenoid up on the firewall.)
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
The BEW VNT17 needs a bit of EGR plumbing to drop in, I suspect something silly would be needed to hook a BEW turbo up to ALH bits. Now if EGR was gone, maybe not so much...
cheers,
Douglas
 

gforce1108

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Location
Newburgh, NY
TDI
04 Jetta GLS BEW, 14 Audi A7 V6 TDI, 13 Porsche Cayenne V6 TDI
I put a BEW turbo (it's not a VNT17, it's a kp39) on an early ALH - nothing special. The outlet pipe was different but one from a newer ALH worked. I'm pretty sure I already had the EGR deleted at that point.

The actuator from the BEW will work just fine - the electronics are for feedback only.
 

engineerchad

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Location
NC, USA
TDI
02 Jetta
I put a BEW turbo (it's not a VNT17, it's a kp39) on an early ALH - nothing special. The outlet pipe was different but one from a newer ALH worked. I'm pretty sure I already had the EGR deleted at that point.

The actuator from the BEW will work just fine - the electronics are for feedback only.
Very good stuff, yes it's a kp39 turbo (took a little time to look into the parts and terms since the post). Thank you, I figure it may serve its place for a little while until I can figure out banging apart this turbo housing that's near 400k (!) and yes, the hooking it up part looks like it may be a bit of a challenge but, I would really like to just move forward for a bit on something I know I can get done instead of continuing to bang on this housing without the car running until potentially breaking it especially since I have the turbo and it worked fine before the front end of the BEW was so gracefully removed....
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
.............................until I can figure out banging apart this turbo housing that's near 400k (!) and .........................
About that, don't expect that to come out well. It's not like rebuilding a carburetor, alternator or starter. But hey, it's worth a shot, I guess. I believe that KP39 will do the trick, can't help with how to on that. But someone knows.
VW TDI Search Engine
 

9755

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Location
Burtchville MI
TDI
2001 Jetta tdi
It sounds wrong, but at a shop I used to work at,an old timer would heat bolts to red, then with a spray bottle, squirt water on it to rapidly cool it. Seemed to always get out the bolts we all else had trouble with.
 

burn_your_money

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Location
Missouri
TDI
99 Beetle, 96 B4V, 05 Passat wagon
The old timer where I work let's them cool naturally for 10-30 minutes depending on size. Also works well.
 

eddieleephd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Battle Ground, Wa
TDI
2002 jetta Wagon
Spraying with water hardens slightly the head, helps to prevent rounding it out. Heat expands the bolt independent of the housing, letting it cool(must let it cool) shrinks it breaking the rest of the corrosion and the bolt resistance is much less.

Must heat a bolt that's had red anti-seize put on it or it won't come out either.

You can also try heating the entire turbo in the oven also, if a torch on the head doesn't work that is.

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eddieleephd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Battle Ground, Wa
TDI
2002 jetta Wagon
500ish heating up the metal causes expansion and contraction at different rates due to densities and sizes. You'll often see it started to stick a housing in the oven and drop the cold bearing in easily opposed to driving in.

A little heart can work wonders.
 
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