Stromaluski
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2013
- Location
- Greenville, SC
- TDI
- '67 Deluxe Bus, '80 Rabbit Truck, '92 Corrado, '10 Cup Edition
I did this upgrade on my Jetta earlier this year. Figured I'd make a thread to let people know what's involved. This is more of an information dump rather than a build thread, FYI.
I was looking for a small-ish turbo upgrade for my car and decided on a GT1749VA from a BHW, which was found in B5.5 Passats. I've heard this turbo described as a baby VNT17. The VNT17 that is normally used on an ALH is a GT1749VB. The VA can't handle quite as much abuse as a VB, but the folks at Malone Tuning said they run them both at the same boost level with no issues.
I settled on the GT1749VA simply because it does not require modifying the passenger side engine mount. It clears the mount and firewall with zero issues. It does sit ROUGHLY 1.5” father upward and 1” farther back toward the firewall. However, you will have downpipe limitations. If I had to do this conversion again, I would try an ALH turbo with a modified engine mount before doing the BHW turbo again.
I was looking to do this without going nuts on parts, so I decided to try to do this with the minimum replacement parts I could. Because of that, I am reusing the stock airbox, intake snorkel, intercooler, boost piping, etc.
Another great thread to reference is G60ING’s thread about the similar upgrade he did to his Corrado.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=293320
Parts Required:
· BHW exhaust manifold and turbo. This is a divided setup, so they are two separate parts.
· BHW oil drain line
· BHW turbo support bracket
· VNT17 Turbo Outlet Adapter
· Oil Feed line
· Downpipe (more on this later)
· Tune from your preferred tuner to accommodate VNT control vs stock wastegate control
· Extra factory AHU breather hose - 028 103 493S
· 1.5" ID 90 degree silicone hose to connect boost piping to turbo
· (Possibly) MAP sensor for ECU
I did this upgrade with the car sitting on the wheels on ramps, but I highly recommend pulling the passenger side axle to do it. It makes accessing bolts and whatnot way easier, and if you still have the factory axle in your car, you will have to cut off the balance weight in order to clear the turbo support bracket. It’s do-able without pulling the axle, but it would be WAY easier with the axle out of the car.
The exhaust manifold/turbo is direct bolt on and does clear the engine mount with zero issues there. Factory AHU turbo does not have a support bracket, but the bosses in the engine block are there from the factory for the BHW support bracket. You’ll need the bracket and bolts to go with it. Factory drain line uses a banjo bolt, but that was superseded at some point to be an AN style fitting. Replacement AHU drain lines are the same style. The BHW drain line/fitting bolt in with zero issues.
You can reuse the factory heat shield if you cut it down some. There’s a few pictures of how much you’ll need to cut off of it for it to bolt on like stock.
For the feed line, you will need to get a braided line that is available from just about any of the aftermarket suppliers. A factory oil feed line from a European AFN should work just fine, in case you wanted to source one. Part number for that is 028 145 771 BE.
You will also need to get a VNT17 boost hose outlet adapter for the turbo. It is also available from just about any aftermarket supplier. Mine came from CTS Turbo.
http://www.ctsturbo.com/cart/products/CTS_Turbo_VNT_17_Hose_Adapter-4669-160.html
For a downpipe… Your only options here are a factory downpipe for a European AFN b4/mk3 or a custom downpipe. Part number for the factory downpipe is 3A0-253-208-J and you can occasionally find them on one of the various European eBay websites. There is NOBODY that offers an aftermarket, pre-made solution for this turbo on a mk3/b4 despite that they were offered from the factory with this turbo in Europe (on an AFN). I was shocked about this. Don’t fall into the same assumption that I did that you can use a mk4 downpipe because the flange is the same. You cannot use an ALH downpipe on a BHW turbo, though. The flange is the same on the two turbos, but on a BHW turbo is rotated about 45 degrees from where the flange goes on an ALH turbo. I opted to have a custom downpipe made. This was, by far, the part of this upgrade that I am the least happy with. I have read that if you use an ALH turbo on a mk3, you can use a mk4 downpipe. I have not confirmed that myself, though.
The factory MAP sensor in the mk3/b4 ecu is only good to about 21 psi. Depending on the boost level you are going to be requesting from this turbo, you may or may not need to replace the factory MAP sensor. Malone Tuning sells both 2.9 bar and 4 bar sensors and also offer a service to replace the sensor. You will need to get a tune from your preferred tuner anyway, this should be done at the same time. Factory AHU turbo used a wastegate for boost management, whereas the VNT17 uses a variable vane setup to control boost. The ECU does need to be re-coded for that.
Despite that the turbo does sit in a different location, you can still reuse the factory mk3 intake snorkel, airbox, and accordion intake hose. There is enough flex in the hose to accommodate the location difference. You will need to make an S shaped bracket to bolt the intake snorkel to the intake manifold. You can see the bracket I made in the pictures below. I also was able to combine two factory breather hoses with a hose barb in order to make the required hose in the correct length. You could do this with just standard oil hose, if you desired, but I found the cost to be cheap enough that the small increase in cost was worth it for a better fitting hose.
For the N75, you can simply repurpose your existing N18 (assuming you are deleting the EGR). The part number on the two are the same; there is no need to buy a mk4 N75. Just remove the N18 and put it into the same place as the factory N75 and use the N75 plug. It plugs in directly. I made a little, rectangular shaped bracket to use to mount the N18 in the factory N75 location. I didn’t think to take a picture of it, but it’s literally a rectangular shaped piece of flat sheet metal with 4 holes in it. Two holes to bolt the bracket to the N18 and then I robbed the rubber holder off of the factory N75 and used the other two holes on the bracket I made to attach the rubber holder.
Vacuum lines get plumbed just like an ALH. I did not add the vacuum reservoir, though I did have one sitting on a shelf in case I needed it.
For boost piping, I cut down the factory turbo outlet pipe and added the silicone 90 degree hose that I cut down both legs on. If you cut the pipe just right, you can delete one of the two mesh donuts on the tube and use the bead that held the donut in place to keep your boost hose from popping off. I was even able to reuse the factory clamp that bolted to the intake manifold. I used a silicone hose that I got from Amazon.
http://a.co/d/09i4P7k
It is probably worth mentioning that I immediately had to upgrade my clutch (again) after doing this upgrade. With DLC1019s and an 11mm pump, a south bend stage 2 daily would not hold the torque. South Bend stage 3 endurance has no problem with it, though.
Pictures:
I was looking for a small-ish turbo upgrade for my car and decided on a GT1749VA from a BHW, which was found in B5.5 Passats. I've heard this turbo described as a baby VNT17. The VNT17 that is normally used on an ALH is a GT1749VB. The VA can't handle quite as much abuse as a VB, but the folks at Malone Tuning said they run them both at the same boost level with no issues.
I settled on the GT1749VA simply because it does not require modifying the passenger side engine mount. It clears the mount and firewall with zero issues. It does sit ROUGHLY 1.5” father upward and 1” farther back toward the firewall. However, you will have downpipe limitations. If I had to do this conversion again, I would try an ALH turbo with a modified engine mount before doing the BHW turbo again.
I was looking to do this without going nuts on parts, so I decided to try to do this with the minimum replacement parts I could. Because of that, I am reusing the stock airbox, intake snorkel, intercooler, boost piping, etc.
Another great thread to reference is G60ING’s thread about the similar upgrade he did to his Corrado.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=293320
Parts Required:
· BHW exhaust manifold and turbo. This is a divided setup, so they are two separate parts.
· BHW oil drain line
· BHW turbo support bracket
· VNT17 Turbo Outlet Adapter
· Oil Feed line
· Downpipe (more on this later)
· Tune from your preferred tuner to accommodate VNT control vs stock wastegate control
· Extra factory AHU breather hose - 028 103 493S
· 1.5" ID 90 degree silicone hose to connect boost piping to turbo
· (Possibly) MAP sensor for ECU
I did this upgrade with the car sitting on the wheels on ramps, but I highly recommend pulling the passenger side axle to do it. It makes accessing bolts and whatnot way easier, and if you still have the factory axle in your car, you will have to cut off the balance weight in order to clear the turbo support bracket. It’s do-able without pulling the axle, but it would be WAY easier with the axle out of the car.
The exhaust manifold/turbo is direct bolt on and does clear the engine mount with zero issues there. Factory AHU turbo does not have a support bracket, but the bosses in the engine block are there from the factory for the BHW support bracket. You’ll need the bracket and bolts to go with it. Factory drain line uses a banjo bolt, but that was superseded at some point to be an AN style fitting. Replacement AHU drain lines are the same style. The BHW drain line/fitting bolt in with zero issues.
You can reuse the factory heat shield if you cut it down some. There’s a few pictures of how much you’ll need to cut off of it for it to bolt on like stock.
For the feed line, you will need to get a braided line that is available from just about any of the aftermarket suppliers. A factory oil feed line from a European AFN should work just fine, in case you wanted to source one. Part number for that is 028 145 771 BE.
You will also need to get a VNT17 boost hose outlet adapter for the turbo. It is also available from just about any aftermarket supplier. Mine came from CTS Turbo.
http://www.ctsturbo.com/cart/products/CTS_Turbo_VNT_17_Hose_Adapter-4669-160.html
For a downpipe… Your only options here are a factory downpipe for a European AFN b4/mk3 or a custom downpipe. Part number for the factory downpipe is 3A0-253-208-J and you can occasionally find them on one of the various European eBay websites. There is NOBODY that offers an aftermarket, pre-made solution for this turbo on a mk3/b4 despite that they were offered from the factory with this turbo in Europe (on an AFN). I was shocked about this. Don’t fall into the same assumption that I did that you can use a mk4 downpipe because the flange is the same. You cannot use an ALH downpipe on a BHW turbo, though. The flange is the same on the two turbos, but on a BHW turbo is rotated about 45 degrees from where the flange goes on an ALH turbo. I opted to have a custom downpipe made. This was, by far, the part of this upgrade that I am the least happy with. I have read that if you use an ALH turbo on a mk3, you can use a mk4 downpipe. I have not confirmed that myself, though.
The factory MAP sensor in the mk3/b4 ecu is only good to about 21 psi. Depending on the boost level you are going to be requesting from this turbo, you may or may not need to replace the factory MAP sensor. Malone Tuning sells both 2.9 bar and 4 bar sensors and also offer a service to replace the sensor. You will need to get a tune from your preferred tuner anyway, this should be done at the same time. Factory AHU turbo used a wastegate for boost management, whereas the VNT17 uses a variable vane setup to control boost. The ECU does need to be re-coded for that.
Despite that the turbo does sit in a different location, you can still reuse the factory mk3 intake snorkel, airbox, and accordion intake hose. There is enough flex in the hose to accommodate the location difference. You will need to make an S shaped bracket to bolt the intake snorkel to the intake manifold. You can see the bracket I made in the pictures below. I also was able to combine two factory breather hoses with a hose barb in order to make the required hose in the correct length. You could do this with just standard oil hose, if you desired, but I found the cost to be cheap enough that the small increase in cost was worth it for a better fitting hose.
For the N75, you can simply repurpose your existing N18 (assuming you are deleting the EGR). The part number on the two are the same; there is no need to buy a mk4 N75. Just remove the N18 and put it into the same place as the factory N75 and use the N75 plug. It plugs in directly. I made a little, rectangular shaped bracket to use to mount the N18 in the factory N75 location. I didn’t think to take a picture of it, but it’s literally a rectangular shaped piece of flat sheet metal with 4 holes in it. Two holes to bolt the bracket to the N18 and then I robbed the rubber holder off of the factory N75 and used the other two holes on the bracket I made to attach the rubber holder.
Vacuum lines get plumbed just like an ALH. I did not add the vacuum reservoir, though I did have one sitting on a shelf in case I needed it.
For boost piping, I cut down the factory turbo outlet pipe and added the silicone 90 degree hose that I cut down both legs on. If you cut the pipe just right, you can delete one of the two mesh donuts on the tube and use the bead that held the donut in place to keep your boost hose from popping off. I was even able to reuse the factory clamp that bolted to the intake manifold. I used a silicone hose that I got from Amazon.
http://a.co/d/09i4P7k
It is probably worth mentioning that I immediately had to upgrade my clutch (again) after doing this upgrade. With DLC1019s and an 11mm pump, a south bend stage 2 daily would not hold the torque. South Bend stage 3 endurance has no problem with it, though.
Pictures:
