AHU swap into 93 Eurovan Weekender

Sweet! Nice score! Now maybe you can ditch the tool box

You have it all wrong, I just made the tool box more functional! On the weekender setup I had to leave it down as a bed all the time preventing easy access to the bottom 3 drawers...now I can get to all the drawers any time even with the van packed to the gills!

Sweet! Still running well?

shes due for an oil change. I need to check timing and make sure everything is tip-top. I have been getting slightly lower than average MPG and think I am hearing some unusual noises that need a good once over. Other than that, she never lets me down!

njt1rider said:

shes due for an oil change. I need to check timing and make sure everything is tip-top. I have been getting slightly lower than average MPG and think I am hearing some unusual noises that need a good once over. Other than that, she never lets me down!

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Good to hear my friend! Hope it keeps plugging along




Cole

Didn't realize it was you cole! Wish you were closer...I have the fridge/sink/stove from the camper that I bet you could do something really cool with...

njt1rider said:

Another thing that needs to be addressed is the inlet air temp sensor. the old one was pushed into a hard plastic intake hose with a metal clip securing it. On my new setup, the only thing close to the sensor is a rubber hose. There is a MAP sensor on the intercooler I am using. Is there anyway to utilize this and turn it into the temp sensor?

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What did you end up doing for the inlet air temp sensor? I'm at this same point in my build...
Geoff
SLO, CA

The map sensor on mk4 intercoolers are combo map/IAT. I simply spliced into the IAT on my 2.5tdi intercooler. Your solution will depend on your setup...the alh jettas have the same map/iat set up on their intercoolers if that helps at all...

I met and spent some time with njt1rider yesterday. Great guy and his setup is first-rate. I really appreciated his advice on a couple things I'm still working through on my AHU conversion. Best part was getting a ride in his van -- great/tractable power, and he's averaged ~33 mpg over 35k miles (in 6 months!!!), despite being loaded down pretty heavily. I can't wait to finish my conversion!

Thank you for the kind words Geoff! It was nice to meet you as well and awesome swap! Hopefully I can see it on the road...down the road!



This translates to roughly 246,000 hehe...37K since the swap averaging 33.18mpg according to GPS. I figured I have saved about $4000 already on fuel. I feel warm and fuzzy

A pic from the road...

i see your speed is a little north of 70...what is the tach reading at the mph? ...awesome swap btw....I'm buying a 93' EV 2.5 5 speed tomorrow and it will be getting a 1Z or AHU

75 mph according to gps puts it right about 3000 rpms. I try to keep her at 68 on the highway according to gps and that puts me a hair under 2750 rpm. The speedometer reads about 3mph fast. Ill double check this next time I'm on the highway (shouldn't be too long haha)

Just double checked 5th gear speeds and are as follows:
51 @ 2000
58 @ 2250
64 @ 2500
70 @ 2750
77 @ 3000

Note: speeds are according to gps. Gps has veen verified by second gps. I may be off by a mph or two just because I was trying to drive while take note of speeds!

njt1rider said:

Just double checked 5th gear speeds and are as follows:
51 @ 2000
58 @ 2250
64 @ 2500
70 @ 2750
77 @ 3000
Note: speeds are according to gps. Gps has veen verified by second gps. I may be off by a mph or two just because I was trying to drive while take note of speeds!

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sweet!... thanks for checking that .... the van i'm getting has a replacement trans that according to the code is a 4.94 final drive ratio !? ... i'm considering eurotunings six speed kit to get the revs down ... your thread is an inspiration to get r' done!

Jimbote, You still plan on doing the 1z on the westfalia as well as 03Ev swap?

what tranny code you have ?

sccaddy said:

Jimbote, You still plan on doing the 1z on the westfalia as well as 03Ev swap?

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yep... prob sell one of the vans once they are finished

Jimbote, I was looking at that six speed kit. Looks super cool but I'm not sure the durabilty of it in our big heavy vans. You would probably be the only person in NA with a six speed eurovan though! I was reading some success stories from europe...I hope you do It! Will you be starting a build thread? Good luck and stock up on the advil now! Hahha, its not that bad!

I finally got around to finishing my interior swap. I had to cut out parts of the floor to permanently (and safely) mount the seat rails. Now the bed folds perfectly flat with the rear cushion which was starting to get extremely annoying.







While I was looking around, I found that I have a torn CV boot after only 36,000 miles. I am a bit bummed about that but the dealership has a boot kit for $50 so I am going to tackle that hopefully on Wednesday before I make the trek out to Denver.

Wow, 6 speed. Are you getting it? Wish my T4 had that. Along with the 3rd gear synchro which is apparently roached.

MTjake said:

Wow, 6 speed. Are you getting it? Wish my T4 had that. Along with the 3rd gear synchro which is apparently roached.

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not sure yet... I may just try a tdi fifth and see how that works first ....the van is still at my buddies but paid for, and I have a 93' weekender on it's way up from florida friday that will donate it's top .... as for your third gear try sychromesh if you haven't already.... sorry for the hijack ... I will jump ship now

A TDI 5th in a NA spec trans isn't going to provide that much of a drop. I have a NA spec trans here with a .681(IIRC) that I had in shop rig for a while. It dropped the RPMs nicely but was still in the torque band.

mogly said:

A TDI 5th in a NA spec trans isn't going to provide that much of a drop. I have a NA spec trans here with a .681(IIRC) that I had in shop rig for a while. It dropped the RPMs nicely but was still in the torque band.

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thanks for that info

I attempted to change a CV boot today. Changing the boot was easy. Apparently I didn't reassmble the joint properly and now im stuck until I get a new axle on tuesday. BUMMER

Here are the threads detailing my dilemma...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=401534

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7460134#7460134

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...t-replacement-options&p=86736404#post86736404

Re-did the job and Bertha is back on the road. The CV joint should look like this:

I have since put a few thousand miles on the axle with no problems. My swap is approaching the 50K mark and ill be happy to report when that happens. In the mean time I took advantage of some driveway space at a friends place. For about $130 I was able to make a roll out drawer under the bed and mount my solar panels to the roof.









I have been inspired to scrap the toolbox on the inside idea and make a proper custom camper interior. I have full confidence in my swap now so the full toolbox is somewhat unnecessary. Custom cabinetry will make the interior more roomy and homey. This will not happen for awhile but I will post pics when I do.

I have received multiple PM's from members who have been inspired by my thread to undertake this swap themselves. If you are reading this, post some pictures to this thread with the progress of your swap! I love my Eurovan and I think its a crime for these vans not to have the TDI powerplant in them!

I am thinking that I need a new dream. Maybe a longnose 2.5TDI syncro...? I am still enjoying the unemployed life so who knows if that will come to fruition but a guys gotta have dreams right!?

I am happy to report that the swap has hit 50,000 miles! What was even cooler is that that I hit the 50K mark as I was rolling into Key West and ticking the last corner of the U.S. off my list. In 3 days I will have been living in my van on the road for 10 months. If you have been on the fence about this swap, just do it!

1st corner May 22nd, 2014:



2nd corner September 9th, 2014:




3rd corner November 25th, 2014:



4th Corner February 21st, 2015:



I also want to acknowledge Frans and Frank both of whom with which this project would have never came to fruition without. If you need something imported, hit up Frans! If you need some head work or machining, hit up Frank!

Awesome

That's so cool

You've been the inspiration for me doing my own conversion - it is now up and running and I'm working out some of the smaller bugs - mostly to do with the 93 Eurovan I bought, not the conversion itself. I must echo what you said - the conversion to a TDI makes such a difference - it completely transforms the van. I hope to write up my story soon to give some of my perspectives as a shade-tree/DIY mechanic who likes TDI's and Eurovans. It took a summer of working on and off the project to complete it but I didn't find any part of it was terribly difficult. I had previously pulled and replaced engines and can change timing belts and do all the basics and I did this conversion with the guidance of your blog and Justin/greaseworks old files. Thanks much!
Ken