ALH in to a Eurovan T4

Maddave28

New member
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Location
Markfield
TDI
Golf t4
I'm currently doing this conversion with an agr which I believe is the same engine. The steal sump your using is that a standard one for an agr/alh or is it from another engine. Also how did you figure out your oil level did you just pour 4 leaters in and Mark the stick
 

archemitis

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Location
minnesota
TDI
200 Golf, 1974 Westfalia TDI
Yes, AGR is the same except for the turbo and the valve guides.
Its a standard ALH oil pan that also fits a 2000 2.0 gas vw , all steel oil pan. I tried a Hybrid steel/aluminum pan, and even after you cut alot of webbing off it ends up hitting the timing belt side cv shaft extension.
The dipstick mounted in the front of the engine sits at such an angle that my LOW to HIGH mark is about twice what it was when it was mounted in the golf angle. I marked my own dipstick by looking at the low point of the pickup and the low point of the rotating mass of the crank. Once I poured in 3 quarts it was showing on the low mark, and high mark hits about 3.75 to 4 quarts.
I also didnt run it till I had an oil gauge, wasnt quite sure I got it right.

200 miles in now and I still have oil pressure.
 

archemitis

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Location
minnesota
TDI
200 Golf, 1974 Westfalia TDI
And, I removed my windage tray. A big part of it was to direct the return oil flow down the back of the block and keep it off the crank. At the new angle it wouldnt function the way it was designed, so I either dont need it, or I need it but am not going to run it.

There was a guy that did an AGR in a T4 on the european T4 forum. I think I had to search "California T4 AGR" or something. He built his timing belt side mount too. He made his from scratch and incorporated it to the cv shaft extension support.
 

archemitis

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Location
minnesota
TDI
200 Golf, 1974 Westfalia TDI
Heres my 3 inch downpipe.



Heres an ALH pickup compared to the Eurovan IDI 1.9. The ALH is the longer shallow one.



Heres my new current pickup.



And heres the lengthened dipstick tube. nothing fancy, a rubber hose on the outside, and a brass pipe as a guide on the inside.

 

archemitis

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Location
minnesota
TDI
200 Golf, 1974 Westfalia TDI
Heres a new concern... Will my starter turn the TDI in the dead of the Minnesota winter!?
It Is getting to the high 20s/low 30s at night here and staying colder during the day and my Eurovan battery barely starts my ALH with the stock size battery. Im thinking the ALH is harder to turn over than the AHU or 1z because of the higher compression?
I went to Oreillys yesterday and got an AGM Super Start Platinum with 850 cold cranking amps and 90 AH. If this battery doesnt do it, I think im screwed, or might have to run two...
Just another concern for ALH swaps in cold climates.
 

Josh_WA

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2015
Location
Mountlake Terrace WA
TDI
2014 Jetta TDI, 1993 Eurovan Weekender TDI(AHU) converted 2/2016, 93 Eurovan MV TDI(1z)(sold!)
I didn’t have any trouble turning over my AHU in below freezing temperatures. You should be fine as long as your starter doesn’t freeze.
 

vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
ALH compression is definitely the same as the AHU/1Z. The only engines with higher compression were the older 1.6 and 1.9 IDI engines.

I definitely would be checking out your electrical system...

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk
 

archemitis

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Location
minnesota
TDI
200 Golf, 1974 Westfalia TDI
Cool, not sure why I thought that... Im pretty sure I got that part sorted now. My Eurovan battery was actually 500 CCA.
There is no "diesel" or "high torque" options is there, just 5 speed and auto?

Its charging at 14.4, New bosch starter for a 93 Eurovan 5 speed, and my ignition switch is sending 12v + up to the starter soleniod.
 

vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
There's definitely gasser and diesel starters in the A3/B4 platform. The diesel starters are larger and have a higher KW rating. Not sure what you are running on yours, I'm not all that familiar with the transmission options for your platform.

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk
 

mogly

Veteran Member
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Sarnia, ON, Canada
TDI
MKIV TDI + B5.5V AVF/01E
There's definitely gasser and diesel starters in the A3/B4 platform. The diesel starters are larger and have a higher KW rating. Not sure what you are running on yours, I'm not all that familiar with the transmission options for your platform.

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk
There are larger batteries that will fit the stock T4 location for higher CCA. Here in Canada we had T4s with a 2.4L AAB which were IDI. Not sure of their CCA though.

I'm pretty sure the stock AHU/1Z starters are a bolt on upgrade for the O2B gearboxes. That's what I used on my AHU O2B swap.
 

jimbote

Certified Volkswagen Nut
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Location
spiral arm, milky way (aka central NC)
TDI
Tacoma 4x4 converted to TDI
I'm pretty sure the stock AHU/1Z starters are a bolt on upgrade for the O2B gearboxes. That's what I used on my AHU O2B swap.
my buddy is doing a t4 swap with a 02B and the starter is definitely different than a 02a, ahu/1z starter... it has a funky three bolt flange .... good news is he got it from rockauto ... maybe there are different versions of the 02b case ?
 

mogly

Veteran Member
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Sarnia, ON, Canada
TDI
MKIV TDI + B5.5V AVF/01E
It's quite possible my memory is skewed. I had a friend with a '97 T4 TDI DoKa- a euro import. His starter munched it and he borrowed mine because he was in a pinch. His had the newer O2G gearbox and it was a direct swap from the O2B.
 

VW-TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2010
Location
Vancouver WA - Portland OR.
TDI
'95 Winnebago Rialta TDI/5-speed conversion, '93 Eurovan Weekender 2.5TDI/5-speed conversion
It's quite possible my memory is skewed. I had a friend with a '97 T4 TDI DoKa- a euro import. His starter munched it and he borrowed mine because he was in a pinch. His had the newer O2G gearbox and it was a direct swap from the O2B.
02B and 02G starters are idemtical. But gasser starter are different vs diesel starter (internally). The gasser starter is 1.8 kW but diesel is 2.0 kW, and most important - there is also difference in "gear ratio" inside the starter, so diesel starter has more torque.
O2A starter will not bolt on on T4 transmission.

Gasser starter works okay in warm/mild climate but for cold weather you need to have a DIESEL starter.

Also, a bad cranking can be an issue of the "thickness" of the battery cables. I mean the NEGATIVE cable from battery to engine ground and the POSITIVE from battery to the starter. On gasser Eurovan those cables to thin to handle cranking diesel engine, I always installing thicker battery cables on my Eurovans that I converting to TDI.
Hope this helps.
 

Maddave28

New member
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Location
Markfield
TDI
Golf t4
Well engines going in started today went for the axb sump in the end fits well but it's close to the driveshaft hub. I made a simple bracket to support the drive shaft. and I'll start on the engine mount tomorrow and looking at the waterpipes
 

archemitis

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Location
minnesota
TDI
200 Golf, 1974 Westfalia TDI
Thanks for that part number, I hope my new gas one works ok, but we'll see.

I just got back from Texas and averaged 29 MPG for the trip 97 percent highway. Best tank was 32.5! That was all 70-85 mph. Obviously 85 is where my lower MPG came from. 80 is right at 2950 RPM. Mission 30+ MPG van accomplished!
 

3baudios

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Location
winston NC
TDI
93 eurovan AHU (almost), 88Fummins, 01 alh golf, 91 toyota alh
Great read, i just picked up a 93 eurovan with the 2.5 gas and 5 spd. MPG is not the best, i have an alh in my 00 golf that i would like to swap in at some point, are you running the transmission that would be in my van, just with a different 5th gear? I like metal fab and your project is a great resource as i collect parts to build my own MTDi eurovan. any reason you kept all the electronics?
 

Woodsideautos

New member
Joined
Dec 7, 2022
Location
Lincolnshire
TDI
Vw caddy
About 8 months ago I purchased a 1993 Westfalia Eurovan with 278k miles on it. It still runs and drives great, but I dont feel safe driving it across the state, let alone the country, so I decided to do a Diesel swap before I even bought it. Its been a few month of collecting parts, and a whole lot of reading and asking questions, but I have finally started making real progress. The ALH was never bolted into a T4 (as far as I can tell) so there is no VW example to copy.

First off the ALH bolted to the Eurovan 5 speed transmission. It does fit!



The original oil pan prevented them from bolting together because of the lower bell housing mounts. I also tried a hybrid oil pan. After my hundred dollar experiment I realized I had clearance issues at the CV extension on the transmission. I ordered an all steel pan and it bolted right on. There is still very minimal clearance for the CV



The Original IDI engine that this transmission came bolted to has a steel oil pan with no lower bell housing mounts. The tranny bolts to the engine with just 4 bolts. the top two and the two on the dowel pins. At first I was unsure about using a steel pan because of the rigidity of the engine to tranny mount, but VW did it from the factory with only 25 or so less horse power, so I should be cool.



The metal plate from the IDI Eurovan engine fills this gap.



This piece has to be modified. The rear main seal is a little different between the ALH and the AAZ so I will grind out the center where the bolts go into the block, leaving it sandwiched between the tranny and block with the 4 large bell housing bolts holding it.



The oil pan and oil pickup is the crux of this project, but I think the steel one is the key. You can see the Eurovan angle is completely different from the golf.



So the oil drain plug is at the high point of the pan. I have a steel weld in drain plug kit on its way to put it in the correct location. I think the oil pickup will be fine, and the dipstick may have to be remarked.

The turbos I have to work with are both wastegate turbos. One is a KKK, from an AGR that I have ran on this engine before.





And the other turbo is from the AAZ style engine that came in the Eurovan.



Im pretty sure Im going to run the turbo that is already bolted to the ALH unless I run into clearance issues when I go to installing the lump.

Other than that I really only have to make a motor mount for the passenger side and I have a plan for that using the stock ALH engine mount.
The 5th speed cover unbolts just like a golf so I am going to put a 5th gear more suited to the ALH sweet spot. I have already ruled out a 6 speed, or a 6 speed conversion.



The stock ALH golf clutch and G60 flywheel fit. SO I ordered a south bend stage 2 for a MK4 golf with an AHL.


Other than that I have 1019 nozzles, Stage 3 Rocketchip Tune, a big front mount, and a 3 inch exhaust.


Im happy it has bolted all together like the internet said it would. Its always scary to spend a big chunk of money without knowing for sure it all fits. I hope I havent forgotten anything and I would appreciate any feedback yall have. I appreciate all the help many of you have offered me to get me this far.
Its just got cold again up here in Minnesota, so HOPEFULLY I will get to installing it very soon, with more pictures and questions to come!
Which oil pan did you use in the end
 

Woodsideautos

New member
Joined
Dec 7, 2022
Location
Lincolnshire
TDI
Vw caddy
The wiring was easy, because I just wired it as a stand alone unit. The gauges and dash and most everything is still stock. I need to put in a 4 cylinder cluster to get a working tach.
I used a pedal out of a 2000 golf, so I just welded a steel plate to the old gas pedal mount.
There is something with the old auto tranny. It had a neutral safety switch that wouldnt let the starter spin with the new 5 speed installed. I just traced the starter wire to before this safety switch and got power for the starter solenoid from there.

Im still excited over an oil pan that worked without modification, except for the drain plug has to be moved to the other side. It (the entire system) holds 4 quarts and the level sits just below the rotating part of the crank assembly.
Which oil pan and pump did you use please
 
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