1999 S10 ZR2 BHW Swap

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
Hello everyone!

I'm starting to plan a TDI swap into my trusty old s10. I have a build thread on s10forum which serves as a place to get more information on interfacing with the truck, but I need some info from you TDI gurus as well, so here we are.

Here's the s10 thread where ill try to keep all the s10 specific info

http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f30/1999-s10-zr2-tdi-swap-841074/#post12126209

I picked up a Passat wagon (which i will also be parting out if anyone needs anything other than engine related stuff) that has a bad torque converter (typical lol)

Towed the car home today with the S10





Still trying to figure out wiring, I want to get malone to do a standalone tune, for the engine, and use the s10 PCM to run the transmission. There are a few signals that Im hoping someone on here can help me figure out how to output form the VW ECU/convert them so the s10 PCM will think the 4.3 is still there. I think the main 3 are crank position which needs to be converted to a 24x or 58x signal, RPM and throttle position. More info on what im trying to do here:

https://sites.google.com/site/sloppywiki/everything-ls/cheap-stand-alone-trans-controller

If anyone has any insight please let me know. Im sure ill have further questions as they come.

Plan is to try and make 200hp with around 350ftlb torque, I think I can get close with a BV43 and maybe a colt cam if this engine needs a camshaft. Looking forward to hearing from everyone.

Thanks!
 

sardo_67

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2010
Location
CT
TDI
2015 Golf SEL 6spd
this is of very much interest to me hahah.
where abouts in CT? i am around the waterbury/bristol area

read up on what whitebread did on his ranger. he does help with conversions as well
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171730
https://whitbreadperformance.com/


adapters
http://gastodiesel.tdconversions.com/adapter/

electrical
http://s-pautomotive.com/

i have been emailing this guy a lot about a harness and he is able to help, all the bells and whistles is like $600
https://www.fastforward.ca/


if you have facebook some help here too
https://www.facebook.com/groups/291980407818664/
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
this is of very much interest to me hahah.
where abouts in CT? i am around the waterbury/bristol area

read up on what whitebread did on his ranger. he does help with conversions as well
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171730
https://whitbreadperformance.com/


adapters
http://gastodiesel.tdconversions.com/adapter/

electrical
http://s-pautomotive.com/

i have been emailing this guy a lot about a harness and he is able to help, all the bells and whistles is like $600
https://www.fastforward.ca/


if you have facebook some help here too
https://www.facebook.com/groups/291980407818664/
Yeah I actually got a lot of that same info from that Facebook group. Bunch of great people and swaps on there.

My plan is to build up the drivetrain and make my own complete truck harness and test everything on the "bench" that way once I have everything simulated and running correctly I can just gut the truck and throw everything in there.

Also planning on using that SBC adapter from TD conversions with the 4l60e. I could get an nv3500 to make things easier but I'm an electrical engineer, so I love the challenge. My Passat sedan is my fun car to row my own, she's fast haha.

I actually got the wagon from Waterbury, small world!! I'm up in Tolland right off 84. Nice to see fellow diesel geeks in CT lol hit me up via pm maybe we can meet up and shoot the **** ?

I'm hoping I can start gutting my old blazer for all the truck wiring this week. The actual S10 probably won't be touched for a while since I need it both to use to put less miles on the Passat and in the winter for plowing. Plus the Blazer is newer so it has the better 0411 PCM that I want to try to use as a standalone transmission controller and other misc upgrades.

Once I get all the wiring from that I'll probably do the same with the Passat wagon and work on the harness first. Then my next plan is to rebuild the blown 4l60e I have from the S10 (sacrificed the one in the Blazer for the truck lol) and set it up to handle the torque I'm planning on making. Then I'll rip the engine out of the wagon, and start working on that, it needs the bsm removed.

I'm not sure if I should rebuild it or not or even clean it as I've never ever torn that deep into an engine so it's a bit intimidating for me. But I will definitely do the BSM delete inspect the camshaft, and do a timing belt change. If it needs a new cam I might get a Colt cam but that's all planning for later on.

I think I have a good game plan, it's just a ton of reading and analyzing wiring diagrams that I've been doing lately to get more confident in starting. I'll also probably have to probe several signals from the truck on a scope and see how I'll need to convert the signals from the VW ECU to trick the 0411 into thinking the 4.3 is still there. That's my biggest concern right now, I could always use a quick shift or some other standalone trans controller but I really really want to try to make this look and run as stock as possible. If I can achieve that not only will I have a really unique truck, but I'll know that it will be just as safe as it is from factory, and hopefully give me fewer problems.
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
Made a preliminary swap list, let me know if you think I need to add anything, or If i'm missing critical components.



Thanks :)
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
Talked to Dave over at fast forward automotive up in Canada about the signals I need for the 0411 PCM and got this response
Throttle Position
As you know, TDIs are drive by wire, so the only throttle position is the output from the accelerator pedal. 0% is 0.35V and 100% is 4.00V. Assuming the input of that device is high enough impedance not to interfere with the actual signal going to the ECU you could use that.

Crank Shaft Position
The TDI doesn't have a signal like that at all and it is very important to the ECU so I wouldn't mess with it. You would have to install a cog of sorts to the crank shaft pulley and use the universal VSS that we sell to count the 24 teeth on said cog, or a lower count of teeth an the VSS Korrekt to multiply the count up again. You could also just use the tachometer signal (2 pulse per revolution) and multiply it by 12 with the VSS Korrekt.

Vehicle Speed Sensor
Again the universal VSS and the VSS Korrekt would be your friend here.
With all this being said, I've never done this exact setup before, so I could be completely right or completely wrong.
This at least gets me started, Ill need to figure out exactly what the 0411 needs. Waiting to see if anyone over on s10forum knows what type of signal the crankshaft position is.
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
you can get stand along GM trans controllers from a lot of placed, GM software is very mod friendly as well as SOOOOOOOO many offroad, racing, swap stuff uses GM transmissions.

http://www.radesignsproducts.com/winters-elec.-control-kits.html

if you want to mod my wiring harness and make a few bucks since you seem to like wires let me know hahaha
i hate electrical crap
Yeah true. I'd rather stay away from the manual shift stuff, the goal here is to keep it close to working like stock.

I was originally thinking of using a quick shift 4 from US Shift, but I really want to try to use the s10 pcm because that will simplify things from a controls standpoint having one computer doing the trans as well as all the body functions. If it doesn't pan out I'll probably order a quick shift and start playing around with it, their software looks pretty great tbh.

Yeah if you tell me what you need I'd be more than willing to try and get it done, just know that being an electrical engineer doesn't mean that I have all the knowledge about automotive wiring redially available, there's still a lot for me to learn on this front, but my background is definitely an advantage. My strengths are mainly in embedded systems, and software development. Which is probably why I really like this challenge lol.
 

Hasenwerk

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Nov 28, 2003
Location
Quesnel, BC
TDI
1982 Cabriolet (BEW|VNT17|Stage4), 1989 VW TriStar Syncro soon-to-be CR TDI (CBEA), 2001 Ford Ranger Edge 4x4 (ALH|VNT17|R520|Stage4)
Yeah true. I'd rather stay away from the manual shift stuff, the goal here is to keep it close to working like stock.
I was originally thinking of using a quick shift 4 from US Shift, but I really want to try to use the s10 pcm because that will simplify things from a controls standpoint having one computer doing the trans as well as all the body functions. If it doesn't pan out I'll probably order a quick shift and start playing around with it, their software looks pretty great tbh.
Yeah if you tell me what you need I'd be more than willing to try and get it done, just know that being an electrical engineer doesn't mean that I have all the knowledge about automotive wiring redially available, there's still a lot for me to learn on this front, but my background is definitely an advantage. My strengths are mainly in embedded systems, and software development. Which is probably why I really like this challenge lol.
So here's something to take into consideration - gasoline vs Diesel shift points.

My understanding of computer-controlled automatics is limited, however, would the Volkswagen TCU operate the GM transmission? Is it not "just" a set of solenoids that need to work to switch gears? If it is that simple, would be crazy to re-invent the wheel here.
 

TDIsyncro

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Saskatoon, SK
TDI
Audi/TDI x 2
Yeah true. I'd rather stay away from the manual shift stuff, the goal here is to keep it close to working like stock.
I was originally thinking of using a quick shift 4 from US Shift, but I really want to try to use the s10 pcm because that will simplify things from a controls standpoint having one computer doing the trans as well as all the body functions. If it doesn't pan out I'll probably order a quick shift and start playing around with it, their software looks pretty great tbh.
Yeah if you tell me what you need I'd be more than willing to try and get it done, just know that being an electrical engineer doesn't mean that I have all the knowledge about automotive wiring redially available, there's still a lot for me to learn on this front, but my background is definitely an advantage. My strengths are mainly in embedded systems, and software development. Which is probably why I really like this challenge lol.
I am not sure you are able to modify shift points and line pressure in s10 ECM to work well with tdi. I went with USShift. The software is nice to work with tweaked tune for about 3 months. It's pretty good now other than my 1st to 2nd shift. It's a bit to high in rpm, combined with corvette 2nd gear solenoid.. Almost gives me whiplash if I forget to let off pedal at moment of shift. That really annoys my wife. Lol makes nice tire chirps under only moderate acceleration if you like that sort of thing. BHW is nice engine. The stage 2 colt cam or an equivalent will give you some extra torque of bottom end and all the way up.
 
Last edited:

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
So here's something to take into consideration - gasoline vs Diesel shift points.
My understanding of computer-controlled automatics is limited, however, would the Volkswagen TCU operate the GM transmission? Is it not "just" a set of solenoids that need to work to switch gears? If it is that simple, would be crazy to re-invent the wheel here.
It would be nice if it worked that way, but I highly doubt it. Though yeah mostly everything is run through the CAN bus, I'm guessing that GM and VW use different proprietary protocols. If I could modify the programming of the VW TCM via JTAG or something i'm sure eventually it could be done, but not without a massive rewrite of code.

That being said, the reason I really want to stick with the S10 PCM is that you can modify it to your hearts content fairly easily via HPTuners and other programs that are readily available to consumers. I can change the shift maps to be very similar to how the diesel shifts.

I'm still a bit lost on things like the gear ratios and the final drive though. Via another post from here the DUK in my passat has these ratios:

3.556 final drive
1st 3.500
2nd 1.944
3rd 1.222
4th 0.875
5th 0.686

(For Reference)
Stock GMR Auto from the Passat
The ZF 1060 030 106 was used behind the 2.0 diesel.

1 ------ 3.67
2 ------ 1.99
3 ------ 1.41
4 ------ 1.00
5 ------ 0.74
Final Drive 3.09

A stock 4l60E has these:

1st 3.06
2nd 1.62
3rd 1.00
4th 0.70
Reverse 2.29

At first glance it seems they aren't that far off, however I don't get how the differential gear ratios and wheel diameter come into play. The truck has 3.73 gears in it now and 31in wheels, not sure what the Passat has tbh. There are several calculators available online to help determine your speed at a given RPM but its still a bit confusing for me. Sonnax makes a different planetary gear set that brings 1st and second gear much closer together but I don't fully understand the affect it has on engine RPM.
 
Last edited:

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
I am not sure you are able to modify shift points and line pressure in s10 ECM to work well with tdi. I went with USShift. The software is nice to work with tweaked tune for about 3 months. It's pretty good now other than my 1st to 2nd shift. It's a bit to high in rpm, combined with corvette 2nd gear solenoid.. Almost gives me whiplash if I forget to let off pedal at moment of shift. That really annoys my wife. Lol makes nice tire chirps under only moderate acceleration if you like that sort of thing. BHW is nice engine. The stage 2 colt cam or an equivalent will give you some extra torque of bottom end and all the way up.
Haha sick, I'm all for a bit of tire squeal. You can definitely modify the shift points with HPTuners, line pressure however I'm not sure, but that can be modified mechanically with things like a transgo shift kit or Sonnax's performance pack. At least to make it a bit more firm.

Do you have the colt cam? Is it a BHW specific profile? More torque down low would definitely be nice in the truck so that sounds very ideal in this application.
 

sardo_67

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2010
Location
CT
TDI
2015 Golf SEL 6spd
ok i see you know about the options, i only posted that link to show there are a lot of GM trans control options out there.


what are your plans with the motor, head work and single turbo or compounds?
Whitbreads B2000 build is pretty nice, and not too expensive seeing as he used OEM turbos which can be found for pretty cheap
 

TDIsyncro

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Saskatoon, SK
TDI
Audi/TDI x 2
Haha sick, I'm all for a bit of tire squeal. You can definitely modify the shift points with HPTuners, line pressure however I'm not sure, but that can be modified mechanically with things like a transgo shift kit or Sonnax's performance pack. At least to make it a bit more firm.
Do you have the colt cam? Is it a BHW specific profile? More torque down low would definitely be nice in the truck so that sounds very ideal in this application.
That's interesting to know you can modify shift points. You will need throttle position as well for line pressure control. The USShift uses speed from electronic speed sensor on the 4l60e I imagine the pcm does the same so now worries there either way. You will want a little but smaller torque converter than the standard 4l60e unit, as well as giving yourself generous stall speed.
I helped develop the colt stage 2 and 3 cam. Back then the stage 2 was called stage 1. Most of the pd cams are the same and work equally as well the only other comment is that the colt has been from a new billet stock for quit a few years while some of the other options are regrinds (that's what my original ones were). I use to have a bhw in an audi a4 (2008). My canyon has a cjaa common rail in it. Sometimes I wish it was the bhw but one thing certain it puts down 240hp pretty easy with just turbo and tune.
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
ok i see you know about the options, i only posted that link to show there are a lot of GM trans control options out there.


what are your plans with the motor, head work and single turbo or compounds?
Whitbreads B2000 build is pretty nice, and not too expensive seeing as he used OEM turbos which can be found for pretty cheap
Right now the engine is gonna stay the way it is unless I find out the cam is trashed, if it is then that will be upgraded. Also from before i'm just gonna stick with a single BV43. As much as I like that ranger setup, that's just too complicated and overwhelming for me for now.

Still have in back of my head if I should have the engine rebuilt though. Id like to go through it and at least clean it up, but again tearing that deep into an engine myself is a bit intimidating. I know TDIs last a while but 211k is a little high.

That's interesting to know you can modify shift points. You will need throttle position as well for line pressure control. The USShift uses speed from electronic speed sensor on the 4l60e I imagine the pcm does the same so now worries there either way. You will want a little but smaller torque converter than the standard 4l60e unit, as well as giving yourself generous stall speed.
I helped develop the colt stage 2 and 3 cam. Back then the stage 2 was called stage 1. Most of the pd cams are the same and work equally as well the only other comment is that the colt has been from a new billet stock for quit a few years while some of the other options are regrinds (that's what my original ones were). I use to have a bhw in an audi a4 (2008). My canyon has a cjaa common rail in it. Sometimes I wish it was the bhw but one thing certain it puts down 240hp pretty easy with just turbo and tune.
USShift definitely makes a nice controller, and right now it's definitely my plan B if I cant get the stock pcm to work.

I have two transmissions, one is the original 99 from the s10 that's bad, and the other is the 01 that's in there now from the blazer. I'm not sure what year they switched (finding conflicting information some say 98 some say 2000) but what ever the cut off was, I believe they went to a 300mm torque converter instead of a 298mm (not a massive difference). You think the 298mm one would still be too big? And what stall speed would you recommend, from my limited understanding of how that works I was thinking of one with a stall between 2100-2400rpm.

That's really cool you helped develop that cam! I'm not looking for crazy numbers (for now) but yeah the fact that these engines wake up so much from just a software configuration is incredible.

Your truck is a major motivator for me to do this swap btw. Anytime im thinking this is gonna be too difficult I look at that and am like, damn If that can be done so well I NEED to do this lol.
 

casey823

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Location
Middleton, ID USA
TDI
2002 Jetta sedan, 2002 golf tdi
211k really is nothing on a tdi, if you want piece of mind do a compression check and inspect before you pull from the car and then after it is pulled pull the oil pan and inspect the bearings.
 

PickleRick

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Location
Greenville sc
TDI
05 GLS BHW sedan 5 speed conversion. BHW Carver SantaCruz in progress
211k...treat her like a cummins if you've got the budget and so beb's...if it looks good call it a day.


Do the timing belt and put on an alh or brm pump.

Replace the cam, lifters and cam bearings for kicks even if they look good.

Replace the tandem pump, rear coolant T, cct, thermostat and thermostat elbow.

Call it a day

I've said it before....with as cheap and plentiful as these BHW bad tranny passats are, unless you're going all out on a hp build or building a vehicle to cross the outback....its not worth rebuilding in my opinion.

I wouldn't be overly concerned with shift points for the 4l60e. The bhw has a much broader torque band than the old school diesels. I doubt the torque converter in stock form will really bother you.

If it does there are more than a few torque converter shops that will custom build one for you.
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
211k...treat her like a cummins if you've got the budget and so beb's...if it looks good call it a day.
Do the timing belt and put on an alh or brm pump.
Replace the cam, lifters and cam bearings for kicks even if they look good.
Replace the tandem pump, rear coolant T, cct, thermostat and thermostat elbow.
Call it a day
I've said it before....with as cheap and plentiful as these BHW bad tranny passats are, unless you're going all out on a hp build or building a vehicle to cross the outback....its not worth rebuilding in my opinion.
I wouldn't be overly concerned with shift points for the 4l60e. The bhw has a much broader torque band than the old school diesels. I doubt the torque converter in stock form will really bother you.
If it does there are more than a few torque converter shops that will custom build one for you.
Alright it's decided then haha you've definitely gone through a bunch of these engines so I'd be stupid not to listen from experience.

IDK about plentiful though I need to go to your neck of the woods, it's so hard to find TDIs up here, let alone Passats. Not sure if that's because there aren't as many up here or if us new englanders just refuse to get rid of them lol.

I'll give it a shot with the stock converter and see how it runs, like you said I can always get a custom one built if needed. Removing the trans from the truck isn't too terrible now that I've done it a few times when I put the good one in.

I also figured out how to get around putting a 99 vin into the newer blazer PCM, lsx power tunes down in Texas offers a VIN swap service for $50. Gonna pull the pcm and wiring from the Blazer tomorrow and send it in.

Meanwhile the sedan either has a boost leak or some other issue because it's like the turbo disappeared. So I have to tackle that first. it was running great and then out of nowhere in the highway it just started struggling no CEL tho, I'll have to scan it and see if anything is pending. Might even be another rotted vacuum line.
 
Last edited:

TDIsyncro

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Saskatoon, SK
TDI
Audi/TDI x 2
I wouldn't be overly concerned with shift points for the 4l60e. The bhw has a much broader torque band than the old school diesels. I doubt the torque converter in stock form will really bother you.
If it does there are more than a few torque converter shops that will custom build one for you.
I agree with your points above on the bhw engine but the advice on shift points and torque converter is wrong. While the tdi engine does have a fairly broad power band, generally it works at a lower rpm. I tried a v8 shift point map on my controller for a start point and it really just revved the bag of the engine. It need lots of work. Regarding torque converters, the stock converter will not work. The idle rpm is too high on a tdi. The drag will drive you crazy, and if you live in a place with ice in winter you will loose control of your vehicle. I started with an 1800 stall custom built converter. It was a terrible driving experience. I ended up going to a 2500 stall on the next size down from the 298mm..i believe it might of been a 280mm. It was a custom build from an expert in town. That was really the perfect choice and anything less than that end up in doing the job twice like I did. This stall also allow you to get a heavy loaded trailer moving with almost no notice. But I do have a 298mm 1800 rpm converter with about 4000 km on it that I will sell for cheap. :D.
 
Last edited:

TDIsyncro

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Saskatoon, SK
TDI
Audi/TDI x 2
Your truck is a major motivator for me to do this swap btw. Anytime im thinking this is gonna be too difficult I look at that and am like, damn If that can be done so well I NEED to do this lol.
Glad it has helped with motivation. :) you will be supper happy with the ride when it's done. Bhw is easy standalone setup so don't get discouraged. Focus on getting the big stuff in place; bolt it all up and get it running. Then work on refining the rest. From experience, getting too deep in the weeds at begging of a project can burn up lots of time and cost you motivation. Internet is full of failed projects to prove my point.
 

TDIsyncro

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Saskatoon, SK
TDI
Audi/TDI x 2
I used an edc15P with my bhw. It's the older version of ecu used on PD style motor in Europe. EDC15 was also used on ALH generation of motors. There are minor differences in the harness between ALH and PD when using edc15. The ALH harness can actually be used with some minor changes. (basically one is controlling rotary pump while the other is driving pd injectors.) Edc16 was the common PD ecu in North America. Still, not too bad to work with. There are even some good option for self tuning edc15 & 16. I use edc17 on my cr engine.. Even the tuners get a headache from this platform.
 
Last edited:

PickleRick

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Location
Greenville sc
TDI
05 GLS BHW sedan 5 speed conversion. BHW Carver SantaCruz in progress
I know the 700r4 came matched to the 6.2 diesels a few years and a 4l60e is just an upgraded 700r4. The 700r4 was also a popular swap with the om617 300d wagon guys. I don't know if the clutches/valve bodies were beefed up or different when gm switched from gasser to diesel applications but would be worth a look as well as the power/torque band from the 6.2/6.5 as well as the700r4. The 300d guys seemed to like them. Tire sizes and gearing can make/break any diesel conversion. I also am not sure how the om617 compares to the bhw other than lethargic.
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
on the subject of the trans, the 903rpm idle on a tdi isn't all that far off of the 750 that the 4.3 idles at, I'd run the stock converter without a second thought. With all the extra rotating mass of that gigantic lockup converter you could even have the idle lowered on the TDI motor to 800 rpm.

4l60 is easy to full-manual as well, you wire it for fourth gear and then just use the shifter to get the others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZKmWT01dTg
stick the switch for first on the manual lever on the trans itself if you're using the stock column shifter
 

PickleRick

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Location
Greenville sc
TDI
05 GLS BHW sedan 5 speed conversion. BHW Carver SantaCruz in progress
The only gripe i can see on the 4l60 is the big gap between 1st and second. Luckily the BHW is torquey an I've found conservative driving vs spirited driving yields only a few mpg difference. Give her more throttle if you dont like the gap.
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
Glad to see some discussion! This is why I'm asking the hard questions haha

Since I'm building the drivetrain outside of the truck first I can definitely at least try the stock one since I have it already and see how it feels. I might be able to make it work with software tweaks but regardless it will give me a baseline on what it needs so I don't end up buying a custom one that doesn't work well.

I'm gonna use the edc16 that's in the Passat wagon, I already have it and all the wiring for it so why not.

As to the gap between 1st and 2nd that's why I was looking at the 2.84 6 pinion planetary gearset from Sonnax, it's beefier and gets rid of that annoying gap...it's pricey though any opinions on that?
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
don't buy gears until you know what it's like

maybe you'll be wanting to swap in 3.42s in the axles and then you'll want the deep first
can also always start in second, with first being only manually selectable, just like a lot of larger allison transmissions
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
don't buy gears until you know what it's like

maybe you'll be wanting to swap in 3.42s in the axles and then you'll want the deep first
can also always start in second, with first being only manually selectable, just like a lot of larger allison transmissions

True, Ill test it and see how it is, if the stock gear ratios are fine though I at least want to get the 5 pinion planetary that they changed to in the 4l65e, the stock 4 pinions are pretty weak.

Good news is that my sedan is A-OK. Needed a new vacuum line, and I needed to splice some new wire on the N75 connector, that hard plastic "sleeving" thats on there cut the wires and was shorting it out. VCDS makes life so easy haha.

Gonna pull the 0411 PCM out of the blazer today, and send it in to have the VIN changed. HPTuners new module is on backorder so ill just be pulling wires and starting on making harnesses for now.
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
PCM is on its way :D

Did some messing about with this calculator, and at 75mph it says ill actually end up with a slightly lower RPM than the DUK in my sedan, which i'm all for, if that's even correct.



Also found this nice piece of info on S10Forum on how to figure out the stock converter specs, ill take a look at the one I have outside now probably the same if not very close to the one that's in the truck. I'm hoping its a B or C because that seems like a nice high stall to start off with. Any lower and i'm just gonna use it for testing. Looking at other options on summit, in the meantime.

 

sardo_67

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2010
Location
CT
TDI
2015 Golf SEL 6spd
since you have the motor out take the valve cover off and the oil pan, check the cam and bottom end. do the balance shaft delete too, it's worth it because the last thing you want is to get 200 miles into this swap and lose the oil pump or cam goes to ****.

do ARP studs as well, it's only $180 and worth it. there are some threads and a YouTube vid on a DIY balance shaft delete that' doesn't cost any money.


if you want help with the turbos and stuff or custom what ever i can give you a hand, i prefer welding and what not on the bench over in a vehicle or electrical stuff. i am in the process of finishing up my garage now so i will have a full fab shop with welder, plasma cutter, jigs, press, band-saw, and so on. i will be doing an exhaust for my MK4 soon and then after that finishing up my jeep.

https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-cherokee/2383065-stupid-xj-40s-spidertrax-500hp.html
 

d0u8l3m

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
B5.5 Passat
since you have the motor out take the valve cover off and the oil pan, check the cam and bottom end. do the balance shaft delete too, it's worth it because the last thing you want is to get 200 miles into this swap and lose the oil pump or cam goes to ****.

do ARP studs as well, it's only $180 and worth it. there are some threads and a YouTube vid on a DIY balance shaft delete that' doesn't cost any money.


if you want help with the turbos and stuff or custom what ever i can give you a hand, i prefer welding and what not on the bench over in a vehicle or electrical stuff. i am in the process of finishing up my garage now so i will have a full fab shop with welder, plasma cutter, jigs, press, band-saw, and so on. i will be doing an exhaust for my MK4 soon and then after that finishing up my jeep.

https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-cherokee/2383065-stupid-xj-40s-spidertrax-500hp.html
Lol you might wanna re-read some of my posts man, most of that's already in the master plan :p :p :p

I don't have the engine out yet, working on tearing up the Blazer first for the wiring. I finally got some cabinets hung in my garage so I can start organizing all of my crap and make some room to work cleanly and efficiently.

Balance shaft is definitely getting done don't worry lol, probably wont be doing arp studs, but instead using the stonger pd150 bolts if I even take the head off as those are much cheaper and more than strong enough. If I take the head off it's just gonna be to clean everything up. But haven't decided anything that far. After reading more about cams if it needs one I'm gonna just get a new stock one from iDParts to save some money they last a long time with the right oil and several TDI mechanics I've talked to have seen few failures in the BHW (Mike from 413, and tdiclubs prodigy son oilhammer lol that guy is awesome on here) it's BRM and BEW that they fail more on. The one in the donor has 211k on it and from the sounds of the engine at least it seems fine, Mike inspected the one in my sedan and said it was perfect at about 130k, so even if either vehicle needs one in another 100-200k miles it's worth it. For the cost of a Colt cam I can get two stock cams. Gotta spend money wisely.

Hell yeah on the custom help tho, I'm definitely gonna need an exhaust and stuff like that fabricated, we can trade Fab work for wiring work ���� I'll have to take a trip and check your area out, sounds badass

Only update I have for now is that my PCM will be in Texas tomorrow, and my hptuners mpvi2 will be here sometime next week. I'll have to start making a bench harness this weekend (if the girlfriend lets me ��) or early next week. I can't wait to start playing around with their software.

I'll have to check out your Jeep too haha
 
Last edited:

sardo_67

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2010
Location
CT
TDI
2015 Golf SEL 6spd
oh hah my bad, i kind of fell behind on the thread.

you don't have to take the head off to swap the bolts, just do them one at a time, pretty common practice for guys who put studs in. so i'd say leave the head on, just open the top up and take a look at the cam.
i'd honestly say if it made it to 211k with the factory cam i'd guess its still good.
 
Top