1994 Toyota TDI conversion

I was all set to begin this conversion, then I called Arizona's ADEQ inspection department, and was hit with some bad news. You can't legally do a VW car to Toyota truck diesel conversion! ARGH!!! They referred me to Engine Switching Fact Sheet-1.pdf from the EPA. Google it, its a short read.

So after digesting the bad news a little more I wanted to get better clarification of why this was not a legal swap, when the engine had tighter emission standards than the truck did.

Called today and talked to the same person, was getting more of the same reasoning, then he referred me to one of the supervisors. After talking to the super for about 30mins, my frustration turned to excitement, because the conversion is on.

What he helped clarify was what I had heard from other people, including Jeff at ACME. The process for Arizona(other states don't apply) is to take it to the emission's facility, they'll fail it, as the VIN will come back as gas, and the engine is diesel, obviously.

Then they refer me to the inspection facility, I take it to the ADEQ inspectors(have to fail first), then I have to prove the motor is what I say it is. Documentation, anything that will prove the motor is a 2001 VW TDI from a 2001 VW sold in the US.

My question is, does VW have any engine labels on their TDI motors? This would be the easiest to prove what it is. I own the car, so I have the title, car data plate, vin on dash, but have to see if there is some identifying mark on the motor itself.

Here are some beginning pictures:

Donor 2001 Beetle


The 1994 4x4 ExCab recipient:



Motor running on the floor ready to be set in and mounts built:

On the tdi, the plastic cover over the cam timing belt pulley will have a sticker on it. Sticker should have "alh" and build date, along with other stuff. Don't get rid of bug (with vin tag etc) until you get the registration sorted.

so there's no stampings on the actual motor?

FredS said:

so there's no stampings on the actual motor?

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there are stampings...look at the bell housing end of the engine on the side that would face forward on the beetle (drivers side on the truck) up high there is a flat machined area with the engine code and some serial numbers....it may be rusty so some scotchbrite will clear it up

Yep, sure enough, I see it plan and simple and it matches up to the cover. Thx.

Here's a short video of it running on the shop floor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqizuZvmQUU

Ski in NC said:

On the tdi, the plastic cover over the cam timing belt pulley will have a sticker on it. Sticker should have "alh" and build date, along with other stuff. Don't get rid of bug (with vin tag etc) until you get the registration sorted.

Click to expand...

jimbote said:

there are stampings...look at the bell housing end of the engine on the side that would face forward on the beetle (drivers side on the truck) up high there is a flat machined area with the engine code and some serial numbers....it may be rusty so some scotchbrite will clear it up

Click to expand...

carolina boys quick on the draw!!!

good looking truck btw....always liked the charcoal grey....the black wheels really set it off!!

non SR5, so I already found the tach version combination meter with all of the gauges and a tilt wheel assembly from a 4runner to throw in too.

112K on the truck, 130K on the donor car/motor.

Mike(tdtuning) is setting up the ECU right now for immobilizer delete, Stg3 and clearing some of the normal codes not needed anymore.

The Southbend clutch I was prepping for, should be rated over 400 ft lbs, or roughly 2300lb plate load, according to Andy at SBC. Cost to me was well worth it, as I know their clutches very well.

Emissions: I have to retain all of the emissions equipment, so I have seen most people delete it, I get to retain it, oh joy.

curious as to what the cost of the clutch was and what you had to send them for the setup...you can pm me the details if you prefer....thanks!

FredS said:

non SR5, so I already found the tach version combination meter with all of the gauges and a tilt wheel assembly from a 4runner to throw in too.

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double check the wiring, I had to swap a wire or two. Also, dont plug it in before hooking up an oil pressure sensor instead of the oil pressure switch or you will fry your oil pressure guage.

Mine is the same color, my favorite.

Okay, a little delayed in making some updates, but I have some updates.
I was able to validate the temp/oil pressure gauges work, so that's set. Got my clutch from Southbend, sweet. Thanks to Mike(TDTuning), got my ECU with immo-delete and Stg3 programming setup.

While I was out of the country(11 days in Ireland driving a 2012 Passat TDI/6speed), I didn't get much done obviously. But now that I'm back some real progress.
Setup some sweet motors mounts using dodge rubber mounts, as they have a stud on either side to bolt to plates. Was able to retain the driver side Toyota motor mount pedestal, but obviously, the passenger side had to go.
Also, was able to move the mount far enough back on the passenger(turbo) side, that I believe there is enough room to mount the A/C compressor much lower in the engine compartment, which is where is was on the V6 setup.

Now if I can clock the turbo compressor housing to move it facing up and out, that would be ideal to keep that plumbing away from the A/C compressor.

Driver's side mount:


DS from underneath:


passenger side mount:


PS from underneath:



The mount being further back on turbo side should give me enough room to locate the A/C compressor down low as stated earlier.

Your mounts look great......I think you'll be happy with the dodge truck mounts....vibes are very livable

I looked at that bug on Craigslist, and dreamed of the possibilities. Glad you are putting it to good use.

Okay, few more updates, will post pics when I can get to them. Was able to take the Toyota A/C compressor and mounting bracket from the V6 motor, and mount it up down low in front of the turbo. Re-clocked compressor housing to face out vs down.

Kept the v-belt pulley and idler, and am looking to do very similar to what JimBote did and machine an adapter to bolt a second pulley onto the harmonic balancer 4 bolts, so the A/C is on one belt, and the OEM serpentine drives everything else. Still working on the pulley setup where the VW A/C compressor was originally so I can use that OEM belt.

For the radiator, looking to make a boxed spacer to push it back enough to mount a good sized intercooler between the radiator and AC condensor. From there, I'll work on the plumbing for the intercooler and radiator.

It's slowly getting there. My target is by July, when my son turns 16 and has his license. I'm getting excited about driving it now.

NICE. I need a truck for work, but am NOT interested in a gas guzzling over priced new truck. I wish I could do this, but have 2 TDI's already. Well, having no extra cash for a truck or donor kinda sucks too,

Good luck with the swap!

Some pictures of my latest updates. working on it when time allows right now.

Radiator lines:


AC compressor setup:

haven't posted in a long while, but have made some progress over the course of the summer. I'll get some pictures up shortly.
Finished up the cooling system, fan shroud with a nice 16inch SPAL fan, with thermostat controller. Got the Intercooler mounted and all the pipes made up, with the bung for the MAP sensor done too. Also, I decided to use the VW airbox, and accordian pipe, and made an elbow and mounted the CCV to it. Got the power steering done, too and it works nice. Haven't driven it out of the shop yet, but the SouthBend Clutch feels decent just going back and forth a couple of feet in the shop.

Now the ugly part. I had been using the complete Beetle harness to verify everything was working right. I had last ran it on Saturday, then on Sunday proceeded to start cutting out parts of the harness I know I don't need. ABS, Airbags, radio, door circuits and such.

Well, I hook everything back up to the truck, and now I get a no start. I have my OBD2 hooked up, and I'm not getting any codes, except got the glowplug circuit, so I'm a little stumped at the moment, as I didn't touch any of the engine harness.
When I turn the key to the run position, I do get N108 cycling, so I know that device is working. Plus, no codes for N108 either.

I've gone through and disconnected different devices, and can get codes for those, so I'm pretty confident the wiring is okay there. FYI, this is an immobilizer delete ECU from TDTUning, that was working before I starting removing wiring for non used circuits.

Looking for any suggestions. I've read through some other threads, so I'll confirm the basic wiring needed to the ECU and all. I've also been referencing my Bentley to make sure I know what to look for.

Thx

Okay, it wasn't as bad as I thought, and I knew I wasn't losing my mind in clearing out non used wiring. Well, I validated I had the 12V on 1,2,37,88 and I knew my relay 109 was still hooked up, so 18 was good too. Grounds, went through all of the ones I had tied together before, and verified no open grounds again.

Figured I try something different, so I had an old fuel pump from a 24V Cummins handy, so I hooked it up, to make sure I was getting good fuel to the IP. I was running a temporary bottle with the 2 lines stuffed into it.

Well, after a few cranks, nothing, but I had fuel pressure, as I hooked up the Cummins pump to the fuel shut-off solenoid and with a clear line, I could see it sucking fuel from the fuel jug I had rigged up.

So what the heck, let me crack an injector line and see if I'm even getting fuel. After a couple more cranks, I get fuel bubbling out one. OKay, this is good, let me crack another, and sure enough it fired to life.

I attribute my ordeal to the temp fuel setup I was using. Well, it's time to make a permanent fuel setup, so I'm working on that next.

I will post some pictures here real soon, so everyone can see my version of a TDI into a Toyota.

Thanks to jimbote, and danielg42 for suggestions, it got me rethinking what I needed to verify.

Eightycc said:

I'm looking around through toyotas and vw's I've been planning on doing this for about 2 years now, from what I understand you can only go up to a 95 toyota correct? with a 4cy r150 transmission, which, is hard to find with an extended cab 4x4 and no rust in Ohio, I'd like to put the 98 1.9 motor in mine because I feel they are easier to work on, but is there any way you could email me a spec sheet or any advice? I know I'll need custom mounts, an adapter from acme, and from what I've see reposition the a/c compressor, what all else is involved? Hope the work is coming along! Thanks!- Matt P.s. My email is drtbkfrk17@aol.com, and my number is 614 678 9741, thanks!

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not sure what the regs are in your state but I did a 96' tacoma (obdII) here in NC without much of a hassle....I think as long as your engine is newer it shouldn't be an issue....

yeah, in AZ they told me as long as the engine is same year or newer, and only a car engine to a truck. There's plenty of reading in this forum on what all is needed. There's an endless list of small things that all take time.

I'm almost finished with all of the cooling system plumbing, as I have to retain all of the emissions, EGR stuff for where I live. Had to point the one pipe on the EGR cooler up, as it was too close to the firewall, and the black pipe that wraps around the rear of the motor, cut it off short and made the pipe end right where it can go up to the heater core. Also, took care of the fuel delivery setup, so no more running it out of fuel while testing.

Getting oh so close, and I can taste it. Ready to drive this truck.

Okay, some pictures, with my new to me old phone, so they're okay.

Exhaust setup. Stock flange, 2 to 2.5 down to cat, then up to 3inch going into cat, and 3 inch straight the rest of the way out:

Intercooler setup:

A/C compressor and serpentine pulley setup from underneath:


Also custom shroud and 16inch SPAL fan:

Intercooler piping, intake piping top side view:



Fuel setup with stock filter. Expansion tank for cooling system, and stock P/S reservoir all on driver's fender area behind the stock Beetle airbox with stock Toyota fresh air cut into the side of it.

Okay, got my harness adapted to the truck. Still need to hook up some of the warning lights to the Toyota cluster. Had a 6cyl cluster, but picked up a 4cyl cluster from a 93 just yesterday, so going to test it for tach function. All of the other gauges work.

Ran into a small issue on getting my A/C working. Apparently Toyota uses an A/C Amplifier, which seems to need a tach signal to turn the compressor on, so need to hook that up. I bypassed that to recharge my system, so I know the system is working, and tested out all of the functions to rule out if in fact the amplifier was bad, and the only fail is this IG Pulse signal, as the manual calls it.

Anyone have any input on the A/C Amplifier, feel free to chime in.

I'm using a 2001 Beetle ECU/harness, anyone know if the same pin(pin 27 of 121) is the tach signal on the 2001 ECU's?

Driving is quite fun, but really need to get the A/C working. It's too stinking hot and humid right now. 70mph, I'm right at 2800-2900RPM, so pretty close. I'm using the V6 trans/tcase, so it's slightly better than the 4cyl trans gearing in 5th.

Just the short drives I've done, it pulls nice through the gears. I'm running a Stg3 TDTuning tune.

Well, that wasn't too hard. Pin27 of 121, went to an orange connector block and stopped there. Hooked up digital meter, and saw around 6.8V, so then I hooked it up to pin6 of the A/C Amplifier and once I blipped the throttle up to around 2K, A/C Compressor kicked on. I also turned the potentiometer to the lowest setting on the Amplifier.

Need to go reread the Toyota Combination Meter section. Initial attempt with the 4cyl cluster, and some of the gauges appeared reversed continuity.

I'm betting had I hooked up the tach first to the cluster, I might not have had this issue in the first place.

Okay, I had picked up a 4cyl cluster, and initial tests, some of the gauges were acting weird, so I pulled the tach, and tested it, and couldn't get it to read, and using the method on this forum, I did the resistor mod, and I have a working tach now too.
I also have a 6cyl tach, and other than the gauge plate saying 4 and 6, they both have the same 15K resistor to replace. I just decided to use the 4cyl tach.

One step closer.

This is sweet man. I wish I was that talented.

Hey Fred...I just watched your youtube video of the engine running on the floor....is that a hinomoto 182 in the garage?......if so I have one just like it with a loader!!