ALH TDI engine transplant into '84 Vanagon

AndyBees said:

A little something exciting to report.

We were hit by thieves either Sunday or Monday night while away at the Fest...... stole stuff from my barn and a good amount of old IDI VW stuff out of an old VW Bus (bummer).

Well, this morning at about 9:15 the thuggs showed up again. My wife come down stairs and said she thought someone was at the barn.......... yes, for real.

I grabbed pants, shoes and hat then ran to the Van (son has Jetta). No keys! Back to the house and found the keys.

About 5 miles from the house I caught up with them ......blowing horn didn't stop them (1970 black Ford pickup, V8). I fired my peace in the air. They stopped. I let them know that "stuff" in the vehicle was mine and to get out. The driver stomped the pedal to metal ........ I attempted to lead poison the left rear tire with two quick ones. Jumped back in the Van (raining like crazy), and proceed to chase them. I overtook them as they were getting onto the main highway, but I was held up for about 15 seconds due to traffic. It took me about two miles to catch up with them ........ metal panels flying off the back of the truck (part of the loot they stole). I chased them into the next county (about 10 miles). I noticed the right rear tire was getting low and the driver was having trouble in the curves.

He turned onto a county road. I proceeded to the sheriff's office. They sent me back to my county sheriff due to location of the incident. By that time my son, Andy II, had got involved. We took them to the place we thought the guy lived (tips from local friends on cell phone). We met the two county sheriffs there. Found the truck with a right rear tire flat (good shot).....my "stuff" was not to be found.

As it turned out, A&E is doing a story on the McCreary County sheriff....so, they got involved in this ordeal ....filming, interviews, etc.....Van was in the filming (if it doesn't get snipped).

Anyway, the Vanagon TDI diesel did well ........GPS shows that I was up to 86.6 MPH at some point in the chase! Once I caught up with the dude and got the license plate number, I kept a safe distance back...

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Well, I'm sure many of you remember the above post and all the excitement that resulted. The post (begins on page 49) was right after Labor Day 2012 when I got back from the TDI Fest in Ypsilanta, Michigan....

Okay, this morning the case was brought before a judge (and jury waiting in the background).

I/we had our ducks all in a row! I/we were ready with several witnesses!

Long story short: The dude's lawyers plead guilty for him (not present). They accepted my offer of time served and restitution. However, the state kicked out my offer of time served and changed it to one year and restitution.

So, where was the dude? He's in prison serving mandatory 5 years for breaking parole on a previous felony (the 3rd one). My case against him made four felonies! The one year will run concurrent with the five years!

I'm happy!

Well, before this project falls off the bottom, I thought I'd do one more update and then let 'er go!

As I mentioned previously, the starting issue has been solved. Since dealing with the ground problem, the engine has been starting flawlessly.

The cluster light issue was not caused by a ground problem that I mentioned earlier. The rheostat contact point was not making contact ... disassembled the light switch and repaired.

I might add, since the ground issue was identified and corrected, the Check Engine Light has not been on, nor the flashing GP light. Also, the speedometer operates 99% smooth, thus, the cruise is very smooth!

Okay, unless I make some modifications worth mentioning, I'll not be updating or commenting in this Thread anymore, unless someone posts a question. I hope to finish re-posting the remaining pics that are linked to Photobucket. I hope to continue to add pics to my photo gallery relating to the project and use of the Vanagon.

One last thing; the last three fill-ups have all resulted in well over 32 mpg each. I just passed the 10k mile mark since I put it on the road.

Oh, and, I want to thank everyone who has followed the project, provided suggestions, provided criticisms (constructive, of course), and all those who helped locally! It's been a fun ride with lots of good memories! Life sure had several surprises for me along the way.

Thanks Andy, it's been fun watching! Everytime you post mpg numbers I get a little jealous and have to remind myself if I did an ALH I wouldn't get those kind of numbers because I have a westy. This thread should prove invaluable if the motor dies in my brothers tin top. ALH all the way, love em in my two cars.

kuleinc said:

...have to remind myself if I did an ALH I wouldn't get those kind of numbers because I have a westy.

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I had a TDI westy and averaged 32 MPG, I did eliminate the luggage bin up front with some custom fiberglass work and that helped the MPGs, I even averaged 39 MPG over 1400 miles once, driving 55 MPH.

Here is a pic of the custom luggage bin delete,




[/quote]

My conversion was not as clean/complete as Andy's, but it did run very nicely, it would be really nice to have it all set up like Andy with all the dash lights etc...

That's very encouraging!

Wow, very cold, but a good start!

Well, it's worth reporting that my project ALH in the Vanagon fired-up this morning. According to my thermometer on the deck, about 12 feet from the house (north side), at 7:00 am, the temp was -7f here.

I went out to the Van at about 10:00 am. ScanGauge was showing -2f coolant temp. I glowed the GPs twice, hit the starter and it fired-up ...stumbled a bit and smoothed out to a nice idle! .... nothing but steam, no cloud of smoke! And, no CEL!

Seems the starting issues I've had are all in the past!

Nothing beats the ALH, and particularly not our CR engines with the peanut brittle Bosch CP4.X hpfp.

TDI2000Zim said:

Nothing beats the ALH, and particularly not our CR engines with the peanut brittle Bosch CP4.X hpfp.

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Aha! That's what's wrong with the CP4 fuel pump. Bosch specified it be made out of peanut brittle...LOL

Congrats, Andy. I bet it will start with just one GP cycle even better. 2 cycles just pulls down the battery.

nicklockard said:

Aha! That's what's wrong with the CP4 fuel pump. Bosch specified it be made out of peanut brittle...LOL

Congrats, Andy. I bet it will start with just one GP cycle even better. 2 cycles just pulls down the battery.

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Yep, you are right about cycling the GPs more than once.

When I turned the ignition ON, I fiddled with the ScanGauge several seconds trying to get it to re-set and give me current info. It was so cold that the LED numbers were hardly visible at first. So, by the time I got it functioning, I figured it would be best to just cycle the GPs again.

EDIT: Although the front heater works fine, the rear heater is awesome. We went out driving the back roads of the D. Boone Forest this past Sunday afternoon looking for a new trail to hike. The wind was gusting well above 30 to 35 mph making the chill factor down in the 20s f. Well, after returning to the Van from a round trip over one mile hike, we were darn cold (not exactly dressed for the circumstance either). So, turning on the back heater warmed up the Van very fast.... first time I had ever used it!

Love me some Daniel boone forest. Any suggestions for spots to hike?

Daniel Boone Forest

bbob203 said:

Love me some Daniel boone forest. Any suggestions for spots to hike?

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Well, the D. Boone Forest is scattered from the Tennessee state line northeast to the Mt. Sterling/Morehead/Compton area of Kentucky. The Red River Gorge area in the north apparently is an excellent place to hike and visit. I've not done any hiking there but have spent a few nights at nearby Natural Bridge State Resort Park.

We live on the south end near Tennessee. We visit McCreary County which contains the northern section of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (do a search). Also, the 315 mile Sheltowee Trace starts just south of the KY/TN state line off highway 297 at Leatherwood Trail Head at the Big South Fork River. Both the river and trace run north. Throughout that area in McCreary County and to the north at the Cumberland Falls area in McCreary and Whitley County, are numerous trails. The trace goes all the way to the Morehead/Compton area in Rowan County, KY.

The Sheltowee Trace use to start just north of Pickett State Park in Scott County, Tennessee to the west of Leatherwood. About one year ago, they moved the beginning of the trail to it's current head as descibed above. That change, extended the trail about 20 miles.

These areas are all safe, have US Forest Service & Park Service patrols as well as local law enforcement. Bears are in the area! McCreary County is the least populated county in the state and has no incorporated city!

Here is a link to the all volunteer organization that maintains the trail: http://www.sheltoweetrace.org/

It is on my bucket list to hike the Sheltowee .... big turtle, a name given D. Boone by the Indians!

Just a tid bit or two.

I continue to use my Vanagon as a daily driver. Mostly, the CEL is off and no flashing GP. However, occassionally I get them both at the same time. The issue is related to the accelerator circuits. I believe there is a connection not staying connected 100% of the time.

Transmission: I'm pondering a number of options. I'd like to go with the 5-speed from Subarugears http://www.subarugears.com/ This would be an awesome improvement but a bit pricey! ... still looking at the options there, whole bowl of beans vs getting the basics and do the rest myself.

In the meantime, I found a good deal on another DK tranny out of an '81 Vanagon (has the 4.57 R&P). I'm strongly considering doing an upgrade with it to use the 0.75 4th gear. The OE 4th is 0.85 and I'm running the 0.77 in my present tranny. Going with a .75 will drop my RPMs by about 165 at any given speed in 4th gear.

The 0.77 yeilds about 70 mph at 3000 RPMs. The 0.75 will drop the RPMs to about 2840 which would be nice improvement.

Below is the Tranny I just picked up in Sparta, GA via Brazelton, GA where my brother lives. I got just under 32 MPG pulling the empty trailer going down and just under 30 MPG pulling it back with the transaxle, outside wood burner and two rather large throw-rugs.... mostly running 70 mph on cruise. I did do some cross-country back roads in the mountains of North Georgia (the Appalachian Trail at Blood Mountain, Hwy 129)

Andy, I agree the gearing leaves something to be desired. Closer gears and more overdrive at speed would be nice.

Another trans option to consider, less money than the SG setup and probably stronger -- and already geared for a TDI is the flipped longitudinal Euro TDI trans.

Options include an adapter plate to rotate 180* or cutting/welding the bellhousing. For the Vanagon, there seems to be many bits already made for the shifter config, CVs, etc.

I have transaxle fatigue. I'm glad mine is working and don't want to mess with it unless something breaks, however for the more adventurous I bookmarked several links when I was looking into this, so in no particular order:

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/topic71714.html

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/charge-cooler-and-new-gearbox_topic62757_page1.html

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=453729&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Good luck!
Mark

Andy, been a while since I read your whole thread. Is your alh hopped up at all, are you actually having any transmission reliability problems with it could to the alh?

I only ask as I was at burning van and some one there had a van with a TDI motor in it, he said it vibrates like hell and any thing above stock power eats vanagon transmissions...

Just wanted to hear your position on these alleged issues...

What do y'all think about using a DMF (dual mass flywheel)?

Might go a long way towards absorbing some of the vibration, and lower the peak forces the transmission and axles see.

Of course it puts in another wear component, that is very hard to replace.

kuleinc said:

Andy, been a while since I read your whole thread. Is your alh hopped up at all, are you actually having any transmission reliability problems with it could to the alh?

I only ask as I was at burning van and some one there had a van with a TDI motor in it, he said it vibrates like hell and any thing above stock power eats vanagon transmissions...

Just wanted to hear your position on these alleged issues...

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If you recall from the first part of this build Thread, I rebuilt the transmission from the get-go! I installed new bearings, new syncro rings, upgraded the 3rd & 4th gears with taller ratios, and added the beefed up 3rd - 4th hub. That hub is a known weak spot in the 091 Vanagon transmission.

Also, you may recall, that I used "rubber bushiings" on the shifter pin at the transmission......., thus, no vibes in the gear shifter up front.

The aftermarket 3rd gear does have a distinct whine when I let up on the go pedal. 4th gear is quiet. Anyway, my transmission has performed really great. Since I rolled it out of the garage in August of '12, I've put over 13k miles on it.

I did have an incident busting one CV Joint. So, I installed all new Lobro, made in Germany joints.

DanG144 said:

What do y'all think about using a DMF (dual mass flywheel)?

Might go a long way towards absorbing some of the vibration, and lower the peak forces the transmission and axles see.

Of course it puts in another wear component, that is very hard to replace.

Click to expand...

Dan, I did check for fitment of the DMF. Seems it should work. As I showed in this Thread, the G60 SMF required a little grinding of the bell housing in a few spots as well as the OE starter nose for clearance.

Overall, there are a number of important things that must be addressed to reduce vibration transfer and engine noise. Remember, the Vanagon is a big tin can...

1. Motor mounts similar or equal to those of a Jetta/Golf (I used Saab hydraulic.... too stiff) .. I do have some ideas.

2. Sound deadening... which I did. I knocked the "engine roar" noise by more than 75%. However, there are a few points (48 to 55 mph) it is annoying. Also, beyond 70 mph it gets really loud. Fortunately, between 60 and about 68 mph the engine hum/roar/noise (searching for words) is acceptable.

3. As part of addressing engine roar, after the fact, I've learned that the "intake system" needs a little tuning to rid that noise. A guy at the Maine TDI Fest explained it to me and showed me what to do.

When I rebuild the recently acquired tranny, I plan to go with the .75 4th gear. I'm pretty much set on that ratio. The taller ratio will slow he engine down more as I explained in that post. Also, at that time, I may go with the DMF to see if there is improvement with the engine vibes! Dropping the tranny from a Vanagon is far easier than a Jetta/Golf/Passat/Rabbit, etc.

Lastly, I don't power shift or try to smoke the tires ... although the Stage 1 Malone Tune sure added a good punch to the engine. Everything else with the engine is stock ... even has the CAT on it!

A bit of an update on a few things.

Due to time constraints, I've put rebuilding the tranny that I recently aquired on hold. It is our intent to do a road trip to Alaska this summer with the Vanagon. Although departure is several months away, I have no time for tranny rebuilding...testing, etc.

However, there are a number of things that need attention.

1. Intermitten CEL/Flashing GP light due to DTC 0226.
2. Left side engine mount bracket needs beefed up, as I posted a few months back.
And, I may totally re-do the engine mounting system. I think for the time being, that effort will be wise use of my garage time.
3. Re-locate the EGT probe from the EGR exhaust port.
4. Modify the air intake piping between the Turbo and air filter for noise issues as previously discussed.
5. Replace the rubber/silicone Turbo pressure hose over to the Intercooler.

Non-engine issues that have recently developed.

1. Early on with this project, I did a complete front-end refresh. Over the last couple of weeks a "squeek" has developed in the right front. I'm thinking it is one of the ball joints. It got really bad yesterday. Sadly, I purchased those parts almost two years before I installed them... have no clue which vendor they come from. However, I do know the ball joints are Meyle brand .... at the time, I thought they were made in Germany. An Internet search is revealing with respect to Meyle. Gees! ... lesson learned!

2. Fuel Tank: Remember? What was I thinking? Well, considering the amount of debris we see on our roadways, driving the Alaska highway, back roads, etc., it finally dawned on me, what if something "slapped" the bottom of my tank? Well, if you've followed this Thread, you saw that I cut the tank open and removed screens, coated the tank, etc., and put it back together with screws, rivets, JB Weld, etc. So, it is a sitting duck for a catastrophic failure out in the boonies should a piece of road debris bounces up and hits it in the right spot! Thus, I have a brand new replacement that needs to be installed. I have considered placing a shield/skid pan over the bottom, but have since abandoned that idea.

3. Have rear bumper/tow fabricated...

Keep up the good work, I love the attention to everything and how you keep going back to improve on it all.

Spring Cleaning .....

Today I did some "Spring" cleaning on the Vanagon ... pressure washed underneath, outside, engine, etc., and snapped a few pics.

Below are a few views of the cockpit:
The cable hanging down is power to the GPS.



Below,

Top, left to right:
McNally EGT/Coolant temp gauge, VDO Turbo gauge and an el-Cheapo Oil Pressure gauge.

Bottom, left to right:
Coolant system pressure gauge (max 15 psi, typical is from 6 tp 9 psi), Vacuum (typical is 25 inches), LED Volt gauge, LED Oil pressure (yes, that's 70 psi at cold idle, warm idle, is about 32 to 36 psi)



Below, a few pics of the engine (yes, it is still extremely clean)








It is my intent to replace the el-Cheapo Oil Pressure gauge with "something" else besides oil pressure........ I'm taking suggestions!

In case you've not followed this Thread closely, I do have an "in-dash" mounted OBD port for VCDS as well as use of Scan Gauge!

Looking great Andy! Even the interior looks clean.

That has to be the cleanest motor around

AndyBees said:

It is my intent to replace the el-Cheapo Oil Pressure gauge with "something" else besides oil pressure........ I'm taking suggestions!!

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I've had some issues with my McNally gauges (but they've fixed them at no charge) and they are kind of pricey, but the Oil Pressure / Oil Temp gauge would do the trick.

Great work Andy!

I'm just waiting for Andy to let me know when he wants me to bring him my diesel Vanagon, my ALH engine and the car it was bolted into, to his house so he can start on another one now that he has it all perfected. I want the same expert job!

+1 from me. Super-super clean. It looks like it was built by the factory yesterday. Beautiful!

Hey Andy, awesome work. I have an '83 Westy as well. Which route are you taking once you get into Canada to get to Alaska? Just curious as I would love to "meet" your van in person!

Route to Alaska

Schwimmwagen said:

Hey Andy, awesome work. I have an '83 Westy as well. Which route are you taking once you get into Canada to get to Alaska? Just curious as I would love to "meet" your van in person!

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Thanks everyone for the comments.... really appreciated.

Well, we always go into Canada from highway 52 northwest of Minot, North Dakota. From there we head up thru Saskatoon to Lloydminster, Alberta, on over to Edmonton. From there, we work our way to Dawson Creek, BC to the beginning of the Alaska Highway (Alcan, as some refer to it).

On the return trip, I like to venture down thru the Rockies on the Cassair Highway. That is awesome back country. And, then there is Stewart, CA and Hyder, AK that are awesome side excursions!

Our window of departure opens the weekend of June 14/15 and will close by the weekend of August 2/3. So, as you can see, at the moment we've not set anything in concrete!

AndyBees said:

Thanks everyone for the comments.... really appreciated.

Well, we always go into Canada from highway 52 northwest of Minot, North Dakota. From there we head up thru Saskatoon to Lloydminster, Alberta, on over to Edmonton. From there, we work our way to Dawson Creek, BC to the beginning of the Alaska Highway (Alcan, as some refer to it).

On the return trip, I like to venture down thru the Rockies on the Cassair Highway. That is awesome back country. And, then there is Stewart, CA and Hyder, AK that are awesome side excursions!

Our window of departure opens the weekend of June 14/15 and will close by the weekend of August 2/3. So, as you can see, at the moment we've not set anything in concrete!

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Yes beautiful country up there. I once took a photo of the distance signs outside Watson Lake because its amazing how far away the next towns are. I would be on edge driving my gasser wasserboxer up there, or I would have to load down on jerry cans. Must be nice to have the range of a TDI! I down on the 97 corridor in the Okanagan Valley which is like our version of Palm Springs. 97 takes you all the way down to I90 if you ever feel like changing it up. We have great parts and service supply around here in the event you need help in BC.

Bit of an update!

Beginning this weekend, I'll be addressing all of those things listed in Post #1216. (Nope, I haven't had much time to do anything over the last couple of months, the heat is on.)

- I have the new fuel tank waiting to be installed.
- Meeting with the welder tomorrow to go over a list of things, i.e., Fabricate rear bumper (for towing, of course), mod the left motor mount bracket, and possibly modify the Intercooler (will reveal with pics when the time comes).
- Complete re-make of the exhaust system...(all items ordered) adding a pre-CAT resonator, new 90* bent pipe to the CAT and a new muffler, which will all be hanging from a beefed up support system. The changes will increase the exhaust size from 1.75" to 2.25 inches.
- I've come to the conclusion the best way to address the accelerator DTC that I keep getting (0226) is to modify the wiring bundles under the back seat. Everything else seems okay as I drive it almost daily. I've put over 17k miles on it in about 19 months.

Anyway, I hope to get everything accomplished over the next 60 days.

We are looking at heading to Alaska on Sunday, June 29th or waiting a week and leave on Monday, July 7th. Either date, will allow enough time to get back and celebrate our last grandson's first birthday in mid-August then off to the TDI Fest in St. Louis for Labor Day weekend.

Oh, and I am planning to do a Road Trip thread...

Cool!! Keep us posted.

Well, I've had a personal set-back to pop-up that may affect my plans for the summer (and Vanagon). However, I do plan to push on as best I can.

-I've decided to go with a Go-westy bumper/tow combo. That decision will save some time and cost about the same.
-Exhaust system pieces have not all arrived yet.
-Talked with welder about the left motor mount brackets... will do! I just got to take it out. Also, at the welder's shop, I met some guys who live not too far away that I wasn't aware of being involved with VWs......... picked up another ALH timing belt job! This one dude has an awesome '74 VW Thing (mint). Hey, and one of them is a Beekeeper (hence, AndyBees)

Also, while the left motor mount is out, will be a good time to remove the Turbo for relocating the EGT probe as well as inspect it.

I'm still scratching my head about how or what to do with some additional InterCooler performance. I'm seriously considering adding another heat exchanger....maybe run the piping up and back on the left side for a mid-mount with a fan!

Lastly, yesterday, there was a catastrophic failure of a brass type T I'm using with the Oil Pressure Sending units. It cracked and let oil fly everywhere.. the awesome LED Oil pressure gauge gave me prompt warning! Yep, will have to pressure wash the engine again!