2004 Beetle Convertible TDI conversion

[greentdiconvertible]

I purchased a 2004 lime green beetle convertible with 80k original miles and a bad 2.0 gas engine. After getting the beetle home I found from looking at records in the glove box that the 6 speed automatic transmission was also going out. My original thought was to repair the gas motor but after finding the transmission was on its way out I decided to just fix this car right. That being to put a BEW PD diesel in with a manual transmission. I quickly collected all the parts from a 2004 beetle tdi coupe that was wrecked in the drivers side door. After 30 some hours I now have this vehicle finished and 100% working. The car is 100% like it came out of the factory with a tdi engine. I even transferred the fuel tank and the full exhaust from the tdi donor car. See photos below:

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s487/WordsWithTess/20130526-DSC_8164.jpg
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s487/WordsWithTess/20130526-DSC_8163.jpg

 

[Growler]

Nice! would love to see this sometime. perhaps at my GTG at the end of June. I bet the car would be a hit.

 

[cumminsfromthecold]

30 hr Beetle TDI Swap

greentdiconvertible,

Very nice work and in possibly record time (ok, maybe Frankencar's GTI swap time rivals yours). The first thing that strikes me is the ready availability of TDI Beetles for very little money. This seems like one of the least expensive TDI swaps one could do. Wonder if you could expound on that.

Was everything as bolt-in as your install time suggests?

What didn't mate right up and stalled you some, if anything?

 

[oilhammer]

Just so you know, the Aisin transmission is notorious for valve body issues... I doubt it was "going out". Of course, the previous owner would have known that had the car gotten the care it deserved, and it probably would not have had a bad engine in the first place, since that 2.0L engine is a pretty tough one, hard to break really.

Anyways, good luck with your project, sounds neat!

 

[greentdiconvertible]

Thanks for the invite Growler. I will see what I can do about making it out. Yeah I think the cost of building it wasn't bad at all. Yeah everything is pretty much bolts up. Just have to wire in the glow plug relay stuff, barometric pressure sensor from intercooler to computer, clutch pedal switches, fuel pump relay and swap gas pedals. As far as the automatic transmission, I have a friend who rebuilds them and he said the same thing about swapping the valve body. I would still rather not mess with it. Two different local dealerships had noted that the transmission needed replaced. The problem with all vw motors in beetles including the 2.0 tends to be that 1st vw put that waterpump in with the plastic impeller and second there is no temp guage in the beetle. Just a light. And since the beetle is mostly a girls car they tend not to get turned off quickly enough when they start overheating. I have bought 3 of them now that have had this problem. This car in particular seems to be pretty well maintained. It was a one owner car and within the last 5 thousand miles the owner had overheated the motor and a local dealership had replaced the head at the cost of $2400. And since then the car was being driven on the highway and the engine threw a rod threw the oil pan. And that is when I purchased it.

 

[G60ING]

Finally adding this to the list of conversions

 

[squishbang]

Congratulations on the successful swap, greentdi, this is a cool one! I wonder what changes had to be made besides engine wiring, fuel delivery, exhaust etc., specifically regarding comfort module functions. I am in a great position to make this swap with two fully functioning Beetles and you make it sound so easy...

 

[VWGMDIESELFAN]

Dude! I might be doing this if my wife gets this new job 35 miles away from home.