ALH to BEW swap

[Daniel2141]

I have a 2003 ALH and a 2004 BEW the ALH was bought blown and I figured I could do a swap and was wondering is this easily achieved and do I have to switch engine harnesses

 

[oilhammer]

You will have to switch a lot of things. Engine harness, cluster, parts of the dash harness, the BEW has a lift pump in the tank, so you'll need that and everything that controls it.

 

[Daniel2141]

I figured as much I was making sure so I’ll have to pull the entire wiring harness out of the car and separate it label to what I need along with the ecm and pcm lift pump gage cluster etc

 

[Vince Waldon]

Heat exchanger in the fuel return line.

 

[JDSwan87]

Why not sell the BEW and buy an ALH? Seems like an awful lot of work to do what you described.

 

[Daniel2141]

I just bought the BEW a day ago and cause the BEW has a stronger bottom end than the ALH and can get better results with tuning and I prefer the lift pump over the mechanical injection pump due to the 27k psi of fuel pressure the lift pump has it sets up for a better platform for more power in the future

 

[Mongler98]

I just bought the BEW a day ago and cause the BEW has a stronger bottom end than the ALH and can get better results with tuning and I prefer the lift pump over the mechanical injection pump due to the 27k psi of fuel pressure the lift pump has it sets up for a better platform for more power in the future

Yea, at like 400 hp
Unless your building a monster, the swap is imo a dumb idea
The alh is a stout engine that can easily take 200hp stock internals. It's cheap, much more reliable, and by far less work. BEWs eat cams.
Imo if you aant a 300 hp car, just go buy one.

 

[AndyBees]

With a Stage 1 Tune, the otherwise virtually stock 02 ALH engine in my 84 Vanagon pulling a popup camper has been superb. It has handled two very long road trips pulling the camper. One trip involved four adults with all their "stuff" without any issues. The ALH engine is very robust. Yes, the BEW has about 10 ponies more right out the factory door. But, a Stage 1 tune will bring an ALH up by at least 25 ponies with very good and noticeable results.

EDIT: Not sure why I've always thought the BEW has 140 HP... Hmmmmm ... Thanks Oilhammer for the correct data!

 

[Daniel2141]

It’s something never been done before I don’t mind the extra work it is what it is so I just need to know what I need to do for the swap ie what I need to swap over wiring harness wise and what I can keep in place I figure I can just remove the gauge cluster portion , IMMO, following relays for such and I figure I can just keep all the windows,reverse lights brake lights etc or would it be better to just do the entire harness ?

 

[oilhammer]

The BEW has 10hp more, and 22tq more, than the ALH. I am not really sure the bottom end is any "stronger". It technically should be, since it has the newer type cracked rods whereas the ALH just uses the same old fashioned 028 style rods carried over from the ancient AHU, but experience has shown us that ALHs rarely ever have bottom end issues... even when making double the original output... and several BEWs have thrown rods... even in stock form. So... ????

I'm of the camp that thinks the trouble to convert the car isn't worth any potential gains in any area. I like the BEW just fine, and despite some people's ramblings, the camshafts can live a long, happy life just fine (I have one getting ready for timing belt change #4, at 400k miles, and its valve cover has never been off).

So here's the deal if you still insist on doing it: you have both cars, and fortunately the ALH car is a later one so it will have the most in common with the BEW car. So basically take them both apart, and change what you find is different. That is a fairly basic simplified explanation, but I do not think you are going to find any step-by-step itemized pinpoint list, because people just don't bother to do what you want to do.

 

[Mongler98]

It would be faster to cut the front half off both cars and swap them with some jb weld and bondo. Lots of bondo

 

[jettawreck]

To do a complete harness swap would be a monumental time consuming chore.
Unless you are just trying to do something to meet the challenge, that's one thing. But to go thru that much effort for no real practical gain/benefit is just making life difficult.
This coming from someone who did a gas to TDI swap. I'm not looking for extra challenges in life any more.
.02

 

[Mongler98]

Exactly what above said.
Your looking at everything from cv axles, engine mounts, and a bunch of custom pipe work for the IC. Not to mention that the ac,ps,and coolant lines will have to be custom made to fit. Are you able to vac and charge a ac system properly? If not that's $500 right there. I mean, look, the parts alone to make the swap work is probably a grand. That's 1/3 the cost of the car. You could easily find a running alh for that price.

 

[pedroYUL]

The question really is, what is wrong with the BEW body?
Why not just fix whatever needs fixing on the BEW and scrap the ALH?

 

[Daniel2141]

That seems fair enough I have a 2004 wagon and 2003 sedan I have both cars here the wagon is trashed interior wise so I’m just gonna swap everything over to the sedan plus it’s a manual less trouble the sedan has a title the wagon does not and can be put on the back burner for a later build thanks guys appreciate all the help it’s a first tdi project I live tdi Jetta’s heard great things about them and I want to make it unique in my own way and do something people just don’t do I’m a good ol fashioned grease monkey

 

[Mongler98]

That seems fair enough I have a 2004 wagon and 2003 sedan I have both cars here the wagon is trashed interior wise so I’m just gonna swap everything over to the sedan plus it’s a manual less trouble the sedan has a title the wagon does not and can be put on the back burner for a later build thanks guys appreciate all the help it’s a first tdi project I live tdi Jetta’s heard great things about them and I want to make it unique in my own way and do something people just don’t do I’m a good ol fashioned grease monkey

If that's the case, come over to my place and help me work on the tdi into a 944 project lol!

 

[turbocharged798]

IMHO, is the swap possible, absolutely. Lots of stuff will interchange believe it or not.

Is it a good idea? Probably not. There is really no reason to go from an ALH to a BEW, just fix the ALH.

 

[Daniel2141]

cost efficiency of the swap over the rebuild
ALH needs a complete overhaul 4K+
BEW swap plus few new parts 2k
Savings = 2k

 

[oilhammer]

You can find good used ALHs for less than $1k (often as low as $500). Not sure where you got a $4k figure from anyway. If an ALH core is rebuildable, you could probably do several for that much.

And unless you plan to live forever, you should place some value on your time. You can swap an ALH engine in a day, even working shadetree with few tools. You could literally drive it to work Monday morning. With zero modifications to anything.

You came here and asked a [reasonable] question. You got what I would think is a pretty unanimous answer that it could be done but there is no good reason to do so. And now you are starting to try and "invent" reasons that simply don't exist.

Personally, I'd fix BOTH cars (they aren't making any more, and they are not even allowing us to have anything even close to replace them). Keep the one you like the most, sell the other, OR keep them both and have a spare. That's me, and I never worry about having to walk. Old cars are cheap. Cheap to own, zero payments, low insurance, low taxes, and maintenance can be kept to a minimum by used parts whenever reasonable to do so.

 

[Daniel2141]

The pistons themselves are 500 dollars not too mention I have to replace the injection pump the block needs to be deeply cleaned the head is cracked cam is trashed etc. I came here to ask if the swap is possible and what needs to be switched over very few actually gave me the answer I didn’t ask for anyone’s opinion I don’t care what others think I do with what I want to do by my terms so I don’t care about the benefits i don’t care about the downsides I have both cars one needs a motor and tranny the other has no title and interior is trashed so a swap is reasonable no wait time for parts just grind time so your opinions don’t matter to me you’ve answered my question (yes it can be done relatively easy ) thank you for time I’m in the middle of pulling the engine and tranny I’ll post pictures

 

[oilhammer]

OK, well good luck to you then!

 

[Daniel2141]

Thank you !!! Love these cars one of my dream cars and plan to build it overtime in my own way ...

 

[jettawreck]

Let us know when/if you get it done.
I spent way too much time on a simple gas to alh TDI swap (2003-2003).
Almost anything can be done. Many things just don't need to.

 

[U4ick]

Back in 1999 my waterboxer engine in my 1985 Westphalia Vanagon pop-top camper was in need of an overhaul.
Upon studying my options I came to the brilliant conclusion that I was going to drop the WB engine and sell it for what I could get for it and go back with a Subaru 2.2 boxer engine out of a Legacy.

I was getting 17-18 mpg at 65 mph and I was reading about people getting 27-28 after the swap with a lot more hp. An outfit named Kennedy Engineering was selling the adapter plate, wiring schematics, plumbing diagrams and other odds and ends needed for the swap. I went to bed that night with dreams of sugarplums and rolling cross-country on a little gas and cruising at 80 mph!

I bought the engine and just about everything else in the engine bay from a rear-ended 95 Legacy for $300.00 at a wrecking yard. I figured a couple of weeks working all weekend and I would be on the road again! HaHa!!!!!

Six months later after many trials and errors I was on the road again. I don't even want to think about how many hours I put into it. MPG? About 17-18 doing 65mph, 12-13 doing 80, it takes a lot of fuel burn to push a saltine cracker box through the air!!! I do enjoy the double-takes I get when I'm cruising at 80 on the interstate though!

I still have that camper, wouldn't sell it for the world, when someone approaches me about buying it I look at them like they were offering to buy my baby boy!!! I really learned a big life lesson on that project though. My wife calls it the "Happy Sunshine Bus." One of my A hole buddies put a "Mr. Natural" sticker on it that says...."What a long strange trip it's been."

 

[BobnOH]

I searched here- VW TDI Search Engine and found quite a few threads.

 

[Daniel2141]

Definitely will have big plans for the car in the future gonna keep it for the rest of my life they are hard to come by in my area

 

[BobnOH]

Me too, when my 99.5 was totalled I ran out and bought another. The ALH and the BEW are both fine engines, but I think you'll be way ahead to find an '02 or 03'. They're out there, salvage yard, companies that buy totalled cars, you will be able to find a lower mileage ALH. My wrecked Jetta would have been perfect.

 

[Mongler98]

Definitely will have big plans for the car in the future gonna keep it for the rest of my life they are hard to come by in my area

i said the same thing. now she is *CRUSHED* for $250 cash.
then i got into cars that don't suck and Bikes that go fast and autocross and you know, life............. Family......... a stupid $2000 money pit that gets over taken in every single aspect at all from MPG to speed, handling, stype, parts you name it. its a fun AF but you get tired of spending lots of time and $ on a heap of rust that starts to let you down and ruin expectations of 2F2F bs. you will learn!

 

[Kraiger]

Not to bad of a swap really. Good choice using the 03 Immo3. Body side is the same so cluster, both under hood harness and a lift pump install. I prefer a PD150 not a bew but it can be done. About to do a BHW/DSG swap into a 03 wag later this summer. Then an alh into a bew to keep the car on the road till its PD150 is built.

 

[oldpoopie]

Just finished doing this swap myself. Picked up two wagons last year. Bew with blown trans and thrashed interior. Alh with good interior and body but bad motor and was an automatic.
It took like two or three wires of re-pinning at the plenum, adding he lift pump, and that was about it. The only thing I have left is cruise and I believe I’m just missing + wire to the ecu for that.