ALH to BEW swap

[Hereforagoodtime]

Hello,

I have a 2003 Jetta with an ALH engine that is blown but a body that is still in fantastic condition.
I also have a 2004 Jetta with a BEW engine that works great but a body that has/is deteriorating faster than an ice cream cone melting in the summer heat.

I was wondering if swapping the BEW engine from the crappy body into the beautiful body of my 2003 is reasonably possible. This wouldn't be for modding/more power purposes just simply because I don't trust the lifespan of the body on the 2004. Thank you for any and all help in this.

 

[adamss24]

As you have both cars next to each other you can technically take from one and fit to the other. There are differences in wiring looms and turbos and ecu’s and gearbox and so on. Basically you need to transfer all running gear with electrics from the 2004 into the 2003 car.
Be prepared for long weekends, lots of wire splicing and pulling hairs trying to figure out the electrics !
I have done an auto to manual conversion on a 20012 seat exeo (glorified Audi A4 b7) using a 2011 donor- complete car. Nearly everything was different, from engine block to the starter and wiring loom…so be warned that factory makes lots of small changes in the space of half a year between same models !

 

[Hereforagoodtime]

Thank you for your reply! Sounds like this might be a bit more than my meager capabilities, but it's good to know that. I guess I'll keep my eyes open for a good used ALH

 

[pkhoury]

Thank you for your reply! Sounds like this might be a bit more than my meager capabilities, but it's good to know that. I guess I'll keep my eyes open for a good used ALH

I think you might be able to swap blocks possibly. I know cascadegerman has an ALH long block for sale, but the block itself is a BEW block, ALH head.

 

[jimbote]

It's pretty easy. I did the reverse swap to my 05 golf. BEW to ALH..harness was plug n' play. Lots of underhood parts are different so be prepared to swap nearly everything. About the only thing you'll need to add wiring wise (aside from.thr straight swap) is the in tank lift pump wiring. I ditched my in tank for an old style ALH sender.

 

[pkhoury]

You could still keep the in-tank lift pump though. I have them in all my ALHs and it certainly helps with fuel delivery to the IP. IDparts sells a wiring harness, but it's way overpriced IMO. You could do your own, splicing onto the existing wiring, just using a 53 relay, with it activated using the fuel shutoff solenoid on the IP.