Another clean diesel-69 Beetle CBEA swap

[pdq import repair]

A couple of years ago I bought a wrecked 09 Jetta common rail for the engine mainly. I figured someone would need one soon enough and I got the car cheap enough to make a profit on it. Well apparently they are pretty reliable and I have been saying that someone better buy it soon or I would have to find something to put it in.
I first needed to get it running standalone for a swap project to materialize so I sorted through the wiring harness and painstakingly hooked everything to the ECU and engine. I had planned to do a DPF delete among other things to simplify it as much as I could. I found I had to wire in the CAN gateway to communicate with the ECU through the OBDII connector. Since I was/am still in the experimental stage and have not modified an ECU yet I also wired the cluster and key reader coil to the CAN in order to run the engine. Once I had it running I then needed a test car. I have a VW mechanic friend who has a cut down 69 Beetle that has had many many different engines in it and currently had an ALH running a mechanical pump installed so we figured it would be a good test vehicle as it was already converted to water cooled diesel.

We have it in and running now and are working out the details as we go. We figured it would be a good driveable test stand. I have slowly been working out the wiring to get rid of codes that I can. It is still complaining about some things it has noticed not there, but I have the codes dealt with for the components I intend to keep, so now it is ECU lobotomizing time next.

It looks fairly simple from the back view which is what most people see on the road. It prompts many questions when stopped and parked. He takes the car to many local car meets and many people walk around it more than one lap shaking their heads, and that was with the ALH. Anyone that knows will always ask many questions. Those that don't, but think they do often ask silly questions like "Is that a Ford engine?" On the ALH he went as far as to put a VW turbo diesel sticker on the valve cover because he got tired of telling people it was not a Ford. We are thinking a sticker or plaque on the engine cover that says "Violator" might be appropriate, or maybe "clean diesel"

It is a fairly small sized package when you get rid of the rest of the car. I improvised on the throttle for now, it would not be too hard to mount the pedal in the car I just need to extend the wires some to do it and the engine may not stay in this vehicle after all the bugs get worked out. Once tested and running as a standalone package it may find another vehicle. some considered so far have been 1st Gen 4Runner, Vanagon of course, Corrado maybe. I measured up a Miata we had in the other day and it looks like there is room enough in there too. I think that would be a fun car but I bet it is more of a project than I want.

_
I used the underhood fuse panel, the CAN gateway and the cluster so far. There has been some discussion that I may need a speed signal to get out of limp mode so I have retained the ABS controller and have experimentally hooked it to the CAN and talked to it, just in case I need to fab up a speed signal. I have experimented on my daily driver, a 09 Jetta and found that the speedo signal is generated by both front wheel sensors and if you unhook one it will still work, and with the ABS controller unplugged it still has full power so I am hoping to not need to generate a speed signal to get it out of limp mode.. The cluster is mostly CAN controlled and functions well. The display and tach and temp gauge and idiot lights all function. I have been able to shut off most of the warnings but coolant level and traction control. If i were to want to use the cluster in a build or swap it would be pretty handy as there is not that many wires that go to it to make it function. I would have to incorporate the ABS controller on the CAN and figure out a speed signal to use the speedo. The fuel gauge reads from a separate sensor similar to any other car, not on the CAN. I bet the LEDs for the warnings not able to shut off could be lifted off the circuit board, as well as the warning buzzer. The oil pressure switch was sheared off in the original wreck and I haven't replaced it yet, but the warnings come up on the cluster so I assume it is CAN too. Pretty amazing how functional the cluster is considering there are only 5 small wires total hooked to it at this point.

Another picture since any thread needs lots of them. As you can see we have simplified the exhaust somewhat. This shot was taken early on in the project before I added the MAF and added height to the air filter. I am hoping that the MAF can be eliminated with the elimination of EGR as I believe it is mainly used for control of that. At least that is how it went on my mk4 PD. I like the looks with the shorter filter, and I want to make it as simple as possible. Time will tell and theories will get proven or discarded as the project progresses. If anyone has any insights or suggestions or discoveries from their own project, I am all ears. likewise I will share what little i know.
We have driven it on the road, and even in limp mode where it will not rev beyond 3000 rpm, it runs much stronger than the last ALH. Even short shifting and gassing it we get clutch slippage in 3rd and 4th gears. That was never a problem with the last engine. The owner of the Beetle also claims it is way smoother.

 

[evguy1]

Wheelie wheels or just a skid plate under the engine? ;>)

 

[pdq import repair]

Got a surprise package today from Kerma, He was supposed to delete the immobilizer so we didn't need to run the cluster as part of the standalone project we are doing. The intent was to delete the immo then proceed with tuning to make it run standalone and increase the horsepower, etc.

Plugged it in without the cluster to test the immo delete and it fired right up. As we were running and observing it we noticed that it was no longer in limp mode and revs to rev limiter freely. What a bonus,as I only paid for the immo delete so far. I emailed Charlie to see what he did and he just says it is a stock tune at this point. I know he did something to cure the limp mode and I fully intend to have him tune the ECU further after I purchase the Q-loader.

Oh, by the way the little beetle scoots. It has no trouble hazing off those big tires. If you try to burn them off in first gear you get wheel hop, but second gear spins them freely with no hop. We have all taken turns abusing the tires and scuffing up the roads around here for giggles.

 

[turbobrick240]

Sweet!! I know you're just using the bug as a test bed, but I'd be tempted to leave the motor in there. Also kind of hoping you throw it in a miata.

 

[pdq import repair]

Oh, it will stay in the beetle until all the bugs are worked out. The engine has just been sitting in the back room till recently, it might as well be getting some exercise till a suitable vehicle pops up for swapping. We have been talking about common rail swaps for quite some time and needed first to figure out all the pitfalls.

There is still quite a few kinks to work out to make it a semi-foolproof standalone, but I think we have made good progress so far.

 

[pdq import repair]

Now that the hard part is over and the engine is running good standalone things can be tidied up a bit, wire looming and eliminating etc. Now that I know what is or isn't needed I could simplify it more. There is no more need for the cluster or ignition switch to run so they have been deleted. The ECU and the CAN gateway, which is barely visible in the pic laying under the ECU, both actually reside inside the cab behind the seat so the mess you see turns into a small pile of wire looms. I figure I could encase the entire mess inside a boat style battery box for concealment and weatherproofing. It would match the other side where the actual battery is, and look kinda like it had two batteries.
The only actual connections to the rest of the car is positive and negative connections at the battery, and a few joined ground connections tagged to the frame. There is one wire from the ignition switch that gets it all going. If you look you can still see the switch I used in development laying with the wires, that will activate it all too. The starter wire was already wired to the car and really not needed for the running, though there is one wire tagged to the #50 (starter) terminal to tell the ECU the starter is engaging. Also in this pic is some of the wiring for the car too, like taillights and fan and starter and stuff, even a couple spare fuel hoses laying there if you look. The actual standalone harness is suprisingly small especially when rehide the ECU and CAN bus.

We are now brainstorming and thinking of good swap cars. I have feelers out for a Miata, We have access to 1st gen RX7 without an engine, feelers out on a VW type 3 squarebck. I would love stick it in a Type 3 fastback, or even a type 4 fastback better yet, but they are all gone from the earth. Have a '79 van, trying to get a title. '92 4Runner possibly, but not really rare or interesting enough to warrant the work it would be. Early BMW 3 series has been considered too. We have identified and located good transmission possibilities for both rear drive and transverse mounting. You ideally want to have a real wide ratio box with pretty high gearing so we have been looking at ones that were originally coupled to a diesel. Also in my junkyard queries I have found one that will make me a pretty good package deal with another common rail engine and the other bits I need to like wiring harnesses and controllers. There really is no hurry to swap yet, just feeling it out. In the meantime we will drive the beetle some more and gather knowledge. I think it looks good enough in there to maybe even just leave it there and snag another for a different project. I do have most of a spare engine to use for mockup and fabbing mounts and measuring and visualizing so I really don't have to pull the trigger on another engine or jerk this out out till I need a runner. I think this looks too good to undo right away, and it does certainly attract attention wherever is lands. There is a flatbed that we could put back on the truck, but it hides everything and I like the "naked" look. You can see the back tires have lost the scalloped trad look they had, as we have been grinding them round again by rotating them against the pavement.

 

[nicklockard]

Holy crap this is too funny! Why don't you refit the rear part of the body and feed the radiator with bottom vents? That' would look cool. How does it steer being so back-heavy? Isn't it really squirrelly and scary?

 

[pdq import repair]

Handling is fine for a beetle. Surprisingly the engine does not weigh as much as you think and there is more than enough sheetmetal removed so it actually lighter than stock.
The original aircoolers weigh in at 215 lbs, and according to charts I can fine the TDI weighs roughly 280 lbs.
This car has been running around for years with an ALH in it, we just wanted to try to run a CR standalone and this is a great test stand for that.

 

[turbobrick240]

I'd just toss a couple 50# sandbags in the bonnet if weight distribution is a problem. Not having the rear bodywork should offset some of extra engine weight. I want one! I'll be checking out the boneyard at Austin Veedub this winter.

 

[greengeeker]

Why do you still have the EGR cooler installed?

I bet that sounds awesome.

 

[pdq import repair]

I left the cooler in place to plug the intake hole. This is all an exercise in progress to see if we can make a common rail run without the rest of the car. It will likely shed the cooler in time. I left the high pressure EGR intact too for convenience although it is soon to be tuned away. It may or may not disappear also.

Good time for a bit of an update. The car has been getting driven on warmer days (no heater as of yet) and it still amazes. Now that the urge to smoke the tires constantly has subsided a little it is getting driven in real world situations and it is equally if not more amazing. Engine is silky smooth and very torquey. second and third gear takeoffs are a breeze without a hiccup at all, and you don't realize how fast you are suddenly going till you glance at the speedo.

It does sound awesome, throaty and really not very loud. I have heard many rice racers running around that are much noisier and much slower. I get an internal chuckle at them as they sound so fierce and rip through the gears and yet they are still right in in front of you and not travelling very fast, but sounding like they are. This little beetle is not real loud but when you look and it is gone from sight after just a couple gears. Almost no smoke at all from the exhaust.

Anxiously awaiting a Q-pro from Kerma to add more power and erase more codes. We want to prove out the swap in this platform while finding another car worthy of the engine.
Late considerations and feelers out for Karmann Ghia, found a DKW, but maybe no title, and PV or 1 series Volvo might be cool too. Miata is still in the running but need to get one in the bay for measuring, might not be enough room height wise. I am sure a car will find me, but in the meantime the beetle has superpowers.

 

[greengeeker]

I left the cooler in place to plug the intake hole. This is all an exercise in progress to see if we can make a common rail run without the rest of the car. It will likely shed the cooler in time. I left the high pressure EGR intact too for convenience although it is soon to be tuned away. It may or may not disappear also.

Good time for a bit of an update. The car has been getting driven on warmer days (no heater as of yet) and it still amazes. Now that the urge to smoke the tires constantly has subsided a little it is getting driven in real world situations and it is equally if not more amazing. Engine is silky smooth and very torquey. second and third gear takeoffs are a breeze without a hiccup at all, and you don't realize how fast you are suddenly going till you glance at the speedo.

It does sound awesome, throaty and really not very loud. I have heard many rice racers running around that are much noisier and much slower. I get an internal chuckle at them as they sound so fierce and rip through the gears and yet they are still right in in front of you and not travelling very fast, but sounding like they are. This little beetle is not real loud but when you look and it is gone from sight after just a couple gears. Almost no smoke at all from the exhaust.

Anxiously awaiting a Q-pro from Kerma to add more power and erase more codes. We want to prove out the swap in this platform while finding another car worthy of the engine.
Late considerations and feelers out for Karmann Ghia, found a DKW, but maybe no title, and PV or 1 series Volvo might be cool too. Miata is still in the running but need to get one in the bay for measuring, might not be enough room height wise. I am sure a car will find me, but in the meantime the beetle has superpowers.

TDICLUB post of the day.

 

[CoolAirVw]

Yes, you can do it... but should you???

 

[pdq import repair]

You know that is what they said to Orville and Wilbur Wright, Thomas Edison, and John Delorean.

Oh, oops, wait a minute.

Where have all the Borgwards gone? I need one now for TDI power.

 

[ketchupshirt88]

that thing is just awesome.

i also wish that loud, slow ricers would just stop being a thing...

i cannot have anymore projects until i sell the MK4 my brother decided he didnt want anymore, but i always thought a mid engined bug with an AHU where the back seat used to be would be a blast...

bet it could be gotten down to 1500lbs as long as my pudgy self is running alongside it instead of driving.

 

[greengeeker]

Any chance we can get a video of this thing in operation?

 

[pdq import repair]

Learned a couple things today.

First thing is that I finally got convinced that the common rail does use the MAF for a lot more than EGR control unlike my previous PD, so I bought the right MAF for the engine that we are using. The original died in the car wreck that killed the original car and we have been using a random one that was just laying around. It didn't seem to make much difference in the running if it were plugged in or not. So we did learn that the right MAF does make it run even more smoother than before and seems to have added some horsepower too.

The next thing we learned is that we need a lot stronger clutch pressure plate. The heavy duty clutch that gave no trouble when the ALH was in that beetle is now not up to the task anymore. 18 PSI boost and it is just clutch slippage now.

I guess we can call that progress. Just wait till we tune the ECU and put in a stage 4 Kennedy pressure plate.

I will see what I can do about a video. That will be yet another learning curve.

 

[NarfBLAST]

I will see what I can do about a video. That will be yet another learning curve.

If it helps, you can email a video to me at narfblast@cogeco.ca and I can post it on my channel http://youtube.com/narfblast with links here.

 

[pdq import repair]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-fY6knEQs4wdVhWekE1SEtGUlE/view? usp=sharing

After much fooling around I think I found a way to share a video here. I know it is not much of an action shot but I was more trying to figure out how to post a video than make a video if you know what I mean. I am electronically challenged in that way, but I can wire a common rail to run standalone, which I feel is a more valuable talent.

 

[1.9ZOOK]

Wheelie bars and an 1/8 mile run...

 

[CoolAirVw]

I saw a kenmore washing machine breather!

 

[pdq import repair]

Nothing adds horsepower faster than stickers, and what better than a known and trusted brand?

Actually we were worried about rain washing down the intake and into the engine so we were brainstorming air filter designs and options when one of the guys found that cover in the back parts room. It is a cover from a reverse osmosis water purifier long gone away but it fit perfectly over the filter we had and seemed just perfect for the task. Not to mention the added horsepower from a well known brand name sticker.

The project is on hold at this moment for two reasons, waiting for a new heavy duty clutch to arrive , and waiting for snow to melt.

Anxiously awaiting an ECU tuning upgrade to test the soon to be installed clutch. Now that I know how to attach a video I will try to catch some live action testing of both once the pavement shows itself again.

There have been a couple of comments about wheelie bars, but even though it looks it the vehicle is not overly back heavy and prone to that. Tire slippage is a bigger issue. Maybe we will drive it over to the scales and weigh it in and compare it to my pure stock 68 survivor car for comparison. We can get overall weight and front rear bias numbers just for fun.

Not a day goes by that one of us doesn't come up with a new idea of a prospective car to receive a proven out standalone CR engine. We have given up on Toyota and suzuki swaps as they are a dime a dozen so to speak. We have an ALH Samarai in the shop at this very moment in fact. We are looking for somewhat rare and interesting cars that are still within our budget. (free is best) My comment is, cars that we used to run off cliffs for fun now are desirable to have back again just for uniqueness. Peugeot 505 TDI conversion would be a fantastic car I think if we could just find one that survived. Fiat 124 spyder would also be a good one.

 

[greengeeker]

How about an Amazon? Or a Square back? Or a Sprite?

Something small and light with character...

 

[pdq import repair]

Now you are thinking like us, keep it up.

I do have a feeler out on a squareback, though I would prefer a fastback, actually type 4 would be most desirable due to rarity and room.

A Sprite is very cool, but I bet the hood is too low.

Any old Volvo would be great but they are getting pretty rare too. I would love a P1800.
The other problem is that anything I find has to meet my stringent criteria. Free, or cheap.

I have located and purchased a 240 diesel Volvo transmission that we are going to try to mate to the VW for north south applications.

We now have a tuned ECU, phase one anyway, power but still code stomping. Now the clutch deficiencies happen after 1500 RPM, or is that wheel spin? Kinda snowy and wet here, pretty hard to tell for sure. New clutch due in today or tomorrow, supposed to hold 280 ft/lb of torque.

 

[nicklockard]

I suppose you couldn't fit it into a Karmann Ghia?

 

[Zeitgeist]

I'm generally in favor of keeping drivetrains in the same corporate family tree, but I must admit that I've long lusted after a TDI swapped Mercedes Ponton.

 

[nicklockard]

Well I always fantasized about stuffing an ALH Tdi drivetrain into a 1939 Dodge Fargo 1/2 ton pickup. I briefly owned one (not the one in the photo here). This is the prettiest truck ever made, IMO.

 

[pdq import repair]

We too have been looking and lusting at the older Mercedes, but they are either too expensive, or too rare to "bastardize". They are often worth more left stock.

I too like to stay in the species if I can thus VW products are getting the first look.

Yes I think it would be fairly easy to put in a Karmann Ghia. There is a lot of room back by the engine for incidentals, and the hood would shut and hide it all. We have studied that already and I have found one fairly locally that looks like a pretty good risk. It has been on CL for a while and I may offer to trade him an Outback that I have for it. Subies are pretty popular in snow country so he might bite at it. I would have to see the Ghia in the flesh first.

So many possibilities for such a versatile engine. We have looked at older pickups and cars too. Around these parts they get grabbed up for street rods so the price skyrockets fast, unless you are just lucky.

 

[turbobrick240]

There was a Porsche 924S for sale (cheap) in my neighborhood last year. Interior was rough, but the body was rust free and straight. I almost bought it for a tdi swap project. They originally came with VW engines, so that's a plus. And they are light and low. The mid engine 914 would be even cooler, but are more sought after.

 

[Zeitgeist]

Too bad VW Things are way too expensive now. I bought one about twenty five years ago for $400.

How about a 100LS?