Engine and Gearbox Swapping

[GregC]

Hey guys, I am still redoing my T4 Dual Cab, at present it has a 2.5 petrol with a 5 speed manual in it. I am looking at removing the existing engine gearbox combination for a 2 litre Diesel with Auto Transmission. I have been told the auto trans out of the Transporter is a bit of a dog and not at all reliable. This would lead me to think that I might look at an engine gearbox out of a Golf (the 2 litre diesel). The truck does not and will not be towing any heavy loads at all.

I guess there are a few questions I have, firstly is this a reasonable sort of swap to undertake? Is the auto gearbox in the golf any better? Is there a better swap to look at? I do not want to undertake the swap myself, this will be one for the real mechanics, so any guidance on who could undertake the swap would also be handy.

Happy for any guidance, correction or any advice that might come. I have tried to post some pics of the truck to the site but Im afraid that technology has beaten me again.

[jets]

The popular engine swap in the UK is the 1.9TDI. You will need to retain your T4 gearbox. Here's some reading for you.
Team 1.9TDI information library. - VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum
You may have to register to read it though.

[Sunny43.5]

I did the complete reverse last year with my sonsT4 we removed the 2.4 diesel and replaced it with a 2.5 petrol , there was alot more work than I first thought . I bought just an engine and gear box complete but did not realise that I needed to replace the whole engine and dash wiring loom plus ECU and the instrument binnacle as all the gauges and speedo would not be correct , remember your petrol engine revs a lot higher than the diesel so the tacho would be wrong . The end result was I ditched the whole engine and gear box [its still sitting under a tarp beside the house] I ended up buying a whole van off Ebay that was a 2.5 manual . I completly removed the whole engine gearbox wiring loom instrument binnacle fuel tank exhaust and swapped them all over . I would imagine to do what you are going to do will require the same sort of work . After I finished my sons van I fitted the old diesel into the donor van and resold it on Ebay . There were a few headaches with the ignition immobilzer after fitting the diesel to the donor van and had to get the key recoded to get it to start , other than that it was an easy job to do and I am not a mechanic .

[GregC]

thanks for the replies. I talked to one place today and they informed me to 'learn to drive a manual'. Now I thought this was a rather interesting reply to a request by a customer. Whilst my last 28 years has been spent driving manuals I am pretty much over it to be honest. I asked if I kept the engine then is there another gearbox that can be inserted into the car from the VW range, I was told 'all VW autos are crap'. I am quite surprised that this level of customer service is still a feature in our business landscape. I will now be going to one of the hot rod shops and suppliers and talking to them about possible engine and gearbox swaps to the truck. Heres the deal, its just a full chassis truck that needs an auto box and a new engine, one that provides a little more comfort then is now on offer. Easy thing would be to get rid of the truck and buy a dual cab but they wouldn't as a rule have a full tray.

[Sunny43.5]

You only have to read this forum to find out that the VW autos have a bit of an image problem . thats not to say that all of the autos are a problem it seems that there are just some who think they are fine and some who don,t {like me} now our 2000 model T4 had an auto and it was all good for the five years we owned it except for the adaptive side which was when it would adjust gear changes depending on how hard it was driven . Wife drives it adapts to gentle throttle and changes accordingly . I drive and have to give it some stick so it knows how I drive !! but it was reliable compared to our current T5 auto . How about a nice V8 transplant

[GregC]

yea I was thinking of a V8 or a V6. I know its a front wheel drive but honestly I'm sure there is some smart bloke out there somewhere that has already worked out how to do it. Surely there must be an option, this truck is my toy and if that means that to have something different I need to pull it apart and put something completely different into it, surely that is half the fun.

[GregC]

Looks like I will be inserting a toyota aurion V6 engine with matching 6 speed auto into the truck. I reckon with 200kw on tap it will be a reasonably quick dual cab.

[Sunny43.5]

Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GregC]

Got a quote for the aurion engine gearbox and it can be done but at a cost that makes it unachievable. Now hunting around for the FSI engine from a GTI or a passat, apparently its a fairly straight forward swap and yes a new ecu will be required. This should give me 145kw in straight trim and with a stage 1 upgrade a bit more should be possible.