A few issues after AAZ swap into Cabrio

[tdotdub]

Hi everyone.
Me and my friend just finished a swap on my mk3 crabrio took the 2.0l out and put a AAZ in it with giles pump. It drives, runs but few issues have come up.

1: the cluster does not work, no speedo,tach,engine temp readings. When you put the key in the ignition even the milage on the cluster dissapears? when taking out the key the milage reapers as well as the clock. ground issue? anyone have any ideas how to go about this?

2: the car runs and drives well for about 20 minutes than starts cutting out, and you need to give it 75% or so gas just to keep it going on the highway and will occasionally fall flat on its face! I had exact exact issues on my mk4 and it turned out to be a clogged check valve that i drilled out and issue was gone. This car we didnt put a check valve so it must be getting in air somewhere else i guess??? or does it NEED to have a check valve in the ingoing line to fuel filter?

3: lastly when the car does run and no fuel issue, the clutch slips extremly hard when getting on boost! what upgrades are the for clutches as far as AAZ go? are the 2.0 clutches the same?

thanks.

[wdkingery]

You make me nervous talkin bout "it runs fine till it warms up and I don't have a temp gauge. "
Course I've had to play hell to get mine to overheat so.. Probably not.

[tdotdub]

the car will not be my daily for another few months, just trying to figure out the issues now one by one. any suggestions well appreciated.

i keep reading that 16v pressure paltes are a good upgrade but also that any 8v gasser clutch pressure plate and flywheel will do just fine? what about a vr6 tdi combo, will the bigger size flywheel fit in the tranny housing and all work?

[BigVWman]

If you have the stock 020 from cabrio in there, the vr6 tdi combo won't work and is big bucks anyway compared to a 16v pp and 210 disc 020 style! The vr6 tdi setup is designed for the 02a/j style trans and utilizes the other style clutch configuration with the pressure plate on the outside and flywheel on inside as well as being physically larger diameter 228mm and up depending on manufacturer.

[rodpaslow]

I did a swap into a MK3 Golf, and had the same issue - i think.  I had the issue where the mileage would disappear and (Canadian car), the daytime running lights would go out as soon as you released the parking brake.  All I had to do to fix it was move the parking brake switch so the switch stayed on all the time.  (it's a bit of a pain because the light stays on all the time)  I had no issues with the gauges - the AAZ should have basiclly the same connectors the 2.0 had, so you should have no problems with at least coolant temp - however my car was a 1.8l gasser with a tb injection and likely a much simpler ecu.  You may have other issues that are related to a 2.0 ecu.

I disconnected the main harness in my car and use nothing from it.  All my 1.6 needs is a hot (used to be coil wire) for starting and in my MK3 the starter wire was seprate from the main harness.  I use a vdo gauge for temp as I didn't use any of the main harness. (I have a VDO oil pressure gauge as well).  

Hope this helps

[JamesT]

1: the cluster does not work, no speedo,tach,engine temp readings. When you put the key in the ignition even the milage on the cluster dissapears? when taking out the key the milage reapers as well as the clock. ground issue? anyone have any ideas how to go about this?

Could be the point where the cluster grounds on the block. The cluster could be trying to ground itself through a component powered by key in power (radio?) and it looses its ground when the key is in. The cluster takes power from 30 and 15: nothing from key in power. It is likely either a ground issue or an ignition switch issue.

2: the car runs and drives well for about 20 minutes than starts cutting out, and you need to give it 75% or so gas just to keep it going on the highway and will occasionally fall flat on its face! I had exact exact issues on my mk4 and it turned out to be a clogged check valve that i drilled out and issue was gone. This car we didnt put a check valve so it must be getting in air somewhere else i guess??? or does it NEED to have a check valve in the ingoing line to fuel filter?

What happens if you run it from a jerry can of fuel? Is there a restriction in the fuel supply? Is it possible the supply and return lines are connected backwards? Could I ask any more questions?

3: lastly when the car does run and no fuel issue, the clutch slips extremly hard when getting on boost! what upgrades are the for clutches as far as AAZ go? are the 2.0 clutches the same?

The clutch is a matter for the transmission, not the engine. Most water cooled VW engines use the same bolt pattern to mate either the pressure plate or the flywheel, depending on the transmission type. If you are using the stock transmission, a 2.0 clutch would work. I've got a stock clutch with my AAZ running 20lbs boost with no slippage issues. How hard on the boost are you getting?

[veector]

Alex, about the clutch, I think its worn, my old mk3 jetta's clutch never slipped even when launching hard with 25lbs.  You could go with the 16v setup if upgrading but even stock it should handle the power.

[tdotdub]

i have the aaz tranny in there, not the stock 2.0 one.  but by the looks of it I dont see people having clutch issues, maybe you guys are right, mine is simply worn. I dont know how much boost or how fast its getting it yet, i need to borrow a boost guage and check, will do that one the fuel starvation issue is fixed.

after a few various tests with a manual mityvac and playing around with check valves, i found out the issue i think*. We completely forgot to remove the stock 2.0 fuel filter from under the car  , so its no surprise the pump has trouble pulling in fuel and its sucking in air, i will either by pass it or hook up a fuel pressure regulator in there so i can run the stock 2.0 fuel pump as a lift pump.

the stock 2.0l ecu is still in there all functioning, ignition switch did not present ever issues so i doubt its related to the grounding issue, and the cluster works in another car.

I know the 2.0 cluster is grounded to the manifold of the engine, where would i ground the diesel cluster? glow plug?

[JamesT]

Glow plugs aren't grounds. Either a bolt on the side of the head or a modified engine to trans bolt with an m6 stud in it.
The stock ecu may be there, but it surely isn't functioning as it doesn't have a 2.0L gas engine to talk to anymore. Plus, you've probably robbed a wire or two from the ECU harness to get the fuel-cutoff and glow plugs working. I would suggest removing the ECU all together, and sorting the engine wiring so only what is needed is there. Since your car is CE2, you may want to find a full engine harness from a diesel golf or jetta and plug that in. Unused components make troubleshooting a nightmare.

[tdotdub]

Glow plugs aren't grounds. Either a bolt on the side of the head or a modified engine to trans bolt with an m6 stud in it.
The stock ecu may be there, but it surely isn't functioning as it doesn't have a 2.0L gas engine to talk to anymore. Plus, you've probably robbed a wire or two from the ECU harness to get the fuel-cutoff and glow plugs working. I would suggest removing the ECU all together, and sorting the engine wiring so only what is needed is there. Since your car is CE2, you may want to find a full engine harness from a diesel golf or jetta and plug that in. Unused components make troubleshooting a nightmare.

yea 1 wire is robbed to run the glow plugs, we used a harness from a mk1 1.6d and slapped that in. We figured it would make everything easier by leaving the ecu in there but I guess not. i really want that cluster working, these aaz's are to sensitive to heat and man do they get heat fast compared to an alh!