Diesel Swap

[FyrhzrdGT]

Hey guys I joined Vortex a while ago, they pointed me here, then I got sidetracked on my project.  I am swapping a 1990 Jetta diesel into a 1990 Jetta 1.8 gas.  I have the complete wiring harness from the donor car uncut but I don't know where to begin with the wiring.  Can someone point me in the right direction when it comes to hooking my harness up the relay box under the dash?  All the wires that came off the motor are marked but the fuse box end is unmarked so I'm a bit of a loss. 

My plan was to swap the tank and the line from the diesel to the gas car.  I've got the radiator and everything from the donor car as well. 

What else do I need to change? 

Can someone help me out?  Thanks!

[FyrhzrdGT]

Sorry my understanding was this section was for performance questions, sorry for the confusion. 

[Vincent Waldon]

No worries... the titles are a bit confusing and evidently hard to change.

Carry on!!

[BAM]

A little oil burner swap to a gasser shell sounds like a performance upgrade to me.  The fuse box is easy, you will find that all the connectors only go in the correct spot.  A good service manual with OEM wiring diagrams will be the other tool you require to make life easy.  I have done many swaps over the years and common sense will get you a long way, stop for a smoke & Coke when you get frustrated with connector that doesn't seem to have a home.  You will find it's home when you come back!!!  Good luck!!

[FyrhzrdGT]

So I can just plug my diesel harness straight into the gasser fuse box?  Then swap all the relays and fuses from the diesel fuse box into the gasser box?

I have the Bentley Mk2 book.  

What do I need to do in terms of the wiring that goes to the tank, do I need to swap the wiring for the level gauge out of the diesel or will the gasser wiring work for the deisel?  My plan was to swap the gauge cluster from my diesel into the gas.  Any potential troubles there?


Threads are worthless without pics, so I'll get some today.

My motor is a 1.6N/A and I was going to try to use the taller ratio'ed transmission off of the gasser.  So this car isn't going to be particularly fast, but I am after mpgs with this build.  That said, are there any tweaks I should do to my lil 1.6na while it is out of the donor car? 

[zagarus]

Basically if you have all the wiring harness from the diesel you can just swap that all (for the engine bay and to the rear of the car for the tank and water separator tank).  IT is very easy. If you have any specific problems you want answered just ask.  I swapped my coupe from a gasser to diesel so I know what needs to be done.

[FyrhzrdGT]

I have the whole '90 diesel parts car. 

What should I do about the hard fuel lines from the tank to the engine bay?   They are torn up on the gasser, is it possible/reasonable to swap them from the diesel to the gasser?

[BAM]

I have the whole '90 diesel parts car. 

What should I do about the hard fuel lines from the tank to the engine bay?   They are torn up on the gasser, is it possible/reasonable to swap them from the diesel to the gasser?

Just did it for a customer took about a half hour on the hoist, we took the lines off the filter and drop the tank/lines as an assembly.  Cut the connector off the diesel and splice into gas harness with heat shrink for the gauge.

[FyrhzrdGT]

Got the engine harness hooked up to the fuse box, that wasn't hard at all, I was thinking it would be crazy complicated.  (My last swap was an OBD2 swap 3800SC into a Pontiac Fiero).  I took the engine mounts and brackets to the family powdercoating line today.  The guy who runs it is awesome and hes got some new colors he wants to try out on my stuff, so we'll see how it turns out I gave him full creative license on it haha.  Hes going to try a chrome silver coating on the valve cover and a red on some of the brackets. 

On my way back to the garage the 300D I daily blew up the front brake hoses during a panic stop at 65mph.  I'm fine and I limped back to the house but figuring that out and ordering next day parts consumed my afternoon.  I'm hoping tonight I can get more done on the jetta. 

I promise I'll snag some pics. 

[theman53]

Good to see another Buckeye dubber...I also daily a 1982 300D that blew a rear brake line 2 weeks ago and ruined my Jetta weekend LOL

[FyrhzrdGT]

Well I didn't get the tank out tonight, it had fuel in it and my siphon is slow.  What is the trick to getting the hard fuel lines out of the clips on the bottom of the car?  I'm worried I cracked one messing with it.  

I got the engine bay wiring done today and got some stuff spray painted black, looks a little ghetto now but once the motor is in and very little of the black is visible, but no rust is visible, it will be worth it.

How I clean a bay before a swap haha




The head looks pretty good to me for 224k miles.

[84tdrabbit]

theres no way that head has 224k miles on it.. way way too clean. a mechanic must of owned it if it really is a quarter-million miles old.. it takes lots of regular maintenance to keep a head that clean inside for that long.

[Settings]

How long has it taken you thus far? How much longer to you suppose it'll take?

I'm considering swapping my 93 AAZ into a gasser. I had the same questions (match wiring).

[zagarus]

if it hasn't been mentioned yet make sure you check the fuel tank inlet.  Diesels have a bigger hole to accomodate the larger nozzles at gas stations.  A gas tank will have a little metal flap in it while a diesel tank will just be a large gaping hole.

[GEE-BEE]

ref: hose 1-5/8 is the i.d.

MK1 I  change it while you have the filler out...


GB