re: VW 1.9TD Swap

re: VW 1.9TD Swap

Putting a 1.9TD (AAZ) into my '86 XJ. Using the Acme Adapter with the Toyota option. It seems the most basic thing to do would be to use a G52 bellhousing and input shaft and swap them onto my AX5. However, I was thinking about an upgrade since my AX5 needs help. I know I need the G52 input shaft, as the pilot tip matches the pilot bushing on the Acme kit. Can I swap the G52 in and mate it up to my NP207? How about using a G52 with Toyota transfer case? Basically, what combination would be best and most cost-effective (I know those two don't always go together). AX15/NP231 seems a good option, but how do I mate that up to the VW with the acme kit. FYI, the G52 input shaft pilot tip is .47" in diameter. Need to wrap this project up and transmission is the only thing left to do.

Any and all advice appreciated.

Thanks.

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

Dude, it's all greek to me but that sounds like a really cool swap! Good luck.

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

ive seen this swap into a samuirai but they are much smaller. Despite the engine being awesome, it only pushes like 80hp and 100fp torque. Think thats enough for an xj?

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

Will that combo past smog here in California?

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

bwinter1946 said:

Will that combo past smog here in California?

Click to expand...

Unless they changed the laws recently, CA does not smog check diesels. I have a diesel swapped into my SJ and I just had to show the referee that it was a diesel and it was done.

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

California is starting to smog big diesels now. At least they are working that direction for the 18 wheelers but I am not sure about the cars or pickups. I know RVs are exempt. Here in California they are very picky about engine swaps. A diesel engine from a VW car into a Jeep SUV could be a tough one. I would hate to get done and then find out it was not smog legal. The problem as I see it is the engine is a different brand, different model year, and the Cherokee was never built with a diesel engine and smog certified in California. I am not in the smog business or work for the state but I am familiar with the difficulty of engine swaps, kit cars, and street rods and the smog issues can be painful. California is not getting better, it is getting worse, much worse, for smog, license and safety laws. I am not saying it can't be done but some checking now could prevent some pain later.

Good luck

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

Dont see anywhere in the OP where it asks about legalization guys. If he has the brains for the motor swap I am sure he will figure out how to drive it.

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

bwinter1946 said:

The problem as I see it is the engine is a different brand, different model year,

Click to expand...

Won't matter. All he has to do is take the vehicle to the referee, who will look at it and recertify it as a diesel. They typically don't care what you swap around provided that the new engine is not older than the vehicle it's going into and that any required emissions systems are intact and operational (which won't be an issue in this case).

and the Cherokee was never built with a diesel engine and smog certified in California.

Click to expand...

I don't believe that this is correct - my recollection is that the diesel XJs with the Renault 2.1TD made from about 1985 to 1988 were available in CA.

I am not in the smog business or work for the state but I am familiar with the difficulty of engine swaps, kit cars, and street rods and the smog issues can be painful.

Click to expand...

Agreed, they can be - but it is workable. With something like this they're typically not as adversarial as they would be with someone dropping, say, a JDM engine into their rice rocket. 'Jeep gets a diesel' isn't anything outside of their comfort zone, nor is it anything that would normally set alarm bells off.

California is not getting better, it is getting worse, much worse, for smog, license and safety laws. I am not saying it can't be done but some checking now could prevent some pain later.

Click to expand...

Definitely, but it is doable. I've worked on two gas-to-diesel swaps in cars and it literally was just a case of driving to the referee, lifting the hood, and waiting for him to say, "Yup, that's a diesel. Here's your recertification."

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

noresttill said:

ive seen this swap into a samuirai but they are much smaller. Despite the engine being awesome, it only pushes like 80hp and 100fp torque. Think thats enough for an xj?

Click to expand...

Its more like 150 ft.lbs. of torque. I plan on getting a TDI Jetta and pushing about 250-300 ft.lbs. with an auto.

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

I used to read VWVortex, and IIRC, those engines are really easy to chip for much more HP/TQ. Not sure about reliability when you do that.

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

Here in the uk we run the vw golf with the 1.9 pd tdi engine running 150 bhp as standard. You can then chip them to 180-200 bhp depending on other mods fitted. Also very reliable, a well serviced engine will see 200k.
Be good to see a write up when you do it.

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

I don't have any input on the tranny adapters, but the AAZ is an indirect injected turbo diesel engine and they aren't the TDI engines that almost everybody is thinking about.

My concern about this swap is the low power output of the stock AAZ engine. It makes less power than the 4 cyl gas engine that was an option in the cherokees and you cannot regear to deeper gears since the AAZ doesn't rev high enough. That is unless you have upgraded the trubo, nozzles, exhaust, etc....

Re: VW 1.9TD Swap

Just to chime in on my own thread.

The XJ is already registered as a diesel. It had the 2.1L Renault when I bought it. It is diesel legal in CA. Relaxed refs aside, it puts me in a unique position to be able to continue to power it with a diesel...albeit a better diesel.

Though the AAZ is not a TDI, with the upgrades I have done it will be fine for me. I have swapped in Euro-spec nozzles from a GTD, opened up the exhaust and added larger downpipe, added intercooler, and will swap on a bigger turbo eventually. It should get low 100s HP and high 100s torque. It'll be just fine. The 90HP TDI I have in my Golf scoots that car around just fine, it's actually a lot of fun to drive, and the XJ is about the same weight (with a less stellar drag coefficient, of course). I chose the AAZ because it is relatively inexpensive (considered MB, Toyota, Isuzu, Mitsu, Nissan), relatively easy to maintain, readily available, IDI (better for veg oil), and the Acme adapter makes it relatively easy to swap into an XJ with a minimum if fabrication work.

Back to my original issue, though (ahem), I'm still working out a final solution to the drivetrain swap. I have the transmission figured out, I think, and will be using either a Toyota W56 or R151F (I have access to both at a good price). The big question is t-case. My XJ currently has the NP207 that went with the AX5. The W56 is 21-spline. Will it just mate up to the NP207? The R151F is 23-spline. Will it just mate up to an NP231? How about a Dana 300 (can get one pretty cheap) with a Novak adapter? Trying to keep things simple. If I had a W56 with Yota t-case (RF1A), could I just drop that whole setup right under the XJ? Would it bolt up or would there be a lot of fabrication to do (the R151F is supposed be near identical to the AX15). Or do I need to use an NP2XX? The R151F I have access to is transmission and bell only. The W56 is bell, tranny, and t-case. Figuring out all of the other stuff for this swap was pretty easy, but the transmission/t-case/axle stuff is not my specialty.

I don't need the strongest t-case in the world. Even tuned up the VW is not putting out crushing numbers, and I won't be doing any rock-crawling or anything like that. I'm really just putting together a daily driver that I can take out on back roads and into the snow and mud and that I can run on biofuels. I feel like I'm moments away from completing this project, and this drivetrain solution continues to elude me. Am I making things harder than they should be...or oversimplifying things?

Any help?

Thanks.