Engine conversion recommendations?

[Dislexicdonkey]

Hi all.

Sadly my egr cooler has packed up for the second time in 18 months and I’ve had enough.

So I’m considering swapping out the 1.6tdi to a 2.0tdi or even a 2.0tfsi.

I’m trying to find companies that carry out this sort of work.

I’m also trying to get some recommendations from people who have had this type of work carried out and what their whole experience has been like.

Reliability is my big thing I’m trying to achieve and I know everything has issues. But this 1.6tdi has wiped £2500-£3000 from me this year alone. And that’s not including the injectors!

And advice numbers names etc would be most appreciated!

[gazza31112]

Heffs the man to speak to. Think his email address is floating around on here somewhere

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[Billy.2kcaddy]

Pd parts did my pd130 asz conversion. Would highly recommend.

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[J_Con]

I would do your research and not just jump into it, it took me months of reading and talking to people to find the route I wanted to go down. If you are gonna do it, do it right and remove all the diesel wiring, repinning, get a petrol fuel tank etc.


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[Dislexicdonkey]

I don’t want to jump into it, but I also don’t have endless amount of time to wait as the van is now off the road, and having to borrow a car which isn’t ideal.

I’ve messaged hef and also messaged darkside. Although I actually haven’t heard of darkside doing conversions.

Anyone else have any recommendations?

Or do I just throw the towel in and trade the van against a transporter or a newer 2.0tdi maxi?

I’m slowly edging towards the latter.

Could potentially get around £1500 back on removing some parts like front bumper brembos and headlamps and selling those on.


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[the swan fiend]

What has caused your EGR cooler to fail after such a short time? They normally last longer than that!
Do you have any kind of recourse with the manufacturer, sale of goods act and that?


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[Dislexicdonkey]

Nope. Sadly it’s very hard from what it seems to actually get a mechanical part sorted under warranty. And it was done in March/april 2022. That was its second failure too. Now it’s failed again I’ve lost all confidence in it now.

Was replaced for a pierberg unit and that’s exactly what was removed from it too.


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[Bahnstormer]

I can honestly say that the 2.0tdi swap was (for me at least) a game changer. Lots of torque, smoother than the 1.6 and still retains decent MPG (mine's currently hovering around the 42-43 mark). The wiring is almost the same, so you won't need to start pulling everything out and of course you can keep your original fuel tank.

There are a couple of well regarded companies on the CCUK facebook group who will do the 1.6 > 2.0 TDi conversions - I'm pretty sure Hef told me they don't do them, just diesel to petrol. Can't advise on cost though I'm afraid as I did my own.

[Dislexicdonkey]

I was worried someone may point me towards Facebook and those sort of sites. I don’t have social media for numerous reasons and also have heard multiple horror stories from people advertising to be able to do something but completely destroying vans/cars.

I know it’s up to me to make a decision just really want to hear from people on here that have recommendations good or bad.

Maybe I need to get on Facebook after 10 years of ignoring that site

What should I budget for a 2.0tdi dsg swap?

And likewise for a 2.0tfsi dsg swap?


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[Dislexicdonkey]

I have to be careful with what I budget for as I could end up just being better off trading my van in and getting a 2.0tdi dsg already done.

I know we never get this money back just want to be careful I don’t go crazy and end up with something that’s either not properly done or more unreliable than what I have


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[J_Con]

Depends on the spec of your van and mileage if it’s worth doing I’d say, I’d done a lot of upgrades to mines so for me it was worth going tfsi in what I had instead of starting again. I also felt the investment was worth it as I had owned the van 6 years so knew it had been looked after


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[Dislexicdonkey]

That’s my van a few months ago. Certainly could be better, interior needs a good refresh, needs a new wing as it’s a little crusty from previous owner fitting poor tong yang part.

I figure the interior would benefit from around £800-£1000 spending for more comfy seating and trimming numerous parts.

Wheels need replacing, not because there’s anything wrong, just a pain in the arse to keep clean, and 2 have kerb rash. Plus two tyres are low.

I’d like to completely strip it down and repaint it for a really clean finish.

Mileage is 114k and still on original clutch.

So I’m at a point of thinking to do the above would be around 2500

Plus replace engine and box would 5k do this? I’d be £7500 into then. And sadly trade value is probably around 4-6k


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[Bahnstormer]

Obviously, double check this with Hef to make sure it's current but when I contacted him a few months back he quoted £3k plus the cost of a donor vehicle for a petrol conversion (I guess that's TFSi, I'm not really "up" on the petrol engines).

That van looks lovely by the way

[craigroco]

I was quoted around £5K including donor tfsi from a company on facebook and I am still considering this....however having previously had a Mk4 R32 I also hanker after one of those ( purely for the noise ) instead and at my age wanted DSG. My other issue in fitting the R32, they finished production in what 2009, my van is 2011 and putting an older engine into the newer shell is worrying me....but there seem to be plenty converted Van's running around now.

As you say, you are pushing over the value threshold and something newer, more reliable is certainly a draw.

[Dislexicdonkey]

See I think 5k give or take £500 is quite a fair ball park idea of a conversion.

I’d assume the conversion to a 2.0tdi would be a little cheaper?

I’ve actually been considering buying a cat s or cat n maxi 2.0tdi so I could literally just swap the whole lot over? Maybe this sounds a little excessive?

The price of 2015-2018 maxi 2.0tdi is astronomical at the moment, clearly there’s still a shortage of supply of new vans still.


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