Building a diesel powered RHD TJ Wrangler (Picture Heavy)

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

So I am not at all familiar with what you can do tuning wise with a TDI since I am coming from LS and HPTuners and Holley, but are you not able to change the target idle speed to match closer to a 4.0?

These TDI will not idle below about 882rpm, actually the Bosch EDC16 will not allow you to put in a value lower than 882rpm. Roughly speaking there are two types of diesel engines, long stroke and short stroke diesels. While this isn't 100% accurate, it helps with how you have to think about it.

Long stroke diesels, like my Kubota V2403 or the Cummins 4BT have a much longer stroke, thus they are able to idle lower but they also have a lower maximum RPM, for the Kubota that was about 3100rpm.

The TDIs and Mercedes OM60X series diesel engines are considered short stroke. They have a higher idle RPM to keep them from stalling but also have a maximum RPM of around 4500rpm or higher RPM. I know for the ALH TDI, the previous generation to the BEW TDI, you can modify the valve springs and a few other things in the cylinder head and get the engine to rev over 6000rpm, though I've never seen a need for that.

Hopefully that helps!
Grant

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Hey TJers,

Over the past month, I've tackled a few of the smaller less flashy items that I've been needing to get done on my TDI swap in my TJ Wrangler, installing a more permanent air intake system and sealing up the hole I cut in my firewall to pass through the wiring harness for my BEW TDI with a split grommet.

The air intake setup for my turbo has been long overdue. While the pod air filter I was using was functional, it was also sucking in hot engine bay air once everything got up to temperature.

I initially thought I could use two silicone joiners to directly connect my Volant Air Box to the inlet on my GTD1752 turbo however my engine is about 1 inch too far forward for that to work.I ended up getting an aluminum pipe that has a 180° bend in the pipe so I could make everything fit. Initially, I went with a 2¼ diameter aluminum pipe. Still, it was obvious that the BEW TDI engine didn't sound the same with that setup, so I ordered another set of silicone joiners for the air box and inlet for my turbo so everything could be 2½ instead. This allowed everything to breathe much better.

While waiting for the larger diameter parts for the air intake system to come in the mail, I installed the split grommet on my firewall. Not much to say here about the installation, just drilled 6 holes and mounted it with new fasteners to hold everything in place. I will say the first time I drove my TJ with the split grommet I noticed two things, first the amount of engine bay noise was reduced significantly, though that was expected. What I hadn't thought about was the amount of heat that spilt grommet prevented from coming into my cab.

I will say the combination of the air box and the split grommet has made the driving experience of my TDI-powered TJ Wrangler much more pleasant. I don't hear my GTD1752 turbo anymore at lower boost pressures, which makes highway cruising a much more pleasant experience. I don't have concrete data for this yet but I'm confident that my fuel economy has improved slightly with the Volant air box setup as well because I'm no longer sucking in hot air from right around the exhaust and turbo. I will conduct another fuel economy test in the near future to confirm that as well.

Overall all these two changes are getting me one step closer to being completely done with this swap, though I still have an extensive list of things left that I need to tackle.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

Let me know what you think!
Thanks
Grant

 

[XCRN]

I have been doing more reading up with the TDI in other offroad vehicles and a lot of people have commented if the electrical connectors at the pedal or the throttle get wet, you lose the throttle. Have you thought of ways to mitigate these things? It makes sense that the vehicles these came in were never meant to see the conditions Jeeps do but that seems like something that could be a concern if you end up in too much water.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Hey TJers,

I'll go into details down below but here is the update on my BEW TDI powered TJ Wrangler. I fixed the starter issue by going to a thicker wire, installed a new custom high stall torque converter, fixed some issues, made others worse and I'm not comfortable driving the Right Hand Drive.

Going to keep this one quick, I've been fighting a starter issue with my TDConversions kit for months, messaged their tech support, and I kid you not, the issue that was causing my starter issues was the wire I was using to trigger the starter was too small and not able to supply enough amps to the starter. Weirdest thing I've seen on this swap to date.

Onto the issues with my BEW TDI and my AW4 automatic transmission. Essential I have an incompatibility between the design principles of the BEW TDI engine and the AW4 automatic. In simple terms, the TDI engine idles higher than what the AW4 was designed for. That really is the issue I'm fighting.

For this picture, going from left to right, I have tried a low stall AW4 torque converter, the center is the stock AW4 converter and the right is the custom high stall converter that I now have installed in my TJ Wrangler.

The AW4 was designed for a 650 ~ 750 rpm idle speed which the 4.0l Jeep engine does and my BEW TDI idles at 910 rpm. Which means when I put my AW4 into gear, it's like having your foot on the gas pedal increasing the engine rpms on the stock 4.0l Jeep engine. This is the cause of my rough engagement into gear, and why my transmission wants to push through the brakes as well.

If you are reading this and you want to do a diesel swap that will work with minimal complications, go manual transmission. All the issues I'm fighting would be solved with a clutch pedal.

Finally an issue I've been having for months but have yet to talk about. I'm just not comfortable driving the Right Hand Drive. I don't know if it's age or what, but I can not get comfortable driving the Right Hand Drive on public roads. Wheeling is fine, not an issue, but not being able to tell how close oncoming traffic is to my front left fender, especially when I have one of my kids in the front seat with me is unsafe.

At this time I'm going to step away from the project for the rest of this calendar year, and figure out a way to move forward. I'm not sure if I'm going to try another automatic transmission or go manual, and I'm trying to figure out the Right Hand Drive. Truthfully I'm seriously considering finding a Left Hand Drive TJ that I could move all the parts over into. Not really what I thought I would be doing after having put over 6 years of my life, time, money, blood, sweat and tears into this project.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

Thanks
Grant

I have been doing more reading up with the TDI in other offroad vehicles and a lot of people have commented if the electrical connectors at the pedal or the throttle get wet, you lose the throttle. Have you thought of ways to mitigate these things? It makes sense that the vehicles these came in were never meant to see the conditions Jeeps do but that seems like something that could be a concern if you end up in too much water.

Honestly I have not, though once I figure out how to move forward with everything, I'll look into that for sure. I would think you could put some dielectric grease in the connectors to help with those issues.

 

[Wildman]

Damn,
I would think maybe after a while you'd get used to the RHD. I know that the few times I drove a friend's RHD vehicle while in Germany it was disconcerting but thought if I did it long enough I'd get more comfortable with it.
That really sucks about the AW4 not wanting to cooperation with the diesel.
I can completely relate to all the time and blood and $$$ involved with one of these projects.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Damn,
I would think maybe after a while you'd get used to the RHD. I know that the few times I drove a friend's RHD vehicle while in Germany it was disconcerting but thought if I did it long enough I'd get more comfortable with it.
That really sucks about the AW4 not wanting to cooperation with the diesel.
I can completely relate to all the time and blood and $$$ involved with one of these projects.

I've put almost 5k on my TJ this past year, partially with the thought that I will get use to it eventually. Before getting it road worth last November, I mainly only drove it on trails on private property, which is honestly easy. It was shocking how uncomfortable it was drive on the road once I got it road legal.

The situation with the AW4 is just unfortunate. I would do this hybrid AW4/A340F setup behind a 4.0l with the CompuShift all day long. With the stock torque converter, the AW4 with the newer valve body out of the A340F is fantastic. It really is just a case of my BEW TDI engine idling too high for the transmission.

I also appreciate that you can relate as well though it would be great if we both didn't have to!

 

[IOwnCalculus]

Dealt with that exact starter issue - and solution - on many a classic GM product. The old-school fix used to be a Ford starter solenoid, but that's overkill and a Bosch-style relay does the same job with much less work.

I'm surprised the TDI idles that high, honestly (though it does seem to be normal, and wouldn't be an issue for VW's automatics designed around that). The VM Motori 2.8L "Duramax" in my Canyon idles at 760RPM. Is there no way to turn the idle speed down further?

 

[Rickyd]

I know what you mean. It is unnerving to drive a rhd on lhd roads. You wind up following the white line for reference.

At least your rhd will fetch a decent price in the mail carrier market if you get a gas motor into it

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Dealt with that exact starter issue - and solution - on many a classic GM product. The old-school fix used to be a Ford starter solenoid, but that's overkill and a Bosch-style relay does the same job with much less work.

I'm surprised the TDI idles that high, honestly (though it does seem to be normal, and wouldn't be an issue for VW's automatics designed around that). The VM Motori 2.8L "Duramax" in my Canyon idles at 760RPM. Is there no way to turn the idle speed down further?

So I kid you not, I posted that video and text above on a few other social media platforms, and around midnight last night I found out there is a tuner now that can lower the idle RPM speed, so as of this morning I'm now going down that rabbit hole.

What's interesting is I looking into this over 6 months ago. At the time, I was told you could lower the idle speed but on deceleration, especially on an automatic, the engine would stall. It looks like that problem might have been solved maybe? So I'm not completely sure what I'm going to do next yet.

I know what you mean. It is unnerving to drive a rhd on lhd roads. You wind up following the white line for reference.

At least your rhd will fetch a decent price in the mail carrier market if you get a gas motor into it

Very true though I would have a hard time parting with it, even if I found a LHD drive to move all the parts into, there is a part of me that wants to keep the shell which I realize makes zero sense to do!

-Grant

 

[Wildman]

So I kid you not, I posted that video and text above on a few other social media platforms, and around midnight last night I found out there is a tuner now that can lower the idle RPM speed, so as of this morning I'm now going down that rabbit hole.

What's interesting is I looking into this over 6 months ago. At the time, I was told you could lower the idle speed but on deceleration, especially on an automatic, the engine would stall. It looks like that problem might have been solved maybe? So I'm not completely sure what I'm going to do next yet.

Very true though I would have a hard time parting with it, even if I found a LHD drive to move all the parts into, there is a part of me that wants to keep the shell which I realize makes zero sense to do!

-Grant

Hot damn,
Let's hope this new tuner can lower your idle speed and not have stalling issues. That would be great.

Moving everything over into another platform sounds like a lot. While I understand the reason why and know I wouldn't want to drive a RHD rig unless I was a mail carrier.

Good luck with everything.

 

[zebra12]

I hope it works out with this TJ because I'm looking forward to the YT video when you get everything sorted and do a celebration.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Hot damn,
Let's hope this new tuner can lower your idle speed and not have stalling issues. That would be great.

Moving everything over into another platform sounds like a lot. While I understand the reason why and know I wouldn't want to drive a RHD rig unless I was a mail carrier.

Good luck with everything.

Yup exactly, it's weird because I've been debating posting that video for months now and thought I had explored all my options. It cost me next to nothing to get my tune updated and try it out.

IF the lower idle does work, that actually means I need to take the transfer case and transmission back out of my TJ and put the stock stall speed torque converter back in my AW4, my current torque converter is WAY to high of stall speed, but again I bought and installed it to try to figure out what it was doing. Still it would be well worth the effort.

Also if the new tune lower idle does work, that does mean I need to look into re-gearing my current axles. I currently have 3.73 gears, I really need 4.10s in my axles. I might look for a wrecked RHD Cherokee because I would like to put a Hi Pinion Dana 30 on the front end. I have a set of Dana 44 TJ Rubicon Axles, but I've been planning on saving those for something else.

I hope it works out with this TJ because I'm looking forward to the YT video when you get everything sorted and do a celebration.

You and me both, it's kind of hard to believe that this has been over 6 years of my life since I started this build!

Thanks
Grant

 

[Sea Cot]

I completely get the RHD of things. Driving LHD cars in RHD countries really, really screws with your brain.

Still rootin' you on for whatever you decide. . . and will be searchin'/watchin' your posts and videos when I begin my CBEA swap (I already have LHD, AX-15, and 4.10s )

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

I completely get the RHD of things. Driving LHD cars in RHD countries really, really screws with your brain.

Still rootin' you on for whatever you decide. . . and will be searchin'/watchin' your posts and videos when I begin my CBEA swap (I already have LHD, AX-15, and 4.10s )

Thank you! I would really like to try one of the Common Rail TDIs, the cross flow head alone are worth it! Though I heard getting cruise control working on them is a pain because it's tied into the ABS pump. At least that is what I read.

Are you going to be doing a build thread on here for your build?

 

[Sea Cot]

Thank you! I would really like to try one of the Common Rail TDIs, the cross flow head alone are worth it! Though I heard getting cruise control working on them is a pain because it's tied into the ABS pump. At least that is what I read.

Are you going to be doing a build thread on here for your build?

The donor was my son's '09 Jetta. The balance shaft, and other parts, were replaced under Dieselgate warranty and have <20k miles. It was deleted with a Malone 2.0 tune. The 2.0 and DSG tune really woke up the car, it was a hoot to drive and got 40+ mpg.

I'll start a new thread dedicated to the conversion. Here's the recipient's build thread: WTJF Link I say likely, because of Jeep ADD. I really don't want to take the '98 offline for months/years on end while I figure out everything attached to the engine. I'm casually considering picking up another Jeep, or firewall/frame forward to figure everything out.. Today I received the Black Friday impulse buy from Whitbread- adapter kit and oil cooler relocation.

 

[IOwnCalculus]

So I kid you not, I posted that video and text above on a few other social media platforms, and around midnight last night I found out there is a tuner now that can lower the idle RPM speed, so as of this morning I'm now going down that rabbit hole.

For shits and grins I checked the idle speed of my Canyon while it was doing a DPF regen today - 900RPM, and it doesn't push through the brakes at all.

I don't know what stall speed they've set the 6L50 up with, but it is definitely configured to lock the converter early and often to offset any bad behaviors of a loose converter.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Hey TJers,

Projects like my BEW TDI swap with an automatic transmission would not be possible without the communities around it supporting them. When I posted my last video stating there was a design incompatibility between my BEW TDI engine and AW4 automatic transmission, it was around the idle rpm that both the engine and transmission were designed for. Turns out I was wrong, and I've never been so happy to be wrong!

First off, I want to apologize. I really don't have any pictures to include with this post. I had a TINY window to get the new tune on my ECU, swap out the higher stall torque converter I was running, and re-install the stock torque converter back into my swap . . . again.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

After posting my last video, another TDI Swappers and YouTuber, Kyle (https://www.youtube.com/@TDISwaps) messaged telling me I could get the idle RPM lowered on my BEW TDI from our tuner. He had a BEW TDI running at 750rpm on a truck with an automatic and sent me a video of it working.

That sent me down the rabbit hole of getting the equipment and software I needed to pull my tune off and send it to my tuner Tekmektronics, whose tune I've been running on my swap since I went to the GTD1752vrk turbo. Once I got the cable and software to work, I was able to send Tekmektronics my tune, he was able to make the necessary changes to lower the idle RPM on my BEW TDI to 700rpm and then all I had to do was write that tune back to the ECU.

I then tested the tune very quickly on my property. The tune allowed the best engagement I've ever felt going from Park to Reverse or Neutral to Reverse or Drive. Also, the engine seems quieter as well, and I wasn't able to notice any additional vibrations from the lower idle RPM either.

Having confirmed the lower idle RPM tune was working, I then, in one day, dropped the transmission and transfer case to re-instal the stock stall torque converter. The stall speed of the stock torque converter, which is between 2000 and 2200rpm, worked SO much better on the road with my BEW TDI than the custom high-stall torque converter I had installed previously.

One other thing that happened while I wasn't filming was I had to drain the water out of the coolant system again because it's been below freezing where I live. For whatever reason I decided to completely pull the peacock out of the radiator instead of just opening it and all the dirt and sediment can out of my radiator. I then proceeded to flush the radiator several times with very hot water until it started coming out clear.

After putting actual coolant in the radiator, I took my TJ out for a test drive, and WOW what a difference. My TJ has not run and driven this well since it was stock truthfully. The engine isn't pushing the transmission through my brakes anymore at stops and it goes into gear with just the slightest pump. Driving is just as great now as well, the stock stall torque converter is well matched for my BEW TDI engine, and cleaning out the radiator DRASTICALLY affected the cooling efficiency of my entire system. I'm barely getting the engine up to 170° now, I installed a 180° thermostat during the summer to help with temperatures, but I think I need to go back to the stock thermostat to make sure everything gets up to temperature correctly now.

I just wanted to give an additional shout out to a few people, Kyle, David, Ted, Tekmektronics and HGM Electronics. Without the knowledge being shared in the community and the help of other individuals, I would not be able to have this Wrangler TDI Swap where it is today.

Thank you so much for all the help!
Grant

 

[Coachgeo]

Hey TJers,

Projects like my BEW TDI swap with an automatic transmission would not be possible without the communities around it supporting them. When I posted my last video stating there was a design incompatibility between my BEW TDI engine and AW4 automatic transmission, it was around the idle rpm that both the engine and transmission were designed for. Turns out I was wrong, and I've never been so happy to be wrong!

First off, I want to apologize. I really don't have any pictures to include with this post. I had a TINY window to get the new tune on my ECU, swap out the higher stall torque converter I was running, and re-install the stock torque converter back into my swap . . . again.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

After posting my last video, another TDI Swappers and YouTuber, Kyle (https://www.youtube.com/@TDISwaps) messaged telling me I could get the idle RPM lowered on my BEW TDI from our tuner. He had a BEW TDI running at 750rpm on a truck with an automatic and sent me a video of it working.

That sent me down the rabbit hole of getting the equipment and software I needed to pull my tune off and send it to my tuner Tekmektronics, whose tune I've been running on my swap since I went to the GTD1752vrk turbo. Once I got the cable and software to work, I was able to send Tekmektronics my tune, he was able to make the necessary changes to lower the idle RPM on my BEW TDI to 700rpm and then all I had to do was write that tune back to the ECU.

I then tested the tune very quickly on my property. The tune allowed the best engagement I've ever felt going from Park to Reverse or Neutral to Reverse or Drive. Also, the engine seems quieter as well, and I wasn't able to notice any additional vibrations from the lower idle RPM either.

Having confirmed the lower idle RPM tune was working, I then, in one day, dropped the transmission and transfer case to re-instal the stock stall torque converter. The stall speed of the stock torque converter, which is between 2000 and 2200rpm, worked SO much better on the road with my BEW TDI than the custom high-stall torque converter I had installed previously.

One other thing that happened while I wasn't filming was I had to drain the water out of the coolant system again because it's been below freezing where I live. For whatever reason I decided to completely pull the peacock out of the radiator instead of just opening it and all the dirt and sediment can out of my radiator. I then proceeded to flush the radiator several times with very hot water until it started coming out clear.

After putting actual coolant in the radiator, I took my TJ out for a test drive, and WOW what a difference. My TJ has not run and driven this well since it was stock truthfully. The engine isn't pushing the transmission through my brakes anymore at stops and it goes into gear with just the slightest pump. Driving is just as great now as well, the stock stall torque converter is well matched for my BEW TDI engine, and cleaning out the radiator DRASTICALLY affected the cooling efficiency of my entire system. I'm barely getting the engine up to 170° now, I installed a 180° thermostat during the summer to help with temperatures, but I think I need to go back to the stock thermostat to make sure everything gets up to temperature correctly now.

I just wanted to give an additional shout out to a few people, Kyle, David, Ted, Tekmektronics and HGM Electronics. Without the knowledge being shared in the community and the help of other individuals, I would not be able to have this Wrangler TDI Swap where it is today.

Thank you so much for all the help!
Grant

Glad to hear you have had such great progress. Good for you.

 

[Wildman]

Hey TJers,

Projects like my BEW TDI swap with an automatic transmission would not be possible without the communities around it supporting them. When I posted my last video stating there was a design incompatibility between my BEW TDI engine and AW4 automatic transmission, it was around the idle rpm that both the engine and transmission were designed for. Turns out I was wrong, and I've never been so happy to be wrong!

First off, I want to apologize. I really don't have any pictures to include with this post. I had a TINY window to get the new tune on my ECU, swap out the higher stall torque converter I was running, and re-install the stock torque converter back into my swap . . . again.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

After posting my last video, another TDI Swappers and YouTuber, Kyle (https://www.youtube.com/@TDISwaps) messaged telling me I could get the idle RPM lowered on my BEW TDI from our tuner. He had a BEW TDI running at 750rpm on a truck with an automatic and sent me a video of it working.

That sent me down the rabbit hole of getting the equipment and software I needed to pull my tune off and send it to my tuner Tekmektronics, whose tune I've been running on my swap since I went to the GTD1752vrk turbo. Once I got the cable and software to work, I was able to send Tekmektronics my tune, he was able to make the necessary changes to lower the idle RPM on my BEW TDI to 700rpm and then all I had to do was write that tune back to the ECU.

I then tested the tune very quickly on my property. The tune allowed the best engagement I've ever felt going from Park to Reverse or Neutral to Reverse or Drive. Also, the engine seems quieter as well, and I wasn't able to notice any additional vibrations from the lower idle RPM either.

Having confirmed the lower idle RPM tune was working, I then, in one day, dropped the transmission and transfer case to re-instal the stock stall torque converter. The stall speed of the stock torque converter, which is between 2000 and 2200rpm, worked SO much better on the road with my BEW TDI than the custom high-stall torque converter I had installed previously.

One other thing that happened while I wasn't filming was I had to drain the water out of the coolant system again because it's been below freezing where I live. For whatever reason I decided to completely pull the peacock out of the radiator instead of just opening it and all the dirt and sediment can out of my radiator. I then proceeded to flush the radiator several times with very hot water until it started coming out clear.

After putting actual coolant in the radiator, I took my TJ out for a test drive, and WOW what a difference. My TJ has not run and driven this well since it was stock truthfully. The engine isn't pushing the transmission through my brakes anymore at stops and it goes into gear with just the slightest pump. Driving is just as great now as well, the stock stall torque converter is well matched for my BEW TDI engine, and cleaning out the radiator DRASTICALLY affected the cooling efficiency of my entire system. I'm barely getting the engine up to 170° now, I installed a 180° thermostat during the summer to help with temperatures, but I think I need to go back to the stock thermostat to make sure everything gets up to temperature correctly now.

I just wanted to give an additional shout out to a few people, Kyle, David, Ted, Tekmektronics and HGM Electronics. Without the knowledge being shared in the community and the help of other individuals, I would not be able to have this Wrangler TDI Swap where it is today.

Thank you so much for all the help!
Grant

Grant,
That is GREAT news & I am so happy that things are working out finally. Looks like we're both finally getting to see the fruits of our labor paying off. The Jeep sounds great & appears to be driving a lot better in the videos too. I know that has just got to feel so good at this point.
So how does driving it on the street feel now? Is it getting any better?

Rick

 

[Sea Cot]

That's great news! Can't wait to hear about driveability and "a day in the life of" updates