Fitting a diesel engine.
 

OK, I know a thread title like this starts a few people crying no! and running to the hills but I'm just thinking out loud at this stage.

i currently have a 1990 2.2 coupe that's not been used for a year.
I'm currently looking at ways to keep it in my ownership and one thing that could sway it is better mpg.
Does anyone have any info of diesel engine swaps done on these?
I'm not clued up on the relevant models codes so any simple advice would be most welcome. Maybe even a set up taken from another manufacturer?
I've tried the search but didn't find anything.

Thanks
JB

I've run!!! :D don't do it :(

Do a quick calculation.
Cost of fitting diesel engine = £500 (£200 engine, 300 fitting conservative estimate or just for additional bits and bobs, new clutch etc)

How much extra petrol would £500 buy at your current annual mileage?

Just a thought......

If it's as much for the challenge, then go for it. I think a tricked up diesel in a ur would be great, you could have 275 bhp with 450 lbft of torque and probably 35 mpg quite easily. That would be a great useable daily driver.

Instead of the diesel route have you thought about LPG.

Imagine - 200 bhp and 500 nm in street configuration from 2k rpm upwards... Just imagine... :rolleyes: Instead of sound, some tanks of petrol and nothing more :D
Btw - which one costs £200? And don't forget about gearbox ;) Because there is different gear ratios.

Well you could go the 1.6TD route as fitted to B3 anyway.

Or 1.9TDI as per B4

Or 2.5TDI from C4

£200 - Just random figures I picked out of the air.

Remember all of the wiring too if picking a later TDI with all the immobiliser etc.

I'm not forgetting about that ;)
1.6 TD isn't engine :D Ok, it's something like engine, but it have only 75 bhp [and god only knows how much torque, i'll guess about 150 nm :D ] and power upgrade means some difficult things, unlike 2.5 R5 TDI AEL.

I like this aspect of diesel engines. I don't have one only because of smoothness, and, also - with petrol in winters there is always guarantee that u will be able to start your car :rolleyes:

Nice to see a few replies!
I know this can be a topic that divides opinion and as I said it's just a thought at the moment.

My situation is that I bought the car as a winter driver while my main car was having a turbo changed. Now I do all my own work on my cars and the turbo change quickly became an engine rebuild which with working away with work etc ended up taking almost 2 years!
In the meantime I got quite taken with the Audi and even now seem loathed to get rid of it.
the problem for me is it's not viable to keep two cars in use that hardly ever see 30mpg.
For the last month I've been using a Rover 2.0 turbo diesel and getting 43-45mpg. Given the choice I'd love to get something higher(40??) from the audi.
LPG was considered (parts are available on ebay) but the coupe already has a petrol tank and a spare wheel in the boot so another tank will take up what little room I have left.
A diesel option seems the answer. I reckon the torque and lack of revs is actually more suited to the daily commute.
I understand the diesel g/box will have to be used and having the car off the road for a few months isn't a problem. There is an element of enjoying the challenge in doing it as well.
A 1.9 or 2.5 tdi sounds great.
What cars were these fitted to?
Were these engines fitted in-line (as per the coupe) with a FWD layout?
I know getting the motor in the car is only half the battle. The ecu and wiring will be a right pain.
Just gathering info at the moment.

JB

[quote=JasonB;18430]Nice to see a few replies!

LPG was considered (parts are available on ebay) but the coupe already has a petrol tank and a spare wheel in the boot so another tank will take up what little room I have left.
/QUOTE]

With regards to the fuel and gas tanks petrol/lpg you realy need to speak to a specialist company as most companys that supply and fit lpg systems remove the standard fuel tank and replace it with a tank which only holds a few gallons, and the lpg tank sits at the side, of it which results in very little or no boot loss at all.

The kits i saw use an additional tank secured in the boot.
I suppose this is a lower cost option than an application specific tank to cope with the high pressure of the LPG plus a few gallons of un-leaded.
I've seen drive in options starting at about £1k but that's more than I want to spend.
The ideal scenario for the diesel swap would be a donor with accident damage or failed MOT for a couple of hundred quid, the rest of it would be my time then in swapping the bits.
It will probably end up just an idea at the back of my head. My main car is not 100% finished at the mo and time will be getting more scarce in the run up to Xmas.
Just prefer to keep the Audi than spending the winter in a Rover 200, but you can't argue with 40+mpg!

JB

FWD for winter? :D For summers u also have FWD? :confused: :D

Forget about LPG ;) Unless u have "sexual" plans for your car. My car used to be 1.8 carb & LPG. When I installed 3A engine there, I throwed out my LPG equipment - I have car for driving, not for penny counting. Also forget about cheap diesel engine - the only swap, that's worth it, is 2.5 R5 TDI AEL from C4. If u want 1.9 TDI, buy B4. And 1.6 TD isn't engine - it only makes loud "da-da-da-da" sound and slow movement - suitable for old ppls because of good mileage - but that's all :D

Not sure I understand some of the above comment.
I do not have 'sexual plans' for my car! And if I did then I would not admit it on a public forum:):)

FWD for winter is not such a big deal, I think UK winters are not as harsh as Eastern Europe. Even if the snow is bad I'd prefer to take some time off instead of playing a hero and struggling against the weather.
Been there, done that and had to take the time off to fix the bent front strut and smashed alloy wheel!

For the summer I can accept 22-25mpg from my main car. In the winter a 300bhp, mid engine RWD car is not the best option. Also to save a few pennies would be good. Plus to keep my car from the winter rain & salt is another reason.

What cars would be the best option for a 1.9 or 2.5td that could fit? Seen a few cheap, tatty A6 2.5TDis.
As I say I'm not sure of the Audi model codes. What is a B4 and C4?

JB

Lots of confusion here, for a start you have an I5 equiped car so for conversion in a bolt on fashion you need either a 2L TD (100 C3) or a 2.5L TDI.
To fit a I4 you start moding the engine bay (opposite to Noggin on audi fans).
100 and A6 with 2.5 TDI's are C4 model code.
B4 is 80 and 90 late series curvey + model code (some one will give the exact dates).
NOT all B4's came to the Uk the I5's were taken out of the range.

Cheapest option if you do lots of the work your self would be 2.5TDI first generation AAT 100 then convert from there .
Get a complete car from £600-£900 ( I have a spare for sale at the moment!!!) then swap over parts as required.

No experance over LPG apart from the insurance hasstle if you do not have the eng report from when it was fitted.

What cheap 2.5 TDI's have you seen and at what price?

Keep your petrol and look at LPG. Modern conversions are excellent with no noticable loss in performance with the fuel tank normally taking the place of your spare wheel and just requuires you to buy a can of tyre weld instead. My colleague at work has just had his Lexus converted and it is hard to tell where the plumbing is and has had another fuel flap fitted to other side of car so no obvious signs. Has the tank in his spare wheel well so everything out of sight and had no problems oner the last 14months.
If you have to fit a diesel it has to be the I5 2.5 to avoid major engineering work to replace subframes etc. Will still be a lot more other items to sort such as fuel pipework and replacement gearbox, so probably cost as much as an LPG conversion....

20vcqdriver don't forget he have mehanical injection, so only working LPG solution is reductor, which is PIECE OF SHIT :mad: One reason why I throwed out my LPG equipment on engine swap - MAF potentiometer isn't cheap - new one is worth my car, from junkyard stuff 1 of 5 is working [one latvian master did experiment]. :rolleyes: Ok, author of topic, I think, have KV engine there. Also, space in boot - there isn't so much space and one crappy LPG tank consumes much of it. On B3 sedans there isn't full size spare wheel, so I presume coupes doesn't have full size spare too, so there isn't enough space for it.
JasonB model years for german cars - B3 - 1986.07 - 1991 [end of the year], B4 - 1992-1995. C4 A100 - 1991-1994, then it was facelifted to A6 and this was manufactured until end of 1997. 2.5 R5 TDI [AAT and AEL] is extremely reliable, I know some cases of dead 2.5 R5 TDI, but in most cases there was nice mileage [500k kms and upwards ;) - don't forget germans have autobahns and this is very economical engine] and/or owner was pennycounter or there was some mehanic with circle fingers ;) Unlike crappy 2.5 V6 TDI on C5 A6 [1998-2004] which is very expensive engine to own.

P.S. LPG is good for cooking or heating, not for driving ;)
P.P.S. It's mad to see, let's say, B4 competition [ACE 2.0 16v engine] with LPG reductor :mad: