T4 Transporter 20V Turbo

erinyes · November 09, 2013, 07:42:19 PM

Hi all,
just finished a little project, had first few drives over the last couple of weeks. Have a few issues and wondered if anyone knows a good VW specialist in hamilton area who knows the 1.8 20V engine well?

Mainly it struggles to find idle after revs, it hunts for a couple of seconds then idles fine but occasionally stalls. rebuilt the engine and have replaced nearly everything boost pipes and all the ususal pipes that split or plastic houses which break.
Also i seem to have the loudest turbo whistle known to man, its the only major part i didnt replace as i seem to have an ususal one and couldnt find one at a reasonable price so gambled (house always wins it seems).

Anyway, heres some pics. I THINK its the first one to be done outside of Europe but not 100% on that.

http://s264.photobucket.com/user/erinyes75/library/

cheers!

GTI's · November 09, 2013, 08:42:58 PM

The guys at Platinum VW are good with problem solving.
What gear box are you using? Drive shafts etc?

Fizz · November 09, 2013, 08:44:35 PM

Not sure of any good mechanics down there but i'm sure one oft he hamilton guys would pipe up soon enough. Do u have access to vagcom to scan the car for error codes? Try disconnecting the maf does it idle better? If so maf is stuffed and needs replacing, try cleaning ur throttle body and do a throttle body align if u have vagcom.

Plenty of good mechanics up here in auckland that know the 1.8T well
Good Luck

Looks like a sweet project

erinyes · November 09, 2013, 09:41:44 PM

got all new genuine parts, MAF, coils, amplifier etc so hopefully not that. Yeah i got VAG COM, no codes apart from charcoal can which im not using, speed sensor, ABS and airbag. Oddly today it had low voltage terminal 30 which it hasnt before, not sure what that is?

Being a van you can only use standard gearbox, drives well just revs a bit high, going to 5th gear mod to solve that and should be right.

ill have a play over weekend and see what happens, all very odd. One thing i didnt use was a clutch switch, are these that essential on conversions?

mark2 golf · November 10, 2013, 09:22:43 AM

Sound like you need to run throttle body adaption. Make sure you have no air leaks and that the throttle body is clean before you do it. It will cause all your problems bar the turbo noise.

RS ZWEI · November 10, 2013, 09:23:52 AM

Your T4 looks awesome BTW.

80 Vert · November 10, 2013, 09:56:42 AM

Quote from: erinyes on November 09, 2013, 09:41:44 PM
got all new genuine parts, MAF, coils, amplifier etc so hopefully not that. Yeah i got VAG COM, no codes apart from charcoal can which im not using, speed sensor, ABS and airbag. Oddly today it had low voltage terminal 30 which it hasnt before, not sure what that is?

Being a van you can only use standard gearbox, drives well just revs a bit high, going to 5th gear mod to solve that and should be right.

ill have a play over weekend and see what happens, all very odd. One thing i didnt use was a clutch switch, are these that essential on conversions?

Terminal 30 is voltage to ECU, battery ok? or on its way out maybe?

erinyes · November 10, 2013, 10:51:54 AM

ive run TB adaption but no difference, i had a phase of a couple of TB related faults but they seem to have gone now, battery is new 600CCA also but thats interesting. Maybe a power supply to the ECU has gone? Would splicing in oil pressure switch and water temp to van loom for dash readings upset anything? I took feeds to dash via the T10a plug so dont think ive changed anything there. it started after i wired up dash thats all. could have popped a fuse but surly it wouldnt run with it popped?

With VAG COM, i cant get 'readiness'also, could this be related to power?

thanks for help guys.

Thinks turbo might be on its way out, i knew i would regret not changing it. Just have to keep driving it and see what happens.

erinyes · November 14, 2013, 05:12:07 PM

just wanted to say cleaning TB made a massive difference and sorted the idle problem, thanks those who suggested it.

Fizz · November 14, 2013, 05:29:33 PM

Good to hear that made an improvement

spooln · November 14, 2013, 06:42:12 PM

Nice van. Is this swap common overseas?

erinyes · November 14, 2013, 09:35:32 PM

Cheers
Err...not common but a few have been done from what I can gather.

Biggest issue is high revs so hoping to get by this with a fifth gear conversion but not sure of which ratio to go for at the mo.
Drives like a golf to be honest, smooth and quiet. Pulls well but still trouble shooting boost leaks etc. I'll get there eventually I'm sure. Probably drop by a meet at some point if there are any vw things going on ? Would be nice to see some of the nice vw's of NZ.

Cheers

GTI's · November 16, 2013, 03:38:29 PM

Can only be done on the 4 cyl petrol vans???

erinyes · November 16, 2013, 08:43:24 PM

No mine was a 5cyl 2.4d originally

BB · February 17, 2014, 04:59:00 PM

Air leaks are a pain sometimes, especially if it is actually your manifold, and it sounds like you won't get that much boost if the whistle is the loudest known to man, thats pretty loud. The throttle body clean does do wonders it seems, I just let them idle a while and clear the codes if you don't have the vag com, but I do. Also I wouldn't worry the 30 low voltage code is common if say you try and start the car with the lights or wipers on if it stalls or something it can drop below the max voltage for a sec on cranking and throw that code. However the 30 ecu relays can and do give trouble and seeing as how much other stuff you have replaced I would replace that relay and keep th spare in your glovebox.

erinyes · March 09, 2014, 07:59:35 PM

Cheers BB, yeah i have vagcom so not a problem. She is certified now after ,months of aggravation with a rear seat fitted when it was new in '95. Still over coming issues, keep getting an oil leak from the front of the engine. I replaced rocker cover as thats the only place i can see where it could be coming from but not 100% its the problem. turbo still whistles on low boost but not on high, IE when the turbo just starts to spin but gauge reads 0 i get a loud whistle but once it gets past 3psi approx it sounds normal and goes to 12ish and settles at 9/10psi. So not what i would consider an air leak to be? Other wise power is good, but most of all it drives so much smoother and quieter it was worth it for that alone. Oh and the comments of 'what hiace is that?'or ''has it got a V8'' and my favourite 'what was the point'.

Filx · March 09, 2014, 09:47:42 PM

Check around the oil cooler / filter housing area. I've seen them leak oil from there and it drips down the front of the block.

erinyes · March 10, 2014, 02:55:39 PM

cheers filx, i have had a look there and seems dry

it appears to be the left side as you look at the front, so alternator side.

TomH · June 09, 2014, 11:12:19 PM

Ko4 time James!!!! Everybody wants to see that.

BB · June 12, 2014, 11:36:09 AM

Make sure its not a cam oil seal leaking onto cambelt. They can leak even if you fitted a new one. They are easy to roll the lip if you don't use a bit of cut can on the Vag stuff as they make the seal and the cam meet at the same place so you don't get to fit the seal over the shaft before the outer part hit the head.