Dear Douglas,

I am "in the middle" of doing my TDi conversion but have to temporarily stop due to moving to a new house, an impending heart operation (yikes!), and an unresponsive, over-booked mechanic. Looks like it will have to wait 'till September unless my mechanic (who will remain un-named) gets a fire under his ass to start making some progress.

As far as acceleration goes, I own a Passat TDi and I assure you, you would never know from a performance point-of-view that you were driving a diesel. In short, a great engine. BUT, while I would whole-heartedly recommend this engine swap in a 2-wheel drive Vanagon with a 5-speed, I would not recommend this conversion for installation in a Syncro, especially here in America (which is the vehicle that I have). This is for a variety of technical reasons that I will give later.

In spite of my reservations (for others) of using this engine swap in Syncros, I feel strongly this is the perfect solution for my trip to South America with the "Caravaners" in the year 2000: great mileage, great low-end torque, and (hopefully) great reliability.

Cheers,

MJS

At 02:55 PM 6/10/99 -0400, Fitz-Randolph, Douglas wrote:

>I'm curious too. Changing engine types seems like a Very Big Deal to me -

>especially for the cost vs. a rebuilt WB.

>

>Also, why is *everyone* recommending the 5-cyl conversion? What about the

>TDI? That would seem like the ultimate engine to have in a Vanagon for those

>looking at spending thousands and thousands of dollars anyhow. I've driven

>this engine in Passats and also in the new Golf and it is excellent - and

>driving behind one you'd hardly notice it was a diesel. Imagine getting 30

>mpg in a Vanagon - that's about 500 miles per tank! (That figure was quoted

>in an ad for a TDI conversion Vanagon FS in WI - YMMV). Plus, you could

>carry extra fuel without breaking the law or risking your life! And with

>gasoline prices and taxes sure to continue climbing, gallon for gallon

>diesel might even become a cheaper alternative. And diesels last practically

>forever.

>

>Aside from limited fuel availability and cold weather issues in some areas,

>what are the drawbacks? Lower ground clearance/engine height? Cost?

>Difficulty of conversion? Is it practical only for already-diesel vans?

>Doesn't work for Syncros? I know this has been discussed before, but I

>haven't really found any definitive sources of information on the topic in

>the archives or on personal sites. Anybody know the whole story?

>

>Doug Fitz-Randolph

>Yarmouth, ME

>dfrandolph@talkam.net

>'90 Syncro

<bold>Michael J. Sullivan

</bold>Marshfield, MA

Tierra del Fuego 2000 or bust!

'87 VW Vanagon GL Syncro Westfalia "Sunny" (soon to be TDi-powered)

'89 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro Wagon "Wizard" (soon to be for sale)

'96 VW Passat TDi "Teddi" (46mpg)

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