TDI Ranger Build

[greengeeker]

Fuel Filter plumbing

To recap: there are three outlets of my particular fuel pressure regulator as well as a pressure gauge (listed in order from top to bottom as viewed in the next picture)

1) Outlet (to fuel filter)
2) Pressure bleed (back to tank)
3) Inlet (from tank fuel pump)

Here it is all hooked up to the filter and injection pump. Once everything was connected I set the pressure to ~4psi with the engine at idle.

A note on this regulator. If I were to do it again I would buy the Holly 12-803BP and add in the gauge separately. The fitting that Nitrous Express added had a severe leak the second I put fuel pressure to it. It took four different tries but I finally got it to stop.

 

[greengeeker]

Vacuum system Plumbing

The stock TDI comes with several devices that are controlled by vacuum actuated solenoids:

1) anti-shudder valve N239
2) vane control valve N75
3) EGR control valve N18

Here is the system as it comes out of the car [minus a couple vacuum lines I needed in a pinch...you guys know how it is ]

Here is a close up of the N75, the only actuator that I am using in the Ranger. Three ports:

Top: vacuum supply
Middle: signal line to turbo actuator
Bottom: Vent

The vacuum pump on the TDI is driven by the cam on the backside of the head. I reused the short hose section as well as the check valve to connect to the vacuum pump. From here I looped a length of high-pressure fuel line to a brake line which runs over to my brake booster.

My supply line (green) runs down to a T where it splits off to the N75 and then continues on down to the Ranger's factory vacuum canister. The second line coming off the canister of course goes to the dash for HVAC, etc.

At the N75. A little trick I tried on the signal line: if your hard lines are just a little bit too small, try some heat shrink on them to increase the OD.

And notice the grey signal line running down to the actuator:

For the vent line I added a port to the clean side of my air cleaner.

 

[greengeeker]

Glow plug light

The cluster that originally came in my Ranger was the very basic unit with mostly dummy lights/gauges. I decided to swap in a higher feature cluster from another Ranger (clusters can also come from Explorers) to gain both a Tachometer but also a "Check Susp" light to repurpose as my glow plug light.

This is a very simple circuit. The ECU sends a ground signal to illuminate the bulb via T80/41 (blue/green) and the bulb has constant 12v provided to it. Luckily the Ranger's cluster is set up with the same functionality so all I had to do was figure out on the back of the cluster cicuitry which pin needed to be added to which connector.

As you can see there are 3 connectors on the back of the cluster: C1, C2, C3. With my multimeter set to continuity check I probed every pin with both sides of the "Check Susp" light to find the missing pin. Voila. Found it: 2nd pin from the left of C3 (bottom middle connector).

Now all I need to do is go to the junkyard to snag a cluster plug and steal a pin from it to insert into my C3 plug.

From the ECU side of things I need to get this signal into the cabin but really don't want to run a single wire. Luckily, the Ranger ECM had three wires going to the OBD2 port! If you recall I already used one of these for my K-line which allows VCDS to communicate with the ECU via the OBD2 port. Anyway I wired the ECU to one of these two remaining wires, clipped it from the OBD2 port, extended it and ran it up to the cluster.

Connect these guys and I now have a functioning glow plug light:

 

[Oh2Ranger]

I'm almost embarrassed that I'm starting a diesel conversion thread in the same section for my truck! You've done excellent work. Mine is all mechanical, but it is still the farthest I've ever taken a project. Take a look at my thread sometime!

 

[greengeeker]

I'm almost embarrassed that I'm starting a diesel conversion thread in the same section for my truck! You've done excellent work. Mine is all mechanical, but it is still the farthest I've ever taken a project. Take a look at my thread sometime!

Nice! Hey, don't judge your project against anyone else's - different strokes for different folks. Should be a fun rig when you're done!

 

[chucky2]

I must have missed it, but, where does this Check Susp light come from on the cluster? I wouldn't have thought any Rangers would have such a light, which leads me to believe this cluster is out of an Explorer or something?

 

[greengeeker]

It came out of a 3.0L Ranger. I was of the understanding the tach-equipped clusters were the same between the Rangers and the Explorers (where the Check Susp light actually had a function).

 

[chucky2]

Wow! OK, that's cool actually, I never knew that. Going to check my own out tonight and see if I can see it in there... Thanks!

 

[camosoul]

My 1Z Passat TDI just got clobbered by a giant deer 2 days after the ECU chips came. I need a truck anyway...

I am in love with this thread.

I shoved the entire drive system of my 1981 Chevy LUV into an Isuzu Rodeo and was rear-ended by a pizza guy on the maiden voyage. So much sadface was had that day. That engine/trans had 1,3xx,xxx miles on it. I miss it's piddly 60hp... But the LUV got me 45mpg on 31in tires and a 3in body lift. C223 (2.2l) NA...

Now that my TDI is all bent up, maybe it's time for Version 2.0? I don't have much of a shop right now, but I did the Rodeo in my front yard... It lacked the complexity of this build tho... I did the swap in under 8 hours and drove away. This looks a little more complicated... I'm not afraid of wires, but frankly, I just prefer no computer involvement. I'm not looking for crazy power, either. The chips I just got are more than enough... I always liked the ranger, but I think I'll wait a while and watch someone who is smarter than me... ;-) Passat is still barely drive-able, for now...

 

[greengeeker]

Main harness wiring

Herr VW harness, I introduce you to Mr Ranger harness. I clipped this portion off of the original 2.5L engine harness so I can have only weather tight connectors in the engine bay - the colored connectors will be clipped and all the wires mated to the matching Ford wires with adhesive-lined butt connectors.

Well I'm a little behind on posts. Here is the detail about my main harness wiring where I tied the Ranger engine connector to the VW ECU harness.

The first order of business is to go through the wiring harness diagrams for both vehicles to know all pin assignments but also what each wire does. The latter task of course is the harder one but ensures you don't create any magic smoke the first time to turn the key. Figuring out what each circuit does is a whole lot easier when you have a complete harness or your swap recepient vehicle still together.

Anyway, here are my notes for the Ranger engine harness connector (C124) which I pulled from the 2000 Ranger wiring diagram - it doesn't show different pinouts for the various engines so I assume all engines have the same C124 pin assignments.

And here are the pins for the 2000 Beetle colored connectors as well as the 14 pin connector (right next to the ecu). The right-most column shows the Ford C124 pin to which I connect the vw wires. In this same column I also make note where I have connected wires directly to the engine hardness (EH) or the Ranger transmission connector (TC). Two wires that should make note of: 1) the a/c compressor 12v signal wire going from the fan control module runs through the C124 (pin 35) 2) the cruise control stalk requires 12v that didn't go through the colored connectors so it isn't in my list of pins. I ran this extra wire through the transmission connector and tied it into the main power circuit (ro/li).

And here I am in progress splicing the two harnesses together:

And really it is going wire by wire until you have all your circuits completed.

Here are a couple shots of the transmission connector and splicing it into the main harness:

 

[greengeeker]

Maiden Voyage!!

http://youtu.be/InmRIWEO8VQ

Yeah, I was so excited to get it on the road I didn't bother moving the Ranger's cat that was laying under the truck or even strap the 2.5L down in the bed. The exhaust sounds pretty sweet if you ask me...that'll happen with downpipe only. It gets pretty damn loud, too loud in fact when you really step on it without the exhaust connected. Actually, it wasn't too bad with the stock tune (delimited without the MAF) but once I got setup with my tune it would REALLY bark.

To fix that I again did some mating of VW to Ranger with the exhaust:

 

[greengeeker]

Here is how quiet it is after the exhaust was hooked up: http://youtu.be/IkkUXad7Q-Y

 

[chucky2]

I'd love for you to find two diesel gas stations right off the highway about 60 miles apart or so, fill up until you can see it in the fill tube, reset the odometer (assuming it's accurate, which it should be), and record mpg to the far station, and again at the starting station. Set cruise at 70mph.

Regardless...congrats! What's left?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Really nice job!
Congrats,

Richard

 

[joecool85]

Looks and sounds great, I'm jealous.