1991 200TDI to R2.8--couple remaining questions

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Looks really nice. Some days I wish I wasn't so painfully cheap and would spring for a intercooler like that
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Made all the rest of the -AN lines, all the air intake and coolant lines (save just a couple hoses for the vent line and such...just waiting on parts.... LOADS of back-and-forth on all the intake lines to make it all work, but finally arrived at a place I am happy. Fenders on. Radiator/Intercooler in. AC lines made, AC condenser holder made...blah blah...

1653276573284.png

So next up was to make the coolant reservoir mount. To keep lines shorter, I opted for the LHS. Mounting basically around here...
1653276753548.png

I had to chop the bracket off the Allisport TD5 style reservoir (or wanted to) and made what I feel is a stout, simple bracket for mounting. Couple Rivnuts in the fender, bent 1/4" aluminum bracket, couple more Rivnuts in the reservoir mounting arm...
1653276934352.png
1653277153585.png

Ordered some more hose to finish the reservoir install off--that is easy peasy.

Although the R380 has the remote mounted radiator/fan for it, I still wanted to have a gauge--mainly because I live in CO and we are at altitude with passes up to 10K' just to get out to Moab. And I tow an offroad trailer so I want to monitor it and added a 300F VDO gauge, but the senders are ALL very long and I couldn't find an in-line holder for a long sender. Tons of searching finally revealed a VDO sender, (not cataloged in their catalog) for a VW, that is a 300F, stubby--in M10-1.0 thread. The 6AN inline sender housings that I found were 1/8NPT-27, but they are NEARLY the same thread pitch--so much so that they thread into each other except one is straight side and the NPT is tapered... So I reamed out the taper and the crush washer will do the sealing...
1653277688396.png
1653277662062.png

1653277830659.png


I also ran the main harness and found a home for the ECU. @jymmiejamz had a great idea about under the center cubby, so I am working on an enclosure for it. But first was seeing if the wiring could even be routed. With a Stubby, it just makes it. Barely. but it appears it will fit. Here it is plugged in, no enclosure...
1653278235594.png

Loads more still to do, but slowly and steadily making progress. I have just about everything I need, but still a lot of tidying things up. There is one thing that I learned, and that is don't final zip-tie, secure, cut, or mount anything until everything is mocked up. I had to remake a couple of -AN lines when I moved the power steering reservoir about 3 inches in order to fit a big air filter into the front corner.

So here she is, nearly all plumbed and most of the engine side electrical run. On the fender is the remote mount battery terminals that I will mount basically between the coolant reservoir and the fender--seems like a decent place, easy to get to for jumping... soon....
1653279570281.png
 

Attachments

  • 1653277056374.png
    1653277056374.png
    1.6 MB · Views: 108
Last edited:

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
My wife went to England for a couple weeks and I thought I would finish this for sure with all the spare time! But I barely got a chance to do crap with work and home conspiring against me. But I did wrap up a ton!

The Webasto Thermotop is now installed, wired and plumbed. I put the fuel pump back by the tank and have the -4AN bung welded into the tank to feed the Thermotop.
1654627977393.png
1654628404985.png

1654628446231.png
1654628446734.png

And I got my breathers all run and came up with a super simple way to brace my air filter by using a stainless steel "L" bracket and a hose clamp:
1654628069924.png


I also installed my under-the-bonnet Pick-Point for jump starting when necessary as well as a place I landed most the components wiring to that needed localized hot/grounds:
1654629178790.png

I do have the one horn relay that is still under the bonnet but it is bugging me enough to move that to the relay panel, I think. It is running a Denali Sound Bomb air-horn. I like the Hella's but this is a little more intentional when honking, lol.

I have now fully moved on to wiring as I think I am complete under the hood! I just need fluids and to fill the AC.
1654629416193.png


I think I can have the wiring 90% wrapped up by the end of the week. I have relays for both the ignition circuit (taking the higher amperage circuit off the ignition switch) as well as a relay feeding 1/2 the Fuse/Relay panel that is ignition fed. Should be a stout set up. Pics in near enough future. Really cramming things into my passenger seat box to fit the large amp and fuse/relay panel, but it fits... So many circuits coming into that box! I didn't realize how many aux circuits I have...but it is a number of them!
 
Last edited:

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
I will! I’m very curious too. I’m more curious at what my gas mileage will be with the R2.8…. And how cool it will/won’t run during towing my off-road trailer over the passes.
 

donb

Well-known member
And I got my breathers all run and came up with a super simple way to brace my air filter by using a stainless steel "L" bracket and a hose clamp:
View attachment 24296

Very clean way (like all the other items) to do the air intake routing. What air filter did you go with that fits into that area and gives good CFM?
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Thanks for the compliment. I spent way too long last night continually changing the battery box configuration to keep the wiring clean. Just so I don't have to redo it later, lol.

For the filter, I went with the AFE Magnum Flow Pro Dry S, #30507. https://afepower.com/afe-power-21-30507-magnum-flow-pro-dry-s-air-filter
1654713039635.png

I don't have specific specs, but it is bigger than the one in my 6.2L LS swap (which does just fine) , plus in a better position up in the fender (compared to back by the bulkhead...I do need to move that one...). It is 7" long and fits nicely. I may put a sock on it but good for right now.
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
I was being lazy, I suppose, with the horn relay and mounting it on the fender. Logical place, less wire, but lazy and just don’t dig it. Moved it to the fuse/relay panel where it belongs. Might do the same eventually with AC relays but not now! It’s now missing from the photo.
2E48CCE9-15C7-4D0C-934A-2D6F7F00182E.jpeg

With that I believe I wrapped up the final wiring under the bonnet!

…So I worked on battery box. Don’t worry— I’ll clean it up after I figure out which battery securing thingy / method I want to do! But I did complete the battery box wiring!! 2 x 80amp CB’s, each going to one buss bar of my fuse /relay panel, one which feeds through a large relay which is signaled by ignition…on only when car is on.. The 3rd CB is a 60amp CB feeding the stereo amplifier, which also resides in the passenger seat box.
C2898620-70F6-4189-A778-AD28F1174000.jpeg

Told ya it needed cleaning. It’ll get to it… someday.

Next up is other seat box. It’s a Shit Show. Everything goes there electrically. but don’t worry— it’ll end up being organized!

474F7754-6A71-4C8C-BB25-6C7BEADCC09C.jpeg
 
Last edited:

meatblanket

Well-known member
Hey Chris, been following this for a while. Nice work, I'm sure the result will be well worth it.

On the other hand, I'm going to go out in the garage and hug my 80" because it has only two fuses!
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Hey Chris, been following this for a while. Nice work, I'm sure the result will be well worth it.

On the other hand, I'm going to go out in the garage and hug my 80" because it has only two fuses!
About time that you, me and Jabber go grab a burger and beer!
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Wiring, wiring, wiring. There are a lot of methods to chose from, but as mentioned, I am a big fan of keeping accessories on their own system so they don't interfere with any operational systems of the truck. So they are fed independently from the truck. I also try and just have one reference grounding point--so there is only one cable off the battery's ground and it goes to the chassis. Everything else references this ground and even under the bonnet, I have a separate 2 gauge cable from the jump-start pick point going back to this ground. Basically everything references it.

For the accessory box, I am running 8 relays, operating the seat heaters(2), horn, air compressor, engine fan, transmission fan, rear light, front light (future, perhaps), and still have room for 2 more. I am not a huge fan of typical "swiss cheese" approach to the seat box, but there were already holes and it will make any future changes very easy. Plus I have both an extra seat box and bulkhead so "in the future" I will pre-modify both for my modifications I have done (with just one port into seat box and then galvanize the steel bits) and redo it. This is more on the retirement time frame in a decade or two when I will do a galv frame swap. Perhaps.

Much cleaner than it was.... This is after I ran most the lines...
1655130339851.png

Loads of crimping, wiring, and labeling. Each wire now has a wire wrap on them as well (on both ends) as it aids in both trouble shooting and future modifications.
1655130533396.png
1655130583812.png

1655130678298.png
1655130721648.png


Thats a large marine amp for the stereo on the left (crammed in there). The fuses are all resettable fuses, which is nice. There are two buss bars (hence the left and right fuse columns). The LHS in the last above photo is the Ignition fed off a big relay (in drivers seat box along with it's circuit breaker) and the RHS is full time hot (also off CB). The full time has the fridge outlet, trailer brake, horn, & radiator fan (controlled by Cummins ECU). The Eaton 10 Relay, 40 fuse IP66 rated panel (Eaton RFMR #15401-2-0-1-0A) works well for my application. Big fan. You jump the relay 30 pin to whichever side you want it controlled from, so pretty easy to chose. Each bus bar is fed from the CB's in the battery box (see previous post).

I also put in the lower dash tray and rear finisher to get ready for the switches and gauges to go in.
1655132422660.png


I just need to finish those and then hook up the rear harness to the brake lights and then I am ready to start. Taking my time on the wiring, trying to do it in ways that make sense for me--others may not appreciate my methods and that is just fine. If it makes sense in my head, then I can trouble shoot, expand or shrink the system easy and as I see fit...
 
Last edited:

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Big wiring weekend. Then trouble shooting enough to frustrate me to no end...with a simple solution... But first, my dang gearshift hits the AC unit with the R380 pushed too far forward. I did offer some advice recently to someone else that had this issue...to cut it, drill it, reweld it...still seemed like really good advice, so ...
1655736280014.png
1655736374691.png
1655736443641.png

Allowed 1st gear to easily clear!
1655736505030.png
1655736566371.png


It was time to finish assembling the dash. I had got the switch/gauge center dash from MudStuff, the "sort of TD5" style, to hold my crap with an 8" touchscreen (mainly for navigation) and fitting/integrating all the switches and gauges along with the head unit was really tough due to the internal angles behind the fascia---but I found a combination that fit. Once I got all the components installed, it was time to fire it up. I choose to do this circuit by circuit since I have so many. 1st was the factory harness--I hooked up the battery through a 20amp auto-resetting circuit breaker--If there was a short, I want to notice through a fuse or CB and not from a wire smoking!
1655735595103.png

Small, worthwhile insurance. Powered up, things seemed decent but two gauges were not working and the hazard switch was illuminated without the lights being on. hmmmmm. Turned on turn signals and all indicators (both sides) would blink in unison. Changed the setting on the RDX flasher...nothing, still all blinking. I didn't remember changing any lights, so this was strange. Stay calm. Figure it out logically. Biggest change was new rear harness. Disconnected the entire thing. Fronts are still blinking... so not that. Checked the hazard...it was correct. Dug into the binnacle--everything looked right. checked every light connection, every wire. Perfect. WTF! Hooked up an incandescent bulb just to rule it out...solved. OK, so it was a 3 hour FN detour resulting in my first thought--that the load of the LED's backfed each other...and in retrospect I DID change a light when I thought about it. I swapped the fender side marker repeaters to LED from incandescent as one broke...that LITTLE bit.... Ordered a wipac adjustable flasher to try it otherwise I will wire in resistors if need be... Such a useless time suck. But the truck harness (not accessory harness--that is yet to be troubleshot) is good.

1655737131286.png

1655737178344.png

1655737229533.png


I am waiting on a switch for the Webasto coolant heater (empty slot on right) and I have to do a few changes like adding a different switch for the heated rear windscreen because using the LED carling back feeds the circuit and the dome light stays glowing (so annoying) so I am changing it to a DPDT switch and isolating the switch illumination.

Next up is trouble shooting all the accessory circuits and then final buttoning up, adding fluids, and attempting to start 'er up!
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Ran out during the intermission between 1st and 2nd period during the Av's/Lightning game and powered up the accessory circuits. Noticed one headlight had the high/low beams swapped, fixed that, fired up the switches--everything seems to work as it should! Gonna start filling fluids at next break--probably start by bleeding the brakes. Clutch is done and bled. Gonna turn her over one of these days pretty soon! Nice not being in a flat out hurry, but nice seeing some light at the end of the tunnel!
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Couldn't sleep so got up a little before 5am and worked on truck for an hour before work. Made a mounting plate for the TD5 style bonnet release to put it in the position that I wanted. Installed a couple rivnuts and boom--that was easy. (for those opposed to sound deadening material, you can suck it, lol---other forum had someone with an old man's moment and complained about that shit. I don't give a rats ass. My truck, my rules).
1656015186794.png
.
That took a whopping 15 minutes so I switched gears and continued. Installed (mocked up--removing it to sand and paint the box'es bottom) the battery holder. The mounting plate, made by Odyssey, I had to modify a little and it is bolted through the battery box. You have a battery with a 205A reserve, 2150 cranking amp capacity and weighs 80lbs under your ass, you take precautions and make sure it is in there stout!
1656015423075.png

1656015497448.png


Had a few minutes left before getting ready for work, so laid out my fluids... Coming up on D-day. My dog is not amused that I did this in lieu of walking it...
1656016532517.png
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Struggling major today after drinking to much whiskey at Stills in the Hills yesterday. Bad boy. But did fill all the fluids and bleed the brakes! Finished up the battery box box too!
20F8D9B4-18F2-45CF-97AF-FC6333A76A52.jpeg

I do need to reroute the wires running across the battery—that is the feed for seat heater, but that’ll wait for the mop up list.

Then mounted the ECU:

F29EB06E-5367-4DBD-981A-11081024F35C.jpeg


building the box in this location allowed me to also avoid what to do with tons of cable or running it though bulkhead. Only Murphy gauge wire comes in behind dash and UBD2 port to left of fuse box through standard bulkhead hole. Clean.

Then this happened!


The engine mounts work nicely—engine is smooth as silk. No discernible vibration. Quiet enough that I may forgo a muffler and just have the DOC! Right now I just have a couple feet of exhaust so far so that’s next.

I ran the Webasto and that’s working great too!
 
Top