Engine Question

[CJsMk4]

Is it possible to change out a 2.0L 4cyl engine in a 1999.5 Golf to a VR6 engine. Because they should be mostly the same except for the gearing so would there also be transmission work involved.

[burn_your_money]

I don't think the 2.0 tranny will bolt up to the VR6. You'll need all the wiring

[CJsMk4]

I know there is a 2.0L turbo engine is that a possibility because my engine is getting up there and I want to keep the car so I either wanted to do a swap or overhaul because its cheaper than buying a whole new car being that I'm still in college.

[GoodDayForADrive]

Anything is a possibility, but I've never known an engine swap to be cheap =P

[CJsMk4]

Anything is a possibility, but I've never known an engine swap to be cheap =P

What would you suggest I do because my engine has 104,000 miles on it and I want to keep the car but I know I'm gonna have to do some work to upgrade my engine. My friend actually just did an engine swap on his car and it only cost like $700 for the engine and since he did it himself it couldn't have cost more than a grand granted it was on an Avenger which is a Dodge and not a Volkswagen.:-D

[CJsMk4]

What model and year does the 2.0L Turbo engine come out of and did you turbo your trek yourself or was it stock 2.0L Turbo because that would answer my question and the 2.8L swap into a 2.0L is out of the question because it would require mad transmission work right

[Mr_Diesel]

A swap to a vr6 is possible, but you will need a VR6 donor car. Here is a rough list of the things you will need:

The 02a transmission... not just for the gearing, but the 4 cylinder transmission is weak.... and you will likely break gears or the diffy running the power figures of even a stock VR6.

The 02a has a hydraulic clutch.... This means you will need, the slave and master cylinder from the donor car. Witha $3.00 clip from the dealer the slave cylinder will clip right onto your clutch peddal, so you don't have to swap out the peddal cluster.

The shifter box. The 02a uses a cable shifter. You'll need to remove your direct linkage from the 4 cyl vw.

You'll need the front subframe from the donor car. The VR6 engine is large. It leans forward in the engine bay instead of backward like the 4 cylinder engine. Because of this the front motor mount is very different. You will also need the radiator for the same reason.

There is a laundry list of small things that you need. This is why I recommend getting an entire donor car, so that you can remove parts from it as you need them.... You can probably find a totaled donor and save money.

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My overall recommendation is to get a 1.8L Turbo engine from the 99-2005 volkswagens. MUCH much easier to find, and cheaper. The 1.8T has 5 valves per cylinder and winds up pretty high. It's not uncommon to hear of an otherwise stock 1.8T engine producing 300-350 hp. The 1.8T will be a much easier fitment too.

[CJsMk4]

Thanks that was really helpful and I was looking into it and thats what I was thinking about doing swapping the 1.8T engine in. But one thing my car is automatic which sucks but it was what I could afford so it works. So is the swap still possible and what else would I need to change to make it happen I'm tired of my 2.slow

[Mr_Diesel]

eh, thats easy. You can use the peddal cluster from the donor car. It will be easy to swap the peddlas cluster with the engine and everything out. I highly recommend you get a technical manual for your car, namely the one published by Bently. You can get them used on ebay for about 60-100 bucks. This is the VW bible. It will be a very good reference when swapping engines. A Mark 3 1.8T would be sweet... Not many people have done it.

[CJsMk4]

Ok I was looking into one of those before but I'm defiantly going to get one now. So keeping it automatic would be stupid to do but would it make the swap easier or not?

[Mr_Diesel]

THe automatic tranny in your car will not hold up to the power figures of anything more than your 2.0L engine. If you wanted to keep it automatic, you would need to find the auto tranny they put in the 1.8T volkswagens, but you would have to get an entire wire harness and TCM (tranny computer).

You know, it would probably be cheaper and less hassle to just buy a Mark 3 jetta with a VR6. You could sell your jetta for 2,000-2,500 (depending on it's condition), and you could put that towards a Jetta GLX or a GTI VR6.