A2 VR6 FAQ

[GoldPOS]

Quote, originally posted by DCIvwRadar »

What about radiator options? Can you use a B3 passat?

im using one from a 95 vr.....the pipes touch the battery a little. supposedly the corrado is the best one to use.

[zero666cool]

I have few questions about the power steering, the previous owner of my car who did the swap, removed the power steering but didn't install a manual steering rack instead of it, I believe the power steering rack is from a 97 Jetta VR6, and the engine is out of an OBD2 94 corrado, the questions is what power steering pump should I use? Or should I remove the power steering completely and install manual rack?

thanks,

[bloody dismemberment]

why hook up the power steering i dont think u can get a non power vr steering rack, or i dont know if the non vr are the same and the tie rods are different. power steering doesnt rob much power and no power steering pump makes it harder to find a serp belt.

[shawnnwahs1]

i got a prob..
when i changed my battery, tach stopped working.... why!? checked all the fuses, found no problems.... any idea's guys?

[bloody dismemberment]

ok i have my harness layed out on bedroom floor now. i know i will absolutely need plugs F , G1 , G2 , S , and U1 ,U2. i removed everything that came through the firewall to the fusebox , id like to run barebones no frills vr6 , thus eliminating the abs, heated squirters ac blah blah. The 97 glx donor car was an automatic so i have about 6 feet of tcm crap. i want to remove the wiring for the alarm and tcm, if it all removed will i have problems cranking. the cluster plugs into U1 and U2 which pretty simple but the there were 6 plugs that scattered from there 5 single and 1 3 wire plug, there went into more wires and junctions than i could trace, does anyone have any info where those go? to tell u the truth id like to run the orginal 91 16v cluster but im not sure if i can get it calibrated properly. i remember futtrell had a hybrid harness but i dont see it on his site anymore. tommorow i finally get my hands on a mk3 bentley so i can see what stays and what goes. thanks

[jetta88a2]

I have a Passat front subframe motor mount half, g60 lower radiator support, g60 radiator, and an slc fan set up. Is this combo going to work without clearance issues? I am going to use a mk3 k frame with a 2.0 rear mount If that helps.
Thanks

Modified by jetta88a2 at 3:49 PM 10-16-2004

[smokinjoe644]

bloody dismemberment... I ran the complete A3 harness in my car and some of those single wire plugs from the gauge cluster main plugs are just lose in my car... never bothered to hunt them down but in both my car which is all A3 and speedracers which is A3/A2 CE2 those leads are unused without problems

[bloody dismemberment]

i was going try to use just the engine harness but the fact that it was automatic bothers me i found an obd1 harness local for very cheap so i think i may try to switch to obd1.

how many of u guys included the obd port? when i pulled the engine harness i started to remove the obd plug but it was lost in loom after loom so i decided to not take it.

i ve been lerking aroung in the search so far the best write is GTIRB he did an amazing job . and the mk2 bently isnt as indepth with the fuse box info like the mk3 is.

when people remove the alarm do they still have the alarm control module? i hear about a red wire and red/black wire being spliced to jump the alarm. if that is all thats needed can the other wires be removed?

is there any wiring going to the pedal cluster that i would need, i didnt remove any wireing from the pedal cluster, i remove from the fuse box to the headlites no dash dash stuff exept for the cluster. imtrying to understand these wire diagrams but its greek still

[smokinjoe644]

speedracer211 knows about the vag-com plug if that is what you are talking about... I think it is only 1-2 wires that actually need to be spliced and a few that go into a junction box

For the pedal cluster you definately need that wiring... one is your brake lights and the other is the clutch (starter kill)

And yes if you jump the two red wires coming through the firewall (one is red, the other is either red with yellow or red with black, but they are a heavier gauge) then you can ditch the other alarm components on the inside of the car and the few that may be in the engine bay ( alarm horn and hood sensor)

[bloody dismemberment]

wait i thought i could use my a2 steering colomn? so ifigure the brake light switch would also work hmm i guess ill be pulling more wires out unless i can splice my wires to the plug for the rado brake switch? can i use my colomn harness or do i need remove and install that also?

[theonlygod11202]

i heard it is much harder to swapa vr into earlymoldal gti(86) is that true...friends of mine told me the wireing is real hard what all has to be done with the wiring if swaping it into an 86 gti?

[jetta88a2]

Trying to get an estimate on shipping dose anybody know the weight of the engine with all accesories and the trans? I called futrell and they told me 350 dose that sound right?

[d-bot]

hey guys, here is some hope... R32 eater anyone???

[VWradar]

What downpipes can you use?

[speedracer211]

pretty much any downpipe you want stock or aftermarket header... stock ones work just fine as putting a header on doesnt realy gain any hp worth the money

[vdubbinn]

Can I use a MK2 manual steering rack?

[darren p.]

Yes, you need the u-joint and the boot from the car it came from too. You also need special tie rods if your running plus suspension.

[o2bad455]

Any source for the special tie-rods?

[o2bad455]

There seem to be conflicting opinions on driveshaft(axle) lengths. I need clarification since I want to convert 5-lug plus suspension back to 4-lug hubs, if possible. Here are the conflicting quotes:

Quote, originally posted by Mike@TripleZoom »

Axles: *driveshaft choice is dependent on which control arm / hub assembly is used, axle length and splines are different from 4 lug to 5 lug a)any A2 100mm *4 lug b)corrado G60 *4 lug c)A3 2.0L *4 lug d)A3 VR6 *5 lug e)Corrado VR6 *5 lug ...Thanks to smokinjoe644 for compiling this

Quote, originally posted by splitmeister »

axle length between 4 lug and 5 lug are identical, the outer CV joint is the only difference. the only exception to this again is passat.

Which is correct? If I can press 4-lug hubs into my plus uprights (this itself is uncertain), can I just use the 4-lug (A3?) driveshafts? Are they the same or different lengths than the 5-lug A3 driveshafts?

[JeddaIIBock]

Mike,

Thanks for THE most complete answer i have ever gotten about this question. here is a real major question to me though...

MKIII dash? yes or no? I am thinking if it si going to suck too much caack then i am just going to do a custom aluminum dash.

I am really looking at making a "street car" out of my carat. basically something that will see 1 or 2 nice days being driven to work and every other free minute that i have pounding pavement at pittsburgh's raceway park (keystone raceway park)

also since you seem to be the most clear and concise person that i have spoken to about this what would i be looking at for time and materials to do a stage 3 weight reduction (basically wanna trim about 2~350lbs. any help would be great appreciated.

Thanks!

[jetta88a2]

For those interested in shipping weight mine ended up weighing in at 640lbs. Heres what I got plus the axles ecu fan controll relay and some other odds and ends. The pallet itself was 2 stamped steel pallets welded together and allthread welded to that to bolt the motor down. Pretty heavy though probably about 50 lbs.

Modified by jetta88a2 at 5:40 AM 11-26-2004

[GTi_94]

can I use the brake booster/clutch master bracket out of a a3? with a passat pedal cluster?

or what components do i need from the a3 cluster?

[speedracer211]

you can use the brake booster from the a3 but you need a corrado or passat non abs bracket... futrell sells them. pedal cluster needs to be passat or corrado

[rettub116]

I need to know some answer asap:
Im donig a swap on a 88 golf with the CE2
im using everything from a 92 corrado VR6 including the plus suspension, and ABS and i need to know everything about the wiring harness, if I need to do any splicing etc.

Ive aready made the third hole in the firewall

Made the two holes in each of the strut towers and under the rear seat for the ABS

I really need to know if I need to cut any wires etc. while im pluging up the CE2

and any other info that is helpful
Thanx

[shawnnwahs1]

ok, i snapped driver side axle on mk2vr

replaced with a3 driver side axle

was thought to be defective,

replace with other a3 ds axle, now passenger side axle is rubbing against frame... will any difference in length between orgininal shift other axle? also found one bushing was farked, car has MAJOR vibrations.

also if i want to replace my control arms... i should corrado correct? i was told all corado suspension will work?

please help!

[jetta88a2]

I'm using a 94 passat automatic vr cluster with 94 cluster harness. My interior wiring is from a 90 g60 and I'm using a engine harness from a 97 passat. Will I need to jump these pins D8 and E2 also? The g60 cluster harness that was in my car is completely different from the passat cluster. The passat cluster has 5 plugs u1 and u2 are both 14 pin plugs and there are a black 2 pin with green and brown/white, a blue single pin with red/white, and a black single pin with purple/white. I have no idea where the last 3 plugs go. Are these there because it is an automatic cluster and harness?

Also wondering if my 90 g60 mfa stalk will work with the new wiring?

Modified by jetta88a2 at 5:22 PM 11-20-2004

[smokinjoe644]

I would personally try to find some more cooperative wiring, but here is what I can tell you.

Your 97 passat engine wiring will hook up to the 90 G60 interior without a problem. So will the 94 gauge cluster wiring.

You should be able to use your 90 MAF stalks as well, they are going to be run through the fusebox and as long as the gauge cluster was set up for it should work.

As for the extra plugs from the cluster, if they are on the fusebox end some of them will probably not be used (this is the case if you use an A3 cluster in older A2 wiring) Now they may be part of the MAF system and you might want to trace them out and some wiring may be need to have everything functioning.

Lastly I am going to say that most likely you will need to make the D8 to E2 jump. A2 CE2 fuseboxes were not wired to send extra power to the gauge cluster and that is what that jump allows. Since you are adding a later style cluster I would assume you will need it. If you dont want to do it right away, just plug in the cluster and see if you get all of the gauges working.. if not you need the jump.

I know that those were not 100% answers but I usually try to stick to matched wiring where possible. Hope it helps

[jetta88a2]

Joe thanks. My fuse box is from the g60 also. I'll just try first with out the jumper. If it dosent work I'll know what to do. There is another question I have. What size hole saw do I use for the clutch master cylinder? I checked the cl wrightup on futrell's site. But the info dosent seem to be there. He goes as far as saying "ok I'll go into a bit more detail, right down to what size hole to drill. " But dosent mention it.
Thanks again, Ryan

[vdubbinn]

Are the B3 and B4 Passat VR6 pedal assemblys the same. I just want to know if the B4 assembly is a direct fit? It is out of a '95

I would also like to know what exhaust system fits best for a GTI?
I was thinking the '95 VR6 GTI system would work, but I'm not really sure.


Modified by vdubbinn at 5:36 AM 12-2-2004

[MKIIVR6COUPE]

I swapped an OBDII vr into my digiII coupe and I am just curious as to what airbox I should use. I want something factory looking. I have a MKIII vr6 box but I dont want to hack it all apart if soemthing will work better.
thanx

[jetta88a2]

Hey got another wiring question. Do I need any part of the vr6 headlight harness for my swap? Also what do I need to wire in the diagnostic port so I can scan it? Dose it tie into the engine harness or just at the fuse panel?

MKIIVR6COUPE I'm not 100% sure but I believe the slc box has the same footprint as the digi2 box.


Modified by jetta88a2 at 10:21 PM 12-6-2004

[fiorya]

Quote, originally posted by MKIIVR6COUPE »

...I am just curious as to what airbox I should use...

The guys who did my swap gave me a line about no airboxes fitting in a mk2 conversion. It was one of many lines they gave me. So i wound up with a custom Cone Filter.

I was irritated, the airbox would have made it look nice and factory.

[GoldPOS]

corrado airbox

[d-bot]

hey guys it seems my corrado e-brake cables won't fit the A2 body correctly. Something seems wrong. I'm guessing they should fit but its having its "issues" any tips/suggestions? Bump for almost being done

[speedracer211]

use a2 brake cables